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A  UTHOR : 


MOTLEY,  JOHN 
LOTHROP 


TITLE: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED 

NETHERLANDS: 

PLACE: 

THE  HAGUE 

DA  TE : 

1860 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

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Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


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M8$311 


Motley,  John  Lothrop,  181U-1877« 

History  of  the  United  Netherlands:  from  the 
death  of  William  the  Silent  to  the  synod  of 
Dort,  by  John  Lothrop  Motley  •••     e Continental 
copyright  ed.a     The  Hague,  Nljhoff ,  I960. 

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From  a  •carce  Frn^,rav;u^,  by  Wjerix. 


Fioatiapieci.  Vol.  I. 


Continental  Copyright  Edition, 


HISTORY 


OP  THE 


UNITED   NETHERLANDS: 


FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  WILLIAM  THE  SILENT  TO 
THE  SYNOD  OF  DORT. 


By  JOHN  LOTHROP   MOTLEY,   D.C.L., 

CORKESFONDINO  MXXBEB  OF  THE  INSTITUTE  OF  FKANCK* 
AUTHOB  OF  '  THE  BI8E  OF  THE  DUTCH  KEFUBUC.' 


VOLUME  L 


THE   HAGUE: 

MAKTINUS   NIJHOFF. 

1860. 


The  right  qf  Tramlation  i»  raervcd. 


^ 


PREFACE. 


■*o*- 


NOTICE. 


All  the  necessary  legal  forms  having  been  fulfilled  to  secure  the 
Copyright  of  the  'History  of  the  United  Netherlands,'  any  in- 
fringement of  the  Author's  rights  will  be  suppressed  by  resort  to 
law,  if  needed. 


The  indulgence  with  which  the  History  of  the  Rise  of 
the  Dutch  Republic  was  received  has  encouraged  me  to 
prosecute  my  task  with  renewed  industry. 

A  single  word  seems  necessary  to  explain  the  some- 
what increased  proportions  which  the  present  work  has 
assumed  over  the  original  design.     The  intimate  con- 
nection which  was  formed    between  the  Kingdom  of 
England  and  the  Republic  of  Holland,  immediately  after 
the  death  of  William  the  Silent,  rendered  the  history 
and  the  fate  of  the  two  commonwealths  for  a  season 
almost  identical.     The  years  of  anxiety  and  suspense 
during  which  the  great  Spanish  project  for  subjugating 
England    and   reconquering  the    Netherlands,  by  the 
same  invasion,  was  slowly  matured,  were  of  deepest 
import  for  the  future  destiny  of  those  two  countries 
and  for  the  cause  of  national  liberty.     The  deep-laid 
conspiracy  of  Spain  and   Rome  against   human  rights 
deserves   to  be  patiently  examined,  for  it  is  one  of 
the  great  lessons  of  history.     The  crisis  was  long  and 
doubtful,  and    the  health— perhaps  the   existence— of 
England  and  Holland,  and,  with  them,  of  a  gieat  part 
of  Christendom,  was  on  the  issue. 

History  has  few  so  fruitful  examples  of  the  dangers 
which  come  from  superstition  and  despotism,  and  the 

a  2 


!▼ 


PREFACE. 


blessings  whicli  flow  Ixom  tLe  maintenance  of  religious 
and  political  freedom,  as  those  afforded  by  the  straggle 
between  England  and  Holland  on  the  one  side,  and 
Spain  and  Kome  on  the  other,  during  the  epoch  which 
I  have  attempted  to  describe.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
I  have  thought  it  necessary  to  reveal,  as  minutely  as 
possible,  the  secret  details  of  this  conspiracy  of  king 
and  priest  against  the  people,  and  to  show  how  it  was 
baffled  at  last  by  the  strong  self-helping  energy  of  two 
free  nations  combined. 

The  period  occupied  by  these  two  volumes  is  there- 
fore a  short  one,  when  counted  by  years,  for  it  begins  in 
1584  and  ends  with  the  commencement  of  1590.  When 
estimated  by  the  significance  of  events  and  their  results 
for  future  ages,  it  will  perhaps  be  deemed  worthy  of  the 
dose  examination  which  it  has  received.  With  the 
year  1588  the  crisis  was  past;  England  was  safe,  and 
the  new  Dutch  commonwealth  was  thoroughly  organized. 
It  is  my  design,  in  two  additional  volumes,  which,  with 
the  two  now  published,  will  complete  the  present  work, 
to  carry  the  history  of  the  Republic  down  to  the  Synod 
of  Dort.  After  this  epoch  the  Thirty  Years*  War  broke 
out  in  Germany ;  and  it  is  my  wish,  at  a  future  day,  to 
retrace  the  historj^  of  that  eventful  struggle,  and  to 
combine  with  it  the  civil  and  military  events  in  Hol- 
land, down  to  the  epoch  when  the  Thirty  Years*  War 
and  the  Eighty  Years*  War  of  the  Netherlands  were 
both  brought  to  a  close  by  the  Peace  of  West- 
phalia. 

The  materials  for  the  volumes  now  offered  to  the 
public  were  so  abundant  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  condense  them  into  smaller  compass  without  doing 


PREFACE.        •  ▼ 

injustice  to  the  subject.  It  was  desirable  to  throw 
full  light  on  these  prominent  points  of  the  history,  while 
the  law  of  historical  perspective  will  allow  long  stretches 
of  shadow  in  the  succeeding  portions,  in  which  less 
important  objects  may  be  more  slightly  indicated.  That 
I  may  not  be  thought  capable  of  abusing  the  reader's 
confidence  by  inventing  conversations,  speeches,  or 
lettors,  I  would  take  this  opportunity  of  stating— 
although  I  have  repeated  the  remark  in  the  foot-notes — 
that  no  personage  in  these  pages  is  made  to  write  or 
speak  any  words  save  those  which,  on  the  best  his- 
torical evidence,  he  is  known  to  have  written  or 
spoken. 

A  brief  allusion  to  my  sources  of  information  will 
not  seem  superfluous.  I  have  carefully  studied  all  the 
leading  contemporary  chronicles  and  pamphlets  of 
Holland,  Flanders,  Spain,  France,  Germany,  and  Eng- 
land ;  but,  as  the  authorities  are  always  indicated  in  the 
notes,  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  a  list  of  them  here. 
But  by  far  my  most  valuable  materials  are  entirely  un- 
published ones. 

The  archives  of  England  are  especially  rich  for  the 
history  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and  it  will  be  seen,  in 
the  course  of  the  narrative,  how  largely  I  have  drawn 
from  those  mines  of  historical  wealth,  the  State  Paper 
Office  and  the  MS.  department  of  the  British  Museum. 
Although  both  these  great  national  depositories  are  in 
admirable  order,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  they  are  not  all 
embraced  in  one  collection,  as  much  trouble  might  then 
be  spared  to  the  historical  student,  who  is  now  obliged  to 
pass  frequently  from  the  one  place  to  the  other,  in  order 
to  find  different  portions  of  the  same  correspondence. 


▼I 


PREFACE. 


From  the  royal  archives  of  Holland  I  have  obtained 
many  most  important,  entirely  unpublished  documents, 
by  the  aid  of  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  verify,  to 
illustrate,  or  sometimes  to  correct,  the  recitals  of  the 
elder  national  chroniclers ;  and  I  have  derived  the 
greatest  profit  from  the  invaluable  series  of  Archives 
and  Correspondence  of  the  Orange- Nassau  Family,  given 
to  the  world  by  M.  Groen  van  Prinsterer.  T  desire  to 
renew  to  that  distinguished  gentleman,  and  to  that  emi- 
nent scholar  M.  Bakhuyzen  van  den  Brink,  the  expres- 
sion of  my  gratitude  for  their  constant  kindness  and 
advice  during  my  residence  at  the  Hague.  Nothing  can 
exceed  the  courtesy  which  has  been  extended  to  me  in 
Holland,  and  I  am  deeply  grateful  for  the  indulgence 
with  which  my  efforts  to  illustrate  the  history  of  the 
country  have  been  received  where  that  history  is  best 
known. 

I  have  also  been  much  aided  by  the  study  of  a  portion 
of  the  Archives  of  Simancas,  the  originals  of  which 
are  in  the  Archives  de  TEmpii-e  in  Paris,  and  which 
were  most  liberally  laid  before  me  through  the  kindness 
of  M.  le  Comte  de  La  Borde. 

I  have,  further,  enjoyed  an  inestimable  advantage  in 
the  perusal  of  the  whole  correspondence  between 
Philip  II.,  his  ministers,  and  governors,  relating  to  the 
affairs  of  the  Netherlands,  from  the  epoch  at  which  this 
work  commences  down  to  that  monarch's  death.  Copies 
of  this  correspondence  have  been  carefully  made  from 
tlie  originals  at  Simancas  by  order  of  the  Belgian  Go- 
vernment, under  the  superintendence  of  the  eminent 
archivist  M.  Gachard,  who  has  already  published  a 
synopsis  or  abridgment  of  a  portion  of  it  in  a  French 


PREFACE. 


vii 


translation.  The  translation  and  abridgment  of  so  large  a 
mass  of  papers,  however,  must  necessarily  occupy  many 
years,  and  it  may  be  long,  therefore,  before  the  whole 
of  the  correspondence— and  particularly  that  portion  of 

it  relating  to  the  epoch  occupied  by  these  volumes sees 

the  light.  It  was,  therefore,  of  the  greatest  importance 
for  me  to  see  the  documents  themselves  unabridged  and 
untranslated.  This  privilege  has  been  accorded  me,  and 
I  desire  to  express  my  thanks  to  his  Excellencv  M.  van 
de  Weyer,  the  distinguished  representative  of  Belgium 
at  the  English  Court,  to  whose  friendly  offices  I  am 
mainly  indebted  for  the  satisfaction  of  my  wishes  in 
this  respect.  A  letter  from  him  to  his  Excellency 
M.  Eogier,  Minister  of  the  Interior  in  Belgium— who 
likewise  took  the  most  courteous  interest  in  promoting 
my  views— obtained  for  me  the  permission  thoroughly 
to  study  this  correspondence;  and  I  passed  several 
months  in  Brussels,  occupied  with  reading  the  whole 
of  it  from  the  year  1584  to  the  end  of  the  rei<rn 
of  Philip  II.  " 

I  was  thus  saved  a  long  visit  to  the  Archives  of  Si- 
mancas, for  it  would  be  impossible  conscientiously  to 
write  the  history  of  the  epoch  without  a  thorough  ex- 
amination of  the  correspondence  of  the  King  and  his 
ministers.  I  venture  to  hope,  therefore— whatever 
judgment  may  be  passed  upon  my  own  labours— that 
this  work  may  be  thought  to  possess  an  intrinsic  value ; 
for  the  various  materials  of  which  it  is  composed  arj 
original,  and— so  far  as  I  am  aware— have  not  been 
made  use  of  by  any  historical  writer. 

I  would  take  this  opportunity  to  repeat  my  thanks 
to  M.  Gachard,  Archivist  of  the  kingdom  of  Belgium, 


i. 


Till 


PREFACE, 


for  the  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness  which  I  have 
received  at  his  hands,  and  to  bear  my  testimony 
to  the  skill  and  critical  accuracy  with  which  he  has 
illustrated  so  many  passages  of  Belgian  and  Spanish 
histoiy. 


31,  Hertford-Street^  May-Fair, 
Noomber  IIM.  I860. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


h  i 


CHAPTER  I. 

Murder  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  —  Extension  of  Protestantism  —  Vast 
Power  of  Spain  —  Religious  Origin  of  the  Revolt  —  Disposal  of  the 
Sovereignty  —  Courage  of  the  Estates  of  Holland  —  Children  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange  —  Provisional  Council  of  State  —  Finn  attitude  of 
Holland  and  Zeeland — Weakness  of  Flanders — Fall  of  Ghent — Adroit- 
ness of  Alexander  Famese        Page  1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Relations  of  the  Republic  to  France  —  Queen  Elizabeth's  severity  towards 
Catholics  and  Calvinists  —  Relative  Positions  of  England  and  France  — 
Timidity  of  Germany  —  Apathy  of  Protestant  Germany  —  Indignation 
of  the  Netherlanders  —  Henry  HI.  of  France  —  The  King  and  his 
Minions  —  Henry  of  Guise  —  Henry  of  Navarre  —  Power  of  France  — 
Embassy  of  the  States  to  France  —  Ignominious  Position  of  the  Envoys 
—  Views  of  the  French  Huguenots  —  Efforts  to  procure  Annexation  — 
Success  of  Des  Pruneaux         24 


i 


CHAPTER  III. 

Policy  of  England  —  Schemes  of  the  Pretender  of  Portugal  —  Hesitation  of 
the  French  Court  —  Secret  Wishes  of  France  —  Contradictory  Views  as 
to  the  Opinions  of  Netherlanders  —  Their  Love  for  England  and  Elizabeth 
—  Prominent  Statesmen  of  the  Provinces  —  Roger  Williams  the  Welsh- 
man —  Views  of  Walsingham,  Burghley,  and  the  Queen  —  An  Embassy 
to  Holland  decided  upon  —  Davison  sent  to  the  Hague  —  Cautious  and 
Secret  Measures  of  Burghley  —  Consequent  Dissatisfaction  of  Walsing- 
ham —  English  and  Dutch  Suspicion  of  France  —  Increasing  Affection 

of  Holland  for  England 62 

VOL,   I.  *       6 


f 
I 


I 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Reception  of  the  Dutch  Envop  at  the  Louvre  —  Ignominious  Result  of  the 
Embassy  —  Secret  Influences  at  work  —  Bargaining  between  the  French 
and  Spanish  Courts  —  Gaims  of  Catharine  de*  Medici  upon  Portugal  — 
Letters  of  Henry  and  Catharine  —  Secret  Proposal  by  France  to  invade 
England  —  State*'  Mission  to  Henry  of  Navarre  —  Subsidies  of  Philip  to 
Guise  —  Treaty  of  Joinville  —  Philip's  share  in  the  League  denied  by 
Parma —  Philip  in  reality  its  Chief  —  Manifesto  of  the  League  —  Atti- 
tude of  Henry  III.  and  of  Navarre  —  The  League  demands  a  Royal 
Decree  —  Designs  of  France  and  Spain  against  England  —  Secret  Inter- 
view of  Mendoza  and  Villeroy  —  Complaints  of  English  Persecution  — 
Edict  of  Nemours  —  Excommunication  of  Navarre  and  his  Reply  Page  90 


CHAPTER  V. 

Position  and  Character  of  Famese  —  Preparations  for  Antwerp  Siege  —  Its 
Characteristics  —  Foresight  of  William  the  Silent  —  Siinte  Aldegonde, 
the  Burgomaster  —  Anarchy  in  Antwerp  —  Character  of  Sainte  Alde- 
gonde —  Admiral  Treslong  —  Justinus  de  Nassau  —  Hohenlo  —  Opposi- 
tion to  the  Plan  of  Orange  —  Liefkenshoek  —  Head-quarters  of  Parma 
at  Kalloo  —  Difficulty  of  supplying  the  City  —  Results  of  not  piercing 
the  Dykes  —  Preliminaries  of  the  Siege — Successes  of  the  Spaniards  — 
Energy  of  Famese  with  sword  and  pen  —  His  Correspondence  with  the 
Antwerpers  —  Progress  of  the  Bridge  —  Impoverished  Condition  of 
Parma — Patriots  attempt  Bois-le-Duc  —  Their  Misconduct  — Failure 
of  the  Enterprise— The  Scheldt  Bridge  completed  —  Description  of  the 
Structure  —  Position  of  Alexander  and  his  Army  —  La  Motte  attempts 
in  vain  Ostend  —  Patriots  gain  Liefkenshoek  —  Projects  of  Gianibelli  — 
Alarm  on  the  Bridge  — The  Fire-Ships  —  The  Explosion  —  Its  Results 

—  Death  of  the  Viscount  of  Ghent  —  Perpetual  Anxiety  of  Famese  — 
Impoverished  State  of  the  Spaniards  —  Intended  Attack  of  the  Kowen- 
styn  —  Second  Attack  on  the  Kowenstyn  —  A  Landing  effected  —  A  sharp 
Combat  —  The  Dyke  pierced  —  Rally  of  the  Spaniards  —  Parma  comes 
to  the  Rescue  —  Fierce  struggle  on  the  Dyke  —  The  Spaniards  successful 

—  Premature  triumph  at  Antwerp  —  Defeat  of  the  Patriots  —  The  Ship 
"  War's  End  "  —  Despair  of  the  Citizens  —  Sainte  Aldegonde  discouraged 

—  His  critical  Position  — His  Negotiations  with  the  enemy  — Corre- 
spondence with  Richardot  — Commotion  in  the  City  —  Interview  of 
Mamix  with  Parma  —  Suspicious  Conduct  of  Mamix  —  Deputation  to 
the  Prince  — Oration  of  Mamix  — Private  Views  of  Parma— Capitu- 
lation of  Antwerp— Mistakes  of  Mamix  — Philip  on  the  Religious 
Question  —  Triumphal  Entrance  of  Alexander  —  Rebuilding  of  the  Citadel 

—  Gratification  of  Philip  —  Note  on  Sainte  Aldegonde       . .      . .     129 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


XI 


Policy  of  England  —  Diplomatic  Coquetry  —  Dutch  Envoys  in  England  — 
Conference  of  Ortel  and  Walsiugham  —  Interview  with  Leicester  — 
Private  Audience  of  the  Queen  —  Lettei-s  of  the  Statcs-Gener.U  —  111 
Eflfects  of  Gilpin's  Despatch  —  Close  Bargaining  of  the  Qucon  and  States 

—  Guarantees  required  by  Enghmd  —  England's  comparative  Weakness 

—  The  English  chai^acterised  —  Paul  Hentzner  —  The  Envoys  in  London 

—  Their  Characters  —  Olden-Baraeveld  described  —  Reception  at  Green 
wich  —  Speech  of  Menin  —  Reply  of  the  Queen  —  Memorial  of  the 
Envoys  —  Discussions  with  the  Ministers  —  Second  Speech  of  the  Queen 

—  Third  Speech  of  the  Queen  —  Sir  John  2<  orris  sent  to  Holland  — 
Parsimony  of  Elizabeth  —  Energy  of  Davison  —  Protracted  Negotiations 

—  Friendly  Sentiments  of  Count  Maurice  —  Letters  from  him  and  Louisa 
de  Coligny  —  Davison  vexetl  by  the  Queen's  Caprice  —  Dissatisfaction  of 
Leicester  —  His  vehement  Complaints  —  The  Queen's  Avarice  —  Per- 
plexity of  Davison  —  Manifesto  of  Elizabeth  —  Sir  Philip  Sidney  —  His 
Arrival  at  Flushing Page  270 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Earl  of  Leicester  —  His  Triumphal  Entrance  into  Holland  —  English 
Spies  about  him  —  Importance  of  Holland  to  England  —  Spanish  Schemes 
for  invading  England  —  Letter  of  the  Gi-and  Commander  —  Perilous 
Position  of  England— Trae  Nature  of  the  Contest  —  Wealth  and 
Strength  of  the  Provinces  —  Power  of  the  Dutch  and  English  people  — 
Aflection  of  the  Hollanders  for  the  Queen  —Secret  Purposes  of  Leicester 

Wretched  Condition  of  English  Troops  —  The  Nassaus  and  Hohenlo 

The  Eari's  Opinion  of  them  — Clerk  and  Killigrew  — Interview  with 
the  States  — Government-General  otlered  to  the  Earl  —  Discussions  on 
the  Subject  — The  Earl  accepts  the  Office  — His  Ambition  and  Mistakes 

—  His  Installation  at  the  Hague  —  Intimations  of  the  Queen's  Displea- 
sure —  Depilatory  Letters  of  Leicester  —  Davison's  Mission  to  England 

—  Queen's  Anger  and  Jealousy  — Her  angry  Letters  to  the  Earl  and  the 
States  —  Arrival  of  Davison  —  Stormy  Interview  with  the  Queen  — 
The  second  one  is  calmer  —  Queen's  Wrath  somewhat  mitigated  —  Mis- 
won  of  Heneage  to  the  States  —  Shirley  sent  to  England  by  the  Earl  — 
His  Interview  with  Elizabeth  —  Leicester's  Letters  to  his  Friends  — 
Paltry  Condiict  of  the  Earl  to  Davison  —  He  excuses  himself  at  Davison's 
Expense- His  Letter  to  Burghley  —  Effect  of  the  Queen's  Letters  to 
the  States  —  Suspicion  and  Discontent  in  Holland  —  States  excuse  tlieir 
Conduct  to  the  Queen  —  Leicester  discredited  m  Holland  —  Evil  conse- 
quences to  Holland  and  England  —  Magic  effect  of  a  Letter  from  Leicester 

—  The  Queen  appeased  — Her  Letters  to  the  States  and  the  Earl  — She 
permits  the  granted  Authority  —  Unhappy  Results  of  the  Queen's  Course 


Xll 


COSTEKTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


-Her  variable  Mood, -She  attempU  \^'^''" '^^"^^^^''-Jj" 
Iniostice  to  Heneage- Hi.  Perplexity  «rf  Distress  -  Humihatmg  Pos.- 
tr  Welter -His  meUnSoly  Letter,  to  the  Q;7-H'«3 
a  litU.  Consolation  -  And  write,  more  cheerfuHy  -  The  Queen  i,  mo« 
benignant-The  Stat«  less  contented  than  the  '^'^^'^'^^^^ 
with  them  begin 

CHAPTER    Vlll. 

Forlorn  Condition  of  Flanders  -  Parma's  secret  NegotUtions  with  the 
Queen-Grafigni  and  Bodman-Their  dealings  with  English  Comisel- 
L^Duplicitv  of  Famese-Secret  Offers  of  the  Engluh  Peace-P^y 
-  Letters  and  Intrigues  of  De  Loo  -Di-ake's  Victories  and  their  Lffect 
-Parma't  Perplexity  and  Anxiety -He  is  relieved  by  the  News  from 
Enirbmd- Queen's  secret  Letters  to  Parma -His  Letters  and  Instruc- 
tions  to  Bodman-Bodman's  sea-et  Transactions  at  Greenwich -VVal- 
singham  detects  and  expo^s  the  Plot  -  The  Intriguers  baffled - 
QuLn's  Letter  to  Panna  and  his  to  the  King  -  Unlucky  Kesulte  of  the 
Peace-Intrigues -Unhandsome  Treatment  of  Leicester-  Indignation  ot 
the  Earl  and  Walsingham  -  Secret  Letter  of  Parma  to  Philip -Inva- 
sion  of  England  recommended  -  Details  of  the  Project       . .      . .     461 


BIRD'S-EYE    VIEW    OF    THE    SIEGE    OF    ANTWERP. 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


zrssi 


CHAPTER  I. 

Murder  of  Orange  —  Extension  of  Protestantism  —  Vast  Power  of  Spain  —  Rtli- 
gious  Orijfln  of  the  Revolt  —  Disposal  of  the  Sovereignly  —  Courage  of  the 
Estates  of  Holland  —  Children  of  William  the  Silent  —  Provisional  Council  of 
State  —  Firm  Attitude  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  —  Weakness  of  Flanders  —  Fall 
of  Ghent  —  Adroitness  of  Alexander  Famese. 

William  the  Silent,  Prince  of  Orange,  had  been  mnr- 
derod  on  the  10th  July,  1584.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine 
a  more  universal  disaster  than  the  one  thus  brought 
about  by  the  hand  of  a  single  obscure  fanatic.  For 
nearly  twenty  years  the  character  of  the  Prince  had 
been  expanding  steadily  as  the  difficulties  of  his  situa- 
tion increased.  Habit,  necessity,  and  the  natural  gifts 
of  the  man,  had  combined  to  invest  him  at  last  with  an 
authority  which  seemed  more  than  human.  There  was 
such  general  confidence  in  his  sagacity,  courage,  and 
purity,  that  the  nation  had  come  to  think  with  his  brain 
and  to  act  with  his  hand.  It  was  natural  that,  for  an 
instant,  there  should  be  a  feeling  as  of  absolute  and 
helpless  paralysis. 

Whatever  his  technical  attributes  in  the  polity  of  the 
Z^'etherlands— and  it  would  be  difficult  to  define  them 
with  perfect  accuracy^-there  is  no  doubt  that  he  stood 
there,  the  head  of  a  commonwealth,  in  an  attitude  such 
as  had  been  maintained  by  but  few  of  the  kings,  or 
chiefs,  or  high  priests  of  history.  Assassination,  a  regu- 
lar and  almost  indispensable  portion  of  the  working 
machinery  of  Philip's  government,  had  produced,  in 
this  instance,  after  repeated  disappointments,  the  result 
at  last  which  had  been  so  anxiously  desired.  The  ban 
of  the  Pope  and  the  offered  gold  of  the  King  had  accom- 
plished a  victory  greater  than  any  yet  achieved  by  the 

VOL.    L  jj 


2 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDa 


CUAP.  1. 


armies  of  Spain,  brilliant  as  had  been  their  triumphs  on 
the  blood-stained  soil  of  the  Netherlands. 

Had  that  *'  exceeding  proud,  neat,  and  spruce  "'  Doc- 
tor of  Laws,  William  Parry,  who  had  been  busying 
himself  at  about  the  same  time  with  his  memorable 
project  against  the  Queen  of  England,  proved  as  success- 
ful as  Balthazar  Gerard,  the  fate  of  Christendom  would 
have  been  still  darker.  Fortunately,  that  member  of 
parliament  had  made  the  discovery  in  time— not  for 
himself,  but  for  Elizabeth— that  the  *'  Lord  was  better 
pleased  with  adverbs  than  nouns;"*  the  well-known 
result  being  that  the  traitor  was  hanged  and  the  sove- 
reign saved. 

Yet  such  was  the  condition  of  Europe  at  that  day. 
A  small,  dull,   elderly,   imperfectly-educated,  patient, 
plodding  invalid,  with  white  hair  and  protruding  under- 
jaw,  and  dreary  visage,  was  sitting  day  after  day,  seldom 
speaking,  never  smiling,  seven  or  eight  hours  out  of 
every  twenty- four,  at  a  writing-table  covered  with  heaps 
of  interminable  despatches,  in  a  cabinet  far  away  beyond 
the  seas  and  mountains,  in  the  very  heart  of  Spain.     A 
clerk  or  two,  noiselessly  opening  and  shutting  the  door, 
from  time  to  time,  fetching  fresh  bundles   of  letters 
and  taking  away  others— all  written  and  composed  by 
secretaries  or  high  functionaries — and  all  to  be  scrawled 
over  in  the  margin  by  the  diligent  old  man,  in  a  big 
schoolboy's  hand  and  style — if  ever  schoolboy,  even  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  could  write  so  illegibly  or  express 
himself  so  awkwardly ;'  couriers  in  the  court-yard  arriv- 
ing from  or  departing  for  the  uttermost  parts  of  earth — 
Asia,  Africa,  America,  Europe— to  fetch  and  carry  these 
interminable  epistles,  which  contained  the  irresponsible 
commands  of  this  one  individual,  and  were  freighted 
with  the  doom  and  destiny  of  countless  millions  of  the 
world's  inhabitants— such  was  the  system  of  govern- 
ment against  which  the  Netherlands  had  protested  and 
revolted.     It  was  a  system  under  which  their  fields  had 
been  made  desolate,  their  cities  burned  and  pillaged, 
their  men  hanged,  burned,  drowned,  or  hacked  to  pieces, 
their  women  subjected  to  every  outrage  ;  and  to  put  an 
end  to  which  they  had  been  devoting  their  treasure  and 


»  Camcien'a  •  EUzabeth,'  cd.  IBS'*,  p.  305. 


a  Camden,  p.  307. 


'  See  vol.  ii.  of  thiii  work  Ccnr  inatances. 


1584.  MURDER  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  ORANGE.  » 

their  blood  for  nearly  the  length  of  one  generation.     It 
was  a  system,  too,  which,  among  other  results,  had  just 
brought  about  the  death  of  the  foremost  statesman  of 
Europe,   and  had  nearly  effected  simultaneously  the 
murder  of  the  most  eminent  sovereign  in  the  world. 
The  industrious  Philip,  safe  and  tranquil  in  the  depths  of 
the  Escorial,  saying  his  prayers  three  times  a  day  with 
exemplary  regularity,  had  just  sent  three  bullets  through 
the  body  of  William  the  Silent  at  his  dining-room  door 
in  Delft.     *'  Had  it  only  been  done  two  years  earlier," 
observed  the  patient  old  man,   "much  trouble  mio-ht 
have  been  spared  me ;  but  'tis  better  late  than  never." 
Sir  Edward  Stafford,  English  envoy  in  Paris,  wrote  to 
his  government — so  soon  as  the  news  of  the  murder 
reached  him— that,  according  to  his  information  out  of 
the  Spanish  minister's  own  house,  *'  the  same  practice 
that  had  been  executed  upon  the  Prince  of  Orange,  there 
were  practisers  more  than  two  or  three  about  to  execute 
upon  her  Majesty,  and  that  within  two  months."    W  ith- 
out  vouching  for  the  absolute  accuracy  of  this  intelli- 
gence, he  implored   the   Queen  to  be  more  upon  her 
guard  than  ever.     "  For  there  is  no  doubt,"  said  the 
envoy   "  that  she  is  a  chief  mark  to  shoot  at ;  and  seeing 
that  there  were  men  cunning  enough  to  inchant  a  man 
and  to  encourage  him  to  kill  the  Prince  of  Orange  in 
the  midst  of  Holland,  and  that  there  was  a  knave  found 
desperate  enough  to  do  it,  we  must  think  hereafter  that 
anything  may  be  done.     Therefore  God  preserve  her 
Majesty.   »  ^ 

Invisible  as  the  Grand  Lama  of  Thibet,  clothed  with 
power  as  extensive  and  absolute  as  had  ever  been  wielded 


»  Murdin'd  •  State  Papers,'  412-415. 

William  Horle,  too,  wrote  from  Hol- 
land, immediately  after  the  murder, 
warning  the  Queen  to  be  more  than  ever 
on  her  guard.  The  seminary  at  Dieppe, 
placed  "upon  the  brim  of  England," 
was  constantly  sending  Scotch  and  Eng- 
lish assassins  int#  their  own  country. 
"Tis  known  to  me,"  he  said,  "that 
there  are  entered  above  seven  score  lurk- 
ing Jesuits  into  the  realm  of  late,  and 
they  do  secretly  repair  more  and  more 
to  sow  infection  and  rebellion  among 
your  subjects,  and  to  conspire  against 
your  royal  person,  whom  God  alway,  for 


his  mercy's  sake,  preserve."     (Herle  to 
the  Queen.  22nd  July,  1684,  State-Paper 
Office    MS.)     Moreover,  another  secret 
agent  of  Walsingham,  Stephen  Le  Sieu^, 
wrote  shortly  afterwards  from  Antwerp] 
that  the  I'rinie  of   Orange    had    been 
warned  by  persons  resident  in  Cologne  of 
the  attempt  about  to  be  made  upon  his 
life,  but  had  mifortunately  not  heeded 
the  admonition.    The  same  persons  who 
had    furnished   that    information    now 
wrote  to  apprise  Le  Sleur  that  there  was 
a  similar  plot  on  foot  against  the  Queen. 
(Le  Sieur  to  Walsingham,  7th  September 
1684,  State-Paper  Office  MS.)  * 

fi  2 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap  I. 


by  the  most  imperial  Caesar,  PhUip  the  Prudent,  as  ho 
grew  older  and  feebler  in  mind  and  body,  seemed  to 
become  more  gluttonous  of  work,^  more  ambitious  to 
extend  his  sceptre  over  lands  which  he  had  never  seen 
or  dreamed  of  seeing,  more  fixed  in  his  determination 
to  annihilate  that  monster  Protestantism,  which  it  had 
been  the  business  of  his  life  to  combat,  more  eager  to 
put  to  death  every  human  creature,  whether  anointed 
monarch  or  humble  artisan,  that  defended  heresy  or  • 
opposed  his  progress  to  universal  empire. 

If  this  enormous  power,  this  fabulous  labour,  had 
been  wielded  or  performed  with  a  beneficent  intention  ; 
if  the  man  who  seriously  regarded  himself  as  the  owner 
of  a  third  of  the  globe,  with  the  inhabitants  thereof,  had 
attempted  to  deal  with  these  extensive  estates  inherited 
from  his  ancestors  with  the  honest  intention  of  a  thnfty 
landlord,  an  intelligent  slave-owner,  it  would  have  yet 
been  possible  for  a  little  longer  to  smile  at  the  delusion, 
and  endure  the  practice.  ,     ,.     ,  .  xi. 

But  there  was  another  old  man,  who  lived  m*  another 
palace  in  another  remote  land,  who  in  his  capacity  of 
representative  of  Saint  Peter,  claimed  to  dispose  of  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  earth— and  had  been  willing  to 
bestow  them  upon  the  man  who  would  go  down  and 
worship  him.  Philip  stood  enfeoffed,  by  divine  decree, 
of  all  America,  the  East  Indies,  the  whole  Spanish 
Peninsula,  the  better  portion  of  Italy,  the  seventeen 
Netherlands,  and  many  other  possessions  far  and  near ; 
and  he  contemplated  annexing  to  this  extensive  property 
the  kingdoms  of  France,  of  England,  and  Ireland.  The 
Holy  League,  maintained  by  the  sword  of  Guise,  the 
Pope's  ban,  Spanish  ducats,  Italian  condottieri,  and 
German  mercenaries,  was  to  exterminate  heresy  and 
establish  the  Spanish  dominion  in  France.  The  same 
machinery,  aided  by  the  pistol  or  poniard  of  the  assassin, 
was  to  substitute  for  English  protestantism  and  Eng- 
land's queen  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  and  a  foreign 
sovereign.  "  The  holy  league,"  said  Duplessis-Mornay, 
one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  the  age,  "  has  destined 
us  all  to  the  same  sacrifice.     The  ambition  of  the 


»  Longle'e    au    Rol  de  France,  apud    respondance  de  la  Malson  d'Orange-Naa- 
Groen  van  Prinsterer,  ♦  Archives  et  Cor-    sau,  dcoxilme  sdrie,'  torn.  I.  p.  29. 


1584. 


EXTENSION  OF  PROTESTANTISM. 


Spaniard,  which  has   overleaped  so  many  lands  and 
seas,  thinks  nothing  inaccessible."  * 

The  Netheiland  revolt  had  therefore  assumed  world- 
wide proportions.  Had  it  been  merely  the  rebellion  of 
provinces  against  a  sovereign,  the  importance  of  the 
struggle  would  have  been  more  local  and  temporary. 
But  the  period  was  one  in  which  the  geographical  land- 
marks of  countries  were  almost  removed.  The  dividing- 
line  ran  through  every  state,  city,  and  almost  every 
family.  There  was  a  country  which  believed  in  the 
absolute  power  of  the  church  to  dictate  the  relations 
between  man  and  his  Maker,  and  to  utterly  exterminate 
all  who  disputed  that  position.  There  was  another 
country  which  protested  against  that  doctrine,  and 
claimed,  theoretically  or  practically,  a  liberty  of  con- 
science. The  territory  of  these  countries  was  mapped 
out  by  no  visible  lines,  but  the  inhabitants  of  each, 
whether  resident  in  France,  Germany,  England,  or 
Flanders,  recognised  a  relationship  which  took  its  root 
in  deeper  differences  than  those  of  race  or  language. 
It  was  not  entirely  a  question  of  doctrine  or  dogma.  A 
largo  portion  of  the  world  had  become  tired  of  the 
antiquated  delusion  of  a  papal  supremacy  over  every 
land,  and  had  recorded  its  determination,  once  for  all, 
to  have  done  with  it.  The  transition  to  freedom  of 
conscience  became  a  necessary  step,  sooner  or  later  to 
be  taken.  To  establish  the  principle  of  toleration  for 
all  religions  was  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  Dutch 
revolt ;  although,  thus  far,  perhaps  only  one  conspicuous 
man  in  advance  of  his  age  had  boldly  announced  that 
doctrine,  and  had  died  in  its  defence.  But  a  great  true 
thought  never  dies — though  long  buried  in  the  earth — 
and  the  day  was  to  come,  after  long  years,  when  the 
seed  was  to  ripen  into  a  harvest  of  civil  and  religious 
emancipation,  and  when  the  very  word  toleration  was 
to  sound  like  an  insult  and  an  absurdity. 

A  vast  responsibility  rested  upon  the  head  of  a 
monarch,  placed  as  Philip  II.  found  himself,  at  this  great 
dividing  point  in  modem  history.  To  judge  him,  or 
any  man  in  such  a  position,  simply  from  his  own  point 
of  view,  is  weak  and  illogical.  History  judges  the  man 
according  to  his  point  of  view.    It  condemns  or  applauds 

•  •  M^moires  et  Correspondance  de  Duplessls-Momay.'  Paris,  1824, 1 ..  27. 


0 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


the  point  of  view  itself.     The  point  of  view  of  a  male- 
factor is  not  to  excuse  robbery  and  murder.     Nor  is  the 
fcpirit  of  the  age  to  be  pleaded  in  defence  of  the  evil-doer 
at  a  time  when  mortals  were  divided  into  almost  equal 
troops.     The   age   of  Philip   II.   was  also  the  age  of 
William  of  Orange  and   his  four  brethren,  of  Sainte 
Aldegonde,  of  Olden-Bameveld,  of  Duplessis-Momay, 
La  None,  Coligny,  of  Luther,  Melancthon,  and  Calving 
Walsingham,    Sidney,    Raleigh,    Queen    Elizabeth,    of 
Michael  Montaigne,  and  W  illiam  Shakspeare.     It  was 
not  an  age  of  blindness,  but  of  glorious  light.     If  the 
man  whom  the  Maker  of  the  Universe  had  permitted  to 
be  bom  to  such  boundless  functions,  chose  to  put  out 
his  own  eyes  that  he  might  grope  along  his  great  path- 
way of  duty  in  perpetual  darkness,  by  his  deeds  he  must 
be  judged.     The  King  perhaps  firmly  believed  that  the 
heretics  of  the  Netherlands,  of  France,  or  of  England, 
could  escape  eternal  perdition  only  by  being  extirpated 
from  the  earth  by  fire  and  sword,  and  therefore,  perhaps, 
felt  it  his  duty  to  devote  his  life  to  their  extermination! 
But  he  believed,  still  more  firmly,  that  his  own  politicai 
authority,  throughout  his  dominions,  and  his  road  to 
almost  universal  empire,  lay  over  the  bodies  of  those 
heretics.     Three  centuries  have  nearly  past  since  this 
memorable  epoch  ;  and  the  world  knows  the  fate  of  the 
states  which  accepted  the  dogma  which  it  was  Philip's 
life-work  to  enforce,  and  of  those  who  protested  against 
the  system.     The  Spanish  and  Italian  Peninsulas  have 
had  a  different  history  from  that  which   records  the 
career  of  France,  Prussia,  the  Dutch  Commonwealth 
the  British  Empire,  the  Transatlantic  Republic.  * 

Yet  the  contest  between  those  Seven  meagre  Provinces 
upon  iho  sand-banks  of  the  North  Sea,  and  the  great 
Spanish  Empire,  seemed  at  the  moment  with  which  we 
are  now  occupied  a  sufficiently  desperate  one.  Throw  a 
glance  upon  the  map  of  Europe.  Look  at  the  broad 
magnificent  Spanish  Peninsula,  stretching  across  eight 
degrees  of  latitude  and  ten  of  longitude,  commandino- 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Mediterranean,  with  a  genial 
climate,  warmed  in  winter  by  the  vast  furnace  of  Africa, 
and  protected  from  the  scorching  heats  of  summer  by 
shady  mountain  and  forest,  and  temperate  breezes  from 
either  ocean.     A  generous  southern  territory,  flowing 


1584. 


EXTENSIVE  POWER  OF  SPAIN. 


with  wine  and  oil,  and  all  the  richest  gifts  of  a  bountiful 
nature — splendid  cities — the  new  and  daily-expanding 
Madrid,  rich  in  the  trophies  of  the  most  artistic  period 
of  the  modem  world — Cadiz,  as  populous  at  that  day  as 
London,  seated  by  the  straits  where  the  ancient  and 
modem  systems  of  traffic  were  blending  like  the  ming- 
ling of  the  two  oceans — Granada,  the  ancient  wealthy 
seat  of  the  fallen  Moors — Toledo,  Valladolid,  and  Lisbon, 
chief  city  of  the  recently-conquered  kingdom  of  Portu- 
gal, counting,  with  its  suburbs,  a  larger  population  than 
any  city,  excepting  Paris,  in  Europe,  the  mother  of  dis- 
tant colonies,  and  the  capital  of  the  rapidly -developing 
traffic  with  both  the  Indies— these  were  some  of  the 
treasures  of  Spain  herself.'  But  she  possessed  Sicily 
also,  the  better  portion  of  Italy,  and  important  depend- 
encies in  Africa,  while  the  famous  maritime  discoveries 
of  the  age  had  all  enured  to  her  aggrandizement.  The 
world  seemed  suddenly  to  have  expanded  its  wings  from 
East  to  West,  only  to  bear  the  fortunate  Spanish  Empire 
to  the  most  dizzy  heights  of  wealth  and  power.  The 
most  accomplished  generals,  the  most  disciplined  and 
daring  infantry  the  world  has  ever  known,  the  best- 
equipped  and  most  extensive  navy,  royal  and  mercantile, 
of  the  age,  were  at  the  absolute  command  of  the  sove- 
reign.    Such  was  Spain. 

Tum  now  to  the  north-westem  comer  of  Europe. 
A  morsel  of  territory,  attached  by  a  slight  sand-hook  to 
the  continent,  and  half-submerged  by  the  stormy  waters 
of  the  German  Ocean— this  was  Holland.  A  mde 
climate,  with  long,  dark,  rigorous  winters,  and  brief 
summers,  a  territory,  the  mere  wash  of  three  great 
rivers,  which  had  fertilized  happier  portions  of  Europe 
only  to  desolate  and  overwhelm  this  less-favoured  land, 
a  soil  so  ungrateful,  that,  if  the  whole  of  its  four  hundred 
thoiisand  acres  of  arable  land  had  been  sowed  with 
grain,*  it  could  not  feed  the  labourers  alone,  and  a  popu- 
lation largely  estimated  at  one  million  of  souls— these 
were  the  characteristics  of  the  Province  which  already 
had  begun  to  give  its  name  to  the  new  commonwealth. 
The  isles  of  Zeeland— entangled  in  the  coils  of  deep 
slow-moving  rivers,  or  combating  the  ocean  without>— 

>  Compare  Guicdardtnl,  •  Belglca  De-       » •  Mdmoirea  de  Jean  de  Wit.'  La  Have. 
KripU      Amat.  1660,  p.  aiO  $eq.  1709-18-19. 


t 


8 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


and  the  ancient  episcopate  of  Utrecht,  formed  the  only 
other  Provinces  that  had  quite  shaken  off  the  foreign 
yoke.  In  Friesland  the  important  city  of  Groningen 
was  still  held  for  the  King,  while  Bois-le-Duc,  Zutphen, 
besides  other  places  in  Gelderland  and  North  Brabant, 
also  in  possession  of  the  royalists,  made  the  position  of 
those  Provinces  precarious. 

The  limit  of  the  Spanish  or  "obedient"  Provinces, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  United  Provinces  on  the 
other,  cannot,  therefore,  be  briefly  and  distinctly  stated. 
The  memorable  treason — or,  as  it  was  called,  the 
"  reconciliation  "  of  the  Walloon  Provinces  in  the  year 
1583-4 — had  placed  the  Provinces  of  Hainault,  Artois, 
Doiiay,  with  the  flourishing  cities  Arras,  Valenciennes, 
Lille,  Toumay,  and  others — all  Celtic  Flanders,  in  short 
— in  the  grasp  of  Spain.  Cambray  was  still  held  by  the 
French  governor.  Seigneur  de  Balagny,  who  had  taken 
advantage  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou's  treachery  to  the 
States,  to  establish  himself  in  an  unrecognized  but  prac- 
tical pett}'  sovereignty,  in  defiance  both  of  France  and 
Spain;  while  East  Flanders  and  South  Brabant  still 
remained  a  disputed  territory,  and  the  immediate  field 
of  contest.  With  these  limitations,  it  may  be  assumed, 
for  general  purposes,  that  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  was  that  of  the  modem  Kingdom  of  the  Nether- 
lands, while  the  obedient  Provinces  occupied  what  is 
now  the  territory  of  Belgium. 

Such,  then,  were  the  combatants  in  the  great  eighty 
years'  war  for  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  sixteen  of 
which  had  now  passed  away.  On  the  one  side,  one  of 
the  most  powerful  and  populous  world-empires  of  his- 
tory, then  in  the  zenith  of  its  prosperity ;  on  the  other 
hand,  a  slender  group  of  cities,  governed  by  merchants 
and  artisans,  and  planted  precariously  upon  a  meagre, 
unstable  soil.  A  million  and  a  half  of  souls  against  the 
autocrat  of  a  third  part  of  the  known  world.  The  con- 
test seemed  as  desperate  as  the  cause  was  certainly 
sacred ;  but  it  had  ceased  to  be  a  local  contest.  For 
the  history  which  is  to  occupy  us  in  these  volumes  is 
not  exclusively  the  history  of  Holland.  It  is  the  story 
of  the  great  combat  between  despotism,  sacerdotal  and 
regal,  and  the  spirit  of  rational  human  liberty.  The 
tragedy  opened  in  the  Netherlands,  and  its  main  scenes 


1584. 


RELIGIOUS  ORIGIN  OF  THE  REVOLT. 


9 


were  long  enacted  there  ;  but  as  the  ambition  of  Spain 
expanded,  and  as  the  resistance  to  the  principle  which 
she  represented  became  more  general,  other  nations 
were,  of  necessity,  involved  in  the  struggle.  There 
came  to  be  one  country,  the  citizens  of  which  were  the 
Leaguers  ;  and  another  country,  whose  inhabitants  were 
Protestants.  And  in  this  lay  the  distinction  between 
freedom  and  absolutism.  The  religious  question  swal- 
lowed all  the  others.  There  was  never  a  period  in  the 
early  history  of  the  Dutch  revolt  when  the  Provinces 
would  not  have  returned  to  their  obedience,  could  they 
have  been  assured  of  enjoying  liberty  of  conscience  or 
religious  ^eace ;  nor  was  there  ever  a  single  moment  in 
Philip  II.  s  life  in  which  he  wavered  in  his  fixed  deter- 
mination never  to  listen  to  such  a  claim.  The  quarrel 
was  in  its  nature  irreconcilable  and  eternal  as  the  war- 
fare between  wrong  and  right ;  and  the  establishment 
of  a  comparative  civil  liberty  in  Europe  and  America 
was  the  result  of  the  religious  war  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries.  The  struggle  lasted  eighty 
years,  but  the  prize  was  worth  the  contest. 

The  object  of  the  war  between  the  Netheriands  and 
Spain  was  not,  therefore,  primarily,  a  rebellion  against 
established  authority  for  the  maintenance  of  civil  rights. 
To  preserve  these  rights  was  secondary.  The  first 
cause  was  religion.  The  Provinces  had  been  fighting 
for  years  against  the  Inquisition.  Had  they  not  taken 
arms,  the  Inquisition  would  have  been  established  in 
the  Netheriands,  and  very  probably  in  England,  and 
Lngland  might  have  become  in  its  turn  a  Province  of 
the  Spanish  Empire. 

The  death  of  William  the  Silent  produced  a  sudden 
change  m  the  political  arrangements  of  the  liberated 
Netheriands.  During  the  year  1583  the  United 
Provinces  had  elected  Francis,  Duke  of  Anjou,  to  be 
Duke  of  Brabant  and  sovereign  of  the  whole  countiy, 
under  certain  constitutional  provisions  enumerated  in 
articles  of  solemn  compact.  That  compact  had  been 
grossly  violated.  The  Duke  had  made  a  treacherous 
attempt  to  possess  himself  of  absolute  power  and  to 
seize  several  important  cities.  He  had  been  signally 
defeated  in  Antwerp,  and  obliged  to  leave  the  country-, 
covered  with  ignominy.     The  States  had  then  consulted 


10 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


1584. 


DISPOSAL  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNTT. 


li 


w 


k 


William  of  Orange  as  to  the  course  to  be  taken  in  the 
emergency.  The  Prince  had  told  them  that  their  choice 
was  triple.  They  might  reconcile  themselves  with 
Spain,  and  abandon  the  contest  for  religious  liberty 
which  they  had  so  long  been  waging;  they  might 
reconcile  themselves  with  Anjoii,  notwithstanding  that 
he  had  so  utterly  forfeited  all  claims  to  their  considera- 
tion ;  or  they  might  fight  the  matter  out  with  (Spain 
single-handed.  The  last  course  was,  in  his  opinion,  the 
most  eligible  one,  and  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  his  life 
to  its  furtherance.  It  was,  however,  indispensable, 
should  that  policy  be  adopted,  that  much  larger  suj>plies 
should  be  voted  than  had  hitherto  been  raised,  and,  in 
general,  that  a  much  more  extensive  and  elevated  spirit 
of  patriotism  should  manifest  itself  than  had  hitherto 
been  displayed. 

It  was,  on  the  whole,  decided  to  make  a  second 
arrangement  ^vith  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  Queen  Elizabeth 
wannly  urging  that  course.  At  the  same  time,  however, 
that  articles  of  agreement  were  drawn  up  for  the  instal- 
lation of  Anjou  as  sovereign  of  the  United  Provinces,  the 
Prince  had  himself  consented  to  accept  the  title  of  Count 
of  Holland,  under  an  ample  constitutional  charter,  dic- 
tated by  his  own  lips.  K  either  Anjou  nor  Orange  lived 
to  be  inaugurated  into  the  offices  thus  bestowed  upon 
them.  The  Duke  died  at  Chateau-Thierry  cm  the  1 0th 
June,  and  the  Prince  was  assassinated  a  month  later  at 
Delft. 

What  now  was  the  political  position  of  the  United 
Provinces  at  this  juncture?  The  sovereignty  which 
had  been  held  by  the  Estates,  ready  to  be  conferred 
respectively  upon  Anjou  and  Orange,  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Estates.  There  was  no  opposition  to  this 
theory.  No  more  enlarged  view  of  the  social  compact 
had  yet  been  taken.  The  people,  as  such,  claimed  no 
sovereignty.  Had  any  champion  claimed  it  for  them 
they  would  hardly  have  understood  him.  The  nation 
dealt  with  facts.  After  abjuring  Philip  in  1581 — an 
act  which  had  been  accomplished  by  the  Estates — the 
same  Estates  in  general  assembly  had  exercised  sove- 
reign power,  and  had  twice  disposed  of  that  sovereign 
power  by  electing  a  hereditary  ruler.  Their  right  and 
their  power  to  do  this  had  been  disputed  by  none,  save 


by  the  deposed  monarch  in  Spain.  Having  the  sove- 
reignty to  dispose  of,  it  seemed  logical  that  the  Estates 
might  keep  it,  if  so  inclined.  They  did  keep  it,  but 
only  m  trust.  While  Orange  lived,  he  might  often  have 
been  elected  sovereign  of  all  the  Provinces,  could  he 
have  been  induced  to  consent.  After  his  death,  the 
Estates  retaine-d,  ex  necessitate,  the  sovereignty;  and  it 
will  soon  be  related  what  they  intended  to  do  with  it. 
One  thing  is  very  certain,  that  neither  Orange,  while 
he  lived,  nor  the  Estates,  after  his  death,  were  actuated 
m  their  policy  by  personal  ambition.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  first  object  of  the  Estates  was  to  dispossess 
themselves  of  the  sovereignty  which  had  again  fallen 
into  their  hands. 

What  were  the  Estates?  Without,   at  the  present 
moment,  any  farther  inquiries  into  that  constitutional 
system  which  had  been  long  consolidating  itself,  and 
was  destined  to  exist  upon  a  firmer  basis  for  centuries 
longer,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  observe,  that  the  great 
characteristic  of  the  Netherland  government  wa?  the 
municipality.     Each  Province  contained  a  large  number 
ot  cities,  which  were  governed  by  a  board  of  magis- 
trates, varying  m  number  from  twenty  to  forty.     This 
college,  called  the  Vroedschap  (Assembly  of  Sages), 
consisted  of  the  most  notable  citizens,  and  was  a  self- 
electing  body— a  close  corporation— the  members  beinff 
appointed  for  life,  from  the  citizens  at  large.    Whenever 
vacancies  occurred  from  death  or  loss  of  citizenship,  the 
coUege  chose   new  members— sometimes   immediately  ' 
sometimes  by  means  of  a  double  or  triple  selection  of 
names,  the  choice  of  one  from  among  which  was  offered 
to  the  stadholder  of  the  Province.     This  functionary 
was  appointed  by  the  Count,  a^  he  was  called,  whether 
Duke  of  Bavaria  or  of  Burgundy,  Emperor,  or  King. 
After  the  abjuration  of  Philip,    the   governors   were 
appointed  by  the  Estates  of  each  Province. 

rhe  Sage-Men  chose  annually  a  board  of  senators,  or 
schepens,  whose  functions  were  mainly  judicial ;  and 
there  were  generally  two,  and  sometimes  three,  burgo- 
masters, appointed  in  the  same  way.»  This  was  the 
popular  branch  of  the  Estates.  But,  besides  this  body 
of  representatives,  were   the   nobles,  men   of  ancient 

»  Meteren.  loc.  cU. 


12 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


Ik 

i  f 


lineage  and  large  possessions,  who  had  exercised,  ac- 
cording to  the  general  feudal  law  of  Enrope,  high,  low, 
and  intermediate  jurisdiction  upon  their  estates,  and 
had  long  been  recognized  as  an  integral  part  of  the  body 
politic,  having  the  right  to  appear,  through  delegates 
of  their  order,  in  the  provincial  and  in  the  general 
assemblies. 

Regarded  as  a  machine  for  bringing  the  most  decided 
political  capacities  into  the  administration  of  public 
affairs,  and  for  organizing  the  most  practical  opposition 
to  the  system  of  religious  tyranny,  tie  Netherland  con- 
stitution was  a  healthy,  and,  for  the  age,  an  enlightened 
one.  The  office-holders,  it  is  obvious,  were  not  greedy 
for  the  spoils  of  office  ;  for  it  was,  unfortunately,  often 
the  case  that  their  necessary  expenses  in  the  service  of 
the  state  were  not  defrayed.  The  people  raised  enormous 
contributions  for  carrjnng  on  the  war ;  but  they  could 
not  aiford  to  be  extremely  generous  to  their  faithful 
servants. 

Thus  constituted  was  the  commonwealth  upon  the 
death  of  William  the  Silent.  The  gloom  produced  by 
that  event  was  tragical.  Never  in  human  history  was  a 
more  poignant  and  universal  sorrow  for  the  death  of 
any  individual.  The  despair  was,  for  a  brief  season, 
absolute ;  but  it  was  soon  succeeded  by  more  lofty 
sentiments.  It  seemed,  after  they  had  laid  their  hero 
in  the  tomb,  as  though  his  spirit  still  hovered  above  the 
nation  which  he  had  loved  so  well,  and  was  inspiring 
it  with  a  portion  of  his  own  energy  and  wisdom.* 


1584. 


COURAGE  OF  THE  ESTATES  OF  HOLLAND. 


13 


*  "  The  people  of  that  conntry,"  wrote 
Walslngham,  ten  days  after  the  death  of 
Orange,  to  Davison,  "have  hitherto 
showed  themsolves  but  little  amazed 
with  the  accident  Rather,  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  deed  bath  hardened  their 
stomachs  to  hold  ont  as  long  as  they  shall 
have  any  means  of  defence." 

^  July.  1584,  S.P.  OfBceMa 

William  Herle,  also,  a  secret  and  most 
capable  emissary  of  the  English  govern- 
ment, was  visiting  the  citie:)  of  Holland 
and  Z^land  at  the  time  of  the  tragic  oc- 
currence. He  described,  in  vivid  colours, 
the  courageous  attitude  maintained  by  all 
persons  in  the  midst  of  the  general  gloom. 
"The   recent   death   of   the  Prince  of 


Orange,"  he  wrote  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 
"  baa  created  no  astonishment  (dismay) 
at  all,  either  of  the  people  or  magistrates, 
by  fear  or  division,  but  rather  generally 
animated  them  with  a  great  resolution 
of  courage  and  hatred  engraved  In  them, 
to  revenge  tlie  foulness  of  the  fact  com- 
mitted on  the  person  of  the  prince  by  the 
tyrant  of  Spain,  and  to  defend  theUr  liber- 
ties advisedly  against  him  and  his  adhe- 
rents by  all  means  that  God  has  given 
them,  to  the  uttermost  portion  of  their 
substance,  and  the  last  drop  of  their 
blood.-    ^J^yj.,^si,S.?.OmceMS. 

In  the  city  of  Dort  he  was  waited  upon 
by  the  magistrates,  and  received  by  them 
with   singular  respect,  as   the    known. 


Even  on  the  very  day  of  the  murder,  the  Estates  of 
Holland,  then  sitting  at  Delft,  passed  a  resolution  "  to 
maintain  the  good  cause,  with  God's  help,  to  the  utter- 
most, without  sparing  gold  or  blood."  This  lothjuiy, 
decree  was  communicated  to  Admiral  de  i^^- 
Warmont,  to  Count  llohenlo,  to  William  Lewis  of 
Nassau,  and  to  other  commanders  by  land  and  sea.  At 
the  same  time,  the  sixteen  members — for  no  greater 
number  happened  to  be  present  at  the  session — addressed 
letters  to  their  absent  colleagues,  informing  them  of  the 
calamity  which  had  befallen  them,  summoning  them  at 
once  to  conference,  and  urging  an  immediate  convo- 
cation of  the  Estates  of  all  the  Provinces  in  general 
assembly.  They  also  addressed  strong  letters  of  encou- 
ragement, mingled  with  manly  condolence,  upon  the 
common  affliction,  to  prominent  military  and  naval 
commanders  and  civil  functionaries,  begging  them  to 
"  bear  themselves  manfully  and  valiantly,  without  fal- 
tering in  the  least  on  account  of  the  great  misfortune 
which  had  occurred,  or  allowing  themselves  to  be  seduced 
by  any  one  from  the  union  of  the  States."*  Among 
'these  sixteen  were  Van  Zuylen,  Van  Nyvelt,  the  Seigneur 
de  Warmont,  the  Advocate  of  Holland,  Paul  Buys, 
Joost  de  Menin,  and  John  van  Olden-Bameveld.  A 
noble  example  was  thus  set  at  once  to  their  fellow 
citizens  by  these  their  representatives — a  manful  step 
taken  forward  in  the  path  where  Orange  had  so  long 
been  leading. 

The  next  movement,  after  the  last  solemn  obsequies 
had  been  rendered  to  the  Prince,  was  to  provide  for  the 
immediate  wants  of  his  family.  For  the  man  who  had 
gone  into  the  revolt  with  almost  royal  revenues,  left  his 
estate  so  embarrassed  that  his  carpets,  tapestries,  house- 
hold linen — nay,  even  his  silver  spoons,  and  the  very 
clothes  of  his  wardrobe — were  disposed  of  at  auction  for 
the  benefit  of  his  creditors."     He  left  eleven  children— 


although  secret,  representative  of  the 
Queen.  "They  repaired  to  me  hnme- 
dlately,"  he  wrote.  "  not  as  men  condoling 
their  estate,  or  craving  courage  to  be  in- 
stilled into  them— though  wanting  now 
a  head— but  irritated  above  measure  to 
be  revenged,  and  to  defend  all  their 
heads,  so  apparently  sought  for  by  the 
King  of  Spain,  In  murdering  their  head. 


the  Prince  of  Orange."  (Ibid.) 

1  •  Van  Wyn  et  al.  Aanmerklngen  op 
Wagenaar,'  vlli.  1-5. 

2  His  extensive  estates  were  all  deeply 
mortgaged,  and  he  left  absolutely  no 
ready  money.  "  Both  Buis  and  Meet- 
kerk  told  me/'  wrote  Herle  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  •«  that  the  prince  had  not  In 
ready  money  at  his  death  one  hundr'.d 


f 


14 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


If  I 


/I 


a  son  and  daughter  by  the  first  wife,  a  son  and  daughter 
by  Anna  of  Saxony,  six  daughters  by  Charhjtte  of 
Bourbon,  and  an  infant,  Frederic  Henry,  bom  six 
months  before  his  death.  The  eldest  son,  Philip 
William,  had  been  a  captive  in  Spain  for  seventeen 
years,  having  been  kidnapped  from  school,  in  Loyden, 
in  the  year  1567.  He  had  already  become  so  thoroughly 
Hispaniolized  under  the  masterly  treatment  of  the  King 
and  the  Jesuits,  that  even  his  face  had  lost  all  resem- 
blance to  the  type  of  his  heroic  family,  and  had  acquired 
a  sinister,  gloomy,  forbidding  expression,  most  painful  to 
contemplate.  All  of  good  that  he  had  retained  was  a 
reverence  for  his  father's  name — a  sentiment  which  he 
had  manifested  to  an  extravagant  extent  on  a  memorable 
occasion  in  Madrid,  by  throwing  out  of  window,  and 
killing  on  the  spot,  a  Spanish  oflScer  who  had  dared  to 
mention  the  great  Prince  with  insult. 

The  next  son  was  Maurice,  then  seventeen  years  of 
Hge,  a  handsome  youth,  with  dark  blue  eyes,  well- 
chiselled  features,  and  full  red  lips,  who  had  already 
manifested  a  courage  and  concentration  of  character 
beyond  his  years.  The  son  of  William  the  Silent,  the 
grandson  of  Maurice  of  Saxony,  whom  he  resembled  iti 
visage  and  character,  he  was  summoned  by  every  drop 
of  blood  in  his  veins  to  do  life-long  battle  with  the  spirit 
of  Spanish  absolutism,  and  he  was  already  girding 
himself  for  his  life's  work.  He  assumed  at  once  for  his 
device  a  fallen  oak,  with  a  young  sapling  springing  from 
its  root.  His  motto, — "Tandem  fit  surculus  arbor," 
^*  the  twig  shall  yet  become  a  tree  " — was  to  be  nobly 
justified  by  his  career.* 

The  remaining  son,  then  a  six  months'  child,  was 
also  destined  to  high  fortunes,  and  to  win  an  enduring 
name  in  his  country's  history.  For  the  present  ho 
remained  with  his  mother,  the  noble  Louisa  de  Coligny, 
who  had  thus  seen,  at  long  intervals,  her  father  and  two 


gnlldera,  which  was  a  note  of  his  popu- 

^'^'"   ?AuJ.;i5»8.S.P.  Office  MS. 
Compare  Waginaar.  vill.  12-15. 

•  "  The  Count  Maurice,  with  whom  I 
was,  mo«i  gTAcious  Sovereign,"  said 
Herle,  "  is  a  gentleman  of  the  age  of 
seveutce:  jears,  one  of  great  towanlness, 


good  presence  and  courage,  flaxen-haired, 
endu«l  with  a  singular  wit,  and  no  less 
learned  for  his  time.  He  somewhat  ro 
sombleslhe  countenance  and  spirit  of  his 
grandfather  of  the  mother's  side."  (Herle 
to  the  gueen,  MS.  Juot  cited.)  Compare 
Meteren,  xli.  2U. 


1584.        PRINCESS  OF  ORANGE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  15 

husbands  fall  victims  to  the  Spanish  policy  ;  for  it  is  as 
certain  that  Philip  knew  beforehand,  and  testified  his 
approbation  of,  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  as  that 
he  was  the  murderer  of  Orange. 

The  Estates  of  Holland  implored  the  widowed  Princess 
to  remain  in  their  territorv%  settling  a  liberal  allowance 
upon  herself  and  her  child,  and  she  fixed  her  residence 
at  Ley  den.* 

But  her  position  was  most  melancholy.     Married  in 
youth  to  the  Seigneur  de  Teligny,  a  young  noble  of 
distinguished  qualities,  she   had  soon  become  both  a 
widow  and  an  orphan  in  the  dread  night  of  St.  Bartho- 
lomew.    She  had  made  her  own  escape  to  Switzerland ; 
and  ten   years   afterwards   she   had   united  herself  in 
marriage  with  the  Prince  of  Orange.     At  the  age  of 
thirty-two  she  now  found  herself  desolate  and  wretched 
in  a  foreign  land,  where  she  had  never  felt  thoroughly 
a,t  home.     The  widow  and   children  of  William  the 
Silent  were  almost  without  the  necessaries  of  life      *'  I 
hardly  know,"  wrote  the  Princess  to  her  brother-in-law 
Count  John,  "  how  the  children  and  I  are  to  maintain 
ourselves  according  to  the  honour  of  the  house.     May 
God  provide  for  us  in  his  bounty,  and  certainly  we  have 
much  need  of  it.*    Accustomed  to  the  more  luxurious 
civilisation  of  France,  she  had  been  amused  rather  than 
amioyed,  when,  on  her  first  arrival  in  Holland  for  her 
nuptials,  she  found  herself  making  the  journey  from 
Rotterdam  to  Delft  in  an  open  cart  without  springs 
instead  of  the  well-balanced  coaches  to  which  she  Imd 
been  used,   arriving,   as  might    have   been    expected, 
much  bruised   and  shaken."     Such  had   become   the 
primitive  simplicity  of  William  the  Silent's  household.' 
lint  on  his  death,  in  embarrassed  circumstances,  it  was 
still  more  straitened.     She  had  no  cause  either  to  love 
Leyden,  for,  after  the  assassination  of  her  husband   a 
brutal   preacher,   Hakkius  by   name,   had   seized  that 
opportunity  for  denouncing  the  French  marriage,  and 
the  sumptuous  christening  of  the  infant  in  January,  as 
the  deeds  which  had  provoked  the  wrath  of  God  and 
righteous  chastisement.*     To  remain  there  in  her  widow- 

»  Wagenaar,  •  Vaderlandache  Historic,'    2  S.  1  9« 
IV  TeU"^  ^^  "P  '"''^'^'  "'"•       '  '^  Maurier.  •  M^moires.'  182. 
»  Groen  T'  Prlnsterer.  •  Archives.'  &c       '  """  "^^^  **^  '^^'''^'  ^"'^  ''• 


16 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


1584. 


PRO\TSIONAL  COUNCIL. 


if 


hood,  with  that  six  months'  child,  **  sole  pledge  of  her 
dear  lord,  her  consolation  and  only  pleasure,"  *  as  she 
pathetically  expressed  herself,  was  sufficiently  painful, 
and  she  had  been  inclined  to  fix  her  residence  in 
Flushing,  in  the  edifice  which  had  belonged  to  her 
husband,  as  Marquis  of  Vere.  She  had  been  persuaded, 
however,  to  remain  in  Holland,  although  *'  complaining, 
at  first,  somewhat  of  the  unkindness  of  the  people."  * 

A  small  well-formed  woman,  with  delicate  features, 
exquisite  complexion,  and  very  beautiful  dark  eyes,  that 
seemed  in  after-years,  as  they  looked  from  beneath  her 
coif,  to  be  dim  with  unshed  tears;  with  remarkable 
powers  of  mind,  angelic  sweetness  of  disposition,  a  win- 
ning manner,  and  a  gentle  voice,  Louisa  de  Coligny 
became  soon  dear  to  the  rough  Hollanders,  and  was  ever 
a  disinterested  and  valuable  monitress  both  to  her  own 
child  and  to  his  elder  brother  Maurice. ' 

Very  soon  afterwards  the  States  General  established 
a  state-council,  as  a  provisional  executive  board,  for 
the  term  of  three  months,  for  the  Provinces  of  Holland, 
Zeeland,  Utrecht,  Friesland,  and  such  parts  of  Flanders 
and  Bmbant  as  still  remained  in  the  Union.  At  the 
head  of  this  body  was  placed  young  Maurice,  who  ac- 
cepted the  responsible  position,  after  three  days'  deli- 
beration. The  young  man  had  been  completing  his 
education,  with  a  liberal  allowance  from  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  at  the  University  of  Leyden ;  and  such  had 
been  their  tender  care  for  the  child  of  so  many  hopes, 
that  the  Estates  had  given  particular  and  solemn  warn- 
ing, by  resolution,  to  his  governor  during  the  previous, 
summer,  on  no  account  to  allow  him  to  approach  the 
sea-shore,  lest  he  should  he  kidnapped  by  the  Prince 
of  Parma,  who  had  then  some  war-vessels  cruising  on 
the  coast.  * 


*17 


»  Groen  ▼.  Prlnsterer,  ubi  tup, 

«  MS.  letter  of  Herle. 

»  "  I  visited  the  Princess  of  Orange  by 
her  own  request,"  said  Herle,  a  few  days 
after  the  death  of  the  Prince,  "  and  fbund 
her  in  a  most  dark  melancholic  little 
chamber.  'T  was  a  twice  sorrowful  sight 
to  behold  her  heaviness  and  appan*!  aug- 
mented by  the  woefuiness  of  the  place  ; 
and  truly  the  perplexity  was  great  that 
I  found  her  in,  not  only  for  the  considera- 
tion of  things  pai>t,  but  for  that  which 


might  follow  hereafter,  her  afflictions 
having  been  great.  She  was  accompanied 
by  the  Princess  Chimay,  who  was  newly 
come  to  Delft,  and  no  less  dolorous  in 
another  degree  than  she,  but  truly  a 
virtuous  and  wise  lady,  whatsoever, 
under  correction,  hath  been  otherwise 
interpreted  of  her."  (Herle's  MS.  before 
cited.) 

«  'Resol.  HoU.,'  11th  August,  15S4.bl 
294  ;  Wagcnaar,  viii.  6. 


Tho  salary  of  Maurice  was  now  fixed  at  tliirty  (hou- 

T  riT  «  J:^*"-' ^5"e  each  of  the  councillors  was 
allowed  fifteen  hundred  annually,  out  of  which  stipend 
he  was  to  support  at  least  one  servant,  without  makinc 
any  claim  for  travelling  or  other  incidental  expenses  ' 

1  he  council  consisted  of  three  membere  frum  Brabant 
two  fr.,m  Flandera  four  from  Holland,  three  from 
Zeeland,  two  from  Utrecht,  one  from  Mechlin,  and  three 
from  Friesland -eighteen  in  all.  They  were  empowered 
and  enjoined  to  levy  troops  by  land  and  sea,  and  to 
appoint  naval  and  military  officers  ;  to  establish  courts 
ot  admiralty,  to  expend  the  moneys  voted  by  the  States 
to  maintain  the  ancient  privileges  of  the  country,  and  to 
see  that  al  troops  ,n  service  of  the  Provinces  made  oaih 
of  fidelity  to  the  Union.  Diplomatic  relations,  questions 
of  peace  and  war,  the  treaty-making  power  were  not 
entrusted  to  the  council,  without  tho^nowirdr  Tnl 
consent  of  the  States  General,  which  body  was  to  bo 
convoked  twice  a  year  by  the  state-council ' 

Thus  the  Provinces  in  the  hour  of  danger  and  dark- 
ness wer^  true  to  themselves,  and  were  fa?  from  giving 

wo?ild°.nf  1"'''°^'""^  "'"^'^  ,"°'^«''  t^«  circmnstenc^ 
would  not  have  been  unnatural 

uJl'Al  '^'""''a"^  »>ittenics8  were  rolling  far  and  wide 
around  them.  A  medal,  struck  in  Holland  at  this 
period,  represented  a  dismasted  hulk  reeling  throuril 
the  tempest.  The  motto,  " incertnm  quo  fata  ferent" 
(who  knows  whither  fate  is  sweeping  her')  exDre^^l 
most  vividly  the  shipwrecked  con^ditfon  oVthe  cCtn 
Alexander  of  Parma,  the  most  accomplished  generd  a^ 
one  of  the  most  adroit  statesmen  of  tL  age,  was^wift  to 

hf/^'u"*''^',.°^*.'  '••''^^"J-  "hich  had  now  befallen 
^e  rebellious  Provinces.  Had  he  been  better  provided 
with  men  and  money,  the  cause  of  the  States  mg-ht 
have  seemed  hopeless.  He  addressed  mam  lettrr^^to 
the  States  General,  to  the  magistmcies  of  vaVious  cWes 
r5.!°  ;"^'^'-^"^l^  ^"■•^e'ing  to  consider  that  with  th^ 

motive   for  continuing   the   contest   with   Spain       He 
offered  ea.sy  terms  of  reconciliation  with  the  dis«.rdod 

course,  the  religious  qucstion-for  it  was  as  >vell  known 


VOi!T°^'  "'"■  "^"'^'"f  Wwmi»r.  Till.  ,2 


lUtl. 


18 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


IV 


fif' 


to  the  States  as  to  Parma  that  there  was  no  hope  of 
riiilip  making  concessions  upon  that  important  point. 

In  Holland  and  Zeeland  the  Prince's  blandishments 
were  of  no  avail.  His  letters  received  in  various  to^vTis 
of  those  Provinces,  offered,  said  one  who  saw  them, 
*•'  almost  everything  they  would  have  or  demand,  even 
till  they  should  repent."  *  But  the  bait  was  not  taken. 
Individuals  and  municipalities  were  alike  stanch,  re- 
membering well  that  faith  was  not  to  be  kept  with 
heretics.  The  example  was  followed  by  the  Estates  of 
other  Provinces,  and  all  sent  in  to  the  General  Assembly, 
soon  in  session  at  Delft,  "  their  absolute  and  irrevocable 
authority  to  their  deputies  to  stand  to  that  which  they, 
the  said  States  General,  should  dispose  of  as  to  their 
persons,  goods,  and  country ;  a  resolution  and  agreement 
which  never  concurred  before  among  them,  to  this  day, 
in  what  age  or  government  soever."  * 

It  was  decreed  that  no  motion  of  agreement  "with 
the  tyrant  of  Spain"  should  bo  entertained  either 
publicly  or  privately,  *•  under  pain  to  be  reputed  ill 
patriots."  It  was  also  enacted  in  the  city  of  Dort  that 
any  man  that  brought  letter  or  message  from  the  enemy 
to  any  private  person  **  should  be  forthwith  hanged." 
This  was  expeditious  and  business-like.  The  same  city 
likewise  took  the  lead  in  recording  its  determination  by 
public  act,  and  proclaiming  it  by  sound  of  trumpet,  "  to 
live  and  die  in  tlio  cause  now  undertaken."* 

In  Flanders  and  Brabant  the  spirit  was  less  noble. 
Those  Provinces  were  nearly  lost  already.  Bruges 
seconded  Panna's  efforts  to  induce  its  sister-city  Ghent 
to  imitate  its  own  baseness  in  surrendering  without  a 
struggle ;  and  that  powerful,  turbulent,  but  most  anar- 
chical little  commonwealth  was  but  too  ready  to  listen 
to  the  voice  of  the  tempter.  *'  The  ducats  of  Spain, 
i\Iadam,  are  trotting  about  in  such  fashion,"  wrote  envoy 
Des  Pruneaux  to  Catherine  de'  Medici,  '*that  they  havo 
vanquished  a  great  quantity  of  courages.  Your  Ma- 
jesties, too,  must  employ  money  if  you  wish  to  advance 
one  step."*  No  man  knew  better  than  Parma  how  to 
employ  such  golden  rhetoric  to  win  back  a  wavering 


III 


»  Ilerleto  the  Qupf'n.  MS  before  clte.1.  «  Ibid. 

*  Oroen  v.  IVliisterer,  'Archives,'  ic.  4. 


«  IbJd. 


il 


1584.  FALL  OF  DENDERMOXDE.  VILVOORDE,  AND  GHENT.   19 

rebel  to  his  loyalty,  but  he  was  not  always  provided 
with  a  sufficient  store  of  those  practical  arguments. 

He  was,  moreover,  not  strong  in  the  field,  although 
he  wa.s  far  superior  to  the  States  at  this  contingency 
He  had,  besides  his  garrisons,  something  above  18  000 
men.     The  I'rovinces  had  hardly  3000  foot  and  2500 
horse,  and  these  were  mostly  lying  in  the  neighbour- 
hood  of  Zutphen.»     Alexander  was  threatening  at  the 
same   time    Ghent,    Dendermonde,    Mechlin,    Brussels 
and  Antwerp.    These  five  powerful  cities  lie  in  a  narrow 
circle,  at  distances  varying  from  six  miles  to  thirty,  and 
are,  as  it  were,  strung  together  upon  the  Scheldt,  bv 
which  river,  or  its  tributary,  the  Senne,   they  are  all 
threaded.     It  would  have  been  impossible  for  Parma 
with  100  000  men  at  his  back,  to  undertake  a  reomla; 
and  simultaneous  siege  of  these  important  places.     His 
purpose  was  to  isolate  them  from  each  other  and  from 
the  rest  of  the  country-,  by  obtaining  the  control  of  the 
great  river,  and  so   to  reduce  them  by  famine      The 
scheme  ^^as  a  masteriy  one,  but  even  the  consitmraato 
ability  of  Farnese  would  have  proved  inadequate  to  tho 
underfkking   had  not  the   preliminary  assassination   of 
Orange  made   the   task  comparatively  easy.     Treason, 
laint-heartedness,  jealousy,  were  the  fatal  allies  that  ih^ 
Governor-General  had  reckoned  upon,  and  with  reason' 
in  the  council-rooms   of  these   cities.     The   terms   ho 
offered  were  liberal.     Pardon,  permission  for  soldiers  to 
retreat  with  technical  honour,  liberty  to  choose  between 
apostiicy  to  the  reformed  religion  or  exile,  with  a  period 
ot  two  years  granted  to  the  conscientious  for  the  wind- 
ing up  of  thetr  affairs  ;  these  were  the  conditions,  whicli 
seemed  flattering,  now  that  the  well-known  voice  which 
had  so  often  silenced  the  Flemish  palterers  and  intri^ei  s 
was  for  ever  hushed.  &  ^^» 

Upon  the  17th  August  Dendermonde  surrendered  and 
no  lives  were  taken  save  those  of  two  preachers,  nth  'a„ 
one  of  whom  was  hanged,  while  the  other  ism"** 
was  drowned.  Upon  the  7th  September  Vilvoordo 
capitulated,  by  which  event  the  water-communication 
between  Brussels  and  Antwerp  was  cut  off.  Ghent,  now 
thoroughly  disheartened,  treated  with  Parma  likewise  • 
and  upon  the  17th   September  made  its  reconciliatioi; 


*  WageiMur,  viil.  13. 


c  2 


2§ 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  I. 


m 


with  the  King.'  Tlie  surrender  of  so  strong  and  impor- 
tant  a  place  was  as  disastrous  to  the  cause  of  the  patriots 
as  it  was  disgraceful  to  the  citizens  themselves.  It  was, 
however,  the  result  of  an  intrigue  which  had  been  long 
spinning,  although  the  thread  had  been  abruptly,  and, 
as  it  was  hoped,  conclusively,  severed  several  months 
before.  During  the  early  part?  of  the  year,  after  the 
reconciliation  of  Bruges  with  the  King— an  event  brought 
about  by  the  duplicity  and  adroitness  of  Prince  Chimay 
— the  same  machinery  had  been  diligently  and  almost 
Biiccessfully  employed  to  produce  a  like  result  in  Ghent. 
Champagny,  brother  of  the  famous  Cardinal  Granvelle, 
had  been  under  arrest  for  six  years  in  that  city.  His 
imprisonment  was  not  a  strict  one  however,  and  he 
avenged  himself  for  what  he  considered  very  unjust 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  patriots,  by  completely 
aband(jning  a  cause  which  he  had  once  begun  to  favour. 
A  man  of  singular  ability,  courage,  and  energ}%  dis- 
tinguished both  for  military  and  diplomatic  services,  he 
was  a  winidable  enemy  to  the  party  from  which  he  was 
now  for  ever  estranged.  Ab  early  as  April  of  thi^year, 
secret  emissaries  of  Parma,  dealing  with  Champagny  in 
his  nominal  prison,  and  with  the  disaflected  burghers  at 
large,  had  been  on  the  point  of  affecting  an  arrangement 
with  the  royal  governor.  Tlie  negotiation  had  been 
suddenly  brought  to  a  close  by  the  discovery  of  a  fla- 
grant attempt  by  Imbize,  one  of  the  secret  adherents  of 
the  King,  to  sell  the  city  of  Dendermonde.  of  which  he 
was  governor,  to  Parma.*  For  this  crime  he  had  been 
brought  to  Ghent  for  trial,  and  then  pubH(tly  beheaded. 
The  incident  came  in  aid  of  the  eloquence  of  Orange, 
who,  up  to  the  latest  moment  of  his  life,  had  been  most 
urgent  in  his  appeals  to  the  patriotic  hearts  of  Ghent, 
not  to  abandon  the  great  cause  of  the  union  and  of 
liberty.  William  the  Silent  knew  full  well,  that,  after 
the  withdrawal  of  the  great  keystone-city  of  Ghent,  the 
chasm  between  the  Celtic-Catholic  and  the  Flemish- 
Calvinist  Netherlands  could  hardly  be  bridged  again. 
Orange  was  now  dead.  The  negotiations  with  France, 
too,  on  which  those  of  the  Ghenters  who  still  held  true 

*  M«*teren,  xll.  216,  2X1.  there  cited;  Evorhard  van  Reyd,  '  H!i»- 

'  Sfe  'Rise  of  the   Dutch  Republic,'    t<irir»  d"r  Nederlandicher  Oorlogen,'  ed. 
vol  ill.  chap,  vl.,  and   the  authorities    1650,  iii.  47. 


1584. 


GHENT  ATTACHES  ITSELF  TO  SPAIN. 


21 


to  the  national  cause  had  fastened  their  hopes,  had 
previously  been  brought  to  a  standstill  by  the  death  of 
Anjou ;  and  Champagny,  notwithstanding  the  disaster  to 
Imbize,  became  more  active  than  ever.  A  private  a<>-ent, 
whom  the  municipal  government  had  despached  to  the 
French  court  for  assistance,  was  not  more  successful 
than  his  character  and  course  of  conduct  would  have 
seemed  to  warrant;  for  during  his  residence  in  Paris 
he  had  been  always  drunk,  and  generally  abusive.  I'his 
was  not  good  diplomacy,  particularly  on  the  part  of  an 
agent  from  a  weak  municipality  to  a  haughty  and  most 
undecided  government. 

^  "  They  found,  at  this  court,"  wrote  Stafford  to  AVal- 
singham,  •'  great  fault  with  his  manner  of  dealing  that 
was  sent  from  Gaunt.  He  was  scarce  sober  from  one  end 
of  the  week  to  the  other,  and  stood  so  much  on  his  tip- 
toes to  have  present  answer  within  three  days,  or  else 
that  they  of  Gaunt  could  tell  wJiere  to  bestow  themselves. 
They  sent  him  away  after  keeping  him  three  we^s,  and 
he  went  off  in  great  dudgeon,  swearing  hy  yea  and  nay 
that  he  will  make  report  thereafter."  * 

Accordingly,  they  of  Ghent  did  bestow  themselves 
very  soon   thereafter  upon   the   King  of  Spain.     The 
terms  were  considered  liberal,  but  there  was,  of  course, 
no  thought  of  conceding  the  great  object  for  which  the 
patriots  were  contending— religious  liberty,     llie  mu- 
nicipal  privileges— such   as   they  might   prove   to   be 
worth  under  the  intei-pretation  of  a  royal  governor  and 
beneath  the  guns  of  a  citadel  filled  with  Spanish  troops 
--were  to  be  guaranteed  ;  those  of  the  inhabitants  who 
did  not  choose  to  go  to  mass  were  allowed  two  years  to 
wind  up  their  affairs  before  going  into  perpetual  exile 
provided  they  behaved  themselves  '*  without  scandal  •  " 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  King's  authority  a.s  Count 
of  f  landers  was  to  be  fully  recognised,  and  all  the  dis- 
possessed monks  and  abbots  to  be  restored  to  their  pro- 
perty.* ^ 

Accordingly,  Champagny  was  rewarded  for  his  ex- 
ertions by  being  released  from  prison  and  receivin<^ 
the  appointment  of  governor  of  the  city ;  and,  after  a 

i.L^'"*^xr*J*'  Walsingham.  2rth  July.    I^  Petit.  'Grande   Chrontque  de  Hoi- 
15H4  in  Mnrdin.  il.  pp.  412-415.  lande.'  ed.  1601,  xiv.  409.  500. 

-f  iletereu,  xli.  217;  V.Keyd,lU.47; 


22 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Ciup.  I. 


'i 


m 


\ 


<li 


very  brief  interval,  about  one-half  of  the  population,  the 
most  enteiprising  of  its  merchants  and  manufacturers, 
the  most  industrious  of  its  artizans,  emigrated  to  Holland 
and  Zeeland.*  The  noble  city  of  Ghent — then  as  largo 
as  Paris,  thoroughly  surrounded  with  moats,  and  foili- 
tied  with  bulwarks,  ravelins,  and  counterscarps,  con- 
Ktructed  of  earth  during  the  previous  two  years,  at 
great  expensi!,  and  provided  with  bread  and  meat,  pow- 
der and  shot,  enough  to  last  a  year — was  ignominiously 
surrendered.  The  population,  already  a  veiy  reduced 
and  slender  one  for  the  great  extent  of  the  place  and  its 
former  importimce,  had  been  estimated  at  70,000.*  The 
number  of  houses  was  35,000,  so  that,  as  the  inhabitants 
were  soon  farther  reduced  to  one-lialf,  there  remained 
about  one  individual  to  each  house.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  twenty-five  monasteries  and  convents  in  the  town 
were  repeopled — with  how  much  advantage  as  a  set-off 
to  the  thousands  of  spinners  and  weavers  who  had  wan- 
dered away,  and  who  in  the  flourishing  days  of  Ghent 
had  sent  gangs  t)f  workmen  tlirough  the  streets  '*  whose 
tramp  was  like  that  of  an  army  " — may  be  suflSciently 
estimated  by  the  result. 

The  fall  of  Brussels  was  deferred  till  March,  and  that 
of  Mechlin  (lUth  July,  1585)  and  of  Antwerp  (19th 
loth  March.  August,  1585),  till  Midsummer  of  the  following 
i&«5.  y^.^j. .  ^^^  ^^^  surrender  of  Ghent  foreshadowed 
the  fate  of  Flanders  and  Brabant.  Ostend  and  Sluys, 
however,  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  patriots,  and 
with  them  the  control  of  the  whole  Flemish  coast.  The 
command  of  the  sea  was  destined  to  remain  for  centuries 
with  the  new  republic. 

The  Prince  of  Tarma,  thus  encouraged  by  the  great 
success  of  his  intrigues,  was  detei  mined  to  achieve  still 
greater  triumphs  with  his  arms,  and  steadily  proceeded 
with  his  large  design  of  closing  the  Scheldt  and  bring- 
ing about  the  fall  of  Antwerp.  The  details  of  that  siege 
—one  of  the  most  brilliant  military  operations  of  the 
age  toid  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  its  results—will 
be  given,  as  a  comiected  whole,  in  a  subse«iuent  series  of 
chapteis.  For  the  present,  it  will  be  better  for  the 
reader  who  wishes  a  clear  view  of  European  politics  at 
this  epoch,  and  of  the  position  of  the  Ketherlands,  to 

*  -Ueleren,  ubi  tup.  2  liuicciardiul,  p.  207. 


1584.  ELT.OPEAN  POLITICS  AND  DIPLOMACY.  23 

give  his  attention  to  the  web  of  diplomatic  negotiation 
and  court-mtngue   which  had  been  slowlv  spreadino- 
over  the  leading  states  of  Christendom,  and  in  which  th? 
late  of  the  world  was  involved.     If  diplomatic  adroit- 
ness consists  mainly  in  the  power  to  deceive,  never 
were  more  adroit  diplomatists  than  those  of  the  sixteenth 
century.      It  would  however  be  absurd  to  deny  them  a 
various  range  of  abilities ;  and  the  history  of  no  other 
age   can   show  more   subtle,  comprehensive,   indefati- 
gable—but, It  must  also  be  added,  often  unscrupulous 
-intellects  engaged   in  the  great  game  of  politics   in 
which  the  highest  interests  of  millions  were  the  stake.- 
than  were  those  of  several  leading  minds  in  Eno-land' 
l^rance,  Germany,  and  Spain.      With  such  statesmen 
the  burgher-diplomatistsof  the  new-born  commonwealth 
had  to  measure  themselves ;  and  the  result  was  to  show 
whether  or  not  they  could  hold  their  own  in  the  cabinet 
as  on  the  field. 

For  the  present,  however,  the  new  state  was  uncon- 
scious of  Its  latent  importance.  The  new-risen  republic 
remained  for  a  season  nebulous,  and  ready  to  unsphere 
Itself  so  soon  as  the  relative  attraction  of  other  ^reat 
powers  should  determine  its  absorption.  By  the  death 
of  Anjou  and  of  Orange  the  United  Ketherlands  had 
become  a  sovereign  state,  an  independent  republic  ;  but 
hey  stood  with  that  sovereignty  in  their  hands,  off^rinc 
It  alternately,  not  to  the  highest  bidder,  but  to  the  powe? 
that  would  be  willing  to  accept  their  allegiance,  on  the 
sole  condition  of  assisting  them  in  the  maintenance  of 
their  rehgious  freedom. 


24 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Keliitiom  of  the  Republic  to  France  —  Queen's  Severity  towards  CathoHcs  and  Cal- 
vinists  —  Relative  Positions  of  England  and  France —Timidity  of  Gtrniany  — 
Apathy  of  Protestant  Germany  —  Indignation  of  the  Netherlanders  —  Henry  ill. 
of  France  —  The  King  and  hi&  Minions  —  Henry  of  Guise —  Henry  of  Navarre- 
Power  of  France  —  Embassy  of  the  States  to  France — Ignominious  Position  of 
the  Envoys  —  Views  of  the  French  Huguenots  —  Efforts  to  procure  Annexation 
—  Succebs  of  Des  Pruneaux. 

The  Prhico  of  Orange  had  always  favoured  a  French 
policy.  Ho  had  ever  felt  a  stronger  reliance  upon  the 
support  of  France  than  upon  that  of  any  other  power. 
This  was  not  unreasonable,  and,  so  long  as  he  lived,  the 
tendency  of  the  Netherlands  had  been  in  that  direction. 
It  had  never  been  the  wish  of  England  to  acquire  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Provinces.  In  France,  on  the  con 
trary,  the  Queen  Dowager,  Catherine  de*  Medici,  had 
always  coveted  that  sovereignty  for  her  darling,  Francis 
of  Alen^on ;  and  the  design  had  been  favoured,  so  far 
as  any  policy  could  be  favoured,  by  the  impotent 
monarch  who  occupied  the  French  throne. 

The  religion  of  the  United  Netherlands  was  Calvin- 
istic.  There  were  also  many  Anabaptists  in  the  country. 
The  Queen  of  England  hated  Anabaptists,  Calvinists, 
and  other  sectarians,  and  banished  them  from  her  realms 
on  pafin  of  imprisonment  and  confiscation  of  property.' 
As  firmly  opposed  as  was  her  father  to  the  supremacy 
of  the  Bishop  of  Kome,  she  felt  much  of  the  paternal 
reluctance  to  accept  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation. 
Henry  Tudor  hanged  the  men  who  believed  in  the 
Pope,  and  burnt  alive  those  who  disbelieved  in  tran- 
subiitantiation,  auricular  confession,  and  the  other  '  Six 
Articles.*  His  daughter,  whatever  her  secret  religious 
convictions,  was  stanch  in  her  resistance  to  Rome,  and 
too  enlightened  a  monarch  not  to  see  wherein  the  great- 
ness and  glory  of  England  were  to  bo  found ;  but  she 
had  no  thought  of  tolerating  liberty  of  conscience.  All 
opposed  to  the  Church  of  England,  whether  I^apists  or 
Puritans,  were  denounced  as  heretics,  and  as  such  im- 

1  Camden,  i.  iS. 


1584.    SEVERITY  TOWARDS  CATHOLICS  AND  CALVINISTS.     25 

prisoned  or  banished.     **  To  allow  churches  with  con- 
trary  rites   and    ceremonies,"   said   Elizabeth,    "were 
nothing  else  but  to  sow  religion  out  of  religion,   to 
distract  good  men's  minds,  to   cherish  factious  men's 
humours,  to  disturb  religion  and  commonwealth,  and 
mingle  divine  and  human  things ;  which  were  a  thing 
in  deed  evil,  in   example  worst  of  all ;    to   our  own 
subjects   hurtful,   and    to    themselves   to   whom   it   is 
granted,  neither  greatly  commodious,   nor   yet  at  all 
safe."'     The  words  were  addressed,  it  is  true,  to  Papists, 
but  there  is  very  little  doubt  that  Anabaptists  or  any 
other  heretics  would  have  received  a  similar  reply,  had 
they,   too,   ventured   to   demand   the   right   of   public 
worship.     It  may  even  be  said  that  the  Romanists  in 
the  earlier  days  of  Elizabeth's  reign  fared  better  than 
the  Calvinists.      The  Queen  neither  banished  nor  im- 
prisoned the  Catholics.     She  did  not  enter  their  houses, 
to   disturb   their  private   religious   ceremonies,   or  to 
inquire  into  their  consciences.     This  was  milder  treat- 
ment than  the  burning  alive,  burying  alive,  hanging, 
and  drowning,  which  had  been  dealt  out  to  the  English 
and  the  Netherland  heretics  by  Philip  and  by  Mary, 
but  it  was  not  the  spirit  which  William  the  Silent  had 
been  wont  to  manifest  in  his  measures  towards  Ana- 
baptists and  Papists  alike.     Moreover,  the  Prince  could 
hardly  forget  that,  of  the  nine  thousand  four  hundred 
Catholic  ecclesiastics  who  held  benefices  at  the  death  of 
Queen  Mary,  all  had  renounced  the  Pope  on  the  acces- 
sion of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  acknowledged  her  as  the 
head  of  the  church,  saving  only  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  individuals.'     In  the  hearts  of  the  nine  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eleven  others,  it  might  be  thought 
perhaps  that  some  tenderness   for  the   religion   fi°m 
which  they   had   so   suddenly  been  converted   might 
linger,  while  it  could  hardly  be  hoped  that  they  would 
seek    to  inculcate   in  the  minds  of  their  flocks  or  of 
their  sovereign  any  connivance  with  the  doctrines  of 
Geneva. 

W  hen,  at  a  later  period,  the  plotting  of  Catholics 
suborned  by  the  Pope  and  Philip,  against  the  throne 
and  person  of  the  Queen,  made  more  rigorous  measures 
necessary ;  when  it  was  thought  indispensable  to  exe- 

»  Camden.  1.  32.  2  ibjd.,  i.  28. 


26 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


cute  cOs  traitors  those  Roman  seedlings — seminaiy  priests 
and  their  disciples — who  went  about  preaching  to  the 
Queen's  subjects  the  duty  of  carrying  out  the  bull  by 
which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  deposed  and  excom- 
nmnicatod  their  sovereign,  and  that  "  it  was  a  merito- 
rious act  to  kill  such  princes  as  were  excommunicate,"  * 
even  then,  the  men  who  preached  and  practised  treason 
and  murder  experienced  no  severer  treatment  than  that 
which  other  "  heretics  "  had  met  with  at  the  Queen's 
hands.     Jesuits  and  Popish  priests   were,  by  Act   of 
Parliament,  ordered  to  depart  the  realm  ^^'ithin  forty 
days."     ITiose   who   should  afterwards   return  to  the 
kingdom   were   to    be    held   guilty    of  high   treason. 
Students  in  the  foreign  seminaries  were  commanded  to 
return  within  six  months  and  recant,  or  bo  held  guilty 
of  high   treason.      Parents  and   guardians   supplying 
money  to  such  students  abroad  were  to  incur  the  penalty 
of  a  praemunire — perpetual  exile,  namely,  -^vith  loss  of 
all  their  goods." 

Many  seminary  priests  and  others  were  annually 
executed  in  England  under  these  laws,  throughout  the 
Queen's  reign,  but  nominally  at  least  they  were  hanged 
Hot  as  Papists,  but  as  traitors ;  not  because  they  taught 
transubstantiation,  ecclesiastical  celibacy,  auricular  con- 
fession, or  even  Papal  supremacy,  but  because  they 
taught  treason  and  murder — because  they  preached  the 
necessity  of  killing  the  Queen.  It  was  not  so  ea«y, 
however,  to  defend  or  even  coniprehend  the  banishment 
and  imprisonment  of  those  who,  without  conspiring 
against  the  Queen's  life  or  throne,  desired  to  see  the 
Church  of  England  reformed  according  to  the  Church  of 
Geneva.  Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  sectaries 
experienced  much  inhuman  treatment  for  such  delin- 
quency, lioth  in  the  early  and  the  later  years  of  Eliza- 
betli's  reign.* 

There  was  another  consideration,  which  had  its  due 
weight  in  this  balance,  and  that  was  the  respective 
succession  to  the  throne  in  the  two  kingdoms  of  France 
and  Kngland.  Mary  Stuart,  the  Catholic,  the  niece  of 
the  Guises,  emblem  and  exponent  of  all  that  was  most 
Roman  in  Europe,  the  sworn  friend  of  Philip,  the 
mortal  foe  to  all  heresy,  was  the  legitimate  successor  to 


1  Camdi-D,  lii.  336. 


»  Ibid.,  iU.  309. 


'  IbJO. 


*  Ibid.  107,  409. 


1584.     RELATIVE  POSITIONS  OF  ENGLAND  AND  FRANCE.     27 

Elizabeth.  Although  that  sovereign  had  ever  refused 
to  recognize  that  claim  ;  holding  that  to  confirm  Mary 
in  the  succession  was  to  "  lay  her  own  winding-sheet 
before  her  eyes,  yea,  to  make  her  own  grave,  while  she 
liveth  and  looketh  on  ;'"  and  although  the  unfortunate 
claimant  of  two  thrones  was  a  prisDuer  in  her  enemy's 
hands ;  yet,  so  long  as  she  lived,  there  was  little  security 
for  Protestantism,  even  in  Elizabeth*s  lifetime,  and  less 
still  in  case  of  her  sudden  death.  On  the  other  hand, 
not  only  were  the  various  politico-religious  forces  of 
France  kept  in  equilibrium  by  their  action  upon  each 
other— so  that  it  was  reasonable  to  believe  that  the 
House  of  Valois,  however  Catholic  itself,  would  be 
always  compelled  by  the  fast-expanding  strength  of 
French  Calvinism,  to  observe  faithfully  a  compact  to 
tolerate  the  Netherland  churches— but,  upon  the  death 
of  Henry  III.  the  crown  would  be  legitimately  placed 
upon  the  head  of  the  great  champion  and  chief  of  the 
Huguenots,  Henry  of  Navarre. 

It  was  not  unnatural,  therefore,  that  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  a  Calvinist  himself,  should  expect  more  sym- 
pathy with  the  Ketherland  reformers  in  France  than  in 
England.  A  large  proportion  of  the  population  of  that 
kingdom,  including  an  influential  part  of  the  nobility, 
was  of  the  Huguenot  persuasion,  and  the  religious 
peace,  established  by  royal  edict,  had  endured  so  long, 
that  the  reformers  of  France  and  the  Netherlands  had 
begim  to  believe  in  the  royal  clemency,  and  to  confide 
in  tfie  royal  word.  Orange  did  not  live  to  see  the 
actual  formation  of  the  Holy  League,  and  could  only 
guess  at  it«  secrets. 

Moreover,  it  should  be  remembered  that  France  at 
that  day  was  a  more  formidable  state  than  England,  a 
m«ire  dangerous  enemy,  and,  as  it  was  believed,  a  mJre 
efficient  protector.  The  England  of  the  period,  glorious 
as  it  was  for  its  own  and  all  future  ages,  was  not  the 
great  British  Empire  of  to-day.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
what  would  now  be  considered,  statistically  speakiijf,  a 
rather  petty  power.  The  England  of  Elizabeth,  \ral- 
singham,  Burghley,  D^ke,  and  Raleigh,  of  Spenser  and 
fcliakspeare,  haidly  numbered  a  larger  population  than 
LOW  dwells  in  its  capital  and  immediate  suburbs.     It 

*  Camden,  i.  54. 


V 


I 


28 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  (I. 


\  \ 


I 


had  neither  standing  army  nor  considerable  royal  navy. 
It  was  full  of  conspirators,  daring  and  unscrupulous, 
loyal  to  none  save  to  Mary  of  Scotland,  Philip  of  Spain, 
and  the  Pope  of  Rome,  and  untiring  in  their  efforts  to 
bring  about  a  general  rebellion.  With  Ireland  at  its 
side,  nominally  a  subject  province,  but  in  a  state  of 
chronic  insurrection— a  perpetual  hot-bed  for  Spanish 
conspiracy  and  stratagem ;  with  Scotland  at  its  back,  a 
foreign  country,  with  half  its  population  exasperated 
enemies  of  England,  and  the  rest  but  doubtful  friends, 
and  with  the  legitimate  sovereign  of  that  country,  "  the 
daughter  of  debate,  who  discord  still  did  sow," »  a 
prisoner  in  Elizabeth's  hands,  the  central  point  around 
which  treason  was  constantly  crystallizing  itself,— it 
was  not  strange  that,  with  the  known  views  of  the  Queen 
on  the  subject  of  the  reformed  Dutch  religion,  England 
should  seem  less  desirable  as  a  protector  for  the  Nether- 
lands than  the  neighbouring  kingdom  of  France. 

Elizabeth  was  a  great  sovereign,  whose  genius  Orange 
always  appreciated,  in  a  comparatively  feeble  realm. 
Henry  of  Valois  was  the  contemptible  monarch  of  a 
powerful  state,  and  might  be  led  by  others  to  produce 
incalculable  mischief  or  considerable  good.  Notwith- 
standing the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  therefore, 
and  the  more  recent  *' French  fury"  of  Antwerp, 
Orange  had  been  willing  to  countenance  fresh  negotia- 
tions with  France. 

Elizabeth,  too,  it  should  never  be  foigotten,  was,  if 
not  over  generous,  at  least  consistent  and  loyal  in  her 
policy  towards  the  Provinces.  She  was  not  precisely 
jealous  of  France,  as  has  been  unjustly  intimated  on  ^ 
distinguished  authority,^  for  she  strongly  advocated  the 
renewed  offer  of  the  sovereignty  to  Anjou,  after  his 
memorable  expulsion  from  the  Provinces.*  At  that 
period,  moreover,  not  only  her  own  love-coquetries  with 
Anjou  were  over,  but  he  was  endeavouring  with  all  his 
might,  though  in  secret,  to  make  a  match  with  the 
younger  Inftmta  of  Spain.*     Elizabeth  furthered  the 

«  Sonnet  by  Queen  Eliiabeth.  Negotiations  sur  le  Project  de  Marlage 

«  'H.  Grotil   Annalium,'  v.    126.  cd.  du  Due  d'At.jou  avec  une  des  Infantes 

1658,  Amst  d'F^pagnp,  et  aux  Affaires  traict^es  <le 

»  •  Rise  of  the    Dutch   Republic/  IIL  part  et  d'autre  pour  les  Pays  Bas,  Cam- 

chap,  vi.,  and  MS.  Letter  of  Queen  Eliza-  bray,  la  succession  de  Portugal '  &c.  Bib 

beth,  cited  In  note.  .         .    -  » 

*  •  Collection  de  Lettres  relatives  aux 


Imp.  de  France,  Brienne  MS. 


1584. 


TIMIDITY  OF  GERMANY 


29 


negotiation  with  France,  both  publicly  and  privately 
It  will  soon  be  narrated  how  those  negotiations  pros- 

If  then  England  were  out  of  the  question,  where, 
.  except  m  France,  should  the  Xetherlanders,  not  deem- 
ing themselves   capable   of  standing  alone,   seek   for 
protection  and  support  ? 

We  have  seen  the  extensive  and  almost  ubiquitous 
power_  of  Spain.      Where   she   did   not   command   as 
sovereign,  she  was  almost  equally  formidable  as  an  ally 
1  lie  Emperor  of  Germany  was  the  nephew  and   the 
brother-in-law  of  Philip,  and  a  strict  Catholic  besides, 
i^ittle  aid  was  to  be  expected  from  him  or  the  lands 
under  his  control  for  the  cause  of  the  Aetherland  revolt. 
Kudolph  hated  his  brother-in-law,  but  lived  in  mortal 
tear  ot  liim.     He  was  also  in  perpetual  dread  of  the 
Grand  lurk.     That  formidable  potentate,  not  then  the 
sick  man     whose  precarious  condition  and  territorial 
inheritance  cause  so   much   anxiety  in   modern  days, 
was,  It  18  true  sufficiently  occupied  for  the  moment  in 
1  ersia,   and   had   been    sustaining    there   a   series   of 
sanguinary  defeats.      He  whs  all  the  more  anxious  to 
remain  upon  good  terms  with  Philip,  and  had  recently 
sent  him  a  comphmentary  embassy,'  together  with  some 
rather  choice  presents,  among  which  were  -  four  lions 
twelve  imicoiTis,  and  two  hordes  coloured  white,  black! 
and  b  ue.    »    Notwithstanding  these  pacific  manifesta- 
tions towards  the  West,  however,  and  in  spite  of  the 
truce  with  the  German  Empire  which  the  Turk  had 
just  renewed  for  nine  years,- Kudolph  and  his  servants 
still  trembled  at  every  report  from  the  East. 

I  18  much  deceived,"  wrote  Buisbecq,  Rudolph's 
ambassador  in  Paris,  -who  doubts  that  the  Turk  has 
sought  anything  by  this  long  Persian  war,  but  to 
protect  his  back  and  prepare  the  way,  after  subduin- 

Ind  fh«fT''  V^.^  extermination  of  all  Christendom^ 
and  that  he  will  then,  with  all  his  might,  wage  an  un- 
equal warfare  with  us,  in  which  the  exi'stence  of  the 
Empire  will  be  at  stake." " 

The  envoy  expressed,  at  the  same  period,  however, 


30 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


/ 


P 


I 


Btill  greater  awe  of  Spain.  "  It  is  to  no  one,"  he  wrote, 
"  endowed  with  good  judgment,  in  the  least  obscure, 
that  the  Spanish  nation,  greedy  of  empire,  will  never 
be  quiet,  even  with  their  great  power,  but  will  seek  for 
the  dominion  of  the  rest  of  Christendom.  How  much 
remains  beyond  what  they  have  already  acquired  ? 
Afterwards,  there  will  soon  be  no  liberty,  no  dignity, 
for  other  princes  and  republics.  That  single  nation 
will  be  arbiter  of  all  things,  than  which  nothing  can  be 
more  miserable,  nothing  more  degiading.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  all  kings,  princes,  and  states,  whose  safety 
or  dignity  is  dear  to  them,  would  willingly  associate  in 
arms  to  extinguish  the  comm(»n  conflagration.  The 
death  of  the  Catholic  king  would  seem  the  great  oppor- 
tunity miscendvi  rebus.'' ' 

Unfortunately  neither  Busbecq's  master  nor  any 
other  king  or  prince  manifested  any  of  this  commend- 
able alacrity  to  "  take  up  arms  against  the  conflagration." 
Germany  was  in  a  shiver  at  every  breeze  from  East  or 
West — trembling  alike  before  Philip  and  Amurath. 
The  Papists  were  making  rapid  progress,  the  land 
being  undermined  by  the  steady  and  stealthy  encroach- 
ments of  the  Jesuits.  Lord  Burghley  sent  many  copies 
of  his  pamphlet,  in  Latin,  French,  and  Italian,  against 
the  Seminaries,  to  Gebhard  Truchsess ;  and  the  deposed 
archbishop  made  himself  busy  in  translating  that 
wholesome  production  into  German,  and  in  dispersing 
it  *'all  Germany  over."  The  work,  setting  duly  forth 
"  that  the  executions  of  priests  in  England  were  not  for 
religion  but  for  treason,"  was  "marvellously  liked"  in 
the  Netherlands.  '*  In  uttering  the  truth,"  said  Herle, 
"  'tis  likely  to  do  great  good  ;  "  and  he  added,  that 
Duke  Augustus  of  Saxony  *'  did  now  see  so  far  into  the 
sect  of  .lesuits,  and  to  their  inward  mischiefs,  as  to 
become  their  open  enemy,  and  to  make  friends  against 
them  in  the  Empire."  * 

The  love  of  Tnichsess  for  Agnes  ^laui^feld  hnd 
created  disaster  not  only  for  himbelf  but  for  Germany. 
The  whole  electorate  of  Cologne  had  become  the  con- 
stant seat  of  partizan  warfare,  and  the  resort  of  organized 
bands  of  brigands.     Villages  were  burned  and  rifled, 

»  BiisbequH  •  ::pist  ad  Rud.'  p.  124-^6. 

«  Herle  to  Quctu  Kllzabetb,  T2nd  July,  1584,  MS.  before  cit-d. 


1584. 


APATHY  OF  PROTESTANT  GERMANY. 


31 


highways  infested,   cities   threatened,   and   the  whole 
country  subjected  to  perpetual  black  mail  (brandschat- 
zung)— fire-insurance   levied   by   the    incendiaries    in 
person  —by  the  supporters  of  the  rival  bishops.    Truch- 
sess  had  fled  to  Delft,  where  he  had  been  countenanced 
and  supported  by  Orange.     Two  cities  still   held   for 
him,  Kheinberg  and  Neusz.      On  the  other  hand,  his 
rival,  Albert  of  Bavaria,  supported  by  Philip  II.,'and 
the  occasional  guest  of  Alexander  of  Parma,  had  not 
yet  succeeded  in  establishing  a  strong  foothold  in  the 
territory.     Two  pauper  archbishops,  without   men   or 
means  of  their  own,  were  thus  pushed  forward  and  back, 
like  puppets,  by  the  contending  highwa>Tnen  on  either 
side;  while  robbery  and  murder,  under  the  name  of 
Protestantism  or  Catholicism,  were  for  a  time  the  only 
motive  or  result  of  the  contest. 

Thus  along  the  Rhine,  as  well  as  the  Maas  and  the 
bcheldt,   the   fires   of  civil   war   were    ever   burning 
Deeper  within  the  heart  of  Germany,  there  was  more 
tranquillity  ;  but  it  was  the  tranquillity  rather  of  para- 
lysis than  of  health.      A  fearful  account  was  slowly 
accumulating,  which  was  eventually  to  be  settled  only 
by  one  of  the  most  horrible   wars  which  hi.^toiy  has 
ever  recorded.    Meantime  there  was  apathv  where  there 
should  have  been  enthusiasm  ;  parsimony  and  cowardice 
where  generous  and  combined  eftbrts  were  more  neces- 
sary than  ever  ;  sloth  without  security.    The  Protestant 
princes,  growing  fat  and  contented  on  the  spoils  of  tho 
church,  lent  but  a  deaf  ear  to  the  moans  of  Truchsess 
forgetting  that  their  neighbour's  blazing  roof  was  likely 
soon   to   fire   their   own,      "They  understand   better 
proximns  sum  egomet  mihi,"  wrote  Lord  Willoughby  from 
Kronenburg,  "  than  they  have  learned,  himani  nihil  a  me 
nheinim  pnto.      These  German  princes  continue  still  in 
their  lethargy,  careless  of  the  state  of  others,  and  dream- 
ing of  their  ubiquity,  and  some  of  them,  it  is  thought 
inclining  to  be   Spanish  or  Popish  more  of  late  than 
heretofore." ' 

^  The  beggared  archbishop,  more  forlorn  than  ever 
since  the  death  of  his  great  patron,  cried  woe  from  his 
resting-place  m  Delft,  upon  Protestant  Germany.     His 

•  Willoughby  to  Burghley,  In  Wright's  'Queen  Elizabeth  and  her  Times.'  vol.  ii. 


32 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  H. 


m 


'I 


tones  seemed  almost  prophetic  of  the  thirty  years* 
wrath  to  blaze  forth  in  the  next  generation.  "  Courage 
is  wanting  to  the  people  throughout  Germany,"  he 
wrote  to  William  Lewis  of  Nassau.  *'  We  are  becoming 
the  laughing-stock  of  the  nations.  Make  sheep  of 
yoTirselves,  and  the  wolf  will  eat  you.  We  shall  find 
our  destruction  in  our  immoderate  desire  for  peace. 
Spain  is  making  a  Papistical  league  in  Germany. 
Therefore  is  Assonleville  despatched  thither,  and  that's 
the  reason  why  our  trash  of  priests  are  so  insolent  in 
the  Eun)ire.  'Tis  astonishing  how  they  are  triumphing 
on  all  sides.  God  will  smite  them.  Thou  dear  God ! 
What  are  our  evangelists  about  in  Germany?  Asleep 
oij  both  ears.  Dormiunt  in  utramque  aurem.  I  doubt 
they  will  be  suddenly  enough  awakened  one  day,  and 
the  cry  will  be  *  Who'd  have  thought  it?*  Then  they 
will  be  fur  getting  oil  for  tlie  lamp,  for  shutting  the 
stable-door  when  the  steed  is  stolen  :"'  and  so  on,  with  a 
string  of  homely  proverbs  worthy  of  Sancho  Panza,  or 
landgrave  William  of  Hesse.* 


•  Groen  v.  Prinsterer,  '  Archives,'  4c., 
1.9. 

*  The  statesmen  of  England  were  too 
sagaciuus  not  to  see  the  Importance  to 
Protestant  Germany  of  suKtalntng  the 
ex  elector,  if  to  sustain  him  were  pos- 
sibk'.  But  to  this  end  it  was  necessary 
that  the  German  princes,  whom  it  most 
nearly  concerned,  should  unite  in  his  sup- 
port. Qxieen  Elizabeth  had  authorized  a 
subeildy  to  enable  Truchsess  to  carry  on 
the  war;  but  his  Bavarian  competitor 
was  baclced  hy  the  power  of  Spain,  and 
was  himself  of  higher  rank  and  Urger  re- 
■onrces. 

•*  No  man."  wrote  Walsln^ham  to  Da- 
vison, "  wishes  bt'tter  success  than  my- 
self tt)  the  elfctttr.  knowing  how  greatly 
it  importeth  the  common  cause  of  reli- 
gion that  he  should  be  upholdi^n,  and  the 
benefit  that  those  distn-swHl  aiun  tries, 
where  you  now  are,  may  rect^lve  by  way 
of  diversion  through  bis  employment; 
for  that  Spain,  and  his  minister  the 
Prince  of  Ihirma,  must  not  se«>  the  Bishop 
of  Liege  quail.  Yet  when  I  consider,  upon 
view  of  tlie  report  of  the  conference  be- 
tween you  and  the  said  elfctor,  how  little 
appeitrance  Is  of  any  great  assistance 
that  he  shall  have,  and  that  the  prince- 


electors  whom  the  cause  doth  touch, 
especially  Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  have 
as  yet  no  disposition  to  deal  therein,  as 
thowjh  the  lomenxitum  of  the  liberty  of 
Germany  did  in  no  respect  touch  them,  1 
see  no  great  reason  to  hope  that  this  en- 
terprise will  be  accompanied  with  that 
gixid  success  that  both  1  wish  and  Is  also 
looked  for  here."  (30th  Dec.  1684,  S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

It  waa  therefore  necessary.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  English  government,  to 
move  warily  In  the  matter.  For  remote 
allies  to  expend  their  strength  in  sustain* 
li)g  the  sinking  elector,  while  the  Pro- 
testants nearest  him  looked  upon  his 
struggles  with  folded  arms,  seemed  super- 
fluous and  unreasonable.  **  For  It  Is 
hard."  Siiid  Walsingham,  "for  men  of 
Judgment  to  think  that  he,  having  no 
greater  likelihood  of  support  than  yet  ap- 
ixaielli  he  hath,  shall  be  able  to  prevail 
against  a  bishop  of  Liege,  by  birth  more 
noble  than  himself,  already  possessed  of 
the  most  part  of  the  bishopric,  who  will 
not  lack  any  assistance  that  the  Catholic 
princes  can  yield  him.  As  for  the  sup- 
ports proinis<'d  by  the  kings  of  Denmark 
and  of  Navarre,  being  in  respect  of  th« 
others  but  weak  and  far  distant  In  place. 


1584.  APATHY  OF  PROTESTANT  GERMANY.  33 

In  truth,  one  of  the  most  painful  features  in  the 
general  aspect  of  affairs  was  the  coldness  of  the  German 
1  rotestantfi    towards    the   Netherlands.      The   enmity 
between  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  was  almost  as  fatal 
as  that  between  Protestants  and  Papists.     There  was 
even  a  talk,  at  a  little  later  period,  of  excluding  those 
of  the     reformed    church  from  the  benefits  of  the  peace 
ot  1  as^u      The  pnnces  had  got  the  Augsburg  confes- 
sion and  the  abbey-lands  into  the  bargain ;  the  peasants 
had  got  the  Augsburg  confession  without  the  abbey- 
lands,  and  were  to  believe  exactly  what  their  masters 
believed      This  was  the  German-Lutheran  sixteenth- 
century  idea  of  religious  freedom.     Neither  prince  not 
pea^nt  stirred  m  behalf  of  the  struggling  Christians  in 
the  Unit^ed  Provinces  battling,  year  after  year,  knee- 
deep  in  blood,  amid  blazing  cities  and  inundated  fields 
breast  to  breast  with  the  yellow-jerkined  pikemen  of 
fepam  and  Italy,  with  the  axe  and  the  faggot  and  the 
rack  of  the  Holy  Inquisition  distinctly  vlVe  behind 
them.     Such  were  the  realities  which  occupied  the 
Netherlanders   in  those   days,   not   watery  beams  of 
theological   moonshine,  fantastical   catechism-making 
intermingled  with  scenes  of  riot  and  wantonness,  which 
drove  old  John  of  Nassau  half  frantic;  -with   ban- 
queting and  guzzling,  drinking  and  devouring,  with 
unchristian  flaunting  and  wastefulness  of  apparel,  with 
extravagant  and    wanton   dancing,   and    other    lewd 
abominations ;"'  all  which,  the  fir^m  old  reformer  p7c> 
phesied   would  lead  to  the  destruction  of  Germany 

ibl.  nf  ^^  "^T'  "i^"^  "'"'y^^.^  ^"*  apparently  irresist- 
ible, of  bpanish  and  papistical  absolutism  was  gradually 

that  help  which  consists  in  well-wishing 
groweth  fruitless,  unless  it  be  accom- 
panied by  effects,  which  the  dulness  of 
the  Almaine  nature  easily  yieldeth  not 
until  the  disease  grow  desperate,  I  cannot 
but  advise  you,  for  the  Queen's  honour 
to  induce  him  to  make  it  very  probable 
unto  you.  that  the  support  now  yielded 
by  her  M^ty  Is  like  to  work  thai  effect 
which  be  pretendeth."    (Ibid.) 

Otherwise  it  was  cautiously  suggested 
by  the  Secretary,  that  the  envoy  would 
"do  well  to  forbear  to  be  over-forward 
In  delivering  of  the  money." 

>  Groen  v.  Prinsterer.  •  Archives,'  &c. 
1.227. 


'tis  very  doubtful,  before  the  Elector  can 
take  any  profit  thereof,  that  his  cause 
may  miscarry,  unless  It  should  be  through 
God's  goodness  upholden."  (ibid.) 

But,  in  truth,  the  Protestant  princes  of 
Germany  were  most  lukewarm  in  the 
matter,  and  the  complaints  of  poor 
Truchsess  were  foimded  upon  very  accu- 
rate knowledge  as  to  the  sentiments  of 
his  compatriots.  "  By  letters  received 
from  Germany,  as  well  from  Casimir 
(elector-palatine)  as  others,"  continued 
WalsinRham,  "I  do  not  find  any  other 
forwardness  in  those  that  are  thought 
the  best  affected  towards  him  there  than 
to  uiiA  weU  unto  him.  But  because 
VOL.    1. 


u 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


closing  over  Christendom.  The  Netherlands  were  the 
wedge  by  which  alone  the  solid  bulk  could  be  riven 
asunder.  It  was  the  cause  of  German,  of  French,  of 
English  liberty,  for  which  the  Provinces  were  con- 
tending. It  was  not  surprising  that  they  were  bitter, 
getting  nothing  in  their  hour  of  distress  from  the  land 
of  Luther  but  dogmas  and  Augsburg  catechisms  instead 
of  money  and  gunpowder,  and  seeing  German  reiters 
galloping  daily  to  reinforce  the  army  of  Parma,  in  ex- 
change for  Spanish  ducats. 

Bmve  old  La  None,  with  the  iron  arm,  noblest  of 
Frenchmen  and  Huguenots — who  had  just  spent  five 
years  in  Spanish  bondage,  writing  military  discourses 
in  a  reeking  dungeon  tilled  with  toads  and  vermin, 
after  fighting  the  battle  of  liberty  for  a  life-time,  and 
with  his  brave  son  already  in  the  Netherlands  emu- 
lating his  father's  valour  on  the  same  field — denounced, 
at  a  little  later  day,  the  lukewarmness  of  Protestant 
Germany  with  whimsical  vehemence : — "  I  am  as- 
tounded," he  cried,  '*  that  these  princes  are  not  ashamed 
of  themselves  ;  doing  nothing  while  they  see  the 
oppressed  cut  to  pieces  at  their  gates.  When  will  God 
grant  me  grace  to  place  me  among  those  who  are  doing 
their  duty,  and  afar  from  those  who  do  nothing,  and 
who  ought  to  know  that  the  cause  is  a  common  one  ? 
If  I  am  ever  caught  dancing  the  German  cotillon,  or 
playing  the  German  flute,  or  eating  pike  with  German 
sauce,  I  hope  it  may  be  flung  in  my  teeth."  * 

The  great  league  of  the  Pope  and  Philip  was  steadily 
consolidating  itself,  and  there  were  but  gloomy  pros- 
pects for  the  counter-league  in  Germany.  There  was 
no  hope  but  in  England  and  France.  For  the  reasons 
already  indicated,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  taking  counsel 
with  the  Estates,  had  resolved  to  try  the  French  policy 
once  more.  The  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  which 
no  man  in  Christendom  so  well  understood  as  he,  was 
to  be  established  by  maintaining  (he  thought)  the 
equilibrium  between  France  and  Spain.  In  the  anta- 
gonism of  those  two  great  realms  lay  the  only  hope 
for  Dutch  or  European  liberty.  Notwithstanding  the 
treason  of  Anjou,  therefore,  it  had  been  decided  to 
renew  negotiations  with  that  Prince.     On  the  death  of 

»  Groen  v.  IVimterer,  •  Archives,'  Sec,  L  85 


1584.         FRENCH  POLICY-HENRY  HI.  OF  FRANCE.  35 

the  Duke,  the  envoys  of  the  States  were  accordinfflv 
instructed  to  make  the  offer  to  King  Heniy  III.  whk)h 
had  been  intended  for  his  brother.     That  proposition 

TjI  a  T^P^/  ""i  ^^^  ^^^  Netherlands,  save 
Holland  and  Zeeland,  under  a  constitution  maintaining 
the  reformed  religion  and  the  ancient  laws  and  pri- 
vileges of  the  respective  Provinces.  ^ 

But  the  death  of  Francis  of  Anjou  had  brought 
about  a  considerable  change  in  French  policy  It  was 
now  more  sharply  defined  than  ever,  a  right-angled 
triangle  of  almost  mathematical  precision.  The  three 
Henrys  and  their  partizans  divided  the  realm  into 
three  hostile  camps-threatening  each  other  in  simu- 
lated peace  since  the  treaty  of  Fleix  (1580),  which  had 
put  an  end  to  the  " lover's  war''  of  the  preceding 
year,-Henry  of  Valois,  Henry  of  Guise,  and  Henry  of 
Navarre.  "^ 

Henry  III,  last  of  the  Valois  line,  was  now  thirty- 
three  years  of  age  Less  than  king,  less  even  than 
man,  he  was  one  of  those  unfortunate  personages  who 

IXo 't^L^r  ""^^Z  *^'  '"^"^  °f  ^°y^l*y  ridiculous, 
and  to  test  the  capacity  of  mankind  to  eat  and  drink 

humiliation  as  if  it  were  wholesome  food.  It  proved 
how  deeply  engraved  in  men's  minds  of  that  century 
was  the  necessity  of  kingship,  when  the  hardy  Nether- 
landers,  who  had  abjured  one  tyrant,  and  had  been 
lighting  a  generation  long  rather  than  return  to  him 

iTkTiCVof'vSor  "P*  '"'^  "^^^^'^*^  °^  ^  ^'^W 

He  had  not  been  bom  without  natural  gifts,  such  as 
Heaven  wrely  denies  to  prince  or  peasant;    but  tho 

oSfi  u  f  M^  """^  VO'^'^^i  had  been  exhausted 
W  /k-*^  of  Moncontottr,  his  manhood  had  been  left 
behind  him  at  Venice,  and  such  wit  as  Heaven  had 
endowed  h,m  withal  was  now  expended  in  darting 
noStw^'fTf""^  **  court-ladies  whom  he  was  onlf 
r/bnr^n^  d'shonounng  by  calumny,  and  whose  chams 
he  burned  to  outrival  in  the  estimation  of  his  minions. 
*or  the  monarch  of  France  was  not  unfreqnently 
pleaded  to  attire  himself  like  a  woman  and  ^harlot. 
faP«  ™1k'"'    T°?^'  Je'^«"«'l  stomacher,  and  painted 

and  breast,  and  satin-slippered  feet,  of  whose  delicate 

D  2- 


1 


36 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  H. 


shape  and  size  he  was  justly  vain,  it  was  his  delight  to 
pass   his    days    and  nights    in  a  ceaseless  round  of 
gorgeous  festivals,  tourneys,  processions,  masquerades, 
banquets,   and    balls,   the    cost  of   which    glittering 
frivolities  caused  the  popular  burthen  and  the  popular 
execration  to  grow,  from  day  to  day,  more  intolerable 
and  more  audible.    Surrounded  by  a  gang  of  "  minions,** 
the  most  debauched  and  the  most  desperate  of  France, 
whose  bedizened  dresses  exhaled  perfumes  throughout 
Paris,  and  whose  sanguinary  encounters  dyed  every 
street  in  blood,  Henry  lived  a  life  of  what  he  called 
pleasure,  careless  of  what  might  come  after,  for  he  was 
the  last  of  his  race.     The  fortunes  of  his  minions  rose 
higher  and  higher,  as  their  crimes  rendered  them  more 
and  more  estimable  in  the  eyes  of  a  King  who  took  a 
woman's  pride  in  the  valour  of  such  champions  to  his 
weakness,  and  more  odious  to  a  people  whose  miserable 
homes  were  made  even  more  miserable,  that  the  coflfers 
of  a  few  court-favourites  might  be  filled.    Now  saun- 
teiing,  full- dressed,   in  the   public  promenades,  with 
ghastly  little  death's  heads  stnmg  upon  his  sumptuous 
garments,  and  fragments  of   human  bones   dangling 
among  his  orders  of  knighthood — playing  at  cup  and 
ball  as  he  walked,  and  followed  by  a  few  select  courtiers 
who  gravely  pursued  the  same  exciting  occupation — 
now  presiding  like  a  queen  of  beauty  at  a  tournament 
to  assign  the  prize  of  valour,  and  now,  by  the  advice  of 
his  mother,  going  about  the  streets  in  robes  of  penitence, 
telling  his  beads  as  he  went,  that  the  populace  might 
be   edified  by   his   piety,   and    solemnly   offering  up 
prayers  in  the  churches  that  the  blessing  of  an  heir 
might  be  vouchsafed  to  him, — Henry  of  Valois  seemed 
straining  every  nerve  in  order  to  bring  himself  and  his 
great  ofiice  into  contempt. 

As  orthodox  as  he  was  profligate,  he  hated  the 
Huguenots,  who  sought  his  protection  and  who  could 
have  saved  his  throne,  as  cordially  as  he  loved  the 
Jesuits,  who  passed  their  lives  in  secret  plottings 
against  his  authority  and  his  person,  or  in  fierce  de- 
nunciations from  the  Paris  pulpits  against  his  manifold 
crimes.  Next  to  an  exquisite  and  sanguinary  fop,  he 
dearly  loved  a  monk.  The  presence  of  a  friar,  he  said, 
exerted  as  agreeable  an  effect  upon  his  mind  as  the 


1584. 


HENRY  HI.  AND  HIS  MINIONS. 


37 


most  delicate  and  gentle  tickling  could  produce  upon 
his  body ; '  and  he  was  destined  to  have  a  fuller  dose  of 
that  charming  presence  than  he  coveted. 

His  party — for  he  was  but  the  nominal  chief  of  a 
faction,  tanqiiam  umis  ex  nobis — was  the  party  in  posses- 
sion— the  office-holders'  party ;  the  spoilsmen,   whose 
purpose  was  to  rob  the  exchequer  and  to  enrich  them- 
selves.    His  minions — for  the  favourites  were  called  by 
no  other  name — were  even  more  hated,  because  less 
despised,  than  the  King.     Attired  in  cloth  of  gold — for 
silk   and  satin  were  grown  too  coarse  a  material  for 
them — with  their  little  velvet  porringer-caps  stuck  on 
the  sides  of  their  heads,  with  their  long  hair  stiff  with 
pomatum,  and  their  heads  set  inside  a  well-starched 
ruff  a  foot  wide,  "like  St.  John's  head  in  a  charger," 
as  a  splenetic  contemporary  observed,*  with  a  nimbus  of 
musk  and    violet-powder    enveloping   them    as    they 
passed  before  vulgar  mortals,  these  rapacious  and  in- 
solent courtiers  were  the   impersonation  of  extortion 
and  oppression  to  the  Parisian  populace.     They  were 
supposed,  not  unjustly,  to  pass  their  lives  in  dancing, 
blasphemy,  duelling,  dicing,  and  intrigue,  in  following 
the  King  about  like  hounds,  fawning  at  his  feet,  and 
showing  their  teeth  to  all  besides ;  and  for  virtues  such 
as  these  they  were  rewarded  by  the  highest  offices  in 
church,  camp,  and  state,  while  new  taxes  and  imposts 
were  invented  almost  daily  to  feed  their  avarice  and 
supply  their  extravagance.     France,  doomed  to  feel  the 
beak  and  talons  of  these  harpies  in  its  entrails,  im- 
poverished by  a  government  that  robbed  her  at  home 
while  it  humiliated  her  abroad,  struggled  vainly  in  its 
misery,  and  was  now  on  the  verge  of  another  series  of 
internecine  combats— civil  war  seeming  the  only  alter- 
native to  a  voluptuous  and  licentious  peace.* 

"We  all   stood   here    at  gaze,"   wrote   ambassador 


»  De  Thou,  X.  667. 

*  L'Estoile,  •  RegiBtre  Joamal  de  Henry 
ni./  ed.  Michaud  et  Poqjoulat,  p.  72 
•eg. 

»   "  Quant  k  leur  habit,  11  excede 
Tout  leur  blen  et  tout  leur  tresor, 
Car  le  mignon  qui  tout  consotnine, 
Ne  se  vest  plus  en  gentilhomme, 
Mais  comme  un  prince  de  drap  d'or ; 
£t  pour  mieux  contenter 


Lew  Jen,  leur  pompe,  leur  bobano^ 
Et  leur  trop  prodigue  d^pense, 
H  faut  tons  les  Jours  inventer 
Nouveaux  Impdts,  nouvelles  taillea, 
Qu'll  faut  du  profond  des  entrailles 
Des  panvres  st^ets  arracher. 
Qui  trainent  leurs  chetlves  vies 
Sous  la  griffe  de  oes  harpies, 
Qui  avalent  tout  sans  macher,"  &c. 
f'Estoile,  ubi  sup. 


1 1 


lii 


38 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


Stafford  to  Walsingham,  "  looking  for  some  great  matter 
to  come  of  this  sudden  journey  to  Lyons ;  but,  as  far  as 
men  can  find,  parturiunt  monies,  for  there   hath   been 
nothing  but  dancing  and  banqueting  from  one  house 
to  another,   bravery   in  apparel,  glittering   like   the 
sun."'     He  mentioned  that  the  Duke  of  Epernon's 
borse,  taking  fright  at  a  red  cloak,  had  backed  over  a 
precipice,  breaking  his  own  neck,  while  his  master's 
shoulder  merely  was  put  out  of  joint.     At  the  same 
time  the  Duke  of  Joyeuse,  coming  over  Mount  Cenis, 
on  his  return  from  Savoy,  had  broken  his  wrist.     The 
people,  he  said,  would  rather  they  had  both   broken 
their  necks  "  than  any  other  joint,  the  King  having 
racked  the  nation  for  their  sakes,  as  he  hath  done."  * 
Stafford  expressed  mucb  compassion  for  the  French  in 
*^®  plight  in  which  they  found  themselves.     "Un- 
happy people ! "  he  cried,  "  to  have  such  a  King,  who 
Beeketh  nothing  but  to  impoverish  them  to  enrich  a 
couple,  and  who  careth  not  what  cometh   after  his 
death,  so  that  he  may  rove  on  while  he  liveth,  and 
careth  neither  for  doing  his  own  estate  good  nor  his 
neighbour's  state  harm."     Sir  Edward  added,  however, 
in  a  philosophizing  vein,  worthy  of  Corporal  Nym,  that] 
**  seeing  we  cannot  be  so  happy  as  to  have  a  King  to 
concur  with  us  to  do  us  any  good,  yet  we  are  happy  to 
have  one  that  his  humour  serveth  him  not  to  concur 
with  others  to  do  us  harm  ;  and  'tis  a  wisdom  for  us  to 
follow  these  humours  that  we  may  keep  him  still  in 
that  humour,  and  from  hearkening  to  others  that  may 
egg  him  on  to  worse."* 

It  was  a  dark  hour  for  France,  and  rarely  has  a  great 
nation  been  reduced  to  a  lower  level  by  a  feeble  and 
abandoned  government  than  she  was  at  that  moment 
under  the  distaff  of  Henry  III.  Society  was  corrupted 
to  Its  core.  "  There  is  no  more  truth,  no  more  justice, 
no  more  mercy,"  moaned  Tresident  L'Etoile.  "  To 
slander,  to  lie,  to  rob,  to  wench,  to  steal ;  all  thin<'-s 
are  permitted  save  to  do  right  and  to  speak  the  truth*!" 
Impiety  the  most  cynical,  debauchery  the  most  un- 
veiled, public  and  unpunished  homicides,  private  mur- 
ders by  what  was  called  magic,  by  poison,  by  hired 


»  StAfford  to  Walslngham,  21th  Aug. 
1584,  io  Murdia  ii,  415-419. 


»  Ibid. 

•  Stafford  to  WaUingham,  ubi  nip. 


1564. 


HENKY  OF  GUISE. 


39 


assassins,  crimes  natural,  unnatural,  and  preternatural, 
were  the  common  characteristics  of  the  time.*  All 
posts  and  charges  were  venal.  Great  offices  of  justice 
were  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  that  which  was 
thus  purchased  by  wholesale  was  retailed  in  the  same 
fashion.  Unhappy  the  pauper  client  who  dreamed  of 
justice  at  the  hands  of  law.  The  great  ecclesiastical 
benefices  were  equally  matter  of  merchandise,  and 
married  men,  women,  unborn  childrem,  enjoyed  reve- 
nues as  dignitaries  of  the  church.  Infants  came  into 
the  world,  it  was  said,  like  the  mitre-fish,  stamped 
with  the  emblems  of  place.* 

**  'Twas  impossible,"  said  L'Etoile,  **  to  find  a  crab 
80  tortuous  and  backsliding  as  the  government."* 

This  was  the  aspect  of  the  first  of  the  three  factions 
in  France.  Such  was  the  Henry  at  its  head,  the 
representative  of  royalty. 

Henrys  with  the  Scar,  Duke  of  Guise,  the  well-known 
chief  of  the  house  of  Lorraine,  was  the  chief  of  the 
extreme  papistical  party.  He  was  now  thirty-four 
years  of  age,  tall,  stately,  with  a  dark,  martial  face  and 
dangerous  eyes,  which  Antonio  Moro  loved  to  paint ; 
a  physiognomy  made  still  more  expressive  by  the 
arquebus-shot  which  had  damaged  his  left  cheek  at  the 
fight  near  Chateau-Thierry  and  gained  him  his  nam© 
of  Balafre.  Although  one  of  the  most  turbulent  and 
restless  plotters  of  that  plotting  age,  he  was  yet  thought 
more  slow  and  heavy  in  character  than  subtle,  Teutonic 
rather  than  Italian.  He  was  the  idol  of  the  Parisian 
burghers.  The  grocers,  the  market-men,  the  members 
of  the  arquebus  and  crossbow  clubs,  all  doted  on  him. 
The  fishwomen  worshipped  him  as  a  god.  He  was  the 
defender  of  the  good  old  religion  under  which  Paris 
and  the  other  cities  of  France  had  thriven ;  the  un- 
compromising opponent  of  the  new-fangled  doctrines 
which  western  clothiers,  and  dyers,  and  tapestry- 
workers  had  adopted,  and  which  the  nobles  of  the 
mountain-countr}%  the  penniless  chevaliers  of  Ifeeam 
and  Gascony  and  Guienne,  were  ceaselessly  taking  the 
field  and  plunging  France  into  misery  and  bloodshed 


»  L'Fstoile,  97,  88;  Perefixe,  'Hls- 
toire  du  Itoi  Henri  le  Grand,'  ed.  1816, 
p.  29. 


«  Perefiie,  L'Estolle,  ubi  sup. 
•  L'Estoile,  udt  sup. 


I 


I 


40 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


1584. 


to  support.     But  for  the  Balafre  and  Madam  League — 
as  the  great  Spanish  Catholic  conspiracy  against  the 
liberties  of  France,  and  of  England,  and  of  all  Europe, 
was  aflfectionately  teimed  by   the    Paris  populace — 
honest  Catholics  would  fare  no  better  in  France  than 
they  did  in  England,  where,  as  it  was  well  known, 
they  were  every  day  bubjected  to  fearful  tortures.    The 
Bhop-windows  were  filled  with   coloured  engravings, 
representing,  in  exaggerated  fashion,  the  sufterings  of 
the   English   Catholics   under    bloody    Elizabeth,   or 
Jezebel,  as  she  was  called  ;  and,  as  the  gaping  burghers 
stopped  to  ponder  over  these  works  of  art,  there  were 
ever  present,  as  if  by  accident,  some  persons  of  supeiior 
information  who  would  condescendingly  explain  the 
various  pictures,  pointing  out  with  a  long  stick  the 
phenomena  most  worthy  of  notice.'     These  caricatures 
proving  highly  successful,   and  being  suppressed  by 
order  of  government,  they  were  repeated  upon  canvas 
on  a  larger  scale,  in  still  more  conspicuous  situations, 
as  if  in  contempt  of  the  royal  authority,  which  sullied 
itself  by  compromise  with  Calvinism.'    The  pulpits, 
meanwhile,  thundered  denunciations  on  the  one  hand 
against  the  weak  and  wicked  King,  who  worshipped 
idols,  and  who  sacrificed  the  dearly- earned  pittance  of 
his  subjects  to  fee<l  the  insolent  pomp  of  his  pampered 
favourites ;    and  on  the  other,  upon  the  arch-heretic, 
the  arch-apostate,  the  Beamese  Huguenot,  who,  after 
the  death  of  the  reigning  monarch,  would  have  the 
effrontery  to  claim  his  throne,  and  to  introduce  into 
France  the  persecutions  and  the  horrors  under  which 
unhappy  England  was  already  groaning. 

The  scarce-concealed  instigator  of  these  assaults 
upon  the  royal  and  upon  the  Huguenot  faction  was,  of 
course,  the  Duke  of  Guise,— the  man  whose  most 
signal  achievement  had  been  the  Massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew— all  the  preliminary  details  of  that 
transaction  having  been  arranged  by  his  skill.  So  long 
as  Charles  IX.  was  living,  the  Balafr^  had  created  the 
confusion  which  was  his  element  by  entertaining  and 
fomenting  the  perpetual  intrigues  of  Anjou  and  Alen^on 
against  their  brother ;  while  the  altercations  between 
them  and  the  Queen-Mother  and  the  furious  madman 


»  De  Thou,  tx.  269.  270,  teq. 


«  IbW 


HENRY  OF  GUISE. 


41 


who  then  sat  upon  the  throne,  had  been  the  cause  of 
sufficient  disorder  and  calamity  for  France.  On  the 
death  of  Charles  IX.  Guise  had  sought  the  intimacy  of 
Henry  of  Navarre,  that  by  his  means  he  might  frustrate 
the  hopes  of  Alen9on  for  the  succession.  During 
the  early  period  of  the  Beamese's  residence  at  the 
French  court  the  two  had  been  inseparable,  living 
together,  going  to  the  same  festivals,  tournaments,  and 
masquerades,  and  even  sleeping  in  the  same  bed. 
"  My  master,"  was  ever  Guise's  address  to  Henry ; 
**  my  gossip,'*  the  young  King  of  Navarre's  reply.  But 
the  crafty  Beamese  had  made  use  of  the  intimacy  only 
to  read  the  secrets  of  the  Balafr^'s  heart;  and  on 
Navarre's  flight  from  the  court,  and  his  return  to 
Huguenotism,  Guise  knew  that  he  had  been  played 
upon  by  a  subtler  spirit  than  his  own.  The  simulated 
affection  was  now  changed  into  undisguised  hatred. 
Moreover,  by  the  death  of  Alen9on,  Navarre  now  stood 
next  to  the  throne,  and  Guise's  plots  became  still  more 
extensive  and  more  open  as  his  own  ambition  to  usurp 
the  crown  on  the  death  of  the  childless  Henry  III. 
became  more  fervid.* 

Thus,  by  artfully  inflaming  the  populace  of  Paris, 
and — through  his  organised  bands  of  confederates — that 
of  all  the  large  towns  of  France,  against  the  Huguenots 
and  their  chief,  by  appeals  to  the  religious  sentiment ; 
and  at  the  same  time  by  stimulating  the  disgust  and 
indignation  of  the  tax-payers  everywhere  at  the  imposts 
and  heavy  burthens  which  the  boundless  extravagance 
of  the  court  engendered.  Guise  paved  the  way  for  the 
advancement  of  the  great  League  which  he  represented. 
The  other  two  political  divisions  were  ingeniously 
represented  as  mere  insolent  factions,  while  his  own 
was  the  true  national  and  patriotic  party,  by  which 
alone  the  ancient  religion  and  the  cherished  institu- 
tions of  France  could  be  preserved." 

And  the  gi-eat  chief  of  this  national  patriotic  party 
was  not  Heniy  of  Guise,  but  the  industrious  old  man 
who  sat  writing  despatches  in  the  depths  of  the 
Escorial.  Spanish  counsels,  Spanish  promises,  Spanish 
ducats — these  were  the  real  machinery  by  which  the 
plots   of  Guise   against  the  peace  of  France   and  of 


*  Pereflxe,  28  teq. 


*  De  Tboa,  Pereflxe,  ubi  tup. 


s  I 


( I 


j  .(I 


43 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  H. 


1584. 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE. 


43 


Europe  were  supported.  Madam  League  was  simply 
Philip  II.  Nothing  w^  written,  officially  or  unoffi- 
cially, to  the  French  government  by  the  Spanish  court 
that  was  not  at  the  same  time  communicated  to 
"  Mucio  "—as  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  denominated  in 
the  secret  correspondence  of  Philip,— and  Mucio  was 
in  Philip's  pay,  his  confidential  agent,  spy,  and  con- 
federate, long  before  the  actual  existence  of  the  League 
was  generally  suspected. 

^    The   Queen-Mother,   Catherine  de'  Medici,  played 
into  the  Duke's  hands.      Throughout  the  whole  period 
of  her  widowhood,  having  been  accustomed  to  govern 
her  sons,  she   had,  in  a  certain   sense,  been  used   to 
govern  the   kingdom.     By  sowing  dissensions  among 
her  own  children,  by  inflaming  party  against  party,  by 
watching  with  care  the  oscillations  of  France— so  that 
none  of    the  great  divisions  should  obtain  preponde- 
rance—by alternately  caressing   and  massacring   the 
Huguenots,  by  cajoling  or  confronting  Philip,  by  keep- 
ing, as  she  boasted,  a  spy  in  every  family  that  possessed 
the  annual  income  of  two  thousand  livres,  by  making 
herself  the  head  of  an  organized  system  of  harlotry  by 
which  the  soldiers  and  politicians  of  France   were 
inveigled,  their  secrets  faithfully  revealed  to  her  by 
her  well-disciplined  maids  of  honour,  by  surrounding 
her  unfortunate  sons  with   temptation  from  earliest 
youth,  and  plunging  them  by  cold   calculation   into 
deepest    debauchery,   that   their    enervated   faculties 
might  be  ever  forced  to  rely  in  political  affairs  on  the 
maternal  counsel,  and  to  abandon  the  administration 
to  the  maternal  will;  such  were  the  arts  by  which 
Catherine  had  maintained  her  influence,  and  a  great 
country  been  governed  for  a  generation— Machiavellian 
state-craft  blended  with  the  more  simple  wiles  of  a 
procuress. 

Now  that  Alen^on  was  dead,  and  Henry  III.  hope- 
less ot  issue,  It  was  her  determination  that  the  children 
ot  her  daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Lorraine,  should 
succeed  to  the  throne.  The  matter  was  discussed  as 
It  the  throne  were  already  vacant,  and  Guise  and  the 
gueen-Mother,  if  they  agreed  in  nothing  else,  were 
both  cordial  in  their  detestation  of  Henry  of  Navarre. 
I  he  Duke  affected  to  support  the  schemes  in  favour  of 


his  relatives,  the  Princes  of  Lorraine,  while  he  secretly 
informed  the  Spanish  court  that  this  policy  was  only  a 
pretence.  He  was  not  likely,  he  said,  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  younger  branch  of  a  house  of  which  he 
was  himself  the  chief,  nor  were  their  backs  equal  to  the 
burthen.  It  was  necessary  to  amuse  the  old  queen,  but 
he  was  profoundly  of  opinion  that  the  only  sovereign 
for  France,  upon  the  death  of  Henry,  was  Philip  II. 
himself.  This  was  the  Duke's  plan  of  arriving,  by 
means  of  Spanish  assistance,  at  the  throne  of  France ; 
and  such  was  Henry  le  Balafre,  chief  of  the  League.* 

And  the  other  Henry,  the  Huguenot,  the  Beamese, 
Henry  of  Bourbon,  Henry  of  Navarre,  the  chieftain  of 
the  Gascon  chivalry,  the  king  errant,  the  hope  and  the 
darling  of  the  oppressed  Protestants  in  every  land — of 
him  it  is  scarce  needful  to  say  a  single  word.  At  his  very 
name  a  figure  seems  to  leap  forth  from  the  mist  of  three 
centuries,  instinct  with  ruddy  vigorous  life.  Such  was 
the  intense  vitality  of  the  Bea  nese  prince,  that  even 
now  he  seems  more  thoroughly  alive  and  recognizable 
than  half  the  actual  personages  who  are  fretting  their 
hour  upon  the  stage. 

We  see,  at  once,  a  man  of  moderate  stature,  light, 
sinewy,  and  strong ;  a  face  browned  with  continual 
exposure  ;  small,  mirthful,  yet  commanding  blue  eyes, 
glittering  from  beneath  an  arching  brow,  and  prominent 
cheekbones  ;  a  long  hawk's  nose,  almost  resting  upon  a 
salient  chin,  a  pendent  moustache,  and  a  thick,  brown, 
curly  beard,  prematurely  grizzled ;  we  see  the  mien  of 
frank  authority  and  magnificent  good  humour,  we  hear 
the  ready  sallies  of  the  shrewd  Gascon  mother-wit,  we 
feel  the  electricity  which  flashes  out  of  him,  and  sets 
all  hearts  around  him  on  fire,  when  the  trumpet  sounds 
to  battle.  The  headlong  desperate  charge,  the  snow- 
white  plume  waving  where  the  fire  is  hottest,  the  large 
capacity  for  enjoyment  of  the  man,  rioting  without 
affbctation  in  the  certaminis  gaiidia^  the  insane  gallop, 
after  the  combat,  to  lay  its  trophies  at  the  feet  of  the 
Cynthia  of  the  minute,  and  thus  to  forfeit  its  fruits ; 
all  are  as  familiar  to  us  as  if  the  seven  distinct  wars, 
the  hundred  pitched  battles,  the  two  himdred  sieges,  in 

1  De  Thou,  ix.  267 


44 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


which  the  Beamese  was  personally  present,  had  been 
occurrences  of  our  own  day. 

He  at  least  was  both  king  and  man,  if  the  monarch 
who  occupied  the  throne  was  neither.  He  was  the 
man  to  prove,  too,  for  the  instruction  of  the  patient 
letter-writer  of  the  Escorial,  that  the  crown  of  France 
was  to  be  won  with  foot  in  stirrup  and  carbine  in  hand, 
rather  than  to  be  caught  by  the  weaving  and  casting  of 
the  most  intricate  nets  of  diplomatic  intrigue,  though 
thoroughly  weighted  with  Mexican  gold. 

The  King  of  Navarre  Was  now  thirty-one  years  old ; 
for  the  three  Henrys  were  nearly  of  the   same  age! 
The    first  indications   of  his  existence   had   been  re- 
cognized amid  the  cannon  and  trumpets  of  a  camp  in 
Picardy,  and  his  mother  had  sung  a  gay  B^arnese  song 
as  he  was  coming  into  the  world  at  Pau.     Thus,  said 
his  grandfather,  Henry  of  Navarre,  thou  shalt  not  bear 
to  us  a  morose  and  sulky  child.     The  good  king,  with- 
out a  kingdom,  taking  the  child,  as  soon  as  bom,  in  the 
lappel  of  his  dressing-gown,  had  brushed  his  infant 
lips  with  a  clove  of  garlic,  and  moistened  them  with  a 
drop  of  generous  Gascon  wine.     Thus,  said  the  grand- 
father again,  shall  the  boy  be  both  merry  and  bold. 
There  was  something  mythologically  prophetic  in  the 
incidents  of  his  birth. 

The  best  part  of  Navarre  had  been  long  since  ap- 
propriated by  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  In  France  there 
reigned  a  young  and  warlike  sovereign  with  four  healthy 
boys.  But  the  new-bom  infant  had  inherited  the  lilies 
of  France  from  St.  Louis,  and  a  later  ancestor  had  added 
to  the  escutcheon  the  motto  **  Espoir."  His  grand- 
father believed  that  the  boy  was  bom  to  revenge  upon 
Spain  the  wrongs  of  the  House  of  Albret,  and  Henry's 
nature  seemed  ever  pervaded  with  Robert  of  Clermont's 
device. 

The  same  sensible  grandfather,  having  different 
views  on  the  subject  of  education  from  those  manifested 
by  Catherine  de'  Medici  towards  her  children,  had  the 
boy  taught  to  run  about  bareheaded  and  barefooted, 
like  a  peasant,  among  the  mountains  and  rocks  of 
B^arn,  till  he  became  as  mgged  as  a  young  bear,  and 
as  nimble  as  a  kid.  Black  bread,  and  beef,  and  garlic, 
were  his  simple  fare ;  and  he  was  taught  by  his  mother 


1584. 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE. 


45 


and  his  grandfather  to  hate  lies  and  liars,  and  to  read 

the  Bible. 

When  he  was  fifteen  the  third  religious  war  broke 
out.  Both  his  father  and  grandfather  were  dead.  His 
mother,  who  had  openly  professed  the  reformed  faith, 
since  the  death  of  her  husband,  who  hated  it,  brought 
her  boy  to  the  camp  at  Rochelle,  where  he  was  received 
as  the  chief  of  the  Huguenots.  His  culture  was  not 
extensive.  He  had  learned  to  speak  the  tmth,  to  ride, 
to  shoot,  to  do  with  little  sleep  and  less  food.  He 
could  also  constme  a  little  Latin,  and  had  read  a  few 
military  treatises ;  but  the  mighty  hours  of  an  eventful 
life  were  now  to  take  him  by  the  hand,  and  to  teach 
him  much  good  and  much  evil,  as  they  bore  him  on- 
ward. He  now  saw  military  treatises  expounded  prac- 
tically, by  professors  like  his  uncle  Conde,  and  Admiral 
Coligny,  and  Lewis  Nassau,  in  such  lecture-rooms  as 
Laudun,  and  Jamac,  and  Moncontour,  and  never  was 
apter  scholar. 

The  peace  of  Amay-le-Duc  succeeded,  and  then  the 
fatal  Bartholomew  marriage  with  the  Messalina  of  Valois. 
The  faith  taught  in  the  mountains  of  Beam  was  no 
buckler  against  the  demand  of  "the  mass  or  death,'* 
thundered  at  his  breast  by  the  lunatic  Charles,  as  he 
pointed  to  thousands  of  massacred  Huguenots.  Henry 
yielded  to  such  conclusive  arguments,  and  became  a 
Catholic.  Four  years  of  court-imprisonment  succeeded, 
and  the  'y^^^S  ^i^S  ^^  Navarre,  though  proof  to  the 
artifices  of  his  gossip  Guise,  was  not  adamant  to  the 
temptations  spread  for  him  by  Catherine  de'  Medici. 
In  the  harem  entertained  for  him  in  the  Louvre  many 
pitfalls  entrapped  him;  and  he  became  a  stock- per- 
former in  the  state  comedies  and  tragedies  of  that  plot- 
ting age. 

A  silken  web  of  palace-politics,  palace-diplomacy, 
palace-revolutions,  enveloped  him.  Schemes  and  counter- 
schemes,  stratagems  and  conspiracies,  assassinations  and 
poisonings;  all  the  state-machinery  which  worked  so 
exquisitely  in  fair  ladies'  chambers,  to  spread  havoc  and 
desolation  over  a  kingdom,  were  displayed  before  his 
eyes.  Now  campaigning  with  one  royal  brother  against 
Huguenots,  now  fighting  with  another  on  their  side,  now 
solicited  by  the  Queen-Mother  to  attempt  the  life  of  her 


i 


46 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CnAp.  II. 


1584. 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE. 


'i 


^\  now  implored  by  Henry  III.  to   assassinate  his 
brother     the  Beamese,  as  fresh  antagonisms,  affinities 
combinations,    were   developed,   detected,   neutralized 
almost^  daily,   became   rapidly  an   adept  in  Medicean 
state-chemistry      Charles  IX.  in  his  grave,  Heniy  III. 
on  the  throne  Alencon  in  the  Huguenot  camp-Henry 
at  last  made  his  escape.     The  brief  war  and  peace  of 
Monsieur  succeeded   and  the  King  of  Navarre  formally 
abjured   tiie   Catholic   creed.      The  parties  were   now 
.  sharply   defined.      Guise   mounted   upon   the   Lea<nie 
Henry  astnde  upon  the  Keformation,  were  prepared  t<; 
do  battle  to  the  death.     The  temporary  "war  of  the 
amorous    was  followed  by  the  peac^o  of  Fleix 

i'our  yeara  of  peace  again ;  four  fat  years  of  wanton- 
vZr°„f  W  P'^-^f'^S  fourteen  hwigry  famine-stricken 
^^rs  of  bloodiest  civil  war.  The  voluptuousness  and 
inlamy  of  the  Louvre  were  almost  paralleled  in  vice  if 
not  m  splendour,  by  the  miniature  court  at  Pan.  HenrV's 
bpartan  grandfather  would  scarce  have  approved  tho 
courses  of  the  youth  whose  education  he  had^cmmenced 

her'^i^Zd  '  r  r"-  ""^^  ''^^Saret  of  Valoirhat  ng 
her  husband  and  Imng  m  most  undisguised  and  pro- 
miscuous infidelity  to  him,  had  profited  by  her  mothers 

H?W«  l"""^^^  °f  "'"''«  °f  honour^ministered  to 
lleniys  pleasures,  and  were  carefully  instructed  that 
the  peace  and  war  of  the  kincrHr,™  J^.^     \    ii,  •        • 

their  hands.  AVhile  at  pSovolT  P Y^"JS^  « 
sinViTio-  in  .  ^„-  .    '^°y*"y  ■"'as  hopelessly 

sinking  m  a  poisonous  marsh,  there  was  dancer  that 
even  the  hardy  nature  of  the  Beamese  wouW  ^be  mor 
tally  enervated  by  the  atmosphere  in  which  he  lived ' 
ried  bv"?^'''''^'  "T^-"^-  ^'^'^  ^y  *«  Guises,  wor- 

Steir^hiof  nf  r^  ?™  """^  *'"'  ^^*^°"«  f^i A.  M  de 
during  a  St  rt^«  '  "Tf'  Z^"  ^'^  ^««»  ^"n  ^^^r 
=.;  S:t.1i?nV!r^jt"anl?1  Tr''  '""^ 

mends,   next  day  privately  showed   Segur  a  palace- 

»  Perefijie,  28. 

»  •  Memolres  d'Agrlppa  d'Aubtod '  ed  is^i      a         i^"^*  ^'  ^^^ 


A1 


window  opening  on  a  very  steep  precipice  over  the 
Bay«e,  and  cheerfully  assured  him  that  he  should  be 
flung  from  it,  did  he  not  instantly  reverse  his  proceed- 
ings, and  give  his  master  different  advice.  If  1  am  not 
able  to  do  the  deed  myself,  said  D'Aubigne,  here  are  a 
dozen  more  to  help  me.  The  chief  of  the  council  cast  a 
glance  behind  him,  saw  a  number  of  grim  Puritan  sol- 
diers, with  their  hats  plucked  down  upon  their  brows, 
looking  very  serious ;  so  made  his  bow,  and  quite 
changed  his  line  of  conduct.' 

At  about  the  same  time  Philip  II.  confidentially  offered 
Henry  of  Navarre  four  hundred  thousand  crowns  in 
hand,  and  twelve  hundred  thousand  yearly,  if  he  would 
consent  to  make  war  upon  Henry  111.*  Mucio,  or  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  being  still  in  Philip's  pay,  the  combina- 
tion of  Leaguers  and  Huguenots  against  the  unfortunate 
Valois  would,  it  was  thought,  be  a  good  triangular 
contest. 

But  Henry — ^no  longer  the  unsophisticated  youth  who 
had  been  used  to  run  barefoot  among  the  cliffs  of  Coarasse 
— was  grown  too  crafty  a  politician  to  be  entangled  by 
Spanish  or  Medicean  wiles.  The  Duke  of  Anjou  was 
now  dead.  Of  all  the  princes  who  had  stood  between 
him  and  the  throne,  there  was  none  remaining  save  the 
helpless,  childless,  superannuated  youth  who  was  its 
present  occupant.  The  King  of  NavaiTe  was  legitimate 
heir  to  the  crown  of  France.  "Espoir"  was  now  in 
letters  of  light  upon  his  shield,  but  he  knew  that  his 
path  to  greatness  led  through  manifold  dangers,  and 
that  it  was  only  at  the  head  of  his  Huguenot  chi- 
valry that  he  could  cut  his  way.  He  was  the  leader 
of  the  nobles  of  Gascony,  and  Dauphiny,  and  Guienne, 
in  their  mountain  fastnesses,  of  the  weavers,  cutlers, 
and  artizans,  in  their  thriving  manufacturing  and 
trading  towns.     It  was  not  Spanish  gold,  but  carbines 


«  D'Aubigne,  •  M^molres,'  p.  67, 68. 

«  ••  The  Abp.  of  Colein  told  me  that 
the  Prince  of  Orange  had  acquainted  him 
with  a  practice  of  the  King  of  Spain's, 
which  was  an  offer  made  to  the  King  of 
Navarre  of  400,Ouo  A*  in  ready  money, 
ftnd  a  100.000  A  *  monthly,  if  he  would 
make  wars  with  the  French  king — where- 


unto  I  answered,  that  I  thought  it  done 
with  a  Spanish  mind  and  cunning  to 
draw  the  King  of  Navarre,  as  St-bastian 
of  Portugal  was,  to  his  ruin  and  loss  of 
life  and  kingdom,  and  by  this  means  to 
destroy  also  the  religion  and  churches  in 
France,"  kc  (Herle  to  Queen  Elliabeth, 
22nd  July,  1684.    S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


r 

I. 


48 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


and  cutlasses,  bows  and  bills,  which  could  bring  him  to 
the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 

And  thus  he  stood,  the  chieftain  of  that  great,  austere 
party  of  Huguenots,  the  men  who  went  on  their  knees 
before  the  battle,  beating  their  breasts  with  their  iron 
gauntlets,  and  singing  in  full  chorus  a  psalm  of  David, 
before  smiting  the  Philistines  hip  and  thigh. 

Their  chieftain — scarcely  their  representative — fit  to 
lead  his  Puritans  on  the  battle-field,  was  hardly  a  model 
for  them  elsewhere.  Yet,  though  profligate  in  one  respect, 
he  was  temperate  in  every  other.  In  food,  wine,  and 
sleep  he  was  always  moderate.  Subtle  and  crafty  in 
self-defence,  he  retained  something  of  his  old  love  of 
truth,  of  his  hatred  for  liars.  Hardly  generous  perhaps, 
he  was  a  friend  of  justice,  while  economy  in  a  wandering 
King,  like  himself,  was  a  necessary  virtue,  of  which 
France  one  day  was  to  feel  the  beneficent  action.  Reck- 
less and  headlong  in  appearance,  he  was  in  truth  the 
most  careful  of  men.  •On  the  religious  question,  most 
cautious  of  all,  he  always  left  the  door  open  behind 
him,  disclaimed  all  bigotry  of  opinion,  and  earnestly 
implored  the  Papists  to  seek,  not  his  destruction,  but  his 
instruction.  Yet,  prudent  as  he  was  by  nature  in  every 
other  regard,  he  was  all  his  life  the  slave  of  one  woman 
or  another,  and  it  was  by  good  luck  rather  than  by 
sagacity  that  he  did  not  repeatedly  forfeit  the  fruits  of 
his  courage  and  conduct,  in  obedience  to  his  master- 
passion. 

Always  open  to  conviction  on  the  subject  of  his  faith, 
he  repudiated  the  appellation  of  heretic.  A  creed,  he 
said,  was  not  to  be  changed  like  a  shirt,  but  only  on  due 
deliberation,  and  under  spiritual  advice.  In  his  secret 
heart  he  probably  regarded  tbe  two  religions  as  his 
chargers,  and  was  ready  to  mount  alternately  the  one  or 
the  other,  as  each  seemed  the  more  likely  to  bear  him 
safely  in  the  battle.  The  Beamese  was  no  Puritan,  but 
he  was  most  tnie  to  himself  and  to  his  own  advance- 
ment. His  highest  principle  of  action  was  to  reach  his 
goal,  and  to  that  principle  he  was  ever  loyal.  Feeling, 
too,  that  it  was  the  interest  of  France  that  he  should 
succeed,  he  was  even  inspired— compared  with  others 
on  the  stfige— by  an  almost  lofty  patriotism. 

Amiable  by  nature  and  by  habit,  he  had  preserved  the 


1584. 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE. 


49 


most  unimpaired  good-humour  throughout  the  horrible 
years  which  succeeded  St.  Bartholomew,  during  which 
he  carried  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  learned  not  to  wear 
his  heart  upon  his  sleeve.  W  ithout  gratitude,  without 
resentment,  without  fear,  without  remorse,  entirely 
arbitrary,  yet  with  the  capacity  to  use  all  men's 
judgments ;  without  convictions,  save  in  regard  to  his 
dynastic  interests,  he  possessed  all  the  qualities  neces- 
sary to  success.  He  knew  how  to  use  his  enemies.  He 
knew  how  to  use  his  friends,  to  abuse  them,  and  to 
throw  them  away.  He  refused  to  assassinate  Francis 
Alen9on  at  the  bidding  of  Henry  III.,  but  he  attempted 
to  procure  the  murder  of  the  truest  of  his  own  friends, 
and  one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  the  age— whose 

breast  showed  twelve  scars  received  in  his  service 

Agrippa  D'Aubign^,  because  the  honest  soldier  had 
refused  to  become  his  pimp— a  service  the  King  had 
implored  upon  his  knees.* 

Beneath  the  mask  of  perpetual  careless  good-humour, 
lurked  the  keenest  eyes,  a  subtle,  restless,  widely-com- 
bining brain,  and  an  iron  will.  Native  sagacity  had 
been  tempered  into  consummate  elasticity  by  the  fiery 
atmosphere  in  which  feebler  natures  had  been  dis- 
solved. His  wit  was  as  flashing  and  as  quickly  un- 
sheathed as  his  sword.  Desperate,  apparently  reckless 
temerity  on  the  battle-field  was  deliberately  indulged 
in,  that  the  world  might  be  brought  to  recognise  a  hero 
and  chieftain  in  a  King.  The  do-nothings  of  the  Mero- 
vingian line  had  been  succeeded  by  the  Pepins  ;  to  the 
effete  Carlovingians  had  come  a  Capet ;  to  the  impotent 
Valois  should  come  a  worthier  descendant  of  St.  Louis. 
This  was  shrewd  Gascon  calculation,  aided  by  constitu- 
tional fearlessness.  When  despatch-writing,  invisible 
Philips,  star-gazing  Rudolphs,  and  petticoated  Henrys 
sat  upon  the  thrones  of  Europe,  it  was  wholesome  to 
show  the  world  that  there  was  a  King  left  who  could 
move  about  in  the  bustle  and  business  of  the  age,  and 
could  charge  as  well  as  most  soldiers  at  the  head  of  his 
cavalry  ;  that  there  was  one  more  sovereign  fit  to  reign 
over  men,  besides  the  glorious  Virgin  who  governed 
England. 

Thus  courageous,  crafty,  far-seeing,  consistent,  un- 

*  D'Aubigne,  •  Memoires,'  pp.  38-44. 
VOL.   I.  g 


50 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


hi 


tiring,  imperturbable,  he  was  bom  to  command,  and 
had  a  right  to  reign.  He  had  need  of  the  throne'  and 
the  throne  had  still  more  need  of  him. 

This  then  was  the  third  Henry,  representative  of  the 
third  side  of  the  triangle,  the  reformers  of  the  kingdom 
^  And  before  this  bubbling  caldron  of  France,  where 
intrigues,  foreign  and  domestic,  conflicting  ambitions, 
stratagems,  and  hopes,  were  whirling  in  never-ceasing 
tumult,  was  it  strange  if  the  plain  Netherland  envoys 
should  stand  somewhat  aghast  ? 

Yet  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  ponder  well 
the  aspect  of  affairs ;  for  all  their  hopes,  the  very  exist- 
ence of  themselves  and  of  their  religion,  depended  upon 
the  organization  which  should  come  of  this  chaos. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  those  states- 
men—even the  wisest  or  the  best-informed  of  them— 
could  not  take  so  correct  a  view  of  France  and  its 
politics  as  It  IS  possible  for  us,  after  the  lapse  of  three 
centuries,  to  do.  The  interior  leagues,  subterranean 
schemes,  conflicting  factions,  could  only  be  guessed 
at ;  nor  could  the  immediate  future  be  predicted,  even 
by  such  far-seeing  politicians  as  William  of  Orange,  at 
a  distance,  or  Henry  of  Navarre,  upon  the  spot. 

It  was   obvious  to  the  Netherlanders  that  France 

although   torn  by  faction,  was  a  great  and  powerful 

realm.     There  had  now  been,  with  the  brief  exception 

of  the  lovers  war  in  1580,  a  religious  peace  of  eight 

years  duration.     The  Huguenots  had  enjoyed  tranquil 

exercise  of  their  worship  during  that  period,  and  they 

expressed  perfect  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  the 

»iing       That  the   cities    were    inordinately  taxed  to 

supply  the  luxury  of  the  court  could  hardly  be  un- 

faiown  to  the  Netherlanders.     Nevertheless  they  knew 

tiiat  the  kingdom  was  the  richest  and  most  populous  of 

Christendom,  after  that  of  Spain.     Its  capital,  already 

called   by  contemporaries    the   "compendium   of  the 

world,    was  described  by  travellers  as  "  stupendous  in 

ext^ent  and  miraculous  for  its  numbers."     It  was  even 

said    to   contain  eight    hundred   thousand   souls,   and 

although  Its  actual  population  did  not  probably  exceed 

tfiree  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  yet  this  was  more 

than  double  the  number  of  London's  inhabitants,  and 

ttinco  as  many  as  Antwerp  could  then  boast,  now  that 


1584. 


PROPOSED  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


61 


a  great  proportion  of  its  foreign  denizens  had  been 
scared  away.  Paris  was  at  least  by  one  hundred  thou- 
sand more  populous  than  any  city  of  Europe,  except 
perhaps  the  remote  and  barbarous  Moscow,  while  the 
secondary  cities  of  France,  Kouen  in  the  noiih,  Lyons 
in  the  centre,  and  Marseilles  in  the  south,  almost 
equalled  in  size,  business,  wealth,  and  numbers,  the 
capitals  of  other  countries.  In  the  whole  kingdom 
were  probably  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  inhabitants, 
nearly  as  many  as  in  Spain,  without  her  colonies, 
and  perhaps  three  times  the  number  that  dwelt  in 
England. 

In  a  military  point  of  view,  too,  the  alliance  of  France 
was  most  valuable  to  the  contiguous  Netherlands.  A 
few  regiments  of  French  troops,  under  the  command  of 
one  of  their  experienced  marshals,  could  block  up  the 
Spaniards  in  the  Walloon  Provinces,  effectually  stop 
their  operations  against  Ghent,  Antwerp,  and  the  other 
great  cities  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  and,  with  the 
combined  action  of  the  United  Provinces  on  the  north, 
so  surround  and  cripple  the  forces  of  Parma,  as  to 
reduce  the  power  of  Philip,  after  a  few  vigorous  and 
well-concerted  blows,  to  an  absolute  nullity  in  the  Low 
Countries.  As  this  result  was  of  as  vital  importance 
to  the  real  interests  of  France  and  of  Europe,  whether 
Protestant  or  Catholic,  as  it  was  to  the  Provinces,  and 
as  the  French  government  had  privately  manifested  a 
strong  desire  to  oppose  the  progress  of  Spain  towards 
universal  empire,  it  was  not  surprising  that  the  States 
General,  not  feeling  capable  of  standing  alone,  should 
make  their  application  to  France.  This  they  had  done 
with  the  knowledge  and  concurrence  of  the  English 
government.  \V  hat  lay  upon  the  surface  the  Nether- 
land statesmen  saw  and  pondered  well.  What  lurked 
beneath,  they  surmised  as  shrewdly  as  they  could,  but 
it  was  impossible,  with  plummet  and  fathom-line  ever 
in  hand,  to  sound  the  way  with  perfect  accuracy,  where 
the  quicksands  were  ever  shifting,  and  the  depth  or 
shallowness  of  the  course  perpetually  varying.  It  was 
not  easy  to  discover  the  intentions  of  a  government 
which  did  not  know  its  own  intentions,  and  whose 
changing  policy  was  controlled  by  so  many  hidden 
currents. 

E  2 


I*' 


62 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


I 


li 


!l 


Moreover,  as  already  indicated,  the  envoys  and  those 
whom  they  represented  had  not  the   same   means  of 
arriving  at  a  result  as  are  granted  to  us.     Thanks  to  the 
liberality  of   many    modem   governments   of  Europe, 
the  archives  where  the  state-secrets  of  the  buried  cen- 
turies have  so  long  mouldered,  are  now  open  to  the 
student  of  history.     To  him  who   has  patience   and 
industry  many  mysteries  are  thus  revealed,  which  no 
political  sagacity  or  critical  acumen  could  have  divined 
He  leans  over  the  shoulder  of  Philip  the  Second  at  his 
writing-table,   as  the  King  spells  patiently  out,  with 
cipher-key  in  hand,  the  most  concealed  hieroglyphics 
of  Parma  or  Guise  or  Mendoza.     He  reads  the  secret 
thoughts  of  "  Fabius,"^  as  that  cunctative  Roman  scrawls 
his  marginal  apostilles  on  each  despatch ;  he  pries  into 
all  the   stratagems  of  Camillus,   Hortensius,   Mucins, 
Julius,  Tullius,  and  the  rest  of  those  ancient  heroes 
who  lent  their  names  to  the  diplomatic  masqueraders 
of  the  16th  century :  he  enters  the  cabinet  of  the  deeply- 
pondering  Burghley,  and  takes  from  the  most  private 
drawer  the  memoranda  which  record  that  minister's 
unutterable   doubtings:    he   pulls  from   the  dressinff- 
gown  folds  of  the  stealthy,  softly-gliding  Walsingham 
the  last  secret  which  he  has  picked  from  the  Emperor's 
pigeon-holes,  or  the  Pope's  pocket,   and  which,   not 
Hatton,  nor  Buckhurst,  nor  Leicester,  nor  the  Lord 
Treasurer,  is  to  see  ;  nobody  but  Elizabeth  herself:  he 
sits  invisible  at  the  mbst  secret  councils  of  the  Nassaus 
andBameveld  and  Buys,  or  pores  with  Famese  over 
commg  victories,  and  vast  schemes  of  universal  con- 
quest :  he  reads  the  latest  bit  of  scandal,  the  minutest 
characteristic  of  king  or  minister,  chronicled  by  the 
gossiping  Venetians  for  the  edification  of  the  Forty : 
and  after  all  this  prying  and  eavesdropping,  having 
seen  the  cross-purposes,  the  bribings,  the  windings,  the 
fencings  in  the  dark,  he  is  not  sui-prised,  if  those  who 
were  systematically  deceived  did  not  always  arrive  at 
correct  conclusions. 

Noel  de  Caron,  Seigneur  de  Schoneval,  had  been 
agent  of  the  States  at  the  French  court  at  the  time  of 
the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou.     Upon  the  occurrence 

>  The  name  nanally  assigned  to  Philip  himself  In  the  Parta   Simancas  Corre- 


1584. 


EMBASSY  OF  THE  STATES  TO  FRANCE. 


53 


of  that  event.  La  Mouillerie  and  Asseliers  were  de- 
puted by  the  Provinces  to  King  Henry  III.,  in  order 
to  offer  him  the  sovereignty  which  they  had  intended 
to  confer  upon  his  brother.*  Meantime  that  brother, 
just  before  his  death,  and  with  the  privity  of  Henry] 
had  been  negotiating  for  a  marriage  with  the  younger 
daughter  of  Philip  II. — an  arrangement  somewhat  in- 
compatible with  his  contemporaneous  scheme  to  assume 
the  sovereignty  of  Philip's  revolted  Provinces.  An 
attempt  had  been  made  at  the  same  time  to  conciliate  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  and  invite  him  to  the  French  court ; 
but  the  Due  de  Joyeuse,  then  on  his  return  from 
Turin,  was  bringing  the  news,  not  only  that  the  match 
with  Anjou  was  not  favoured — which,  as  Anjou  was 
dead,  was  of  no  great  consequence— but  that  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  was  himself  to  espouse  the  Infanta,  and  was 
therefore  compelled  to  decline  the  invitation  to  Paris, 
for  fear  of  offending  his  father-in-law.*  Other  matters 
were  in  progress,  to  be  afterwards  indicated,  very  much 
interfering  with  the  negotiations  of  the  Netherland 
envoys. 

When  La  Mouillerie  and  Asseliers  arrived  at  Rouen, 
on  their  road  from  Dieppe  to  Paris,  they  received  a 
peremptory  order  from  the  Queen-Mother  to  proceed 
no  farther.  This  prohibition  was  brought  by  an  un- 
official personage,  and  was  delivered,  not  to  them,  but 
to  Des  Pruneaux,  French  envoy  to  the  States  General, 
who  had  accompanied  the  envoys  to  France.' 

After  three  weeks'  time,  during  which  they  "  kept 
themselves  continually  concealed  in  Rouen,"  there 
arrived  in  that  city  a  yoimg  nephew  of  Secretary  Bru- 
lart,  who  brought  letters  empowering  him  to  hear  what 
they  had  in  charge  for  the  King.  The  envoys,  not 
much  flattered  by  such  cavalier  treatment  on  the  part 
of  him  to  whom  they  were  offering  a  crown,  determined 
to  digest  the  affront  as  they  best  might,  and,  to  save 
time,  opened  the  whole  business  to  this  subordinate 


>  "  Verhael  van  't  gene  de  heeren  de 
la  Mouillerie  ende  van  Aaseliere  habben 
gedaan  ende  gcbesoigneert,  mldtsgaders 
veretaen  in  henluydon  relse  naer  Vrank- 
ryck  aen  den  Coninck  racckende  den  last 
hen  gegeven  op  mijne  heeren  de  Generale 
Stolen."  (Royal  Archives  at  the  Hague, 
MS.> 


*  Stafford  to  Walsingham,  29th  Aug. 
1584,  in  Murdln,  ii.  419.  420. 

'  '  Lettre  des  Deputes  en  France  au 
Prince  d'Oranges  du  16  Juillet,  1584,' 
(Hague  Archives,  MS.)  This  letter  to 
William  the  Silent  was  written  six  days 
after  his  death. 


54 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


stripling.  He  received  from  them  accordingly  an  ample 
memoir  to  be  laid  before  bis  Majesty,  and  departed  by 
the  post  the  same  night.  Then  they  waited  ten  days 
longer,  concealed  as  if  they  had  been  thieves  or  spies, 
rather  than  the  representatives  of  a  friendly  power,  on 
a  more  than  friendly  errand.  ^ 

At  last,  on  the  24th  of  July,  after  the  deputies  had 

24th  July  been  thus  shut  up  a  whole  month.  Secretary 

1584.     Brulart  himself  arrived  from  Fontainebleau. » 

lie  stated  that  the  King  sent  his  royal  thanks  to  the 

States  for  the  offer  which  they  had  made  him,  and  to 

the  deputies  in  particular  for  taking  the  trouble  of  so 

long  a  journey;  but  that  he  did  not  find  his  realm  in 

condition  to  undertake  a  foreign  war  so  inopportunely. 

In  every  other  regard,  his  Majesty  offered  the  States 

"all  possible  favours  and  pleasures." « 

Certainly,  after  having  been  thus  kept  in  prison  for 
a  month,  the  ambassadors  had  small  cause  to  be  con- 
tented  with  this  very   cold   communication.      To  bo 
forbidden  the  royal  presence,  and  to  be  turned  out  of 
the   country  without  even  an   official  and  accredited 
answer  to  a  communication  in  which  they  had  offered 
the  sovereignty  of  their  fatherland,  was  not  flattering 
to  their  dignity.     "  We   little  thought,"  said  they  to 
Brulart,,  after  a  brief  consultation  among  themselves, 
*'to   receive   such  a  reply  as   this.     It  displeases  us 
infinitely  that  his  Majesty  will  not  do  us  the  honour  to 
grant  us  an  audience.     We  must  take  the  liberty  of 
saying,  that  'tis  treating  the  States,  our  masters,  with 
too  much  contempt.     W  ho  ever  heard  before  of  refusing 
audience   to   public   personages?     Kings   often   grant 
audience  to  mere   letter-carriers.     Even  the  King  of 
Spain  never  refused  a  hearing  to  the  deputies  from  the 
Netherlands  when  they  came  to  Spain  to  complain  of 
his  own  government.     The   States  General  have  sent 
envoys  to  many  other  kings  and  princes,  and  they  have 
instantly  granted  audience  in  every  case.     His  Majesty, 
too,  has  been  very  ill-informed  of  the  contracts  which 
we  formerly  made  with  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  and  therefore 

*  MS.  letter  in  Hagne  Archives,  before  Jestedu  Roy  de  France,  en  I'assemblde 

c»t«l-  des  diets  Estats  k  Delft,  le  5  Aofist, 

2  'Rapport  falct  par   Noel  de  Caron,  1584.'    (Hague  Archives.  MS.) 

alant  est^  depute  de  la  part  de  Mes-  »  Report  of  Noel  de  Caron,' MS.  befor* 

seigneurs  les  Etats  generaux  vers  la  Ma-  cited. 


1584.     DES  PRUNEAUX  ENVOY  TO  THE  NETHERLANDS.      55 

a  personal  interview  is  the  more  necessary."  *  As  the 
envoys  were  obstinate  on  the  point  of  Paris,  Brulart 
said  "  that  the  King,  although  he  should  himself  be  at 
Lyons,  would  not  prevent  any  one  from  going  to  the 
capital  on  his  own  private  affairs ;  but  would  imques- 
tionably  take  it  very  ill  if  they  should  visit  that  city  in 
a  public  manner,  and  as  deputies."  * 

Des  Pruneaux  professed  himself  "very  grievous  at 
this  result,  and  desirous  of  a  hundred  deaths  in  conse- 
quence." • 

They  stated  that  they  should  be  ready  within  a  month 
to  bring  an  army  of  3000  horse  and  13,000  foot  into  the 
field  for  the  relief  of  Ghent,  besides  their  military- 
operations  against  Zutphen;  and  that  the  enemy  had 
recently  been  ignominiously  defeated  in  his  attack 
upon  Fort  Lillo,  and  had  lost  2000  of  his  best  soldiers.* 

Here  were  encouraging  facts ;  and  it  certainly  was 
worth  the  while  of  the  French  sovereign  to  pause  a 
moment  before  rejecting,  without  a  hearing,  the  offer  of 
such  powerful  and  conveniently-situated  Provinces. 

Des  Pruneaux,  a  man  of  probity  and  earnestness,  but 
perhaps  of  insufficient  ability  to  deal  with  such  grave 
matters  as  now  fell  almost  entirely  upon  his  shoulders,* 
soon  afterwards  obtained  audience  of  the  King.  Being 
most  sincerely  in  favour  of  the  annexation  of  the  Nether- 
lands to  France,  and  feeling  that  now  or  never  was  the 
opportunity  of  bringing  it  about,  he  persuaded  the  King 
to  send  him  back  to  the  Provinces,  in  order  to  continue 
the  negotiation  directly  with  the  States  General.  The 
timidity  and  procrastination  of  the  court  could  be  over- 
come no  further. 

The  two  Dutch  envoys,  who  had  stolen  secretly  to 
Paris,  were  indulged  in  a  most  barren  and  unmeaning 
interview  with  the  Queen-Mother.  Before  their  depar- 
ture from  France,  however,  they  had  the  advantange  of 
much  conversation  with  leading  members  of  the  royal 
council,  of  the  parliaments  of  Paris  and  Eouen,  and  also 
with  various  persons  professing  the  reformed  religion. 
They  endeavoured  thus  to  inform  themselves,  as  well  as 


1  Report  of  Noel  de  Caron,  MS.  before 
cited. 

a  Ibid. 

»  "  Dont  le  diet  Sr.  des  Epruneaux 
CBtoit  en  eon  partlculler  fort  dolcnt,  et 


se  soubhaita  cent  fois  estre  mort,"  tc. 
(MS.  Report  before  cited.) 

♦  MS.  letter  to  the  States-General  be- 
fore cltfd. 

4  De  Thou,  ix.  251. 


!i 


! 


56 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


1584. 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION. 


57 


they  could  why  the  King  made  so  much  difficulty  in 
accepting  their  propositions,  and  whether,  and  by  what 
means  his  Majesty  could  be  induced  to  make  war  in 
thmr  behalf  upon  the  King  of  Spain.* 

..  ^  \i!^T  ^^^^™^e<i'  that,  sJioidd  Holland  and  ZeeJand 
unite  mth  the  rest  of  tlie  Netherlands,  the  King  *' without 
any  doubt  would  undertake  the  cause  most  earnestly  » 
His  councillors,  also-even  those  who  had  been  most 
active  m  dissuading  his  Majesty  from  such  a  policy— 
would  then  be  unanimous  in  supporting  the  annexation 
ot  the  1  rovinees  and  the  war  with  Spain.     In  such  a 

7^.«  3'?/ '  r *^  *^^  Pi^^r*  ^««i«tance  of  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  the  King  would  have  little  difficulty,  within  a 

274.?^  1'"^!'  '"^  m^^r^  ^''^^^  "^^S^^  Spaniard  out  of 
the  Netherlands.  To  further  this  end,  many  leading 
personages  in  France  avowed  to  the  envoys  their  de- 
temmation  "to  venture  their  lives  and  their  fortunes, 

court "  '''^'''''''  ^^""^  ^^^y  VO^^^^^  at 

The  same  persons  expressed  their  conviction  that  the 
King,  once  satisfied  by  the  Provinces  as  to  conditions 
befn'Tr''  TT^^  <^^-^riu\\y  go  into  the  war,  withou? 
being  deterred  by  any  apprehension  as  to  the  power  of 
shm  hi  otr^'  however,  fitting  that  each  Province 
BhouH  chaffer  as  little  as  possible  about  details,  but 
should  give  his  Majesty  every  reasonable  advantage 
They  should  remember  that  they  were  dealing  with  "a 
great,  powerful  monarch,  who  was  putting  hit  realm  in 
jeopardy,  and  not  with  a  Duke  of  Anjou,  who  had  ev^r4 
thing  to  gam  and  nothing  to  lose  " »  ^ 

All  the  Huguenots  with  whom  the  envoys  conversed 

lroluZ''%T^^''-  ^^"^^  '^'  Kingbe  oTce 
t3n  k^  ^'^'  ^  n"""^'^^  *^^  Netherlanfi  his  pro- 
tection there  was  not  the  least  fear  but  that  he  would 
keepjus  word.  He  would  use  all  the  means  wTtlT^s 
power ;  "  yea,  he  would  fcike  the  crown  from  his  head  '' 

a  war  with  so  powerful  a  sovereign,  having  once  nrc^ 

^ri  L^''\^'  "Tl'  '^^P  ^^«  ^^^g-  tofhe  utm'ost 
/o»  he  was  a  King  of  his  word"  and  had  never  broken 

»  •  Verhael,'  *c..  MS.  before  cited. 

■  MouiUerie  and  Aiseliere,  MS.  before  dted. 


and  would  never  break  his  faith  with   those   of  the 
reformed  religion.' 

Thus  spoke  the  leading  Huguenots  of  France,  in  con- 
fidential communication  with  the  Netherland  envoys, 
not  many  months  before  the  famous  edict  of  extermi- 
nation published  at  Nemours. 

At  that  moment  the  refoimers  were  full  of  confidence ; 
not  foreseeing  the  long  procession  of  battles  and  siepjes 
which  was  soon  to  sweep  through  the  land.  Notwith- 
standing the  urgency  of  the  Papists  for  their  extirpation, 
they  extolled  loudly  the  liberty  of  religious  worship 
which  Calvinists,  as  well  as  Catholics,  were  enjoying  in 
France,  and  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  adherents  of 
both  religions  were  well  received  at  court,  and  that  they 
shared  equally  in  offices  of  trust  and  dignity  throughout 
the  kingdom.' 

The  Netherland  envoys  themselves  bore  testimony  to 
the  undisturbed  tranquillity  and  harmony  in  which  the 
professors  of  both  religions  were  living  and  worshiping 
side  by  side  *'  without  reproach  or  quarrel "  in  all  the 
great  cities  which  they  had  visited.  They  expressed 
the  conviction  that  the  same  toleration  would  be 
extended  to  all  the  Provinces  when  under  French 
dominion ;  and,  so  far  as  their  ancient  constitutions  and 
privileges  were  concerned,  they  were  assured  that  the 
King  of  France  would  respect  and  maintain  them  with 
as  much  fidelity  as  the  States  could  possibly  desire.' 

Des  Pruneaux,  accompanied  by  the  two  States'  envoys, 
departed  forthwith  for  the  Netherlands.     On  the  24th 
August,  1584,  he  delivered  a  discourse  before  24th  Aug. 
the  States  General,  in  which  he  disclosed,  in     ^^^*- 
very  general  terms,  the  expectations  of  Henry  III.,  and 
intimated  very  clearly  that  the  different  Provinces  were 


*  "  Dns  Vcrclarende  olck  beznnder  die 
van  do  Religle,  die  wy  gesproken  hebben, 
dat  zoo  verre  wy  coustcn  den  Coninck 
loo  verre  bringen  dat  hy  ons  beloofde  te 
beschermen,  wy  niet  en  dorfden  vreesen 
oft  hy  en  zoudt  ons  houden  ende  zoude 
gebruyckcn  alle  zyne  middelen,  jae  die 
crone  van  zynen  hoofde,  seggende  dat  hoe 
wel  hy  zeer  qualycken  es,  cm  totter  oir- 
looge  te  brengen-nict  zonder  oirzaecke, 
midd  het  es  tegen  eenen  alzulcken  mach< 
tigen  Prince,  dat  hebbende  belooft  ona  te 


helpen.dat  hy  nyet  laten  en  zoude  tzelfde 
int  neerste  te  houden,  want  hy  es  (zoo 
zy  ons  verclaerden)  eenen  Coninck  van 
zynen  woorde  zyn  beloofte  houdende, 
ende  zelver  die  van  der  rellgie  scyden 
ons,  dat  hy  hen  nemmermccr  en  badde 
gt'failleert  van  tgene  hy  hen  belooft 
hadde."  (Motiillerle  and  Assellers,  Ver- 
hael.  kc,  MS.  before  cited.) 

2  Ibid. 

»  IWd. 


s 

If 


58 


THE  UKITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


1584. 


PROPOSED  ANNEXATION  TO  FRANCE. 


59 


to  lose  no  time  in  making  an  unconditional  offer  to  that 
monarch.  With  regard  to  Holland  and  Zeeland  he 
observed  that  he  was  provided  with  a  special  commission 
to  those  Estates.' 

It  was  not  long  before  one  Province  after  the  other 
came  to  the  conclusion  to  offer  the  sovereignty  to  the 
King  without  written  conditions,  but  with  a  general 
understanding  that  their  religious  freedom  and  their 
ancient  constitutions  were  to  be  sacredly  respected. 
Meantime,  Des  Pruneaux  made  his  appejirance  in  Hol- 
land and  Zeeland,  and  declared  the  King's  intentions  of 
espousing  the  cause  of  the  States,  and  of  accepting  the 
sovereignty  of  all  the  Provinces.  He  distinctly  observed, 
however,  that  it  was  as  sovereign,  not  as  protector,  that 
his  Majesty  must  be  recognised  in  Holland  and  Zeeland, 
as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  the  country. 

Upon  this  grave  question  there  was  much  debate  and 
much  difference  of  opinion.  Holland  and  Zeeland  had 
never  contemplated  the  possibility  of  accepting  any 
foreign  sovereignty,  and  the  opponents  of  the  present 
scheme  were  loud  and  angry,  but  very  reasonable  in 
their  remarks." 

The  French,  they  said,  were  no  respecters  of  privileges 
nor  of  persons.  The  Duke  of  Anjou  had  deceived  ^V  il- 
liam  of  Orange  and  betrayed  the  Provinces.  Could 
they  hope  to  see  farther  than  that  wisest  and  most 
experienced  prince?  Had  not  the  stout  hearts  of  the 
Antwerp  burghers  proved  a  stronger  defence  to  Bra- 
bant liberties  than  the  "joyous  entry  "  on  the  dread  day 
of  the  "  French  fury,"  it  would  have  fared  ill  then  and 
for  ever  with  the  cause  of  freedom  and  religion  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  King  of  France  was  a  Papist,  a  Je- 
suit. He  was  incapable  of  keeping  his  pledges.  Should 
they  make  the  arrangement  now  proposed,  and  confer  the 
sovereignty  upon  him,  he  would  forthwith  make  peace 
with  Spain,  and  transfer  the  Provinces  back  to  that 
crown  in  exchange  for  the  duchy  of  Milan,  which  France 
had  ever  coveted.  The  Netherlands,  after  a  quarter  of 
a  century  of  fighting  in  defence  of  their  hearths  and 
altars,  would  find  themselves  handed  over  again,  bound 


1  Wagenaar.  vt!l.  31  teq. 


*  Wagenaar,  Bor,  xlx.  482. 


and  fettered,  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Spanish  Inqui- 
sition.^ 

The  Kings  of  France  and  of  Spain  always  acted  in  con- 
cert, for  religion  was  the  most  potent  of  bonds.  W  itness 
the  sacrifice  of  thousands  of  French  soldiers  to  Alva  by 
their  own  sovereign  at  Mens,  witness  the  fate  of  Genlis, 
witness  the  bloody  night  of  St.  Bartholomew,  witness 
the  Antwerp  fury.  Men  cited  and  relied  upon  the  ad- 
vice of  ^Villiam  of  Orange  as  to  this  negotiation  with 
France.  But  Orange  never  dreamed  of  going  so  far 
as  now  proposed.  He  was  ever  careful  to  keep  the 
Provinces  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  safe  from  every  fo- 
reign master.  That  spot  was  to  be  holy  ground.  Not 
out  of  personal  ambition — God  forbid  that  they  should 
accuse  his  memory  of  any  such  impurity — but  because 
he  wished  one  safe  refuge  for  the  spirit  of  freedom. 

Many  years  long  they  had  held  out  by  land  and  sea 
against  the  Spaniards,  and  should  they  now,  because  this 
Des  Pruneaux  shrugged  his  shoulders,  be  so  alarmed  as 
to  open  the  door  to  the  same  Spaniard  wearing  the  dis- 
guise of  a  Frenchman  ?  * 

Prince  Maurice  also  made  a  brief  representation  to 
the  States'  Assembly  of  Holland,  in  which,  without 
distinctly  opposing  the  negotiation  with  France,  he 
warned  them  not  to  proceed  too  hastily  with  so  giave  a 
matter.  He  reminded  them  how  far  they  had  gone  in 
the  presentation  of  the  sovereignty  to  his  late  father,  and 
requested  them,  in  their  dealings  with  France,  not  to 
forget  his  interests  and  those  of  his  family.  He  reminded 
them  of  the  position  of  that  family,  overladen  with  debt 
contracted  in  their  service  alone.  He  concluded  by 
offering  most  affectionately  his  service  in  any  way  in 
which  he,  young  and  inexperienced  as  he  knew  himself 
to  be,  might  be  thought  useful ;  as  he  was  long  since 
resolved  to  devote  his  life  to  the  welfare  of  his  coun- 

» tiy.' 

These  passionate  appeals  were  answered  with  equal 
vehemence  by  those  who  had  made  up  their  minds  to 

»  •  Vertoog  van  Gotida  tegen  den  handel  optrok.  dermaate  verbaazen,  dat  wy  hem 

met  tVankryk,'  apud  Bor.  il.  489  teq.;  zelv'  als  een  Franschman  vermomd.  gin- 

Wagenaar.  vill,  41  jc^.  gen  Inhaalen?"    (Ibid.) 

2  "En  zou  ons  nu  't  genigt  van  zyne  a  Bor,  li.  (xix.)  488  $eq.;  Wagenaar 

aankomst,  en  dat  Pruneaux  de  schouders  vlii.  39,  40. 


I! 


60 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  II. 


1584. 


SUCCESS  OF  DES  PRUNEAUX. 


61 


^ii 


11/ 


' \ 


try  the  chances  of  the  French  sovereignty.  Des  rnineaux, 
meanwhile,  was  travelling  from  province  to  province, 
and  from  city  to  city,  using  the  arguments  which  have 
already  been  sufficiently  indicated,  and  urging  a  speedy 
compliance  with  the  French  King's  propositions.  At 
the  same  time,  in  accordance  with  his  instructions,  he 
was  very  cautious  to  confine  himself  to  generalities,  and 
to  avoid  hampering  his  royal  master  with  the  restric- 
tions which  had  proved  so  irksome  to  the  Duke  of 
Anjou. 

*'  The  States  General  demanded  a  copy  of  my  speech," 
be  wrote  the  day  after  that  harangue  had  been  delivered, 

25th  Aug.  "hut  I  only  gave  them  a  brief  outline  extend- 
^^^*-  ing  myself  as  little  as  I  possibly  could,  accord- 
ing to  the  intention  and  command  of  your  Majesty. 
When  I  got  here  I  found  them  without  hope  of  our 
assistance,  and  terribly  agitated  by  the  partizans  of 
Spain.  There  was  some  danger  of  their  going  over  in 
a  panic  to  the  enemy.  They  are  now  much  changed 
again,  and  the  Spanish  partizans  are  beginning  to  lose 
their  tongues.  I  invite  them,  if  they  intend  to  address 
your  Majesty,  to  proceed  as  they  ought  towards  a  veri- 
tably grand  monarch,  without  hunting  up  any  of  their 
old  quibbles,  or  reservations  of  provinces,  or  anything 
else  which  could  inspire  suspicion.  I  have  sent  into 
Gelderland  and  Friesland^  for  1  find  I  must  stay  here  in 
Holland  and  Zeeland  m3'self.  These  two  Provinces  are 
the  gates  and  rampaiis  through  which  we  must  enter. 
'Tis,  in  my  opinion,  what  could  be  called  superb,  to  com- 
mand all  the  sea,  thus  subject  to  the  crown  of  France. 
And  France,  too,  with  assistance  of  this  country,  will 
command  the  land  as  well.  They  are  much  astonished 
here,  however,  that  I  communicate  nothing  of  the  inten- 
tion of  your  Majesty.  They  say  that  if  your  Majesty 
does  not  accept  this  offer  of  their  country,  your  Majesty 
puts  the  rope  around  their  necks."  * 

The  French  envoy  was  more  and  more  struck  with 
the  brilliancy  of  the  prize  offered  to  his  master.  "  IS 
the  King  gets  these  Provinces,"  said  he  to  Catherine, 
"  'twill  be  the  most  splendid  inheritance  which  prince 
has  ever  conquered."* 

In  a  very  few  weeks  the  assiduity  of  the  envoy  and  of 


the  French  party  was  successful.  All  the  other  Pro- 
vinces had  very  soon  repeated  the  offer  which  they  had 
previously  made  through  Asseliers  and  La  Mouillerie. 
By  the  beginning  of  October  the  opposition  of  Holland 
was  vanquished.  The  Estates  of  that  Province — three 
cities  excepted,  however — determined  *'  to  request  Eng- 
land and  France  to  assume  a  joint  protectorate  over  the 
Netherlands.  In  case  the  King  of  France  should  refuse 
this  proposition,  they  were  then  ready  to  receive  him  as 
prince  and  master,  with  knowledge  and  consent  of  the 
Queen  of  England,  and  on  such  conditions  as  the  United 
States  should  approve."  * 

Immediately  afterwards  the  General  Assembly  of  all 
the  States  determined  to  offer  the  sovereignty  to  King 
Henry  on  conditions  to  be  afteruxirds  settled.^ 

Des  Pruneaux,  thus  triumphant,  received  a  gold  chain 
of  the  value  of  two  thousand  florins,  and  departed  before 
the  end  of  October  for  France.* 

The  departure  of  the  solemn  embassy  to  that  country, 
for  the  purpose  of  offering  the  sovereignty  to  the  King, 
was  delayed  till  the  beginning  of  January.  Meantime 
it  is  necessary  to  cast  a  glance  at  the  position  of  England 
in  relation  to  these  important  transactions. 


*  Wagenaar,  viil.  49. 

«  Ibid, ;  Bor,  IL  495,  Hoofd,  xxl.  945. 


a  Wagenaar,  vlll.  61;   'ResoL  IIolL, 
24th  OcU  1584,  bl.  651. 


>  Oroen  v.  Prinsterer,  *  ArchiT"** '  ic.  \.  1-3. 


«  Ihtd..  I  A. 


62 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  HI. 


li'^s 


CHAPTER  III. 

Policy  of  England  —  Schemes  of  the  Pretender  of  Portugal  —  Hesitation  of  the 
French  Court  — Secret  WiBhes  of  France  —  Contradictory  Views  as  to  the 
Opinions  of  Netherlanders  —  Thtlr  Love  for  England  and  Elizabeth  —  lYominent 
Statt'**men  of  the  Provinces  —  Koger  Williams  the  Welshman  —  Views  of  Wal- 
Bingham,  Burghley,  and  the  Queen  —  An  Embassy  to  Holland  decided  upon  — 
Davison  at  the  Hague—  Cautious  and  Secret  Measures  of  Burghley  —  Consequent 
Dissatisfaction  of  Walsingham  —  English  and  Dutch  Suspicion  of  France  — 
Increasing  Affection  of  Holland  for  England. 

The  policy  of  England  towards  the  Provinces  had  been 
somewhat  hesitating,  but  it  had  not  been  disloyal.  It 
was  almost  inevitable  that  there  should  be  timidity  in 
the  councils  of  Elizabeth,  when  so  grave  a  question  as 
that  of  confronting  the  vast  power  of  Spain  was  forcing 
itself  day  by  day  more  distinctly  upon  the  consideration 
of  herself  and  her  statesmen.  It  was  very  clear,  now 
that  Orange  was  dead,  that  some  new  and  decided  step 
would  be  taken.  Elizabeth  was  in  favour  of  combined 
action  by  the  French  and  English  governments,  in 
behalf  of  the  Netherlands — a  joint  protectorate  of  the 
Provinces,  until  such  time  as  adequate  concessions  on 
the  religious  question  could  be  obtained  from  Spain. 
She  was  unwilling  to  plunge  into  the  peril  and  expense 
of  a  w^ar  with  the  strongest  power  in  the  world.  She 
disliked  the  necessity  under  which  she  should  be  placed 
of  making  repeated  applications  to  her  parliament,  and 
of  thus  fostering  the  political  importance  of  the  Com- 
mons ;  she  was  reluctant  to  encourage  rebellious  sub- 
jects in  another  land,  however  just  the  cause  of  their 
revolt.  She  felt  herself  vulnerable  in  Ireland  and  on 
the  Scottish  border.  Nevertheless,  the  Spanish  power 
was  becoming  so  preponderant,  that,  if  the  Netherlands 
were  conquered,  she  could  never  feel  a  moment's  se- 
curity within  her  own  territory.  If  the  Provinces  were 
annexed  to  France,  on  the  other  hand,  she  could  not 
contemplate  with  complacency  the  increased  power 
thus  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  treacherous  and  Jesuiti- 
cal house  of  Valois. 
The  path  of  the  Queen  was  thickly  strewed  with 


1584. 


DON  BERNARDINO  DE  MENDOZA. 


63 


peril :  her  advisers  were  shrewd,  far-seeing,  patriotic, 
but  some  of  them  were  perhaps  over-cautious.  The 
time  had,  however,  arrived  when  the  danger  was  to  be 
faced,  if  the  whole  balance  of  power  in  Europe  were 
not  to  come  to  an  end,  and  weak  states,  like  England 
and  the  Netherlands,  to  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  an 
overwhelming  absolutism.  The  instinct  of  the  English 
sovereign,  of  English  statesmen,  of  the  English  nation, 
taught  them  that  the  cause  of  the  Netherlands  was  their 
own.  Nevertheless,  they  were  inclined  to  look  on  yet 
a  little  longer,  although  the  part  of  spectator  had  be- 
come an  impossible  one.  The  policy  of  the  English 
government  was  not  treacherous,  although  it  was  timid. 
That  of  the  French  court  was  both  the  one  and  the 
other,  and  it  would  have  been  better  both  for  England 
and  the  I^rovinces,  had  they  more  justly  appreciated 
the  character  of  Catherine  de'  Medici  and  her  son. 

The  first  covert  negotiations  between  Henry  and  the 
States  had  caused  much  anxiety  among  the  foreign 
envoys  in  France.  Don  Bernardino  de  Mendoza,  who 
had  recently  returned  from  Spain,  after  his  compulsory 
retreat  from  his  post  of  English  ambassador,  was  now 
established  in  Paris,  as  representative  of  Philip.  He 
succeeded  Tassis — a  Netherlander  by  birth,  and  one  ot 
the  ablest  diplomatists  in  the  Spanish  service — and  his 
house  soon  became  the  focus  of  intrigue  against  the 
government  to  which  he  was  accredited — the  very  head- 
quarters of  the  League.  His  salary  was  large,  his  way 
of  living  magnificent,  his  insolence  intolerable. 

**  Tassis  is  gone  to  the  Netherlands,"  wrote  envoy 
Busbecq  to  the  Emperor,  "  and  thence  is  to  proceed  to 
Spain.  Don  Bernardino  has  arrived  in  his  place.  If  it 
be  the  duty  of  a  good  ambassador  to  expend  largely,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  better  one  than  he  ;  for  they 
say  'tis  his  intention  to  spend  sixteen  thousand  dollars 
yearly  in  his  embassy.  1  would  that  all  things  were  in 
correspondence,  and  that  he  were  not  in  other  respects 
so  inferior  to  Tassis."  ^ 

It  is,  however,  very  certain  that  Mendoza  was  not 
only  a  brave  soldier,  but  a  man  of  very  considerable 
capacity  in  civil  affairs,  although  his  inordinate  arro- 
gance interfered  most  seriously  with  his  skill  as  a  nego- 

»  Busbecqul.  •  Eplst.  adlRud.'  II.  p.  132. 


64 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III. 


1584. 


HESITATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  COURT. 


§5 


ii 


4 


'< 


M 


tiator.  He  was,  of  course,  watching  with  much  fierce- 
ness the  progress  of  these  underhand  proceedings  be- 
tween the  French  court  and  the  rebellious  subjects  of  his 
master,  and  using  threats  and  expostulations  in  great  pro- 
fusion. "  Mucio,"  too,  the  great  stipendiary  of  Philip, 
was  becoming  daily  more  dangerous,  and  the  adherents 
of  the  League  were  multiplying  with  great  celerity. 

The  pretender  of  Portugal,  Don  Antonio,  prior  of 
Crato,  was  also  in  Paris  ;  and  it  was  the  policy  of  both 
the  French  and  the  English  governments  to  protect  his 
person,  and  to  make  use  of  him  as  a  rod  over  the  head 
of  Philip.  Having  escaped,  after  the  most  severe  suf- 
ferings, in  the  mountains  of  Spain,  where  he  had  been 
tracked  like  a  wild  beast,  with  a  price  of  thirty  thou- 
sand crowns  placed  upon  his  head,  he  was  now  most 
anxious  to  stir  the  governments  of  Europe  into  espousing 
his  cause,  and  into  attacking  Spain  through  the  re- 
cently acquired  kingdom  of  Portugal.  Meantime,  he 
was  very  desirous  of  some  active  employment,  to  keep 
himself  from  starving,  and  conceived  the  notion  that  it 
would  be  an  excellent  thing  for  the  Netherlands  and 
himself,  were  he  to  make  good  to  them  the  loss  of 
William  the  Silent. 

'*  Don  Antonio,"  wrote  Stafford,  "  made  a  motion  to 
me  yesterday,  to  move  her  Majesty,  that  now  upon  the 
Prince  of  Orange's  death,  as  it  is  a  necessary  thing  for 
them  to  have  a  governor  and  head,  and  him  to  be  at  her 
Majesty's  devotion,  if  her  Majesty  would  be  at  the  means 
to  work  it  for  him,  she  should  be  assured  nobody  should 
be  more  faithfully  tied  in  devotion  to  her  than  he. 
Truly  you  would  pity  the  poor  man's  case,  who  is 
almost  next  door  to  starving  in  effect."* 

A  starving  condition  being,  however,  not  the  only 
requisite  in  a  governor  and  head  to  replace  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  nothing  came  of  this  motion.  Don  Antonio 
remained  in  Paris,  in  a  pitiable  plight,  and  very  much 
environed  by  dangers ;  for  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  his 
brother  had  undertaken  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands 
of  Philip  the  Second,  or  those  of  his  ministers,  before 
the  feast  of  St.  John  of  the  coming  year.  Fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  were  to  be  the  reward  of  this  piece  of  work, 
combined  with  other  services ;  "  and  the  sooner  they 

*  StafiFord  to  Walsinghom,  Murdin,  ii.  412-415. 


set  about  it  the  better,"  said  Philip,  writing  a  few 
months  later,  *'  for  the  longer  they  delay  it,  the  less 
easy  they  will  find  it."  * 

The  money  was  never  earned,  however,  and  mean- 
time Don  Antonio  made  himself  as  useful  as  he  could, 
in  picking  up  information  for  Sir  Edward  Stafford  and 
the  other  opponents  of  Spanish  policy  in  Paris. 

The  English  envoy  was  much  embarrassed  by  the 
position  of  affairs.  He  felt  sure  that  the  French  mo- 
narch would  never  dare  to  enter  the  lists  against  the 
I^ing  of  Spain,  yet  he  was  accurately  informed  of  the 
secret  negotiations  with  the  Netherlands,  while  in  the 
dark  as  to  the  ultimate  intentions  of  his  own  govern- 
ment. 

"  I  was  never  set  to  school  so  much,"  he  wrote 
to  Walsingham  (27th  July,  1584),  ♦' as  I  have  been 
to  decipher  the  cause  of  the  deputies  of  the  Low 
Countries  coming  hither,  the  offers  that  they  made 
the  King  here,  and  the  King's  manner  of  dealing  with 
them." « 

He  expressed  great  jealousy  at  the  mystery  which 
enveloped  the  whole  transaction ;  and  much  annoyance 
with  Noel  de  Caron,  who  "kept  very  secret,  and  was 
angry  at  the  motion,"  when  he  endeavoured  to  discover 
the  business  in  which  they  were  engaged.  Yet  he  had 
the  magnanimity  to  request  Walsingham  not  to  mention 
the  fact  to  the  Queen,  lest  she  should  be  thereby  pre- 
judiced against  the  States. 

"  For  my  part,"  said  he,  "I  would  be  glad  in  any- 
thing to  further  them,  rather  than  to  hinder  them — 
though  they  do  not  deserve  it — yet  for  the  good  the 
helping  them  at  this  time  may  bring  ourselves."  * 

Meantime,  the  deputies  went  away  from  France,  and 
the  King  went  to  Lyons,  where  he  had  hoped  to  meet 
both  the  Duke  of  Savoy  and  the  King  of  Navarre.  But 
Joyeuse,  who  had  been  received  at  Chambery  with 
*' great  triumphs  and  tourneys,"  brought  back  only  a 
broken  wrist,  without  bringing  the  Duke  of  Savoy ;  that 
potentate  sending  word  that  the  ''  King  of  Spain  had 
done  him  the  honour  to  give  him  his  daughter,  and  that 

»  Philip  II.  to  J.  B.  Tassis,  15  and  28  March,  1685.  (Aithivo  general  de  SimancM. 
Negoclado  de  Estado.   Flaiides.  MS.) 
*  Murdin,  ubi  supra.  *  Ibid. 

VOL.   1.  F 


I* 

1 


I'll! 


m 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III. 


it  was  not  fit  for  him  to  do  anything  that  might  bring 
jealousy." ' 

Henry  of  Navarre  also,  as  we  have  seen,  declined  the 
invitation  sent  him,  M.  de  Segur  not  feeling  disposed 
for  ihe  sudden  flight  out  of  window  suggested  by 
Agrippa  D'Aubign6 ;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  the  King 
and  his  mother,  with  all  the  court,  returned  from  Lyons 
in  marvellous  ill  humour. 

"  The  King  storms  greatly,"  said  Stafford,  **  and  is  in 
a  great  dump."  *  It  was  less  practicable  than  ever  to 
discover  the  intentions  of  the  government ;  for  although 
it  was  now  very  certain  that  active  exertions  were 
making  by  Des  Pruneaux  in  the  Provinces,  it  was  not 
believed  by  the  most  sagacious  that  a  serious  resolution 
against  Spain  had  been  taken  in  France.  There  was 
even  a  talk  of  a  double  matrimonial  alliance,  at  that 
very  moment,  between  the  two  courts. 

*'  It  is  for  certain  here  said,"  wrote  Stafford,  '*  that  the 
King  of  Spain  doth  presently  marry  the  dowager  of 
France,  and  'tis  thought  that,  if  the  King  of  Spain 
marry,  he  will  not  live  a  year.  AVhensoever  the  mar- 
riage be,"  added  the  envoy,  "  I  would  to  God  the  effect 
were  true,  for  if  it  be  not  by  some  such  handy- work  of 
God,  I  am  afraid  things  will  not  go  so  well  as  I  could 
wish."  • 

There  was  a  lull  on  the  surface  of  affairs,  and  it  was 
not  easy  to  sound  the  depths  of  unseen  combinations  and 
intrigues.  There  was  also  considerable  delay  in  the 
appointment  and  the  arrival  of  the  new  deputies  from 
the  Netherlands :  and  Stafford  was  as  doubtful  as  ever 
as  to  the  intentions  of  his  own  government. 

''  They  look  daily  here  for  the  States,"  he  wrote  to 
Wakingham  (29th  Dec.  1584),  "and  I  pray  that  I  may 
hear  from  you,  as  soon  as  you  may,  what  course  I  shall 
take  when  they  be  here,  either  hot  or  cold  or  lukewarm 
in  the  matter,  and  in  what  sort  I  shall  behave  myself. 
Some  badly  affected  have  gone  about  to  put  into  the 
Kings  head  that  they  never  meant  to  offer  the  sove- 
reignty, which,  though  the  King  be  not  thoroughly 
pei*suaded  of,  yet  so  much  is  won  by  this  means  that 
the  king  hearkeneth  to  see  the  *  end,  and  then  to  believe 
us  he  seeth  cause,  and  in  the  mean  time  to  speak  no 


1584. 


VALUE  OF  HOLLAND  AND  ZEELAND. 


67 


more  of  any  such  matter  than  if  it  had  never  been 
moved."  * 

While  his  Majesty  was  thus  hearkening  in  order  to 
see  more,  according  to  Sir  Edward's  somewhat  Hiber- 
nian mode  of  expressing  himself,  and  keeping  silent 
that  he  might  see  the  better,  it  was  more  difficult  than 
ever  for  the  envoy  to  know  what  course  to  pursue. 
Some  persons  went  so  far  as  to  suggest  that  the  whole 
negotiation  was  a  mere  phantasmagoria  devised  by 
Queen  Elizabeth— her  purpose  being  to  breed  a  quarrel 
between  Henry  and  Philip  for  her  own  benefit ;  and 
"  then,  seeing  them  together  by  the  ears,  as  her  accus- 
tomed manner  was,  to  let  them  go  alone,  and  sit  still 
to  look  on."  * 

The  King  did  not  appear  to  be  much  affected  by  these 
msmuations  against  Elizabeth;  but  the  doubt  and  the 
delay  were  very  harassing.  »'  I  would  to  God,"  wrote 
the  English  envoy,  "  that  if  the  States  mean  to  do  any- 
thing here  with  the  King,  and  if  her  Majesty  and  the 
council  think  it  fit,  they  would  delay  no  time,  but  go 
roundly  either  to  an  agreement  or  to  a  breach  with  the 
King.  Otherwise,  as  the  matter  now  sleepeth,  so  it 
will  die,  for  the  King  must  be  taken  in  his  humour 
when  he  begins  to  nibble  at  any  bait,  for  else  he  wiU 
come  away,  and  never  bite  a  full  bite  while  he  liveth  "  * 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  bait  at  which  Henry 
nibbled  with  much  avidity  was  the  maritime  part  of 
the  N  etherlands.  Holland  and  Zeeland  in  the  posses- 
sion of  either  England  or  Spain,  was  a  perpetual  incon- 
venience to  France.  The  King,  or  rather  the  Queen- 
Mother  and  her  advisers— for  Henry  himself  hardly 
indulged  in  any  profound  reflections  on  state-affairs,— 
desired  and  had,  made  a  nine  qua  mn  of  those  Provinces 
It  had  been  the  French  policy,  from  the  beginning,  to 
delay  matters,  in  order  to  make  the  States  feel  the  peril 
of  their  position  to  the  full. 

"The  King,  differing  and  temporising,"  wrote  Herle 
to  the  Queen,  -  would  have  them  fall  into  that  necessity 
and  danger,  as  that  they  should  offer  unto  him  simply 
the  possession  of  all  their  estates.  Otherwise,  they  were 
to  see,  as  in  a  glass,  their  evident  and  hasty  min.''  * 


1  Murdin.  IL  419,  420. 


•Ibid. 


»  Ibid. 


»  Murdin,  il.  431.  2  ibij, 

*  Herle  to  Queen  Elizabttli.  MS.  before  cited. 


Ibid. 


p2 


iji' 


68 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  HI, 


1584. 


CHARACTER  OF  COUNT  HOHENLO. 


69 


'f 


h 


Even  before  the  death  of  Orange,  Henry  had  been 
determined,  if  possible,  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
island  of  Walcheren,  which  controlled  the  whole  coun- 
try. ''To  give  him  that,"  said  Herle,  "would  be  to 
turn  the  hot  end  of  the  poker  towards  themselves,  and 
put  the  cold  part  in  the  King's  hand.'  He  had  accord- 
ingly made  a  secret  oflfer  to  \V  illiam  of  Orange,  through 
the  Princess,  of  two  millions  of  livres  in  ready  money, 
or,  if  he  preferred  it,  one  hundred  thousand  livres 
yearly  ef  perpetual  inheritance,  if  he  would  secure  to 
him  ^e  island  of  Walcheren.  In  that  case  he  promised 
to  declare  war  upon  the  King  of  Spain,  to  confirm  to  the 
States  their  privileges,  and  to  guarantee  to  the  Prince 
the  earldoms  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  with  all  his  other 
lands  and  titles."  * 

It  is  superfluous  to  say  that  such  offers  were  only 
regarded  by  the  Prince  as  an  affront.  It  was,  however, 
so  necessary,  in  his  opinion,  to  maintain  the  cause  of 
the  refonned  churches  in  Fmnce,  and  to  keep  up  the 
antagonism  between  that  country  and  Spain,  that  the 
Prench  policy  was  not  abandoned,  although  the  court 
was  always  held  in  suspicion. 

But  on  the  death  of  William,  there  was  a  strong 
reaction  against  France  and  in  favour  of  England.  Paul 
Buys,  one  of  tlie  ablest  statesmen  of  the  Netherlands, 
Advocate  of  Holland,  and  a  confidential  friend  of  \V  il- 
liam the  Silent  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  now  became 
the  leader  of  the  English  party,  and  employed  his  most 


>  Tlerle  to  Quwn  Elizabeth,  MS.  before 
cited. 

*  "The  French  King's  inward  inten- 
tion being  (llst-overed  in  some  mmnor  to 
them,  and  his  faith  holden  suspected, 
Paul  Buys  at  Dellt  to  tiiis  effect  willed 
me  under  secn-cy  and  lussurance  to  say 
imto  your  Mnjesty  from  him,  that  the 
gald  French  King  bad  two  months  since 
fioundfd  the  Prince  of  Orange  by  the 
IMncess  his  wife,  that.  In  case  he  could 
be  content  to  put  into  his  hands  the 
island  of  Walcheren.  the  said  King  would 
immediately  dt-clare  ^^la  his  enemy, 
confirm  to  the  State's  thoir  privileges,  and 
unto  the  Prince  of  Orange  the  earldoms 
of  Holland  and  Z'^^land,  with  all  his 
other  laiida  and  titleii,  and  give  him  over 


and  above  100,000  A*  yearly  of  perpetual 
Inherltitnce,  well  assured  to  him  and  his, 
where  he  would  choose  the  same ;  ur,  if 
he  thought  better,  he  shoiild  have  In 
ready  money  2,000.000  A*  to  bestow  at 
bis  pleasure. 

"  But,  saith  Buys  (his  scope  b«  ing 
once  seen),  he  shall  never  be  trusted  hy 
us,  what  hazard  and  extremity  soever  we 
run  into;  yet  he  excused  the  Prince  that 
he  was  not  French  in  mind,  but  for  ne- 
cessity and  connivency,  to  conserve  the 
churches  In  France,  and  to  breed  Jealousy 
and  pique  between  those  great  kings*, 
whereof  the  defence  and  relief  of  those 
countries  and  religion  might  ensue  and 
b*-  continm-d."  (Herle  to  q.  Elizabeth, 
MS.  ubi  tup.) 


1 


strenuous    efforts  against   the    French  treaty — having 
"  seen  the  scope  of  that  court."  * 

With  regard  to  the  other  leading  personages,  there  was 
a  strong  inclination  in  favour  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  whose 
commanding  character  inspired  great  respect.  At  the 
same  time  wanner  sentiments  of  adhesion  seem  to  have 
been  expressed  towards  the  French  court,  by  the  same 
individuals,  than  the  mere  language  of  compliment 
justified. 

Thus,  the  widowed  Princess  of  Orange  was  described 
by  Des  Pruneaux  to  his  sovereign  as  "very  desolate, 
but  nevertheless  doing  all  in  her  power  to  advance  his 
interests ;  the  Count  Maurice,  of  gentle  hopes,  as  also 
most  desirous  of  remaining  his  Majesty's  humble  ser- 
vant ;  while  Elector  Tnichsess  was  said  to  be  employing 
himself,  in  the  same  cause,  with  veiy  great  affection."  * 

A  French  statesman  resident  in  the  Provinces,  whose 
name  has  not  been  preserved,  but  who  was  evidently  on 
intimate  terms  with  many  eminent  Netherlandors,  de- 
clared that  Maurice,  "  who  had  a  mind  entirely  French, 
deplored  infinitely  the  misfortunes  of  France,  and 
regiotted  that  all  the  Provinces  could  not  be  annexed 
to  so  fair  a  kingdom.  I  do  assure  you,"  he  added,  "  that 
he  is  in  no  wise  English."  * 

Of  Count  Hohenlo,  general-in-chief  of  the  States'  army 
under  Prince  Maurice,  and  afterwards  his  brother  in-law, 
the  same  gentleman  spoke  with  even  greater  confidence. 
"  Count  d'Oloc,"  said  he  (for  by  that  ridiculous  trans- 
formation of  his  name  the  German  general  was  known 
to  French  and  English),  "with  whom  1  have  passed 
three  weeks  on  board  the  fleet  of  the  States,  is  now 
wholly  French,  and  does  not  love  the  English  at  all. 
The  very  first  time  I  saw  him,  he  protested  twice  or 
thrice,  in  presence  of  members  of  the  States  General  and 
of  the  state-council,  that  if  he  had  no  Frenchmen  he 
could  never  cany  on  the  war.  He  made  more  account, 
he  said,  of  two  thousand  French  than  of  six  thousand 
others,  English  or  Germans."* 

Yet  all  tliese  distinguished  persons — the  widowed 
Princess  of  Omnge,  Count  Maurice,  ex-elector  Truchsess, 
Count  Hohenlo — were  described  to  Queen  Elizabeth  by 

*  Wag^'naar,  vlil.  50, 


3  ibid-  15. 


'  Groen  v-  lYinsterer, '  Archives,'  Sec,  i.  2,  3. 

*  ibid. 


70 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III< 


her  confidential  agent,  then  employed  in  the  Provinces, 
as  entirely  at  that  sovereign's  devotion. 

"Count  Maurice  holds  nothing  of  the  French,  nor 
esteems  them,"  said  Herle,  "  but  humbly  desired  me  to 
signify  unto  your  Majesty  that  he  had  in  his  mind  and 
determination  faithfully  vowed  his  sei'\'ice  to  your 
Majesty,  which  should  be  continued  in  his  actions  with 
all  duty,  and  sealed  witli  his  blood ;  for  he  knew  how 
much  his  father  and  the  cause  were  beholden  ever  to 
3'our  Highness's  goodness." ' 

The  Trincess,  together  with  her  sister-in-law  Countess 
Schwartzenburg,  and  the  young  daughters  of  the  late 
Prince,  were  described  on  the  same  occasion  "as  recom- 
mending their  service  unto  her  Majesty  with  a  most 
tender  affection,  as  to  a  lady  of  all  ladies."  "  Especially," 
said  Ilerle,  "  did  the  two  Princesses  in  most  humble  and 
wise  sort,  express  a  certain  fervent  devotion  towards 
your  Majesty."* 

Elector  I'mchsess  was  spoken  of  as  "  a  prince  well 
qualified  and  greatly  devoted  to  her  Majesty ;  who,  after 
many  grave  and  sincere  words  had  of  her  Majesty's 
virtue,  calling  her  la  fiUe  unique  de  Dieu,  and  la  bien 
heureuse  Princesse,  desired  of  God  that  he  might  do  her 
service  as  she  merited."  " 

And,  finally,  Count  Hollock— who  seemed  to  "be 
reformed  in  sundry  things,  if  it  hold"  (a  delicate 
allusion  to  the  Count's  propensity  for  strong  potations), 
was  siiid  "  to  desir§  humbly  to  be  known  for  one  that 
would  obey  the  commandment  of  her  Majesty  more  than 
of  any  earthly  prince  living  besides."* 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  was  a  strong  party 
in  favour  of  an  appeal  to  England  rather  than  to  France. 
The  ^etherlanders  were  too  shrewd  a  people  not  to 
recognise  the  ditlbrcnce  between  the  king  of  a  great 
realm  who  painted  his  face  and  wore  satin  petticoats, 
and  ilia  woman  who  entertained  ambassjidors,  eacli  in 
his  own  language,  on  gravest  affairs  of  state,  who 
matched  in  her  wit  and  wisdom  the  deepest  or  the  most 
sparkling  intellects  of  her  council,  who  made  extempo- 
raneous Latin  orations  to  her  universities,  and  who  rode 
on  horseback  among  her  generals  along  the  lines  of  her 


'  Letter  ol  Herle,  before  cited. 


2  Ibid. 


lbtd« 


«  Ibid. 


1584.      FEELING  IN  FAVOUR  OF  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.  71 

troops  in  battle-array,  and  yet  was  only  the  unmarried 
queen  of  a  petty  and  turbulent  state. 

"  The  reverend  respect  that  is  borne  to  your  Majesty 
throughout  these  countries  is  great,"  said  William 
Herle.  They  would  have  thrown  themselves  into  her 
arms,  heart  and  soul,  had  they  been  cordially  extended 
at  that  moment  of  their  distress;  but  she  was  coy, 
hesitating,  and,  for  reasons  already  sufficiently  indicated, 
although  not  so  conclusive  as  they  seemed,  disposed  to 
temporize,  and  to  await  the  issue  of  the  negotiations 
between  the  Provinces  and  France. 

In  Holland  and  Zeeland  especially  there  was  an 
enthusiastic  feeling  in  favour  of  the  English  alliance. 
"  They  recommend  themselves,"  said  Herle,  "  through- 
out the  country  in  their  consultations  and  assemblies, 
as  also  in  their  common  and  private  speeches,  to  the 
Queen  of  England's  only  favour  and  goodness,  whom 
they  call  their  saviour,  and  the  Princess  of  greatest  per- 
fection in  wisdom  and  sincerity  that  ever  governed. 
Kotwithstanding  their  treaty  now  on  foot  by  their 
deputies  with  France,  they  are  not  more  disposed  to  be 
governed  by  the  French  than  to  be  tyrannized  over  by 
the  Spaniard;  concluding  it  to  be  alike;  and  even 
commufare  non  sortem  sed  servifutem.^^  ^ 

Paul  Buys  was  indefatigable  in  his  exertions  against 
the  treaty  with  France,  and  in  stimulating  the  enthu- 
siasm for  England  and  Elizabeth.  He  expressed  sincere 
and  unaffected  devotion  to  the  Queen  on  all  occasions, 
and  promised  that  no  negotiations  should  take  place, 
however  secret  and  confidential,  that  were  not  laid  before 
her  Majesty.*     "  He  has  the  chief  administration  among 


»  Letter  of  Herle,  before  cited. 

Sainte  Aldegonde  and  VilUers  favoured 
the  French  policy.  Sainte  Aldegonde 
was  burgomaster  of  Antwerp,  but  even 
In  that  city,  although  so  many  influential 
persons  looked  to  France,  the  people 
generally  had  more  confidence  in  Eng- 
land. "The  accepting  of  the  French 
King  as  prince  of  these  countries,"  wrote 
I^e  Sieur  to  Walsinghain,  *'  is  much  soupht 
by  some  that  povom  this  d  ly  here ;  but 
In  the  ears  of  the  common  people  It 
soundeth  but  evil,  though  the  report  be 
here  that  Holland  and  Zeeland  have  al- 
moet  accepted  bim.    If  it  would  please 


her  Miijesty  to  give  ear  unto  It,  she  couM 
have  the  country  cheap  enough.  Je  Juge 
que  sa  Majestd  auroit  bon  marche  de  oe 
pays."  (Ije  Sleur  to  Walsingham,  7  Sept. 
1584.  S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  Treslong,  too.  Admiral  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland,  and  Govejnor  of  Ostend, 
made  no  secret  of  his  preference  for  Kng- 
land.  He  avoweii  himself  publicly  her 
Mijjesty's  faithful  servant.  Entertaining 
hospitably,  at  his  table  in  Osf<^nd,  Cap- 
tain Richards  and  other  English  officera 
who  had  come  with  troops  from  Flu^h- 
ing.  he  pledged  a  bumper  to  the  Qneon'ii 
health,  and  another  to  that  of  Walslng 


I: 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  HI. 


II  I 


f 


the  States," said  Herle,  "and  to  his  credit  and  dexterity 
they  attribute  the  despatch  of  most  things.  He  showed 
unto  me  the  state  of  the  enemy  throughout  the  Provinces, 
and  of  the  negotiation  in  France,  whereof  he  had  no 
opinion  at  all  of  success,  nor  any  will  of  his  own  part 
but  to  please  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  his  lifetime." ' 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel  whether  or  not  the  views 
«>f  this  experienced  and  able  statesman  were  lucid  and 
comprehensive.  It  will  also  be  seen  whether  his 
strenuous  exertions  in  favour  of  the  English  alliance 
were  rewarded  as  bountifully  as  they  dcvserved  by  those 
most  indebted  to  him. 

Meantime  he  was  busily  employed  in  making  the 
English  government  acquainted  with  the  capacity, 
disposition,  and  general  plans  of  the  Netherlanders. 

"They  have  certain  other  things  in  consultation 
amongst  the  States  to  determine  of,"  wrote  Herle, 
"  which  they  were  sworn  not  to  reveal  to  any,  but  Buys 
protested  that  nothing  should  pass  but  to  your  liking 
and  surety,  and  the  same  to  be  altered  and  disposed  as 
should  seem  good  to  your  Highness's  own  authority ; 
affirming  to  me  sincerely  that  Holland  and  Zeeland, 
with  the  rest  of  the  Provinces,  for  the  estimation  they 
had  of  your  high  virtue  and  temperancy,  would  yield 
themselves  absolutely  to  your  Majesty  and  crown  for 
ever,  or  to  none  other  (their  liberties  only  reserved), 
whereof  you  should  have  immediate  possession,  without 
reservation  of  place  or  privilege."" 

The  important  point  of  the  capability  of  the  Provinces 
to  defend  themselves,  about  which  Elizabeth  was  most 
anxious  to  be  informed,  was  also  fully  elucidated  by  the 
Advocate.  *'  The  means  should  be  such,  proceeding 
from  the  Provinces,"  said  he,  "as  your  Majesty  might 
defend  your  interest  therein  with  facility  against  the 
whule  world."     He  then  indicated  a  plan,  which  had 


hara,  praying  that  Elizabeth  might  yet 
be  his  8t)vere1gn. 

••  NevertheU>8«,"  aaid  he.  "  I  have  let- 
ters from  Zeeland,  by  which  it  apjKars 
that  that  province  is  about  to  deliver 
Itaelf  to  the  queen-mother  of  France." 

"And,  begging  your  pardon,"  said 
Richards,  "  what  towns  will  you  give 
them  for  garriiion." 

*  2so  tuwnB  at  all,"  answered  the  Ad« 


mlral ;  ••  let  them  lie  on  the  dykes !" 

After  dinner  he  conducti'd  liie  English 
officers  over  the  town,  showing  them  the 
fortifications,  and  renewing  bis  protesta- 
tions of  devotion  to  h»»r  .Majesty. 
(Richards  to  Walsingham,  9  Sept.  1584, 
S.  P.  Office  MS.^ 
»  Letter  of  Herle,  before  cited, 
s  Ibid. 


1584. 


MILITARY  LEVIES  FOR  THE  PROVINCES. 


7a 


been  proposed  by  the  States  of  Brabant  to  the  States 
General,  according  to  which  they  were  to  keep  on  foot 
an  army  of  15,000  foot  and  5000  horse,  with  which  they 
should  be  able  *'  to  expulse  the  enemy  and  to  reconquer 
their  towns  and  country  lost,  within  three  months."  Of 
this  army  they  hoped  to  induce  the  Queen  to  furnish 
6000  English  footmen  and  500  horse,  to  l3e  paid  monthly 
by  a  treasurer  of  her  own ;  and  for  the  assistance  thus  to 
be  funiished  they  proposed  to  give  Ostend  and  Sluys  as 
pledge  of  payment.  According  to  this  scheme  the 
elector  palatine,  John  Casimir,  had  promised  to  furnish, 
equip,  and  pay  2000  cavalry,  taking  the  towTi  of 
Maestricht  and  the  country  of  Limburg,  when  freed 
from  the  enemy,  in  pawn  for  his  disbursements ;  while 
Antwerp  and  Brabant  had  agreed  to  supply  800,000 
crowns  in  ready  money  for  immediate  use.  Many 
powerful  politicians  opposed  this  policy,  however,  and 
urged  reliance  upon  France,  *'  so  that  this  course  seemed 
to  be  lame  in  many  parts."  ' 

Agents  had  already  been  sent  both  to  England  and* 
France,  to  procure,  if  possible,  a  levy  of  troops  for 
immediate  necessity.  The  attempt  was  unsuccessful  in 
Fnince,  but  the  Dutch  community  of  the  reformed 
religion  in  London  subscribed  nine  thousand  and  five 
florins."  This  sum,  with  other  contributions,  proved 
sufficient  to  set  Morgan's  regiment  on  foot,  which  soon 
after  began  to  arrive  in  the  Netherlands  by  companies. 
**  But  if  it  were  all  here  at  once,"  said  Stephen  Le  Sieur, 
*'  't  would  be  but  a  breakfaist  for  the  enemy."  * 

The  agent  for  the  matter  in  England  was  De  Griyse, 
formerly  bailitf  of  Bruges;  and  although  tolerably 
successful  in  his  mission,  he  was  not  thought  competent 
for  so  impoi-tant  a  post,  nor  officially  authorised  for  tlio 
undertaking.  While  procuring  this  assistance  in 
English  troops  he  had  been  very  urgent  w^ith  the  Queen 
to  further  the  negotiations  between  the  States  and 
France ;  *  and  Paul  Pniys  was  offended  with  him  as  a 
mischief-maker  and  an  intriguer.  He  complained  of 
him  as  having  "  thrust  himself  in,  to  deal  and  inter- 
meddle in  the  affairs  of  the  Low  Countries  unavowed," 
and  desired  that  he  might  be  closely  looked  after.* 

*  Letter  of  Herle,  before  cited.  «  Metcren,  xll.  217. 
»  Le  Sieur  to  Walsingham,  7  Sept.  1584.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  aietercn,  xU.  217.  «  Letter  of  Herle,  MS. 


•  I 


■'  > 


1 


74 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IIT. 


I     1 

'7 


/ 


/ 


After  the  Advocate,  Ihe  next  most  important  states- 
man in  the  Provinces  was  perhaps  3Ieetkerk,  president 
of  the  high  court  of  Flanders,  a  man  of  much  learning, 
Bincerity,  and  earnestness  of  character;  having  had 
great  experience  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  the 
country  on  many  important  occasions.  *'  He  stands 
second  in  reputation  here,"  said  Herle,  "  and  both  Buys 
and  he  have  one  special  care  in  all  practises  that  are 
discovered,  to  examine  how  near  anything  may  concern 
your  person  or  kingdom,  whereof  they  will  advertise  as 
matter  shall  fall  out  in  importance."  ' 

John  van  Olden-Bameveld,  afterwards  so  conspicuous 
in  the  history  of  the  coimtry,  was  rather  inclined,  at 
this  period,  to  favour  the  French  party ;  a  policy  Avhich 
was  strenuously  furthered  by  Villiers  and  by  Sainte 
Aldegonde. 

Besides   ihe   information  furnished  to   the   English 

government,  as  to  the  state  of  feeling  and  resources  of 

^the   Netherlands,   by   Buys,    Mectkerk,   and    William 

Herle,  Walsingham  relied  much  upon  the  experienced 

eye  and  the  keen  biting  humour  of  Roger  Williams. 

A   frank   open-hearted   Welshman,  with   no  fortune 
but  his  sword,  but  as  true  as  its  steel,  he  had  done  the 
States  much  important  service  in  the  hard- fighting  days 
of  Grand  Commander  Requesens  and  of  iJgn  John  of 
Austi-ia.     W ith  a  shrewd   Welsh  head  under  his  iron 
morion,   and   a   stout   Welsh   heart   under   his   ta^vny 
doublet,  he  had  gained  little  but  hard  knocks  and  a 
dozen  wounds  in  his  campaigning,  and  had  but  recently 
been  ransomed,  rather  giaidgingly,  by  his  government, 
from  a  Spanish  prison  in  Brabant.     lie  was  suffering  in 
health  from  its  effects,  but  was  still  more  distressed  in 
mind,  from  his  sagacious  reading  of  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Fearing  that  England  was  growing  lukowami,  and  the 
Provinces  desperate,  he  was  beginning  to  find  himself  out 
of  work,  and  was  already  casting  about  him  for  other  em- 
ployment.    Poor,  honest,  and  proud,  he  had  repeatedly 
declined  to  enter  the  Spanish  service.     Bribes,  such  as 
at  a  little  hiter  period  were  sufficient  to  sully  conspi- 
cuous reputations  and  noble  names,  among  his  country- 
men in  better  circumstances  than  his  own,  had  been 
freely  but  unsuccessfully  offered  him.      U'o  sei-\'e  under 

»  Letter  of  Herle,  MS. 


1584. 


ROGER  WILLIAMS. 


75 


any  but  the  English  or  States'  flag  in  the  Provinces  he 
scorned ;  and  he  thought  the  opportunity  fast  slipping 
away  there  for  taking  the  Papistical  party  in  Europe 
handsomely  by  the  beard.  He  had  done  much  manful 
work  in  the  Netherlands,  and  was  destined  to  do  much 
more ;  but  he  was  now  discontented,  and  thought 
himself  slighted.  In  more  remote  regions  of  the  world 
the  thrifty  soldier  thought  that  there  might  be  as  good 
harvesting  for  his  sword  as  in  the  thrice-trampled  stubble 
of  Flanders. 

"  I  would  refuse  no  hazard  that  is  possible  to  be  done 
in  the  Queen's  service,"  he  said  to  \V  alsingham ;  "  but 
1  do  persuade  myself  she  makes  no  account  of  me.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  duty  that  nature  bound  me  towards 
her  and  my  country,  I  needed  not  to  have  been  in  that 
case  that  1  am  in.  Perhaps  I  could  have  fingered  more 
pistoles  than  Mr.  Newell,  the  late  Latiner,  and  had 
better  usage  and  pension  of  the  Spaniards  than  he. 
Some  can  tell  that  I  refused  large  oilers,  in  the  misery 
of  Alost,  of  the  Prince  of  Parma.  Last  of  all,  Verdugo 
offered  me  very  fair,  being  in  Loccum,  to  quit  the 
States'  service,  and  accept  theirs,  without  treachery  or 
betraying  of  place  or  man."  * 

Not  feeling  inclined  to  teach  Latin  in  Spain,  like  the 
late  Mr.  Newell,  or  to  violate  oaths  and  surrender  for- 
tresses, like  brave  soldiers  of  fortune  whose  deeds  will 
be  afterwards  chronicled,  he  was  disposed  to  cultivate 
the  "  acquaintance  of  divers  Pollacks,"  from  whom  ho 
had  received  invitations.  "  Find  I  nothing  there,"  said 
he,  "  Duke  Matthias  has  promised  me  coui-tesy  if  1 
would  seive  in  Hungary.  If  not,  I  will  offer  service  to 
one  of  the  Turk's  bashaws  against  the  Persians."  * 

Fortunately,  work  was  found  for  the  trusty  Welshman 
in  the  old  fiekls.  His  brave  honest  face  often  reappeared ; 
his  sharp  sensible  tongue  uttered  much  sage  counsel; 
and  his  i  eady  sword  did  various  solid  service,  in  leaguer^ 
battle-field,  and  martial  debate,  in  Flanders,  Holland' 
Spain,  and  France. 

For  the  present,  he  was  casting  his  keen  glances 
upon  the  negotiations  in  progress,  and  cavilling  at  the 
general  policy  which  seemed  predominant. 

1  Roger  WUIiams  to  Sir  F.  Walsinfrham.  Sept.  1584.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

a  Ibid. 


76 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III. 


7. 


Hi 


He  believed  that  the  object  of  the  French  was  to 
.trifle  with  the  States,  to  protract  interminably  their 
negotiations,  to  prevent  the  P]nglish  govenunent  from 
getting  any  hold  upon  the  Provinces,  and  then  to  leave 
them  to  their  fate. 

He  advised  Walsingham  to  advance  men  and  money, 
upon  the  security  of  iSlnys  and  Ostend. 

"  I  dare  venture  my  life,"  said  he,  with  much  energj', 
"that  were  Norris,  Bingham,  Yorke,  or  Carlisle,  in 
those  ports,  he  would  keep  them  during  the  Spanish 
King's  life." ' 

But  the  true  way  to  attack  Spain — a  method  soon 
afterwards  to  be  carried  into  such  brilliant  effect  by 
the  naval  heroes  of  England  and  the  Netherlands — the 
long-sighted  ^^'elshman  now  indicated  ;  a  combined 
attack,  namely,  by  sea  upon  the  colonial  possessions  of 
Philip. 

"  1  dare  be  bound,'*  said  he,  "  if  you  join  with 
Treslong,  the  States*  Admiral,  and  send  off,  both,  three- 
score sail  into  his  Indies,  we  will  force  him  to  retire 
from  conquering  further,  and  to  be  contented  to  let 
other  princes  live  as  well  as  he."  * 

In  particular,  Williams  urged  rapid  action,  and  there 
is  little  doubt,  that  had  the  counsels  of  prompt,  quick- 
witted, ready-handed  soldiers  like  himself,  and  those 
who  thought  with  him,  been  taken ;  had  the  stealthy 
but  quick-darting  policy  of  W^alsingham  prevailed  over 
the  solemn  and  stately  but  somewhat  ponderous  pro- 
ceedings of  Burghley,  both  Ghent  and  Antwerp  might 
have  been  saved,  the  trifling  and  treacherous  diplomacy 
of  Catlierine  de'  Medici  neutralized,  and  an  altogether 
more  fortunate  aspect  given  at  once  to  tJbe  state  of 
Protestant  affairs. 

'*  If  you  mean  to  do  anything,"  said  he,  "  it  is  more 
than  time  now.  If  you  will  send  some  man  of  credit 
about  it,  will  it  plefise  your  honour,  I  will  go  with  him, 
because  I  know  the  humour  of  the  people,  and  am 
acquainted  with  a  number  of  the  best.  I  shall  be  able 
to  show  him  a  number  of  their  dealings,  as  well  with  the 
French  as  in  other  affairs,  and  perhaps  will  find  means 
to  send  messengers  to  Ghent,  and  to  other  places,  better 

»  Roger  Williams  to  Sir  F.  WalsinKhnin,  Sept.  1584.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  Ibid. 


1584.       WALSINGHAM,  BURGHLEY,  AND  THE  QUEEN.         77 

than  the  States  ;  for  the  message  of  one  soldier  is  better 
than  twenty  boors."  * 

It  was  ultimately  decided — as  will  soon  be  related — to 
send  a  man  of  credit  to  the  Provinces.  Meantime,  the 
policy  of  England  continued  to  be  expectant  and  dilatory, 
and  Advocate  Buys,  after  having  in  vain  attempted  to 
conquer  the  French  influence,  and  bring  about  the 
annexation  of  the  Provinces  to  England,  threw  do^^•n  his 
office  in  disgust,  and  retired  for  a  time  from  the  contest. 
He  even  contemplated  for  a  moment  taking  service  in 
Denmark,  but  renoimced  the  notion  of  abandoning  his 
country,  and  he  will  accordingly  be  found,  at  a  later 
l)eriod,  conspicuous  in  public  affairs.* 

The  deliberations  in  the  English  councils  were  grave 
and  anxious,  for  it  became  daily  more  obvious  that  the 
>>"etherland  question  was  the  hinge  upon  which  the 
whole  fate  of  Christendom  was  slowly  turning.  To 
allow  the  Provinces  to  fall  back  again  into  the  grasp  of 
Philip,  was  to  offer  England  herself  as  a  last  sacrifice  to 
the  Si)anish  Inquisition.  This  was  felt  by  all  the 
statesmen  in  the  land ;  but  some  of  them,  more  than 
the  rest,  had  a  vivid  perception  of  the  danger,  and  of 
the  necessity  of  dealing  with  it  at  once. 

To  the  prophetic  eye  of  Walsingham,  the  mists  of  the 
future  at  times  were  lifted ;  and  the  countless  sails  of 
the  invincible  Armada,  wafting  defiance  and  destruction- 
to  England,  became  dimly  visible.  He  felt  that  the 
great  Netherland  bulwark  of  Pi*otestantism  and  liberty 
was  to  be  defended  at  all  hazards,  and  that  the  death- 
gi-apple  could  not  long  be  deferred. 

Burghley,  deeply  pondering,  but  less  determined, 
was  still  disposed  to  look  on  and  to  temporize. 

The  Queen,  far-seeing  and  anxious,  but  somewhat 
hesitating,  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  a  joint  protectorate. 
She  knew  that  the  re-establishment  of  Spanish  authority 
in  the  Low  Countries  would  bo  fatal  to  England,  but 
she  was  not  yet  prepared  to  tlirow  down  the  gauntlet  to 
Philip.  She  felt  that  the  proposed  annexation  of  the 
Provinces  to  France  would  be  almost  as  formidable; 
yet  she  could  not  resolve,  frankly  and  fearlessly,  to 
assume  the  bui-then  of  their  protection.     Under  the  in- 

>  Ilogcr  "Williams  to  Sir  F.  WHlsincham,  Sept  1584.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  Wugcnaar,  vhi.  50. 


^T 


78 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  HI. 


^j 


I) 


I 


spiration  of  Burghley,  she  was  therefore  willing  to 
encourage  the  Netherlanders  underhand;  preventing 
them  at  every  hazard  from  slackening  in  their  deter- 
mined hostility  to  Spain;  discountenancing,  without 
absolutely  forbidding,  their  proposed  absorption  by 
France  ;  intimating,  without  promising,  an  ultimate 
and  eifectual  assistance  from  herself.  Meantime,  with 
something  of  feline  and  feminine  duplicity,  by  which 
the  sex  of  the  great  sovereign  would  so  often  manifest 
itself  in  the  most  momentous  affairs,  she  would  watch 
and  wait,  teasing  the  Provinces,  dallying  with  the 
danger,  not  quite  prepared  as  yet  to  abandon  the  prize 
to  Henry  or  Philip,  or  to  seize  it  herself. 

The  situation  was  rapidly  tending  to  become  an  im- 
possible one. 

Late  in  October  a  grave  conference  was  held  in  the 
English  council,  "  upon  the  question  whether  her  Majesty 
should  presently  relieve  the  States  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries." 

It  was  shown,  upon  one  side,  tliat  the  "  perils  to  the 
Queen  and  to  the  realm  were  great,  if  the  King  of  Spain 
should  recover  Holland  and  Zeeland,  as  ho  had  the  other 
countries,  for  lack  of  succour  in  seasonable  time,  either 
by  the  French  King  or  the  Queen's  Majesty." 

On  the  other  side,  the  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
effectual  assistance  by  England,  were  *' fully  remem- 
bered." 

**  But  in  the  end,  and  upon  comparison  made,"  said 
Lord  Burghley,  summing  up,  "  betwixt  the  perils  on 
the  one  part,  and  the  difficulties  on  the  other,"  it  was 
concluded  that  the  Queen  would  be  obliged  to  succumb 
to  the  power  of  Spain,  and  the  liberties  of  England  be 
hopelessly  lost,  if  Philip  were  then  allowed  to  carry-  out 
his  designs,  and  if  the  Provinces  should  be  left  without 
succour  at  his  mercy.' 


»  The  report  of  the  conference  is  In  the 
State  Paper  Office,  wrltUm  In  Burghlty's 
own  hand.  A  brief  extract  will  give  a 
characteriiitic  spetlmen  of  the  Lord  Taa- 
surer's  style.— "But  in  the  end.  and 
upon  comparison  made  betwixt  the  perils 
on  the  «ne  part  an<i  the  difUculllesof  the 
other,  it  was  concluded  to  advise  her  Ma- 
jesty  rather  to  eeelz  the  avoiding  and 


directing  of  the  great  perils,  than,  in 
resp.H.t  of  any  difflculties.  to  suffer  the 
King  of  Spain  to  grow  to  the  full  height 
of  his  designs  and  conquests,  whereby  the 
perils  were  to  follow  so  evident  as,  if  pre- 
sently he  were  not  by  succouring  of  tlie 
Hollanders  and  their  party  impeached 
the  Queen's  Majesty  should  not  hereafter 
be  any  wlao  able  to  wlihstaud  the  same. 


1584. 


AN  ENGLISH  EMBASSY  DECIDED  ON. 


79 


A  "wise  person"  was  accordingly  to  be  sent  into 
Holland ;  first,  to  ascertain  whether  the  Provinces  had 
come  to  an  actual  agreement  with  the  King  of  France, 
and,  if  such  should  prove  to  bo  the  case,  to  inquire 
whether  that  sovereign  had  pledged  himself  to  declare 
war  upon  Philip.  In  this  event,  the  wise  person  was 
to  express  her  Majesty's  satisfaction  that  the  Provinces 
were  thus  to  be  "  relieved  from  the  tyranny  of  the  King 
of  Spain." 

On  the  other  hand,  if  it  should  appear  that  no  such 
conclusive  arrangements  had  been  made,  and  that  the  Pro- 
vinces were  likely  to  fall  again  victims  to  the  "  Spanish 
tyranny,"  her  Majesty  would  then  "strain  herself  as  far 
as,  with  preservation  of  her  own  estate,  she  might,  to 
succour  them  at  this  time."  * 

The  agent  was  then  to  ascertain  "  what  conditions  the 
Provinces  would  require  "  upon  the  matter  of  succour, 
and,  if  the  terms  seemed  reasonable,  he  would  assure 
them  that  "  they  should  not  be  left  to  the  cruelties  of 
the  Spaniards." 

And  further,  the  wise  person,  "  being  pressed  to 
answer,  might  by  conference  of  speeches  and  persuasions 
provoke  them  to  oflfer  to  the  Queen  the  ports  of  Flushing 
and  Middelbiu-g  and  the  Brill,  wherein  she  meant  not 
to  claim  any  property,  but  to  hold  them  as  gages  for  her 
expenses,  and  for  performances  of  their  covenants." 

He  was  also  to  make  minute  inquiries  as  to  the  pecu- 
niary resources  of  the  Provinces,  the  monthly  sums 
which  they  would  be  able  to  contribute,  the  number  of 
troops  and  of  ships  of  war  that  they  would  pledge  them- 
selves to  maintain.  These  investigations  were  very 
important,  because  the  Queen,  although  very  well  dis- 
posed to  succour  them,  "  so  nevertheless  she  was  to 
consider  how  her  j^ower  might  be  extended,  without 
ruin  or  manifest  peril  to  her  omu  estate." 

It  was  also  resolved,  in  the  same  conference,  that  a 
preliminary  step  of  great  urgency  was  to  "  procure  a 
good  peace  with  the  King  of  Scots."  AVhatever  the 
expense  of  bringing  about  such  a  pacification  might  be, 
it  was  certain  that  a  "great  deal  more  would  be  ex- 

And  therefore  it  was  thought  good  that    Correspondence,  S.  P.  Office,  Oct.  10, 1584, 
her  Majesty  should  send  presently  some    MS.)  i  ibkL 

wlae  peraou  into  Holland,"  Lc.   (UoUand 


\ 


80 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  Ill, 


1584. 


DAVICON  SENT  TO  THE  HAGUE. 


81 


I 

fl 


pended  in  defending  the  realm  against  Scotland,"  while 
England  was  engaged  in  hostilities  with  Spain.  Other- 
wise, it  was  argued  that  her  Majesty  would  be  "  so  im- 
peached by  Scotland  in  favour  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
that  her  action  against  tliat  King  would  be  greatly 
weakened." 

Other  measures  necessary  to  be  taken  in  view  of  the 
Spanish  war  were  also  discussed.  The  ex-elector  of 
Cologne,  *'  a  man  of  great  account  in  Germany,"  was  to 
be  assisted  with  money  to  make  head  against  his  rival 
supported  by  the  troops  of  Philip. 

Duke  Casimir  of  the  Palatinate  was  to  be  solicited 
to  make  a  diversion  in  Gelderland. 

The  King  of  France  was  to  be  reminded  of  his  treaty 
with  England  for  mutual  assistiince  in  case  of  the  in- 
viision  by  a  foreign  power  of  either  realm,  and  to  be 
informed  '*  not  only  of  the  intentions  of  the  Spaniards 
to  invade  England,  upon  their  conquest  of  the  Nether- 
lands, but  of  their  actual  invasion  of  Ireland." 

It  was  *'  to  be  devised  how  the  King  of  Navarre  and 
Don  Antonio  of  Portugal,  for  their  respective  titles, 
might  be  induced  to  otfend  and  occupy  the  King  of 
Spain,  whereby  to  diminish  his  forces  bent  upon  the 
Low  Countries." 

It  was  also  decided  that  Parliament  should  be  imme- 
diately summoned,  in  which,  besides  the  request  of  a 
subsidy,  many  other  necessary  provisions  should  be 
made  for  her  Majesty's  safety. 

"  The  conclusion  of  the  whole,"  said  Lord  Burghley, 
with  much  earnestness,  "  was  this.  Although  her  Majesty 
should  hereby  enter  into  a  war  presently,  yet  were  she 
better  to  do  it  now,  while  she  may  make  the  same  out 
of  her  realm,  having  the  help  of  the  people  of  Holland, 
and  before  the  King  of  Spain  shall  have  consummated 
his  conquests  in  those  coimtries,  whereby  he  shall  be  so 
provoked  with  piide,  solicited  by  the  Pope,  and  tempted 
by  the  Queen's  own  subjects,  and  shall  be  so  strong  by 
sea,  and  so  free  from  all  other  actions  aild  quarrels, — 
yea,  shall  be  so  formidable  to  all  the  rest  of  Christen- 
dom, as  that  her  Majesty  shall  no  wise  be  able  with  her 
o\vn  power,  nor  with  aid  of  any  other,  neither  by  sea  nor 
land,  to  withstand  his  attempts,  but  shall  be  forced  to 


give  place  to  his  insatiable  malice,  which  is  most  ter^ 
lible  to  be  thought  of,  but  miserable  to  suffer."  ' 

Thus  did  the  Lord  Treasurer  wisely,  eloquently,  and 
well,  describe  the  danger  by  which  England  was  en- 
vironed. Through  the  shield  of  Holland  the  spear  was 
aimed  full  at  the  heart  of  England.  But  was  it  a  mo- 
ment to  linger  ?  Was  that  buckler  to  be  suffered  to  fall 
to  the  ground,  or  to  be  raised  only  upon  the  arm  of  a 
doubtful  and  a  treacherous  friend?  Was  it  an  hour 
when  the  protection  of  Protestantism  and  of  European 
liberty  against  Spain  was  to  be  entrusted  to  the  hand  of 
a  feeble  and  priest-ridden  Valois  ?  AVas  it  wise  to  in- 
dulge any  longer  in  doubtings  and  dreamings,  and  in 
yet  a  little  more  folding  of  the  arms  to  sleep,  while  that 
insatiable  malice,  so  terrible  to  be  thought  of,  so  miser- 
able to  feel,  was  growing  hourly  more  formidable,  and 
approaching  nearer  and  near  ? 

Early  in  December,  William  Davison,  gentleman-in- 
ordinary  of  her  Majesty's  household,  arrived  at  the 
Hague;  a  man  painstaking,  earnest,  and  zealous,  but 
who  was  fated,  on  more  than  one  great  occasion,  to  be 
made  a  scapegoat  for  the  delinquencies  of  greater  per- 
sonages than  himself.  ^ 

He  had  audience  of  the  States  General  on  the  8th 
December.  He  then  informed  that  body  that  the  Queen 
had  heard,  with  sorrowful  heart,  of  the  great  misfortunes 
which  the  United  Provinces  had  sustained  since  the 

fl!*    1,  :,  ^       ^"''^^  ^^  Orange ;  the  many  cities  which 

they  had  lost,  and  the  disastrous  aspect  of  the  common 

cause.     Moved  by  the  affection  which  she  had  always 

borne  the  country,  and  anxious  for  its  preservation,  she 

had  ordered  her  ambassador  Stafford  to  request  the  King 

of  France  to  undertake,  jointly  with  herself,  the  defenct 

ot  the  1  rovinces  against  the  King  of  Spain.     Not  tHl 

very  lately,   however,   had   that  envoy  succeeded  in 

obtaining  an  audience,  and  he  had  then  received  "a 

very  cold  answer.''     It  being  obvious  to  her  Majesty, 

therefore,  that  the  French  government  intended  to  pro^ 

^ct  these  matters  indefinitely,  Davison  informed  the 

btates  that  she  had  commissioned  him  to  offer  them 

all  possible  assistance,  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 

country,  and  to  investigate  the  proper  means  of  making 

*  ^-  l'^«?Port  of  Burghley,  before  dted. 
VOL.   I.  ^ 


82 


THB  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III. 


that  assistance  most  useful."  He  accordingly  requested 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  confer  with  him 
upon  the  subject  ;  and  declared  tiiat  the  Queen  did 
not  desire  to  make  herself  mistress  of  the  Provinces, 
but  only  to  be  informed  how  she  best  could  aid  their 
cause.* 

A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed,  and  a  long 
series  of  somewhat  concealed  negotiations  was  com- 
menced. As  the  deputies  were  upon  the  eve  of  their 
departure  for  France,  to  ofifer  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Provinces  to  Henry,  these  proceedings  were  necessarily 
confused,  dilatory,  and  at  times  contradictory. 
^  After  the  arrival  of  the  deputies  in  France,  the  cuncta- 
tive  policy  inspired  by  the  Lord  Treasurer  was  continued 
by  England.  The  delusion  of  a  joint  protectorate  was 
stiU  clung  to  by  the  Queen,  although  the  conduct  of 
France  was  becoming  very  ambiguous,  and  suspicion 
growing  darker  as  to  the  ultimate  and  secret  purport  of 
the  negotiations  in  progress.* 

The  anxiety  and  jealousy  of  Elizabeth  were  becoming 
keener  than  ever.  If  the  offers  to  the  Kiug  were  un- 
limited, he  would  accept  them,  and  would  thus  become 
as  dangerous  as  Philip.  If  they  were  unsatisfactory,  he 
would  turn  his  back  upon  the  Provinces,  and  leave 
them  a  prey  to  Philip."  Still  she  would  not  yet  re- 
nounce the  hope  of  bringing  the  French  King  over  to 
an  ingenuous  course  of  action.  It  was  thought,  too, 
that  something  might  be  done  with  the  great  malcontent 
nobles  of  Flanders,  whose  defection  from  the  national 
cause  had  been  so  disastrous,  but  who  had  been  much 
influenced  in  their  course,  it  was  thought,  by  their 
jealousy  of  William  the  Silent. 

Now  that  the  Prince  was  dead,  it  was  thought  probable 
that  the  Arschots  and  Havres,  Chi  mays  and  Lalaings, 
might  arouse  themselves  to  more  patriotic  views  than 
they  had  manifested  when  they  espoused  the  cause  of 
Spain. 

It  would  be  desirable  to  excite  their  jealousy  of 
French  influence,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  inspire 
throughout  the  popular  mind  the  fear  of  another  tyranny 

>  Register    van    de    Resolution   dcr       «  Queen  to  W.  Davison,  U  Jan.  1586. 
Staten  General,  8  Dec   1584.     (Hague    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
Archives  MS.)  »  ibid. 


1585. 


CAUTIOUS  MEASURES  OF  BURGHLEY. 


83 


almost  as  absolute  as  that  of  Spain.  "And  if  it  be 
objected,"  said  Burghley,  "  that,  except  they  shall  admit 
the  French  King  to  the  absolute  dominion,  he  will  not  aid 
them,  and  they,  for  lack  of  succour,  be  forced  to  yield 
to  the  Spaniard,  it  may  be  answered  that,  rather  than 
they  should  be  wholly  subjected  to  the  French,  or  over- 
come by  the  Spaniard,  her  Majesty  would  yield  unto 
them  as  much  as,  with  preservation  of  her  estate,  and 
defence  of  her  own  country,  might  be  demanded."  * 

The  real  object  kept  in  view  by  the  Queen's  govern- 
ment was,  in  short,  to  obtain  for  the  Provinces  and  for 
the  general  cause  of  liberty  the  greatest  possible  amount 
of  assistance  from  Henry,  and  to  allow  him  to  acquire 
in  return  the  least  possible  amount  of  power.  The  end 
proposed  was  a  reasonable  one,  but  the  means  employed 
savoured  too  much  of  intrigue. 

*'  It  may  be  easily  made  probable  to  the  States,"  said 
the  Lord  Treasurer,  "that  the  govemment  of  the 
French  is  likely  to  prove  as  cumbersome  and  perilous 
as  that  of  the  Spaniards;  and  likewise  it  may  pro- 
bably be  doubted  how  the  French  will  keep  touch  and 
covenants  with  them,  when  any  opportunity  shall  be 
offered  to  break  them ;  so  that  her  Majesty  thinketh  no 
good  can  be  looked  for  to  those  countries  by  yielding 
this  laige  authority  to  the  French.  If  they  shall  con- 
tinue their  title  by  this  grant  to  be  absolute  lords,  there 
is  no  end,  for  a  long  time,  to  be  expected  of  this  war ; 
and,  contrariwise,  if  they  break  oft',  there  is  an  end  of 
any  good  composition  with  the  King  of  Spain."  * 

Shivering  and  shrinking,  but  still  wading  in  deeper 
and  deeper,  inch  by  inch,  the  cautious  minister  was  fast 
finding  himself  too  far  advanced  to  retreat.  He  was 
rarely  decided,  however,  and  never  lucid ;  and  least  of 
all  in  emergencies,  when  decision  and  lucidity  would 
have  been  more  valuable  than  any  other  qualities. 

Deeply  doubting,  painfully  balancing,  he  at  times 
drove  the  unfortunate  Davison  almost  distraught. 
Puzzled  himself  and  still  more  puzzling  to  others,  he 
rarely  permitted  the  Netherlandera,  or  even  his  own 
agents,  to  perceive  his  drift.  It  was  fair  enough,  per- 
haps, to  circumvent  the  French  government  by  its  own 


1  313.  ubi  tup. 


«lbld. 
G    2 


84 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III. 


arts,  "but  the  Netherlanders  meanwliile  were  in  danger 
of  sinking  into  despair. 

♦'  Thus,"  wrote  the  Lord  Treasurer  to  the  envoy,  "  I 
have  discoursed  to  you  of  these  uncertainties  and  diffi- 
culties, things  not  unknown  to  yourself,  but  now  being 
imparted  to  you  by  her  Majesty's  commandment,  you 
are,  by  your  wisdom,  to  consider  with  whom  to  deal  for 
the  stay  of  this  French  course,  and  yet,  so  to  use  it  (as 
near  as  you  may)  that  they  of  the  French  faction  there 
be  not  able  to  charge  you  therewith,  by  advertising 
into  France.  For  it  hath  already  appeared,  by  some 
speeches  past  between  our  ambassador  there  and  Des 
Pruneaux,  that  you  are  had  in  some  jealousy  as  a 
hinderer  of  this  French  course,  and  at  work  for  her 
Majesty  to  have  some  entrance  and  partage  in  that 
country.  Nevertheless  our  ambassador,  by  his  answer, 
hath  satisfied  them  to  think  the  contrary."  * 

They  must  have  been  easily  satisfied,  if  they  knew  as 
much  of  the  dealings  of  her  Majesty's  government  as 
the  reader  already  knows.  To  inspire  doubt  of  the 
French,  to  insinuate  the  probability  of  their  not  "  keep- 
ing touch  and  covenant,"  to  represent  their  rule  as 
"cumbersome  and  perilous,"  was  wholesome  conduct 
enough  towards  the  Netherlanders — and  still  more  so, 
had  it  been  accompanied  with  frank  offers  of  assistance 
— -but  it  was  certainly  somewhat  to  "  hinder  the  courses 
of  the  French." 

But  in  truth  all  parties  were  engaged  for  a  season  in 
a  round  game  of  deception,  in  which  nobody  was 
deceived.  Walsingham  was  impatient,  almost  indignant 
at  this  puerility.  "Your  doings,  no  doubt  of  it,"  he 
wrote  to  Davison,  *'  are  observed  by  the  French  faction, 
and  therefore  you  cannot  proceed  so  closely  but  it  will  be  espied. 
Howsoever  it  be,  seeing  direction  growethfrcm  hence,  we  can- 
not but  blame  ourselves,  if  the  effects  thereof  do  not  fall  out 
to  our  liking."  * 

That  sagacious  statesman  was  too  well  informed, 
and  too  much  accustomed  to  penetrate  the  designs  of 
his  antagonists,  to  expect  anything  from  the  present 
intrigues. 

To  loiter  thus,  when  moiial  blows  should  bo  struck, 


1  MS.  last  cited.         *  Walsingham  to  Davison.  14  Jan.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1585. 


SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  TROOPS. 


85 


was  to  give  the  Spanish  government  exactly  that  of 
which  it  was  always  most  gluttonous — time;  and  the 
Netherlanders  had  none  of  it  to  spare.  "  With  time  and 
myself,  there  are  two  of  us,"  was  Philip  II. 's  favourite 
observation ;  and  the  Prince  of  Parma  was  at  this  mo- 
ment sorely  perplexed  by  the  parsimony  and  the  hesita- 
tions of  his  own  government,  by  which  his  large,  swift, 
and  most  creative  genius  was  so  often  hampered. 

Thus  the  Spanish  soldiers,  deep  in  the  trenches,  went 
with  bare  legs  and  empty  stomachs  in  January;  and 
the  Dutchmen,  among  their  broken  dykes,  were  up  to 
their  ears  in  mud  and  water ;  and  German  mercenaries, 
in  the  obedient  Provinces,  were  burning  the. peasants' 
houses  in  order  to  sell  the  iron  to  buy  food  withal;* 
while  grave-visaged  statesmen,  in  comfortable  cabinets, 
wagged  their  long  white  beards  at  each  other  from  a 
distance,  and  exchanged  grimaces  and  protocols  which 
nobody  heede(^ 

Walsingham  was  weary  of  this  solemn  trifling.  "  I 
conclude,"  said  he  to  Davison,  *'  that  her  Majesty — with 
reverence  be  it  spoken—  is  ill  advised,  to  direct  you  in 
a  course  that  is  like  to  work  so  great  peril.  I  know 
you  will  do  your  best  endeavour  to  keep  all  things 
upright,  and  yet  it  is  hard — the  disease  being  now  come 
to  this  state,  or,  as  the  physicians  term  it,  crisis — to  carry 
yourself  in  such  sort  but  that  it  will,  I  fear,  breed  a  dan- 
gerous alteration  in  the  cause."  " 

^  He  denounced  with  impatience,  almost  with  indigna- 
tion, the  insincerity  and  injustice  of  these  intolerable 
hesitations.  *' Sorry  am  I,"  said  he,  "to  see  the  coui-se 
that  is  taken  in  this  weighty  cause, /or  we  will  neither  help 
those  poor  countries  ourselves,  nor  yet  suffer  others  to  do  it.  I 
am  not  ignorant  that  in  time  to  come  the  annexing 
of  these  countries  to  the  crown  of  France  may  prove 
prejudicial  to  England ;  but  if  France  refuse  to  deal  with 
them,  and  the  rather  for  that  ice  shall  minister  some  cause  of 
impediment  by  a  kind  of  dealing  underhand,  then  shall  they 
be  forced  to  return  into  the  hands  of  Spain,  which  is 
like  to  breed  such  a  present  peril  towards  her  Majesty's 
self,  as  never  a  wise  man  that  seeth  it,  and  loveth  her,  but 
lamenteth  it  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart."* 

^  Richards   to  Walsingham,  Sept.  9,       2  Walsingham  to  Davison.  (MS.  befom 
1684.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  dted.)  »  Ibid. 


86 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  III. 


Walsingham  had  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was 
England,  not  France,  that  should  take  up  the  cause  of 
the  Provinces,  and  defend  them  at  every  hazard.  He 
had  been  overruled,  and  the  Queen's  government  had 
decided  to  watch  the  course  of  the  French  negotiation, 
doing  what  it  could,  underhand,  to  prevent  that  nego- 
tiation from  being  successfid.  The  i>ocretary  did  not 
approve  of  this  disingenuous  course.  At  the  same  time 
he  had  no  faith  in  the  good  intentions  of  the  French 
court. 

"  I  could  wish,"  said  he,  **  that  the  French  King  were 
carried  with  that  honourable  mind  into  the  defence  of 
these  coimtries  that  her  Majesty  is,  but  France  has  not 
been  used  to  do  things  for  God's  sake  ;  neither  do  they 
mean  to  use  our  advice  or  assistance  in  making  of  the 
bargain.  For  they  still  hold  a  jealous  conceit  that,  when 
Spain  and  they  are  together  by  the  ears,  we  will  seek 
underhand  to  work  our  own  peace." '  \\'alsingham, 
therefore,  earnestly  deprecated  the  attitude  provisionally 
maintained  by  England. 

Meantime,  early  in  January,  the  deputation  from  the 
s  Jan.  Provinces  had  arrived  in  France.  The  progress 
1585.  of  their  negotiation  will  soon  bo  related,  but, 
before  its  result  was  known,  a  general  dissatisfaction 
had  already  manifested  itself  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
factitious  enthusiasm  which  had  been  created  in  favour 
of  France,  as  well  as  the  prejudice  against  England, 
began  to  die  out.  It  became  probable,  in  the  opinion 
of  those  most  accustomed  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times, 
that  the  French  court  was  acting  in  connivance  with 
Philip,  and  that  the  negotiation  was  only  intended  to 
amuse  the  Netherlanders,  to  circumvent  the  English, 
and  to  gain  time  both  for  France  and  Spain.  It  was  not 
believed  that  the  character  of  Henry  or  the  policy  of  his 
mother  was  likely  to  be  the  source  of  any  substantial 
aid  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty  or  Protestant  principles. 
'*  They  look  for  no  better  fmit  from  the  commission 
to  France,"  wrote  Davison,  who  surveyed  the  general 
state  of  affairs  with  much  keenness  and  breadth  of  vision, 
"  than  a  dallying  entertainment  of  the  time, — neither 
leaving  them  utterly  hopeless,  nor  at  full  liberty  to  seek 


1  Walslngbam  to  Davison.    (MS.  before  cited  ) 


1585.      SUSPICIONS  AS  TO  THE  VIEWS  OF  HENRY  III. 


87 


for  relief  elsewhere,  especially  in  England, — or  else 
some  pleasing  motion  of  peace,  wherein  the  French 
King  will  offer  his  mediation  with  Spain.  Meantime 
the  people,  wearied  with  the  troubles,  charges,  and 
hazard  of  the  war,  shall  be  rocked  asleep,  the  provision 
for  their  defence  neglected,  some  Provinces  nearest  the 
danger  seduced,  the  rest  by  their  defection  astonished, 
and  the  enemy,  by  their  decay  and  confusions,  strength- 
ened. This  is  the  scope  whereto  the  doings  of  the 
French  King,  not  without  intelligence  with  the  Spanish 
sovereign,  doth  aim,  whatever  is  pretended."  ^ 

There  was  a  wide  conviction  that  the  French  King 
was  dealing  falsely  with  the  Provinces.  It  seemed 
certain  that  he  must  be  inspired  by  intense  jealousy  of 
England,  and  that  he  was  imlikely,  for  the  sake  of  those 
whose  "  religion,  popular  libert}^  and  rebellion  against 
their  sovereign  "  he  could  not  but  disapprove,  to  allow 
Queen  Elizabeth  to  steal  a  march  upon  him,  and 
**  make  her  own  market  with  Spain,  to  his  cost  and  dis- 
advantage."* 

In  short,  it  was  suspected — whether  justly  or  not  will 
be  presently  shown — that  Henry  III.  "  was  seeking  to 
blear  the  eyes  of  the  world,  as  his  brother  Charles  did 
before  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew."*  As  the 
letters  received  from  the  Dutch  envoys  in  France 
became  less  and  less  encouraging,  and  as  the  Queen  wafl 
informed  by  her  ambassador  in  Paris  of  the  tei^ver- 
sations  in  Paris,  she  became  the  more  anxious  lest  the 
States  should  be  driven  to  despair.  She  therefore  ^vrote 
to  Davison,  instructing  him  "  to  nourish  in  them  imder- 
hand  some  hope — as  a  thing  proceeding  from  himself — 
that,  though  France  should  reject  them,  yet  she  would 
not  abandon  them."  * 

He  was  directed  to  find  out,  by  circuitous  means, 
what  towns  they  would  offer  to  her  as  security  for  any 
advances  she  might  be  induced  to  make,  and  to  ascertain 
the  amount  of  monthly  contributions  towards  the  support 
of  tlie  war  that  they  were  stiU  capable  of  furnishing. 
She  was  beginning  to  look  with  dismay  at  the  expatria- 
tion of  wealthy  merchants  and  manufacturers  going  so 


»  Davison  to  Walsingham,  12  Feb.  1585. 
(S.  P.  Oflice  MS.) 
2  Ibid. 


'  Da\i8on  to  WaUinghara,  ubi  gup. 
*  Quwn  to    I>a\ison,  18    Feb.   1686. 
(S.  P.  Office  .MS.) 


88 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  HI. 


rapidly  forward,  now  that  Ghent  had  fallen  and  Brussels 
and  Antwerp  were  in  such  imminent  peril.  She  feared 
that,  while  so  much  valuable  time  had  been  thrown 
away,  the  Provinces  had  become  too  much  impoverished 
to  do  their  own  part  in  their  own  defence  ;  and  she  was 
seriously  alarmed  at  rumours  which  had  become  pre- 
valent of  a  popular  disposition  towards  treating  for  a 
peace  at  any  price  with  Spain.  It  soon  became  evident 
that  these  rumours  were  utterly  without  foundation,  but 
the  other  reasons  for  Elizabeth's  anxiety  were  sufficiently 
valid. 

On  the  whole,  the  feeling  in  favour  of  England  was 
rapidly  gaining  ground.  In  Holland  especially  there 
was  general  indignation  against  the  French  party.  The 
lettera  of  the  deputies  occasioned  '*  murmur  and  mislike 
of  most  persons,  who  noted  them  to  contain  more  ample 
report  of  ceremonies  and  compliments  than  solid  argu- 
ment of  comfort."  * 

^  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  who  looked  with  great  penetra- 
tion into  the  heart  of  the  mysterious  proceedings  at 
Paris,  assured  his  government  that  no  better  result 
was  to  be  looked  for,  ''  after  long  dalliance  and  enter- 
tainment, than  either  a  flat  refusal  or  such  a  masked 
embracing  of  their  cause  as  would  rather  tend  to  the 
increasing  of  their  miseries  and  confusion  than  relief 
for  their  declining  estate."  While  "reposing  upon  a 
broken  reed,"  they  were,  he  thought,  "  neglecting  other 
means  more  expedient  for  their  necessities."  * 

This  was  already  the  universal  opinion  in  Holland. 
Men  now  remembered,  with  bitterness,  the  treachery 
of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  which  they  had  been  striving  so 
hard  to  forget,  but  which  less  than  two  years  ago  had 
nearly  proved  fatal  to  the  cause  of  liberty  in  the  Pro- 
vinces. A  committee  of  the  States  had  an  interview 
with  the  Queen's  envoy  at  the  Hague  ;  implored  her 
Majesty  through  him  not  to  abandon  their  cause ;  ex- 
pressed unlimited  regret  for  the  course  which  had  been 
pursued,  and  avowed  a  determination  "  to  pluck  their 
heads  out  of  the  collar "  so  soon  as  the  opportunity 
should  offer.* 

»  Davteon  to  Lf.rd  BurRhley  and  Sir  F.       «  Davison  to  Burghlcy  and  NVaUlng- 
Walslngham,  28  Feb.  1585,    (S.  P.  Office    ham,  «W  tup. 
MS.)  »  Ibid. 


1585.    COMMITTEE  OF  THE  STATES  VISIT  QUEEN'S  ENVOY.   89 

They  stated,  moreover,  that  they  had  been  directed 
by  the  assembly  to  lay  before  him  the  instructions  for 
the  envoys  to  France,  and  the  articles  proposed  for  the 
acceptance  of  the  King.  The  envoy  knew  his  business 
better  than  not  to  have  secretly  provided  himself  with 
copies  of  these  documents,  which  he  had  already  laid 
before  his  own  government. 

He  affected,  however,  to  feel  hurt  that  he  had  been 
thus  kept  in  ignorance  of  papers  which  he  really  knew 
by  heart.  "After  some  pretended  quarrel,"  said  he, 
**  for  their  not  acquainting  me  therewith  sooner,  I  did 
accept  them,  as  if  1  had  before  neither  seen  nor  heard 
of  them." ' 

This  then  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  Provinces 
during  the  absence  of  the  deputies  in  France.  It  is 
now  necessary  to  shift  the  scene  to  that  country. 

1  Daviflon  to  Borgbley  a&d  WaLsingbam,  libi  tup. 


90 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Rsceptlon  of  the  Dutch  Envoys  at  the  I^u\Te  —  Ignomlnloas  Result  of  the  Em- 
bassy —  Secret  Influences  at  work  —  Bargaining  between  the  French  and 
Spanish  Courts  —  Claims  of  Catherine  de'  Medtcl  upon  Portugal  —  Letters  of 
Henry  and  Catherine  —  Secret  I'roposal  by  France  to  invade  England  —  States' 
Mission  to  Henry  of  Navarre  —  Subsidies  of  Philip  to  Guise  —  Treaty  of  Join- 
Ttlle  —  Philip's  Share  in  the  I^eague  denied  by  Parma  -  Philip  In  reality  ita 
Chief  —  Manifesto  of  the  l^eague  —  Attitude  of  Henry  III.  and  of  Navarre  — 
The  League  demands  a  Royal  l>ecree  —  Designs  of  France  and  Spain  against 
England  —  Secret  Interview  of  Mendoza  and  Villeroy  —  Complaints  of  English 
Pfersecution  —  Edict  of  Nemours  —  Excommunication  of  Navarre,  and  his 
Reply. 

The  King,  notwithstanding  his  apparent  reluctance, 
had,  in  Sir  Edward  Stafford's  language,  "  nibbled  at  the 
bait."  He  had,  however,  not  been  secured  at  the  first 
attempt,  and  now  a  second  effort  was  to  be  made,  under 
what  were  supposed  to  bo  most  favourable  circum- 
stances. In  accordance  with  his  own  instructions,  his 
envoy,  Des  Pruneaux,  had  been  busily  employed  in  the 
States,  arranging  the  terms  of  a  treaty  which  should  be 
entirely  satisfactory.  It  had  been  laid  down  as  an 
indispensable  condition  that  Holland  and  Zeeland  should 
unite  in  the  offer  of  sovereignty,  and,  after  the  expen- 
diture of  much  eloquence,  diplomacy,  and  money,  Hol- 
land and  Zeeland  had  given  their  consent.  The  court 
had  been  for  some  time  anxious  and  impatient  for 
the  arrival  of  the  deputies.  Early  in  December,  Des 
Pruneaux  wrote  from  Paris  to  Count  Maurice,  urging, 
with  some  asperity,  the  necessity  of  immediate  action. 

"  When  I  left  you,"  he  said,  **  I  thought  that  perform- 
ance would  follow  promises.  I  have  been  a  little 
ashamed,  as  the  time  passed  by,  to  hear  nothing  of  the 
deputies,  nor  of  any  excuse  on  the  subject.  It  would 
seem  as  though  God  had  bandaged  the  eyes  of  those 
who  have  so  much  cause  to  know  their  own  adversity." 

To  the  States  his  language  was  still  more  insolent. 
"  Excuse  me,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  if  I  tell  you  that 
I  blush  at  hearing  nothing  from  you.     I  shall  have  the 

'  Oroen  v.  Prlnsterer,  •  Archives,'  kc,  1.  7. 


1585.    RECEPTION  OF  DUTCH  ENVOYS  AT  THE  LOUVRE.    91 

shame,  and  you  the  damage.  I  regret  much  the  capture 
of  De  Teligny,  and  other  losses  which  are  occasioned 
by  your  delays  and  want  of  resolution." 

Thus  did  the  French  court,  which  a  few  months  before 
had  imprisoned,  and  then  almost  ignominiously  dis- 
missed the  envoys  who  came  to  offer  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Provinces,  now  rebuke  the  governments  which  had 
ever  since  been  •  strenuously  engaged  in  removing  all 
obstacles  to  the  entire  fulfilment  of  the  King's  demands. 
The  States  were  just  despatching  a  solemn  embassy  to 
renew  that  offer,  with  hardly  any  limitation  as  to 
terms.' 

The  envoys  arrived  on  January  3rd,  1585,  at  Bou- 
logne, after  a  stormy  voyage  from  Brielle.  Yet  it  seems 
incredible  to  relate,  that,  after  all  the  ignominy  heaped 
upon  the  last,  there  was  nothing  but  solemn  trifling  in 
reserve  for  the  present  legation;  although  the  object 
of  both  embassies  was  to  offer  a  crown.  The  deputies 
were,  however,  not  kept  in  prison,  upon  this  occasion, 
nor  treated  like  thieves  or  spies.  They  were  admirably 
lodged,  with  plenty  of  cooks  and  lacqueys  to  minister 
to  them ;  they  fared  sumptuously  every  day,  at  Henry's 
expense;  and,  after  they  had  been  six  weeks  in  the 
kingdom,  they  at  last  succeeded  in  obtaining  their  first 
audience. 

On  the  13th  February  the  King  sent  five  "very 
splendid,  richly-gilded,  court-coach- waggons  "  to  bring 
the  envoys  to  the  palace.  At  one  o'clock  they  arrived 
at  the  Louvre,  and  were  ushered  through  four  mag- 
nificient  antechambers  into  the  royal  cabinet.  The 
apartments  through  which  they  passed  swarmed  with 
the  foremost  nobles,  court-functionaries,  and  ladies  of 
France,  in  blazing  gala  costume,  who  all  greeted  the 
envoys  with  demonstrations  of  extreme  respect.     The 


*  The  deputies  were  appointed  from 
each  of  the  United  Provinces;  Merode, 
Hlnkaert,  Stralen.and  Cornelius  Aerssens 
represented  Brabant;  Chancellor  Leo- 
iilnus,  John  van  Ghent,  and  Gerard  Voet 
were  appointed  from  Gelderland;  Noel 
de  Caron  was  deputy  for  Flanders,  Arend 
van  Dorp  for  Holland,  Jacob  Vakke  for 
Zeeland,  Rengers  and  Amelia  van  Amstel 
for  Utrecht,  Teitsma  and  Alsma  for 
Frleslaud,  l^i  Mouillerle  and  La  Prd  for 


Mechlin.  The  Prince  of  Esplnoy,  brother 
of  the  Marquis  of  Rlchelx)urg,  but  a 
patriotic  Netherlander  himself,  was  also 
commissioned  to  be  of  the  legation,  and 
he  served  at  his  own  expense.  (Wage- 
naar,  vili.  65,  56 ;  '  Des  lYuneaux  aux 
Etats  generaux,'  3rd  Dec.  1584,  Hague 
Archives,  MS. ;  '  Brief  van  de  Gede> 
puteerden  in  Frankryck  aan  de  Staten 
Gen.'  19th  Jan.  1685.  Hague  Archives, 
MS.) 


N 


92 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


lialls  and  corridors  were  lined  with  archers,  halberdiers, 
Swiss  guards,  and  grooms  *'  besmeared  with  gold,"  and 
it  was  thought  that  all  this  rustle  of  fine  feathers  would 
be  somewhat  startling  to  the  barbarous  republicans, 
fresh  from  the  fens  of  Holland. 

Henry  received  them  in  his  cabinet,  where  ho  was 
accompanied  only  by  the  Duke  of  Joyeuse — his  foremost 
and  bravest  "minion" — by  the  Count  of  Bouscaige,  M. 
de  Valette,  and  the  Count  of  Chateau  Vieux.' 

The  most  Christian  King  was  neatly  dressed,  in  white 
satin  doublet  and  hose,  and  well-starched  ruff,  with  a 
short  cloak  on  his  shoulders,  a  little  velvet  cap  on  the 
side  of  his  head,  his  long  locks  duly  perfumed  and 
curled,  his  sword  at  his  side,  and  a  little  basket,  full  of 
puppies,  suspended  from  his  neck  by  a  broad  ribbon. 
He  held  himself  stiff  and  motionless,  although  his  face 
smiled  a  good-humoured  welcome  to  the  ambassadors ; 
and  he  moved  neither  foot,  hand,  nor  head,  as  they 
advanced. 

Chancellor  Leoninus,  the  most  experienced,  eloquent, 
and  tedious  of  men,  now  made  an  interminable  oration, 
fertile  in  rhetoric  and  barren  in  facts;  and  the  King 
made  a  short  and  benignant  reply,  according  to  the 
hallowed  formula  in  such  cases  provided.  And  then 
there  was  a  presentation  to  the  Queen,  and  to  the 
Queen-Mother,  when  Leoninus  was  more  prolix  than 
before,  and  Catherine  even  more  affectionate  than  her 
son ;  and  there  were  consultations  with  Chivemy  and 
Villeroy,  and  Brulart  and  Pnmeaux,  and  great  banquets 
at  the  royal  expense,  and  bales  of  protocols,  and  drafts 
of  articles,  and  conditions  and  programmes  and  apos- 
tilles  by  the  hundredweight,  and  at  last  articles  of 
annexation  were  presented  by  the  envoys,  and  Pruneaux 
looked  at  and  pronounced  them  "too  raw  and  impe- 
rative," and  the  envoys  took  them  home  again,  and 
dressed  them  and  cooked  them  till  there  was  no  sub- 
stance left  in  them  ;  for,  whereas  the  envoys  originally 
offered  the  crown  of  their  country  to  France,  on  con- 
dition that  no  religion  but  the  reformed  religion  should 
be  tolerated  there,  no  appointments  made  but  by  the 
States,  and  no  security  offered  for  advances  to  be  made 
by  the  Christian  King,  save  the  hearts  and  oaths  of  his 

>  MS.  letter  of  the  envoys,  before  dted. 


1585.  IGNOMINIOUS  RESULT  OF  THE  EMBASSY.  93 

new  subjects— so  they  now  ended  by  proposing  the 
sovereignty  unconditionally,  almost  abjectly ;  and,  after 
the  expiration  of  nearly  three  months,  even  these  terms 
were  absolutely  refused,  and  the  deputies  were  gra- 
ciously permitted  to  go  home  as  they  came.  The 
annexation  and  sovereignty  were  definitely  declined. 
Henry  regretted  and  sighed,  Catherine  de'  Medici  wept 
--for  tears  were  ever  at  her  command— Chancellor 
Chivemy  and  Secretary  Brulart  wept  likewise,  and 
Pruneaux  was  overcome  with  emotion,  at  the  parting 
interview  of  the  ambassadors  with  the  court,  in  which 
they  were  allowed  a  last  opportunity  for  expressing; 
what  was  called  their  gratitude. 

And  then,  on  the  16th  March,  M.  d'Oignon  came  to 
them,  and  presented,  on  the  part  of  the  King,  to  each 
of  the  envoys  a  gold  chain  weighing  twenty-one  ounces 
and  two  grains.^ 

Des  Pruneaux,  too— Des  Pruneaux  who  had  spent  the 
previous  summer  in  the  Netherlands,  who  had  travelled 
from  ^  province  to  province,  from  city  to  city,  at  the 
King's  command,  offering  boundless  assistance,  if  they 
would  unanimously  offer  their  sovereignty;  who  had 
vanquished  by  his  importunity  the  resistance  of  the 
stem  Hollanders,  the  last  of  all  the  Netherlands  to 
yield  to  the  royal  blandishments— Des  Pruneaux,  who 
had  *' blushed"— Des  Pruneaux  who  had  wept— now 
thought  proper  to  assume  an  airy  tone,  half  encourage- 
ment, half  condolence. 

*'Man  proposes,  gentlemen,"  said  he.2  *'but  God 
disposes.  We  are  frequently  called  on  to  observe  that 
things  have  a  great  variety  of  times  and  terms.  Many 
a  man  is  refused  by  a  woman  twice,  who  succeeds  the 
third  time :"  and  so  on,  with  which  wholesome  apoph- 
thegms Des  Pruneaux  faded  away  then  and  for  ever 
from  the  page  of  Netherland  history. 

In  a  few  days  afterwards  the  envoys  took  shippino-  at 
Dieppe,  and  arrived  early  in  April  at  the  Hague."    "" 

And  thus  teiminated  the  negotiation  of  the  States 
with  France. 

»  MS.  Report  of  the  envojB.  femme   deax   fols    quy  I'emportent  la 

'I  -Messieurs,  les   hommes  proposent,  trolsleme,"  &c.     ('Dea    Pruneaux    aux 

et  meu  est  le  maitre  qui  dispose.    Nous  Etats  generaux.'  14th  Mar.  1585.  Brlenne 

vuyons  tout»^   chosea   avoir  dlfferentz  MS.) 

lanpe  et  tennes ;  Prou  sent  refuses  d 'une  »  MS.  Report ;  Wagenaar,  vUI.  66. 


94 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  W. 


1585. 


SECRET  INFLUENCES  AT  WORK. 


v 


It  had  been  a  scene  of  elaborate  trifling  on  the  King's 
part  from  begining  to  end.  Yet  the  few  grains  of 
wheat  which  have  thus  been  extracted  from  the  moun- 
tains of  diplomatic  chaff  so  long  mouldering  in  national 
storehouses,  contain,  however  dry  and  tasteless,  still 
something  for  human  nourishment.  It  is  something  to 
comprehend  the  inefifable  meanness  of  the  hands  which 
then  could  hold  the  destiny  of  mighty  empires.  Here 
had  been  offered  a  magnificent  prize  to  France ;  a  great 
extent  of  frontier  in  the  quarter  where  expansion  was 
most  desirable,  a  protective  network  of  towns  and 
fortresses  on  the  side  most  vulnerable,  flourishing  cities 
on  the  sea-coast  where  the  marine  traffic  was  most 
lucrative,  the  sovereignty  of  a  large  population,  the 
most  bustling,  enterprising,  and  hardy  in  Europe — a 
nation  destined  in  a  few  short  years  to  become  the  first 
naval  and  commercial  power  in  the  world — all  this  was 
laid  at  the  feet  of  Henry  Valois  and  Catherine  de' 
Medici,  and  rejected. 

The  envoys,  with  their  predecessors,  had  wasted 
eight  months  of  most  precious  time ;  they  had  heard 
and  made  orations,  they  had  read  and  written  protocols, 
they  had  witnessed  banquets,  masquerades,  and  revels 
of  stupendous  frivolity,  in  honour  of  the  English  Garter, 
brought  solemnly  to  the  Valois  by  Lord  Derby,  accom- 
panied by  one  hundred  gentlemen  *' marvellously, 
sumptuously,  and  richly  accoutred,"  during  that  dread- 
ful winter  when  the  inhabitants  of  Brussels,  Antwerp, 
Mechlin — to  save  which  splendid  cities,  and  to  annex 
them  to  France,  was  a  main  object  of  the  solemn 
embassy  from  the  Netherlands — were  eating  rats,  and 
cats,  and  dogs,  and  the  weeds  from  the  pavements,  and 
the  grass  from  the  churchyards,  and  were  finding  them- 
selves more  closely  pressed  than  ever  by  the  relentless 
genius  of  Famese  ;  and  in  exchange  for  all  these  losses 
and  all  this  humiliation,  the  ambassadors  now  returned 
to  their  constituents,  bringing  an  account  of  Chivemy's 
magnificent  banquets  and  long  orations,  of  the  smiles 
of  Henry  III.,  the  tears  of  Catherine  de'  Medici,  the 
regrets  of  M.  Des  Pruneaux,  besides  sixteen  gold  chains, 
each  weighing  twenty-one  ounces  and  two  grains.* 

*  Brleven  van  de  Gedeputeerden  nyt    Handeling  g^houden  by  de  Gezanten,  &c.; 
Parla,  22nd  Feb.  1585;  Rapport  van  de    Brief  van  de   Gezanten   uyt   Parii,.li 


95 


It  IS  worth  while  to  go  for  a  moment  behind  the 
scenes.  We  have  seen  the  actors,  with  mask  and 
cothum  and  tinsel  crown,  playing  their  well-conned 
parts  upon  the  stage.  Let  us  hear  them  threaten,  and 
whimper,  and  chatter  among  themselves. 
•  So  soon  as  it  was  intimated  that  Henry  III.  was 
about  to  grant  the  Netherland  envoys  an  audience,  the 
wrath  of  ambassador  Mendoza  was  kindled.  That 
magniloquent  Spaniard  instantly  claimed  an  interview 
with  the  King,  before  whom,  according  to  the  statement 
of  his  colleagues,  doing  their  best  to  pry  into  these 
secrets,  he  blustered  and  bounced,  and  was  more  fan- 
tastical in  his  insolence  than  even  Spanish  envoy  had 
ever  been  before. 

^  "He  went  presently  to  court,"  so  Walsingham  was 
informed  by  Stafford,  "and  dealt  very  passionately 
with  the  King  and  Queen-Mother  to  deny  them  audience 
who  being  greatly  offended  with  his  presumptuous  and 
malapert  manner  of  proceeding,  the  King  did  in  choler 
and  with  some  sharp  speeches  let  him  plainly  under- 
stand that  he  was  an  absolute  king,  bound  to  yield 
account  of  his  doings  to  no  man,  and  that  it  was  lawful 
lor  him  to  give  access  to  any  man  within  his  own 
realm.     The  Queen  -Mother  answered  him  likewise  very 


Maart,  1585,  (Hague  Archives  MS.) 
Compare  I)e  Thou,  Ix.  275  teq. ;  Strada, 
H.  292  seq. ;  Meteren,  xll.  221  $eq. ;  Le 
Petit.  11.  xlv.  508  geq. ;  Wagenaar,  vlU. 
68;  Bor,  ii.  xlx.  528  teq. 

It  Is  remarkable  that  In  all  the  con- 
ferences between  the  deputies  and  the 
ministers  of  Henry,  and  In  all  the  expres- 
Blons  used  by  the  King  and  his  mother, 
as  recorded  by  the  envoys  In  their  de- 
i?)atche8  and    reports,  no  allusion   was 
ever  made  to  the  chil  war  then  brewing 
In  France,  nor  to  the  machinations  of  the 
Qnlses,— the  name  of  uhich  family  hym 
never  mentioned.     The  Court  excused 
Itself,  as  well  as  It  could,  for  Its  elaborate 
trifling  with  the  Netherlands,  at  so  mo- 
mentous an  epoch,  by  general  reflections 
upon  the  condition  of  FYance,  and  the  in- 
convenience to  the  government,  at  that 
moment,  of  engaging  In  the  enterprise 
which  It  had  itself  soUclted.  AU  the  con- 
temporaneous historians,  whether  Pro. 


testant  or  Catholic,  French,  Flemish,  or 
Spanish,  give  a  very  brief.  Imperfect,  con- 
ventional, and  generally  mistaken  >iew 
of  these  n^otiatlons. 

Le  Petit,  Instead  of  the  meagre  farewell 
address   of  the  King  (which  we  have 
given  in  the  text  from  the  report  of  the 
envoys  to  theh-  constituents),  does  not 
scruple  to  invent  a  very  epigrammatic 
little  speech  for  Henry,  in  which  that 
monarch  is  made  to  complain  bitterly  of 
the  "  violence  done  to  him  by  the  King 
of  Spain,  the  Guise  famUy,and  the  Lea- 
guers ;"  to  regret  that  he  is  thereby  pre- 
vented from  assisting  the  Provinces,  on 
the  ground  that  "  his  shirt  is  nearer  to 
him  than  his  doublet;"  and  to  hope  that 
they   will  sustain   themselves  until  he 
shall  have  got  his  kingdom  quiet,  after 
which  the  States  may  depend  upon  his 
assistance.    It  is  superfluous  to  say  that 
this  and  similar  harangues  recorded  by 
various  historians  are  purely  imaginary. 


m 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  17. 


1585. 


i*l 


/ 


roundly,  whereupon  he  departed  for  the  time,  very 
much  discontented."  ^ 

Brave  words,  on  both  sides,  if  they  had  ever  been 
spoken,  or  if  there  had  been  any  action  corresponding 
to  their  spirit. 

But,  in  truth,  from  the  beginning,  Henry  and  his 
mother  saw  in  the  Netherland  embassy  only  the  means 
of  turning  a  dishonest  penny.  Since  the  disastrous 
retreat  of  Anjou  from  the  Provinces,  the  city  of  Cambray 
had  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Seigneur  de  Balagny, 
placed  there  by  the  Duke.  The  citadel,  garrisoned  by 
French  troops,  it  was  not  the  intention  of  Catherine  de' 
Medici  to  restore  to  Philip,  and  a  truce  on  the  subject 
had  been  arranged  provisionally  for  a  year.  Philip, 
taking  Parma*s  advice  to  prevent  the  French  court,  if 
possible,  from  *'  fomenting  the  Netherland  rebellion," 
had  authorized  the  Prince  to  conclude  that  truce,  as  if 
done  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  not  by  royal  order." 
Meantime,  Balagny  was  gradually  swelling  into  a  petty 
potentate,  on  his  own  account,  making  himself  very 
troublesome  to  the  Prince  of  Parma,  and  requiriug  a 
great  deal  of  watching.  Cambray  was  however  appa- 
rently acquired  for  France. 

But,  besides  this  acquisition,  there  was  another  way 
of  earning  something  solid,  by  turning  this  Netherland 
matter  handsomely  to  account.  Philip  II.  had  recently 
conquered  Portugal.  Among  the  many  pretensions  to 
that  crown,  those  of  Catherine  do'  Medici  had  been  put 
forward,  but  had  been  little  heeded.  The  claim  went 
back  more  than  three  hundred  years,  and  to  establish  its 
validity  would  have  been  to  convert  the  peaceable  pos- 
session of  a  long  line  of  sovereigns  into  usurpation.  To 
ascend  to  Alphonso  III.  was  like  fetching,  as  it  was 
said,  a  claim  from  Evander's  grandmother.  Neverthe- 
less, ever  since  Philip  had  been  upon  the  Portuguese 
throne,  Catherine  had  been  watching  the  opportunity, 


FRENCH  AND  SPANISH  COURTS. 


>  Walslngham  to  Davison,  —  Jan.  1535, 

S.  p.  Office  MS.  Compare  Pe  Thou,  tx. 
275  seq. ;  Strada,  •  De  Bello  Belgico,' 
1658.  ii.  592  seq,\  Meteren,  kU  221  teq. ; 
Le  Petit,  li.  xiv.  508  teq. ;  fiunbequlus, 
Epist.'  passim. 


*  Philip  II.  to  Prince  of  Parma,  2nd 
Sept.  1584,  and  15th  Jan.  1585.  (Archivo 
de  Simancas,  MS.)  "Sera  bleu  que  la 
concluyals  &  trueque  de  conseguir  esto 
con  que  no  parezca  orden,  mla  sino  que  lo 
hacels  como  de  meatro,"  &c.  Comp. 
Struda,  11.  295. 


/ 


97 

not  of  unseating  that  sovereign,  but  of  oonvertin-  her 
claim  into  money.  ° 

The  KetherlaAd  embassy  seemed  to  offer  the  coveted 
opportunity       There   was,    therefore,    quite   as   much 
warmth  at  the  outset,  on  the  part  of  Mendoza,  in  that 
hrst  interview  after  the  arrival  of  the  deputie.^  as  had 
been  represented.     There  was  however  le^  digiJit  v  and 
more  cunning  on  the  part  of  Henry  and  Catherine  than 
^vas  at  all  suspected.     Even  before  that  conference  the 
ivmg  bad  been  impatiently  expecting  overtures   from 
the  Spanish  envoy,  and  had  been  disappointed.     "  He 
told  me,    said  Henry,  "  that  he  would  make  proposals 
so  soon  as  Tassis  should  be  gone,  but  he  has  done  no 
^hmgyet.     He  sa  d  to  Gondi  that  all  he  meant  was  to 
get  the  trace  of  Cambray  accomplished.     1  hope  how- 
is  riiht  in  7  '' d '^■■'  *^^  ^'°°  ''  ^P-^'"'  -"1  ^"  -tat 
Tk! iM V  ?)f f  f  *"  •n''^'"  "y  '"'"^"'^  pretensions, 
♦i  !  11/  *^''.*  ''®  ■"'■"  ^  "°-  incited  thereto   seein"- 
that  the  deputies  of  all  the  Netherland  Provinces  are  at 
present  in  my  kingdom,  to  offer  me  carte  hZcZ     I 
shall  hear  what  they  have  to  say,  and  do  exactly  what 
the  good  of  my  own  affairs  shall  seem  to  require      The 
Queen  of  England,  too,  has   been  very  pLIL  and 
urgent  with  me  for  several  months  on  this  subkrt     I 

the  Jving  of  bpain  will  now  disclose  himseJf  and  do 
promp,ly  what  he  ought,  that  we  may  set  Christendom 

Heniy  then  instructed  his  amliassador  in  Spain  to 
keep  his  eyes  wide  open,  in  order  to  penetrate  the 
schemes  of  Philip,  and  to  this  end  ordered  hmtnt- 
crease  of  salary  by  a  third,  that  he  might  follow  that 
monarch  on  his  journey  to  Amigon. 

Meanwhile  Mendoza  had  audience  of  his   Majesty 
He  made  a  very  pressing  remonstrance."  said  the  KW 

W  reM«  and  t  "T  ''  ^«»°"r'°S  '^'^^^^  ^i"  be- 
was  tree,  and  that  I  should  hear  from  them  all  that  thev 
>^d  to  say,  because  I  could  not  abandon  madam  mymotUeX 
her  pretens«>ns,  not  only  for  the  filial  obedience  ,oh7jTl 


VOL.   I. 


'  Henry  m.  i  Longlde,  11  Jan.  1585.  Brlenmie  MS. 


98 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


I 


1^  I 


w 


b 


hut  because  I  am  her  only  heir,  Mendoza  replied  that  he 
should  go  and  make  the  same  remonstrance  to  the 
Queen-Mother,  which  ho  accordingly  did,  and  she  will 
herself  write  you  what  passed  between  them.  If  they 
do  not  act  up  to  theii  duty  down  there,  I  know  how  to 
take  my  revenge  upon  them."  * 

This  is  the  King's  own  statement— his  veriest  words 
— and  he  was  surely  best  aware  of  what  occurred  be- 
tween himself  and  Mendoza,  under  their  four  eyes  only. 
The  ambassador  is  not  represented  as  extremely  inso- 
lent, but  only  pressing;  and  certainly  there  is  little 
left  of  the  fine  periods  on  Henry's  part  about  listening 
to  the  cry  of  the  oppressed,  or  preventing  the  rays  of 
his  ancestor's  diadem  from  growing  pale,  with  which 
contemporary  chronicles  are  filled. 

There  was  not  one  word  of  the  advancement  and 
glory  of  the  French  nation ;  not  a  hint  of  the  fame  to 
be  acquired  by  a  magnificent  expansion  of  territory, 
still  less  of  the  duty  to  deal  generously  or  even  honestly 
with  an  oppressed  people,  who  in  good  faith  were  seek- 
ing an  asylum  in  exchange  for  offered  sovereignty  ;  not 
a  syllable  upon  liberty  of  conscience,  of  religious  or 
civil  rights  ;  nothing  but  a  petty  and  exclusive  care  for 
the  interest  of  his  mother's  pocket,  and  of  his.  own  as 
bis  mother's  heir.  This  farthing-candle  was  alone  to 
guide  the  steps  of  "  the  high  and  mighty  King,"  whose 
reputation  was  perpetually  represented  as  so  precious 
to  him  in  all  the  conferences  between  his  ministers  and 
the  Netherland  deputies.  Was  it  possible  for  those 
envoys  to  imagine  the  almost  invisible  meanness  of  such 

childish  tricks  ? 

The  Queen-Mother  was  still  more  explicit  and  un- 
blushing throughout  the  whole  aifair. 

"  The  ambassador  of  Spain,"  she  said,  "  has  made  the 
most  beautiful  remonstrances  he  could  think  of  about 
these  deputies  from  the  Netherlands.  All  his  talk, 
however,  cannot  persuade  me  to  anything  else  save  to 
increase  my  desire  to  have  reparation  for  the  wrong 
that  has  been  done  me  in  regard  to  my  claims  upon 
Portugal,  which  1  am  determined  to  pursue  by  every' 
means  within   my  power.     Kevertheless   I  have   told 

»  Henry  ill.  k  Longlee,  U  Jan.  1585,  Brienne  MS. 


1585.  CLAIMS  OF  CATHERINE  UPON  PORTUGAL.  99 

Thn  Bernardino  that  I  should  always  be  ready  to  em 
ct:L"^H7tr  ^^^^^^^  bring  abo^ut  a  peacefu    cot 
^l^T'y.        •i^''''  ^"^^""^^  '"^^  ^  discussion  of  my  nVhts 

in  justice.  But  when  1  explained  to  him  the  nrinrinol 
points  (of  which  I  possess  all  the  pieces  of  evidenceTnd 
justification),  he  hardly  knew  whit  to  say,  save Xt  he 
was  astounded  that  1  had  remained  so^  loT  .litl  out 
speaking  of  my  claims.  In  reply  I  told  hfrn  ^'J*^'^"* 
ously  the  truth." »  ^  •^'  ^^^  mgenu- 

.Itl  *'^*^-  ^^'"^h  ^^^  ingenuous  Catherine  thus  re 
vealed  was,  in  brief,  that  all  her  predecessors  hid  W  ' 

S^ZTalid^^'S^"\-  f  atrrtt'm'Z 
sh:^i:rtranced  hf^t^^^^^^^ 

ills  master  ot      the  mhnite  words  "  whiph  liari  ..«       i 
between  them  at  this  interview.^  ^^  ^^"'^'^ 

*M  desire,"  said  Catherine   ♦' fhof  +li^  t^  it-- 
Spain  should  open  his  -ind  LnktyUd'^^^^^^^^^^ 
the  recompense  which  he  is  wilW  to^make  me^  ^r 
Portugal,  in  order  that  thino-g  may  i,^ss  r^ff  vl 

gentleness  than  otherwise.""  ^  ^         ^^^^"^  ^'^^ 

It  was  expecting  a  great  deal  to  look  for  fianl-no.s 
and  promptness  from  the  Lord-Kino-  J <^  -  ''^"^^^^^'"^ 

on  the  contn.^,  I  shall  wait  for  l^im  totTke  the  £' 


•  IvPttre  de  la  Heine  Ji  Longlee.  IC 
Jan.  1585.  Brlonne  MS.  "11  ne  m'a 
smi  que  dire  anltre  chose,  slnon  qu'il 
sebala.ssoit  comme  javuiasi  long  temps 
demoure  sans  parler  de  mes  dictz  droita 
a  quel  je  luy  ay  respondu  ingenument  la 
veriie,  qui  est, '  &c. 

2  J  bid.  "Et  croy  qu'lI  n'y  obmnetra 
ri*'n  d  mflnles  parulles  qui  se  sont  passees 
ae  la  substiince  deseua  dicte  en  la  dicte 


audlance,"  ^-c. 

'  Lettre  do  la  Reine  Mere  h  Ixjnglee. 
16  Jan.  15.5.     Brienne  MS.    "Je  desi- 

dLspagne      s'ouvrit      franchement     et 
pronipiement  de  la  recompense  qu'il  me 
veiiei  et  dolct  laire  pour  le  diet  Purtueal 
affin  que  les  chos«^  pas^assentplustotpa^ 
la  doulcemtnt  qu'aultremtnt.' 

H  2 


100 


THE  UNITED  NETHEULANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


h   < 


1^ 


I  expect  it  to  be  reasonable,  because  lie  has  seen  fit  to 
seize  and  occupy  that  which  I  declare  to  be  my  pro- 
perty." ' 

This  is  the  explanation  of  all  the  languor  and  trifling 
of  the  French  court  in  the  Netherland  negotiation.  A 
deep,  constant,  unseen  cuiTcnt  was  nmning  counter  to 
all  the  movement  which  appeared  upon  the  suiface. 
The  tergiversations  of  the  Spanish  cabinet  in  the  Portu- 
gal matter  were  the  cause  of  ihe  shufflings  of  the  French 
ministers  on  the  subject  of  the  Provinces. 

"I  know  well,"  said  Henry  a  few  days  later,  "  that 
the  people  dowTi  there,  and  their  ambassador  heie,  aie 
leading  us  on  with  words,  as  far  as  they  can,  with 
regard  to  the  recompense  of  madam  my  mother  for  her 
claims  upon  Portugal.  But  they  had  better  remember 
(and  I  think  they  will),  that  out  of  the  offers  which 
these  sixteen  deputies  of  the  Netherlands  are  bringing 
me — and  I  believe  it  to  be  carte  hlanche — I  shall  be  able 
to  pay  myself.  'Twill  be  better  to  come  promptly  to  a 
good  bargain  and  a  brief  conclusion,  than  to  spin  the 
matter  out  longer."* 

**  Don  Bernardino,"  said  the  Queen-Mother  on  the 
same  day,  *'  has  been  keeping  us  up  to  this  hour  in 
hopes  of  a  good  offer,  but  'tis  to  be  feared, /err  the  good  of 
Christendom,  that  'twill  be  too  late.  The  deputies  are 
come,  bringing  carte  blanche.  Nevertheless,  if  the  King 
of  Spain  is  willing  to  be  reasonable,  and  that  instantly, 
it  will  be  well,  and  it  would  seem  as  if  God  had  been 
pleased  to  place  this  means  in  our  hands."  * 

After  the  conferences  had  been  fairly  got  under  way 
between  the  French  government  and  the  envoys,  the 
demands  upon  Philip  for  a  good  bargain  and  a  handsome 
offer  became  still  more  pressing. 

*'  I  have  given  audience  to  the  deputies  from  the 
Provinces,"  wrote  Henry,  "  and  the  Queen-Mother  has 
done  the  same.     Chancellor  Chiveniy,  Villequier,  Bel- 


»  Ibid.  "  Je  ne  dlray  Jamais  ce  que  Je 
demandt',  an  contraire,  attendrai  ses 
offres  qu'il  fault  qui  sotent  raisMtimables, 
puis  qu'il  est  saisy  et  (xxiipateur  de  ce 
que  Jp  preteudz  ra'appartenir,"  &c. 

2  Henry  111.  a  Ijonglee,  i;J  JiUi.  15H5. 
Brienne  MS.  "  Mais  11  doibvent  bicn 
considerer— que  sur  les  offres  que  me 
viennent  faire  seize  principaulx  deputez 


des  pays  bas  (les  quelz  m'apportent,  a  ce 
quej'entendz  la  carte  blanche),  J'y  auray 
consideration,  et  vauldroit  b^^aucup 
mieulx  venlr  promptement  k  une  bonne 
neRotlatlon  et  brielve  conclusion  d'icell**, 
que  de  tenir  alnsy  les  cboses  a  la  longue." 
kv. 

3  La  Ketne  Mere  2t  Longlee,  13  Jtin. 
1S85.     Brienne  MS. 


1585.    INTERCOUI^E  BETWEEN  HENRY  III.  AND  PARMA.     IQl 

lievre,  and  Brulart,  will  now  confer  with  them  from 
day  to  day.  I  now  tell  you  that  it  will  be  well,  before 
things  go  anr/ farther,  for  the  King  of  Spain  to  come  to 
reason  about  the  pretensions  of  madam  motlier  This 
Will  be  a  means  of  establishing  the  repo.so  of  Christen- 
dom.  I  shall  be  very  willing  to  concur  in  such  an 
arrangement,  if  I  saw  any  approximation  to  it  on  the 
part  ot  the  Kmg  or  his  ministers.  But  I  fear  thev  will 
delay  too  long,  and  so  you  had  better  tell  them.  Push 
them  to  the  point  as  much  as  possible,  without  letting 
them  susjDect  that  I  have  been  writing  about  it,  for 

Ward  "  •  '''^^'''^  '^'^'''  ^^"-'^  *^^^^  ^^'^^^ 

At  the  same  time,  during  this  alternate  threatening 
and  coaxing  between  the  French  and  the  Spanish  court 
and  in  the  midst  of  all  the  solemn  and  tedious  proto: 
colling  of  the  ministry  and  the  Dutch  envoys,  there 
was  a  most  sincere  and  affectionate  intercouite  main^ 

iZL  IT  ^^^^'^  I"-  -«d  the  Prince  of  Parma, 
liie  Spanish  Governor-General  was  assured  that  nothing 
but  the  warmest  regard  was  entertained  for  him  and 
his  m^ter  on  the  part  of  the  French  court.  Parma  had 
replied,  however  that  so  many  French  troops  had  in 
times  past  crossed  the  frontier  to  assist  the  rebels,  that 
he  hardly  knew  what  to  think.  He  expressed  the  hone 
now  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou  was  dead,  that  his  ChrisS 

Sttglod-wiD.*  ^^^^^^"--  *^^  -b^"--.  ^^^tmani- 
"  How  can  your  Highness  doubt  it?"  said  Malnierre 
Henry  s  envoy  -  for  his  Majesty  has  given  proof  enough 
of  his  good-will,  having  prevented  all  enterprises  In 
this  regard,  and  preferred  to  have  his  own  subjects  cut 
into  pieces  rather  than  that  they  should  cany  out  their 
designs.  Had  his  Majesty  been  willing  merely  to  con- 
nive at  these  undertakings,  'tis  probable  that  the  affairs 
ot  your  Highness  would  not  have  succeeded  so  well  as 
they  have  done.  * 


»  Henry  III.  h  Tx)ngMe,  21  Feb.  15S5. 
*  11  seroit  tres  k  propos,  avant  que  les 
ch()8eg  allassent  plus  avant  q-ae  le  Roy 
d'Ksp;i-jme  regardasse  h  se  niectre  a  la 
raison  pour  les  pretentions  de  la  royne 
madame  et  mere,"  &c.— "  I^es  Inclt^ni  le 
plus  qu'il  vouij  sera  possible,  sans  tonte- 


fojs  quils  puissent  cognoistre  que  vons 
en  ayant  escrlpt,  car  cela  pourroit  estre 
plustot  cause  de  les  en  faire  reculler 
qu'auUremcnt,"  *c.     Brienne  MS. 

2  Malpierre    h    Henry  HI.,   16  Fer. 
15S5.    Brienne  MS. 


102 


THE  UKITED  KETHEULANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


Witli  regard  to  England,  also,  the  conduct  of  Henry 
and  his  niutlier  in  these  negotiations  was  marked  by  the 
same  imtuthomable  duplicity.  There  was  an  appearance 
of  cordiality  on  the  surface  ;  but  there  was  deep  plotting, 
and  bargaining,  and  even  deadly  hostility,  lurking  be- 
low. We  have  seen  the  efforts  which  Elizabeth's 
government  had  been  making  to  counteract  the  policy 
which  offered  the  sovereignty  of  the  Provinces  to  the 
French  monarch.  At  the  same  time  there  was  at  least 
a  loyal  disposition  upon  the  Queen's  part  to  assist  the 
Netherlands,  in  concurrence  with  Ilenry.  The  de- 
meanour of  Burghley  and  his  colleagues  was  frankness 
itself,  compared  with  the  secret  schemings  of  the  Yalois ; 
for  at  least  peace  and  good-will  between  the  *'  trium- 
virate" of  France,  England,  and  the  Netherlands,  was 
intended,  as  the  true  means  of  resisting  the  predominant 
influence  of  Spain. 

Yet  very  soon  after  the  solemn  reception  by  Ilenry 
of  the  garter  brought  by  Lord  Derby,  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  negotiations  between  the  French  court  and  the 
United  Trovinces,  the  French  king  was  not  only  at- 
tempting to  barter  the  sovereignty  offered  him  by  the 
Netherlanders  against  a  handsome  recompense  for  the 
Portugal  claim,  but  he  was  actually  proposing  to  the 
King  of  Spain  to  join  with  him  in  an  invasion  of  Eng- 
land! Even  Philip  himself  must  have  admired  and 
respected  such  a  couiplication  of  villany  on  the  part  of 
his  most  Christian  brother.  lie  was,  however,  not  dis- 
posed to  put  any  confidence  in  his  schemes. 

**  With  regard  to  the  attempt  against  England,"  wrote 
Philip  to  Meudoza,  "you  must  keep  your  eyes  open — 
you  must  look  at  the  danger  of  letting  them,  before  they 
have  got  rid  of  their  rivals  and  reduced  their  heretics, 
go  out  of  their  own  house  and  kingdom,  and  thus  of 
being  made  fools  of  when  they  think  of  coming  back 
again.  Let  them  first  exterminate  the  heretics  of 
liance,  and  then  we  will  look  after  those  of  Eng- 
land ;  because  'tis  more  important  to  finish  those  who 
are  near  than  those  afar  off.  Perhaps  the  Queen- 
Mother  proposes  this  invasion  in  order  to  proceed 
nu  re  feebly  with  matters  in  her  own  kingdom;  and 
thus  Mucio  (Duke  of  Guise j  and  his  friendi  will  not 


IS85. 


DUPLICITY  OF  THE  SPANISH  AND  FRENCH  COURTS.  103 


have  so  safe  a  game,  and  must  take  heed  lest  they  be 
deceived." ' 

Thus  it  is  obvious  that  Henry  and  Catherine  intended, 
on  flic  whole,  to  deceive  the  English  and  the  Nether- 
landers,  and  to  get  as  good  a  bargain  and  as  safe  a 
friendship  from  Philip  as  could  be  manufactured  out  of 
the  materials  placed  in  the  French  King's  hands  by  the 
United  Provinces.  Elizabeth  honestly  wished  well  to 
the  States,  but  allowed  Burghley  and  those  who  acted 
with  him  to  flatter  themselves  with  the  chimera  that 
Hemy  could  be  induced  to  protect  the  Netherlands 
without  assuming  the  sovereignty  of  that  common- 
wealth. The  Provinces  were  fighting  for  their  exist- 
ence, unconscious  of  their  latent  strength,  and  willing 
to  trust  to  France  ^or  to  England,  if  they  could  only 
save  themselves  from  being  swallowed  by  Spain.  As 
for  Spain  itself,  that  country  was  more  practised  in 
duplicity  even  than  the  government  of  the  Medici- 
Valois,  and  was  of  course  more  than  a  match  at  the 
game  of  deception  for  the  franker  politicians  of  England 
and  Holland. 

The  King  of  Navarre  had  meanwhile  been  looking 
on  at  a  distance.  Too  keen  an  observer,  too  subtle  a 
reasoner,  to  doubt  the  secret  source  of  the  movements 
then  agitating  France  to  its  centre,  he  was  yet  unable 
to  foresee  the  turn  that  all  these  intrigues  were  about 
to  take.  He  could  hardly  doubt  that  Spain  was  playing 
a  dark  and  desperate  game  with  the  unfortunate  Henry 
III.;  for,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  himself  not  long 
before  received  a  secret  and  liberal  offer  from  Philip  II., 
if  he  would  agree  to  make  war  upon  the  King.*  But 
the  Bearnese  was  not  the  man  to  play  into  the  hands  of 
Spain,  nor  could  he  imagine  the  possibility  of  the  Valois, 
or  even  of  his  mother,  taking  so  suicidal  a  course. 


»  lliUip  II.  to  Bernardino  de  Men- 
doza,  17  Au}j.  15H5.  Archlvo  de  Si- 
nunciia.'  A.  56,  No.  28,  MS.,  in  tlie 
Archives  de  I'Kinpire  at  Paris.  "  En  lo 
de  la  impnsa  de  Inglaterra,  le  yd  abrltn- 
d'»  lo8  oj<)s  para  que  tche  de  ver  el  ptligro 
en  que  se  pone,  si  antes  de  desliazer  su3 
einulos  y  reduc'.r  a  loa  horegrs  o  echerlos, 
se  do.\a  sacar  I'uera  de  su  casa  y  del  Reyno 
y  quan  biirlado  se  p<Mlria  hallar  quaudu 
peoiMiscie  bolver.    Que  acaben  prim"  los 


hereses  de  francia,  y  despues  deraos  traa 
de  Inglaterra,  por  que  mas  Importa  a 
tmios  acabar  los  de  ccrca  quo  los  de  lejos, 
y  qulfa  la  Reyna  madre  propone  lanueva 
impresa  (de  Inglaterra)  por  hazer  afloxur 
con  los  heri>ges  de  deiiiro  de  su  reyno,  y 
assl  pucs  Muclo  y  los  suyus  no  ternan 
ct)6a  segura  rolentras  estos  Cotuviertu 
aqul,  miren  bien  no  se  dcxen  engafiar." 

■•'  Herle  to  Qjieen  Elizabeth,  22nd  July, 
1584,  S.  P.  Office  MS.    Vide  ante,  p.  47. 


104 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  W 


After  tlie  Netherland  deputies  had  received  tlieir  final 
dismissal  from  the  King,  they  sent  Calvart,  who  liad 
been  secretary  to  their  embassy,  on  a  secret  mission  to 
Henry  of  Navarre,  then  resident  at  Chartres. 

The  envoy  c«jmmunicated  to  the  Huguenot  chief  the 
meagre  result  of  the  long  negotiation  with  tlie  Frencli 
court.  Henry  bade  him  be  of  good  cheer,  and  assured 
him  of  his  best  wishes  for  their  cause.  He  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  King  of  France  would  now  either 
attempt  to  overcume  the  Ciuise  faction  by  gentle  means, 
or  at  once  make  war  upon  them.  I'lie  Bishop  of  Acqs 
had  strongly  recommended  the  French  monarch  to  send 
the  King  of  Navarre,  with  a  strong  force,  to  the  assist- 
aucc  of  the  Netherlands,  urging  the  point  witli  much 
fervid  eloquence  and  solid  argument.  Henry  for  a 
moment  had  .•-eomed  impressed,  but  such  a  vigorous 
proceeding  was  of  course  entirely  beyond  his  strength, 
and  ho  had  sunk  back  into  his  effeminate  languor  so 
soon  as  the  bold  bishc^p's  back  was  tumed.' 

The  Beaniese  liud  naturally  conceived  but  little  hope 
that  such  a  scheme  Avould  be  carried  into  eflect ;  but  ho 
assured  Calvart  that  nothing  could  give  him  greater 
delight  than  to  mount  and  ride  in  such  a  cause.* 

^  *'  Notwithstanding,"  said  the  Bearnese,  "  that  the 
villanous  intentions  of  the  Guises  are  becoming  plainer 
and  plainer,  and  that  they  are  obviously  supplied  with 
Spanish  dollars,  I  shall  send  a  special  envoy  to  the  most 
Christian  King,  and,  altliough  'tis  somewhat  late,  im- 
plore liim  to  throw  his  weight  into  the  scale,  in  order  to 
redeem  your  country  from  its  miseiy.  Meantime,  be  oj 
good  heart,  and  defend,  as  you  have  done,  your  liearths, 
your  liberty,  and  the  honour  of  God."* 

He  advised  the  States  unhesitatingly  to  continue 
tlieir  confidence  in  the  French  King,  and  to  keep  him 
infonned  of  their  plans  and  movements  ;  expressing  the 
opinion  that  these  very  intrigues  of  tlie  Guise  party 
would  soon  justify  or  even  force  Henry  III.  openly  to 
assist  the  Netherlands. 

^o  far,  at  that  very  moment,  was  so  sharp  a  politician 

>  De  Thou,  ix.  29S  seq.  cboz  le  roy  tres  Cliretien,'  1 1  Juin,  1585. 

«  'Kapport  fait  par  le  Sienr  Calvnrt,  (H;i.s?ne  Archives,  MS.) 

aiant  e>te  envoie  vers  lo  r.y  d.>  Navarre  3  iis.  Rei^rt  of  Calx  art,  bef.Te  cited, 

df  la  part  des  d 'putez  dcs  EtatsGeticraux  '  • 


1585.      KIN'G  OF  NAVAHKE  Ori-ERS  TO  SEND  TROOPS.       105 

as  the  Buarnese  from  suspecting  the  secret  schemes  of 
Henry  of  V  alois.  Calvart  urged  the  King  of  NavaiTo 
to  assist  the  States  at  that  moment  with  some  sli"-ht 
subsidy.  Antwerp  was  in  such  imminent  danger  as  to 
fill  the  hearts  of  all  true  patriots  with  dismav ;  and  a 
timely  succour,  even  if  a  slender  one,  might  be  of  in- 
estimable value. 

Henry  expressed  profound  regret  that  his  own  means 
were  so  limited,  and  his  own  position  so  dangerous,  as 
to  make  it  difficult  for  him  to  manifest  in  broad  daylioht 
the  full  affection  which  he  bore  the  Provinces. 

"  To  mv  sorrow,"  said  he,  "your  proposition  is  made 
in  the  midst  of  such  dark  and  stormy  weather,  that 
those  who  have  clearest  sight  are  unable  to  see  to  what 
issue  these  troubles  of  France  are  tending."  * 

Nevertheless,  with  much  generosity  and  manliness, 
he  promised  Calvart  to  send  two  thousand  soldiers,  at 
his  own  charges,  to  the  Provinces  without  delay ;  and 
authorised  that  envoy  to  consult  with  his  agent  at  the 
court,  of  the  Frencli  King,  in  order  to  obtain  the  royal 
permission  for  the  tioops  to  cross  the  frontier.* 

The  crownless  and  almost  houseless  King  had  thus, 
at  a  single  interview,  and  in  exchange  for  nothing  but 
good  wishes,  granted  what  the  most  Christian  monarch 
of  France  had  refused,  after  months  of  negotiation,  and 
with  sovereignty  as  the  purchase-money.  The  envoy, 
well  pleased,  sped  as  swiftly  as  possible  to  Paris ;  but, 
as  may  easily  be  imagined,  Henry  of  Valois  forbfede  the 
movement  contemplated  by  Henry  of  Navaire. 

"His  Majesty,"  said  Villeroy,  secretary  of  state, 
*'  sees  no  occasion,  in  so  weighty  a  business,  thus  sud- 
denly to  change  his  mind  ;  the  less  so,  because  he  hopes 
to  be  able  eie  long  to  smooth  over  these  troubles  which 
have  begun  in  France.  Should  tho,  King  either  openly 
or  secretly  assist  the  Netherlands  or  allow  them  to  be 
assisted,  'twould  be  a  reason  for  all  the  Catholics  now 
sustaining  his  Majesty's  party  to  go  over  to  the  Guise 
faction.  The  Provinces  must  remain  firm,  and  make 
no  pacification  with  the  enemy.  Meantime  the  Queen 
of  England  is  the  only  one  to  whom  God  has  given 
means  to  afford  you  succour.     One  of  these  days,  when 


>  MS.  Report  of  Calvart,  before  cited. 


2  Ibid. 


106 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


1585. 


the  proper  time  conies,  his  Majesty  will  assist  her  in 
affording  yoii  relief."  * 

Calvart,  after  this  conference  with  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, and  subsequently  with  the  government,  enter- 
tiiined  a  lingering  hope  that  the  French  King  meant  to 
assist  tlie  I'rovinces.  '*  I  know  well  who  is  the  author 
of  these  troubles,"  said  the  unhappy  monarch,  who 
never  once  mentioned  the  name  of  Guise  in  all  those 
conferences ;  *'  but,  if  God  grant  mo  life,  I  will  give 
him  as  good  as  he  sends,  and  make  him  rue  his  con- 
duct." * 

They  were  not  aware  after  how  many  strange  vacilla- 
tions Ilenry  was  one  day  to  wreak  this  threatened 
vengeance.  As  for  Navarre,  he  remained  upon  the 
watch,  good-liunioured  as  ever,  more  merrj'  and  hopeful 
as  the  tempest  grew  blacker;  manifesting  the  most 
frank  and  friendly  sentiments  towards  the  Provinces, 
and  ^vriting  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  the  chivalrous  style 
so  dear  to  the  heart  of  that  sovereign,  that  he  desired 
nothing  better  than  to  be  her  **  servant  and  captain- 
general  against  the  common  enemy." 

But,  indeed,  the  French  King  was  not  so  well  in- 
fonned  as  he  imagined  himself  to  be  of  tlie  authorship 
of  these  troubles.  Mucio,  upon  whoso  head  he  thus 
threatened  vengeance,  was  but  the  instrument.  The 
conceah^d  hand  that  was  directing  all  these  odious 
intrigues,  and  lighting  these  flames  of  civil  war  which 
were  so  long  to  make  France  a  scene  of  desolation,  was 
that  of  the  industrious  letter-writer  in  the  Escorial. 
That  which  Henry  of  Navarre  shrewdly  suspected 
when  he  talked  of  the  Spanisli  dollars  in  the  Balafre's 
pocket,  that  which  was  dimly  visible  to  the  bishop  of 
Acqs  when  he  told  Henry  III.  that  the  "  Tagus  had 
emptied  itself  into  the  Seine  and  lioire,  and  that  the 
gold  of  Mexico  was  flowing  into  the  royal  cabinet,"  *  was 
much  more  certain  than  they  supposed. 

Philip,  in  truth,  was  neglecting  his  own  most  pressing 
interests  that  he  might  direct  all  his  energies  towards 

*  It  will  be  obeen-ed  fhat  the  «'nvoj-s  bien  qui  est  I'autheiir  de  ces  troubles 

here  sptak  of  Villeroy  as  mentioning  the  nial-  s»i  Dion  mo  dt-niie  vie,  je  lay  rendrai 

Onises  hy  namp.  parellle  et  r»n  fcrai  n'pentir."  (MS.  Re- 

-'  "Wiert  (KKk  verwittiRt  dat   Z.  M.  port  of  Oiilvart.) 

Inttel  dagen  voer  myii  vertrcck,  wesende  '  De  Tliou,  M^t  tvp. 
onder    zyne   familieren  seyde — Je    scay 


SECRET  MEASURES  OF  PHILIP  II. 


107 


entertaining  civil  war  in  France.  That  France  should 
remain  internally  at  peace  was  contrary  to  all  his  plans. 
He  had  therefore  long  kept  Guise  and  his  brother,  the 
Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  in  his  pay,  and  he  had  been 
spending  large  sums  of  money  to  bribe  many  of  the 
most  considerable  functionaries  in  the  kingdom. 

The  most  important  entei-prises  in  the  Netherlands 
were  allowed  to  languish,  tliat  these  subterranean  ope- 
rations of  the  "  prudent "  monarch  of  Spain  should  be 
pushed  forward.    The  most  brilliant  and  original  genius 
that  Philip  had  tlie  good  fortune  to  have  at  his  disposal, 
the  genius  of  Alexander  Farnese,  was  cramped  and 
irritated  almost  to  madness  by  the  fetters  imposed  upon 
it  by  the  sluggish  yet  obstinate  nature  of  him  it  was 
bound  to  obey.     Farnese  was  at  that  moment  engaged 
in  a  most  arduous  military  undertaking,  that  famous 
siege  of  Antwerp,  the  details  of  which  will  be  related 
in  future  chapters,  yet  he  was  never  furnished  with 
men  or  money  enough  to  ensure  success  to  a  much  more 
ordinaiy  operation.     His  complaints,  subdued  but  in- 
tense, fell  almost  unheeded  on  his  master's  ear.     He 
had  not  "ten  dollars  at  his  command,"  his  cavalry  horses 
were  all  dead  of  hunger  or  had  been  eaten  by  their 
riders,  who  were  starving  to  death  themselves,  his  army 
had  dwindled  to  a  *'  handful,"  yet  he  still  held  on  to  his 
purpose,  in  spite  of  famine,  the  desperate  eflbrts  of  in- 
defatigable enemies,  and  all  the  perils  and  privations  of 
a  deadly  winter.     He,  too,  was  kept  for  a  long  time  in 
l)iofound  ignorance  of  Philip  s  designs. 
.  31eantime,  while  the  Spanish  soldiers  were  starving* 
in  Flanders,  Philip's  dollars  were  employed  by  Mucio 
and  his  adlierents  in  enlisting  troops  in  Switzerland  and 
Germany,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  civil  war  in  France. 
The  French  king  was  held  systematically  up  to  ridicule 
or  detestation  in  every  village-pulpit  in  his  own  king- 
dom, while  the  sister  of  Mucio,  the  Duchess  of  Mont- 
pensier,  carried  the  scissors  at  her  girdle  with  which 
she  threatened  to  provide  Henry  with  a  thiid  crown,  in 
addition  to  those  of  France  and  Poland,  which  he  had  dis- 
graced—the coronal  tonsure  of  a  monk.     The  convent 
should  be,  it  was  intimated,  the  eventual  fate  of  the 
modern  Childeric,  but  meantime  it  was  more  impoi  tant 
than   ever  to   supersede   the   ultimate  pretensions  of 


108 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


Henr}"  of  Navarre.  To  prevent  that  heretic  of  heretics, 
who  was  not  to  bo  bought  with  Spanish  gold,  from  ever 
reigning,  was  the  first  object  of  I'hilip  and  Miicio. 

Accordingly,  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1584,  a  secret 
treaty  had  been  signed  at  Joinville  between  Henry  of 
Guise  and  his  brother  the  Due  de  Mayenne,  holding  the 
proxies  of  their  brother  the  Cardinal  and  those  of  their 
uncles  Aumale  and  Elbenf,  on  the  one  part,  and  John 
Baptist  Tassis  and  Commander  Moreo,  on  the  other,  as 
representatives  of  Philip.*  This  transaction, — suffici- 
ently well  kiiuvvn  now  to  the  most  supei-ficial  student  of 
history, — was  a  profound  mystery  then,  so  far  as  re- 
garded the  action  of  the  Spanish  King.  It  was  not  a 
secret,  however,  that  the  papistical  party  did  not  intend 
that  the  Bearnese  Prince  should  ever  come  to  the 
throne,  and  the  matter  of  the  succession  was  discussed 
precisely  as  if  the  throne  had  been  vacant. 

It  was  decided  that  (Charles,  paternal  uncle  to  Henry 
of  Navarre,  commonly  called  the  Cardinal  Bourbon, 
should  be  considered  successor  to  the  crown,  in  place  of 
Henry,  whose  claim  was  forfeited  by  heresy.  Moreover, 
a  great  deal  of  superfluous  money  and  learning  was 
expended  in  ordering  some  elaborate  legal  arguments  to 
be  prepared  by  venal  jurisconsults,  proving  not  only  that 
the  uncle  ought  to  succeed  before  the  nephew,  but  that 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  had  any  claim  to  succeed 
at  all.  The  pen  having  thus  been  employed  to  do  the 
work  which  the  sword  alone  could  accotnplish,  the  poor 
old  Cardinal  was  now  formally  established  by  the  Guise 
faction  as  presumptive  heir  to  the  crown.* 

A  man  of  straw,  a  superannuated  court-dangler,  a 
credulous  trifler,  but  an  eamst  Papist,  as  his  brother 
Antony  had  been,  sixty-six  years  old,  and  feeble  beyond 
his  years,  who,  his  life  long,  had  never  achieved  one 
manly  action,  and  had  now  one  foot  in  the  grave — this 
was  the  puppet  placed  in  the  saddle  to  run  a  tilt  against 
the  Beaniese,  the  man  with  foot  ever  in  the  stirrup, 
with  sword  rarely  in  its  sheath. 

The  contracting  parties  at  Joinville  agreed  that  the 
Cardinal  should  succeed  on  the  death  of  the  reigning 
king,  and  that  no  heretic  should  ever  ascend  the  throne, 

»  Perpfixe.  5S,  59 ;  De  Thou,  Ix.  272. 
2  De  Thou,  ix.  262  seq. 


1585. 


TREATY  OF  JOLNTILLE. 


109 


or  hold  the  meanest  office  in  the  kingdom.  They  agreed 
further  that  all  heretics  should  be  *'  exterminated " 
without  distinction,  throughout  France  and  the  Nether- 
lands. In  order  to  procure  the  necessary  reforms  among 
the  clergy,  the  council  of  Trent  was  to  be  fully  carried 
into  eUcct.  Philip  pledged  himself  to  furnish  at  least 
fifty  thousand  crowns  monthly,  for  the  advancement  of 
this  Holy  League,  as  it  was  denominated,  aud  as  much 
r  more  as  should  prove  necessary.  The  sums  advanced 
were  to  be  repaid  by  the  Cardinal  on  his  succeeding 
to  the  throne.  All  the  great  officers  of  the  crown,  loids 
and  gentlemen,  cities,  chapters,  and  universities,  all 
Catholics,  in  short,  in  the  kingdom,  were  deemed  to  be 
included  in  the  league.  If  any  foreign  Catholic  prince 
desired  to  enter  the  union,  he  should  be  admitted  with 
the  consent  of  both  parties.  Neither  his  Catholic  Ma- 
jesty  nor  the  confederated  princes  should  treat  with  the 
most  Christian -King,  either  directly  or  indirectly. 
Ihe  compact  was  to  remain  strictly  secret^one  copy 
of  It  being  sent  to  Philip,  while  the  other  was  to  be  re- 
tained by  Cardinal  Bourbon  and  his  fellow  leaguers.' 

And  now— in  accordance  with  this  program— Philip 
proceeded  stealthily  and  industriously  to  further  the 
schemes  of  Mucio,  to  tlie  exclusion  of  more  urgent  busi- 
ness.  Noiseless  and  secret  himself,  and  delighting  in 
nothing  so  much  as  to  glide,  as  it  were,  throughout 
Europe,  wrapped  m  the  mantle  of  invisibility,  he  was 
pei-petua  ly  provoked  by  the  noise,  the  bombast,  and 
the  bustle,  which  his  late  pmdent  confederates  per- 
mitted themselves  ^\•hile  Philip  for  a  long  time  hesi- 
tated to  confide  the  secret  of  the  League  to  Parma, 
whom  It  inost  imported  to  understand  these^schemes 
of  his  master,  the  confederates  were  openly  boasting 
of  the  assistance  which  they  were  to  derive  from 
larrnas  co-operation.  Even  when  the  Prince  had  at 
last  been  informed  as  to  the  state  of  alfairs,  he  stoutly  de< 
nied  the  facts  of  which  the  leaguers  made  their  vaunt ; 


stq  ^  ^^    ^^   ^*""^>   ^«""e   ^   entendre   que   le^ 

'"Mulpierre    a    Henry    III      27    Av     J'^'f^^J^  ^J^  '*   dH^Migno  se  faisoi.nt 
-»-  a    neiiry    in.,    27    av.    foriz  d avoir  secours  de  de9a— a  quui  i. 


110 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


\ 


"  Tilings  have  now  arrived  at  a  point,"  wrote  Philip 
to  Tassis,  15th  March,  1585,  "that  this  matter  of  the 
League  cannot  and  ought  not  to  be  concealed  from 
those  who  have  a  right  to  know  it.  Therefore  you 
must  speak  plainly  to  the  Prince  of  Parma,  informing 
him  of  the  whole  scheme,  and  enjoining  the  utmost 
secrecy.  You  must  concert  with  hioi  as  to  the  best 
means  of  rendering  aid  to  this  cause,  after  having  ap- 
prised him  of  the  points  which  regard  him,  and  also 
that  of  the  security  of  Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  in  case  of 
necessity."  * 

The  Prince  was  anything  but  pleased,  in  the  midst  of 
his  anxiety  and  his  almost  superhuman  labour  in  the 
Antwerp  siege,  to  be  distracted,  impoverished,  and 
weakened,  in  order  to  carry  out  these  schemes  against 
France ;  but  he  kept  the  secret  manfully. 

To  Malpierre,  the  French  envoy  in  Brussels — for  there 
was  the  closest  diplomatic  communication  between 
Henrj'  III.  and  Philip,  while  each  was  tampering  with 
the  rebellious  subjects  of  the  other— to  Maipierre  Parma 
flatly  contradicted  all  complicity  on  the  part  of  the  Spa- 
nish King  or  himself  with  the  Holy  League,  of  which 
he  knew  Philip  to  be  the  originator  and  the  chief. 

*'  If  1  complain  to  the  Prince  of  Parma,"  said  the  en- 
voy, "  of  the  companies  going  from  Flanders  to  assist 
the  League,  he  will  make  me  no  other  reply  than  that 
which  the  President  has  done— that  there  is  nothing  at 
all  in  it — until  they  are  fairly  arrived  in  France.  The 
President  (Richardot)  said  that  if  the  Catholic  King 
belonged  to  the  League,  as  they  insinuate,  his  Majesty 
would  declare  the  foot  openly."  * 

And  a  few  days  later,  the  Prince  himself  averred,  as 
Malpierre  had  anticipated,  that,  "  as  to  any  intention  on 
the  part  of  himself  or  his  Catholic  Majesty  to  send  suc- 
cour to  the  League,  according  to  the  boast  of  these  gen- 
tlemen, he  had  never  thought  of  such  a  thing,  nor  had 
received  any  order  on  the  subject  from  his  master.  Jf 
the  King  intended  to  do  an}i;hing  of  the  kind,  ho  would 

in'a    resporolu  qne  Jamais  le  d*  Selgn.  *  Philip    II.     to    J.    B.    Tassls,     15 

Koy  CathoHque  ne  l(>  ferolt,  et  s'lls  en  March,   15S5.     •  Archive  de  Simaucas,' 

fal>olent  courir  le  bruit,  ce  estolt  pour  MS. 

d  >nner  plus   d'appuy  &   Uurs  affaires,"  2  Malpierre  &  De  Orosne,  27  Av.  1585. 

he,  Briunne  MS. 


1585.        SLOW  MOVEMENT  OF  THE  GUISE  FACTION. 


Ill 


do  it  openly.     He  protested  that  he  liad  never  seen  any- 
thing or  known  anything  of  the  League."  * 

Here  was  a  man  who  knew  how  to  keep  a  secret,  and 
who  had  no  scruples  in  the  matter  of  dissimulation,  how- 
ever enraged  he  might  be  at  seeing  men  and  money 
diverted  from  his  OAvn  masterly  combinations  in  order  to 
carr^'  out  these  schemes  of  his  master. 

Mucio,  on  the  contrary,  was  imprudent  and  inclined  to 
boast.  His  contempt  for  Henry  III.  made  him  blind  to 
the  dangers  to  bo  apprehended  from  Henry  of  Navarre. 
He  did  little,  but  talked  a  great  deal. 

Philip  was  very  anxious  that  the  work  should  be  done 
both  secretly  and  thoroughly.  "  Let  the  business  be 
finished  before  Saint  John's  day,"  said  he  to  Tassis, 
when  sending  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  use  of  the 
brothers  Guise.  "  Tell  Iniquez  to  warn  them  not  to  be 
sluggish.  Let  them  not  begin  in  a  lukewarm  manner, 
but  promise  them  plenty  of  assistance  from  me,  if  they 
conduct  themselves  properly.  Let  them  beware  of  wa- 
vering, or  of  falling  into  plans  of  conciliation.  If  they 
do  their  duty,  I  will  do  mine."  * 

But  the  Guise  faction  moved  slowly  despite  of  Philip's 
secret  promptings.^  The  truth  is,  that  the  means  pro- 
posed by  the  Spanish  monarch  were  ludicrously  inade- 
quate to  his  plans,  and  it  was  idle  to  suppose  that  the 
world  was  to  be  turned  upside  down  for  his  benefit  at 
the  very  low  price  which  he  was  prepared  to  pay. 

Nothing  less  than  to  exterminate  all  the  heretics  in 
Christendom,  to  place  himself  on  the  thrones  of  France 
and  of  England,  and  to  extinguish  the  last  spark  of  rebel- 
lion in  the  Netherlands,  was  his  secret  thought,  and  yet 
it  was  very  difficult  to  get  fifty  thousand  dollars  from 
him  from  month  to  month.  Procrastinating  and  indo- 
lent himself,  he  was  for  ever  rebuking  the  torpid  move- 
ments of  the  Guises. 

"Let  Mucio  set  his  game  well  at  the  outset,"  said 
ho  ;  •'  let  him  lay  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  tree,  for  to 
be  wasting  time  fruitlessly  is  sharpening  the  knife  for 
himself." « 

'  Malpierre    k   Henry  III.,  28  Mai,  encargar  a'  Mucio  ea  que  procure  poner 

"f  •    .'  "''^""'^  ^^^■'  bien  sn  Juego  i  los  prJnclpios.  am  acudir 

Hiillp   JI.   to  Tassis.      MS.    before  &  la  raiz.  porque  lo  contrario  y  dejarse 

^  J    •  consumir  del  tlempo  debalde,  podra  ear 

'  Lo  que  sobre  todo  convlcne  ecordar  y  su  cucliillo."    (Ibid.) 


112 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


This  was  almost  prophetic.  When,  after  so  much 
talking  and  tampering,  there  began  to  be  recrimination 
among  the  leaguers,  Philip  was  very  angry  with  his 
subordinate. 

"  Here  is  Mucio,"  said  he,  "  trying  to  throw  the 
blame  of  all  the  difficulties  which  have  arisen  upon  us. 
Not  hastening,  not  keeping  his  secret,  letting  the  execu- 
tion of  the  entei-prise  grow  cold,  and  lending  an  ear  to 
suggestions  about  peace,  without  being  sure  of  its  con- 
clusion, he  has  turned  his  followers  into  cowards,  dis- 
credited his  cause,  and  given  the  King  of  France  oppor- 
tunity to  strengthen  his  force  and  improve  his  party. 
These  are  all  very  palpable  things.  1  am  willing  to 
continue  my  friendship  for  them,  but  not  if,  while  they 
accept  it,  they  permit  themselves  to  complain,  instead 
of  manifesting  gratitude."  * 

On  the  whole,  however,  the  affairs  of  the  League 
seemed  prosperous.  There  was  doubtless  too  much  dis- 
play among  the  confederates,  but  there  was  a  powing 
uneasiness  among  the  royalists.  Cardinal  Dourbon, 
discarding  his  ecclesiastical  robes  and  scarlet  stockings, 
pu-aded  himself  daily  in  public,  clothed  in  military 
costume,  with  all  the  airs  of  royalty.  Many  persons 
thought  him  mad.  On  the  other  hand,  Epergnon,  the 
haughty  minion -in-chief,  who  governed  Heniy  111.  and 
insulted  all  the  world,  was  becoming  almost  polite. 

**The  progress  of  the  League,"  said  Busbecq,  **is 
teaching  the  Due  d'Epergnon  manners.  *Tis  a  youth  of 
such  insolence,  that  without  uncovering  he  would  talk 
with  men  of  royal  descent,  while  they  were  bareheaded, 
Tis  a  common  jest  now  that  he  has  found  out  where 

his  hat  is."*  ^^^.'    a 

Thus,  for  a  long  time,  a  network  of  secret  political 
combinations  had  been  stretching  itself  over  Christen- 
dom.    There  were  great  movements  of  troops  through- 


i  "Mucio  no8  quiere  bazer  aca  cargo 
de  todds  laji  diflcultades  en  que  alia  »e 
ban  metido,  al  principlo  par  apiwiirarse 
y  no  Kuardar  bU-n  su  segreto,  y  despues 
por  baver  sc  resfriailo  la  execuclon  de  la 
empresa.  y  dado  oydos  a  la  pai,  que  tras 
no  led  poder  ser  scgura  la  conclusion 
d  Ua,  solo  el  trato  ha  acobardado  los  ani- 
mos.  de  lo8  que  le  slguleran,  desacredi- 
tando  8U  causa  y  dondo  lugar  a  que  el 


Rey  de  Francla  pudlesse  n'ogf-r  sus  fuer- 
zas  y  mejorar  su  partido.  q\w  «>n  ioda« 
tan  palpabK'S— masno  lea  arceptando  que 
estan  qu-xosos  en  lugar  de  t.bllgadiH}." 
rhilip  II.  to  Mendoia,  9  July,  15h5. 
•  Archlvo  de  Slniancas '  MS.  In  tlie 
Aahives  de  I'Kiuplre  at   Paris,  A.  56, 

30. 
2  Busb.-cqul.  •Epi8LadRud.,'25Aprll 

1585,  p.  154. 


1585. 


NETHERLAND  DEPUTIES  DISMISSED. 


113 


out  Germany,  Switzerland,  the  Netherlands,  slowly 
concentrating  themselves  upon  France ;  yet,  on  the 
whole,  the  great  mass  of  the  populations,  the  men  and 
women  who  were  to  pay,  to  fight,  to  starve,  to  be  tram- 
pled upon,  to  be  outraged,  to  be  plundered,  to  be  burned 
out  of  hou:-e  and  home,  to  bleed,  and  to  die,  were  merelv 
ignorant  gaping  spectatoi-s.  That  there  was  something- 
very  grave  in  prospect  was  obvious,  but  exactly  what 
was  impending  they  knew  no  more  than  the  generation 
yet  unborn.  Very  noiselessly  had  the  patient  manager 
who  sat  in  the  Escorial  been  making  preparations  for 
that  European  tragedy  in  which  most  of  the  actors  had 
such  fatal  parts  assigned  them,  and  of  which  few  of  the 
spect4itors  of  its  opening  scenes  were  doomed  to  witness 
the  conclusion.  A  shifting  and  glancing  of  lights,  a 
visi..n  of  vanishing  feet,  a  trampling  and  bustling  of 
unseen  crowds,  movements  of  concealed  machinery,  a 
few  incoherent  words,  much  noise  and  confusion  vague 
and  incomprehensible,  till  at  last  the  tinkling  of  a  small 
bell,  and  a  glimpse  of  the  modest  manager  stealing 
away  as  the  curtain  was  rising— such  was  the  spectacle 
presented  at  Midsummer,  1 585. 

And  in  truth  the  opening  picture  was  effective.  Six- 
teen black-i-obed,  long-bearded  Ketherland  envoys  stalk- 
ing away,  discomfited  and  indignant,  upon  one  side ; 
Catherine  de'  Medici  on  the  other,  regarding  them 
with  a  sneer,  painfully  contorted  into  a  pathetic  smile  ; 
Henry  the  King,  robed  in  a  sack  of  penitence,  trembling 
and  hesitating,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  Epergnon,  but 
quailing  even  under  the  protection  of  that  mighty 
swordsman;  Mucio,  careering,  truncheon  in  hand,  in 
full  panoply,  npon  his  war-horse,  waving  forward  a 
mingled  mass  of  German  lanzknechts,  Swiss  musketeers, 
and  Loriaine  pikemen  ;  the  redoubtable  Don  Bernardino 
de  IMendoza,  in  front,  frowning  and  ferocious,  with  his 
drawn  sword  in  his  hand  ;  Elizabeth  of  England,  in  the 
background,  with  the  white-bearded  Burghley  and  the 
monastic  W'alsingham,  all  surveying  the  scene  with 
eyes  of  deepest  meaning;  and,  somewhat  aside,  but 
m  full  view,  silent,  calm,  and  imperturbably  good- 
humoured,  the  bold  Bearnese,  standing  with  a  mis- 
chievous but  prophetic  smile  glittering  through  hi8 
VOL.  I  J 


114 


THE  rNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  lY. 


"blue   eyes   and  cnrly  beard — tbus  grouped   were  the 
personages  of  the  drama  in  the  introductoiy  scenes. 

The  course  of  public  events  which  succeeded  the 
departure  of  the  Netherland  deputies  is  sufficiently  well 
known.  The  secret  negotiations  and  intrigues,  how- 
ever, by  which  those  external  facts  were  preceded  or 
accompanied  rest  mainly  in  dusty  archives,  and  it  was 
therefore  necessary  to  dwell  somewhat  at  length  upon 
them  in  the  preceding  pages. 

The  treaty  of  Joinville  was  signed  on  the  last  day  of 
the  year  1584. 

We  have  seen  the  real  nature  of  the  interview  of 
Ambassador  Mendoza  with  Henry  III.  and  his  mother, 
which  took  place  early  in  January,  1585.  Immediately 
after  that  conference  Don  Bernardino  betook  himself  to 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  lost  no  time  in  stimulating  his 
confederate  to  prompt  but  secret  action. 

The  Netherland  envoys  had  their  last  audience  on 
the  18th  of  March,  and  their  departure  and  disappoint- 
ment was  the  signal  for  the  general  exhibition  and 
explosion,  llie  great  civil  war  began,  and  the  man 
who  refused  to  annex  the  Netherlands  to  the  French 
kingdom  soon  ceased' to  bo  regarded  as  a  king. 

On  the  31st  March  the  heir  presumptive,  just  manu- 
f  ictured  by  the  Guises,  sent  forth  his  manifesto.  Cardinal 
Bourbon,  by  this  document,  declared  that  for  twenty- 
four  years  past  no  proper  measures  had  been  taken  to 
extirpate  the  heresy  by  which  France  was  infested. 
There  was  no  natural  heir  to  the  King.  Those  who 
claimed  to  succeed  at  his  death  had  deprived  themselves, 
by  heresy,  of  their  rights.  Should  they  gain  their 
ends,  the  ancient  religion  would  be  abolished  through- 
out the  kingdom,  as  it  had  been  in  England,  and 
Catholics  be  subjected  to  the  same  frightful  toiiures 
which  they  were  experiencing  there.  New  men,  ad 
mitted  to  the  confidence  cf  the  crown,  clothed  with  the 
highest  honours,  and  laden  with  enormous  emoluments, 
had  excluded  the  ancient  and  honoured  functionaries  of 
the  state,  who  had  been  obliged  to  sell  out  their  offices 
to  these  upstart  successors.  These  new  favourites  had 
seized  the  finances  of  the  kingdom,  all  of  which  were 
now  collected  into  the  private  coffers  of  the  King,  and 
bhared  by  him  with  his  courtiers.     The  people  were 


1585. 


MANIFESTO  OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


115 


panmg  under  new  taxes  invented  every  day,  yet  ih^v 
knew  nothing  of  the  distribution  of  the  public  treasure 
while  the  King  was  himself  so  impoverished  as  to  h^ 
unable  to  discharge  his  daily  deb?s.     Meantime  thes^ 
new  advisers  of  the  crown  had  renewed   to  the  Pro- 
testants  of  the   kingdom   the    religious  pHvile'es   of 
which  they  had  so  justly  been  depHved,  yet    he  reli 
gious  peace  which  had  followed  had  not  brought  wih 
It  the  promised  diminution  of  the  popular  burthlns 
Never  had  the  nation  been  so  heavily^taxed  or  redS 
to  such  profound  misery.     For  these  reasons  he   Car 
dma   Bourbon,  with  other  princes  of  the  blo^d  ;eer 
gentlemen,  cities,  and  universities,  had  solemnly  bound 
themselves  by  oath  to  extirpate  heresy  down  to  th.  W 
root,  and   to  save  the  people  from  the  dreadful  I'oad 
mder  which  they  were  languishing.     It  was  for  this 
that  they  had  1.tken  up  arms,  and  till  that  purpose  was 
accomplished  they  would  never  lay  them  down^ 

Iho  paper  concluded  with  the  hope  that  his*Maiesfv 
would  not  take  these  warlike  demonstrLon,  aS 
and^^a^copy  of  the  document  was  placed  in  ^icf^i 

It  was  very  obvious  to  the  most  superficial  observer 
hat  the  manifesto  was  directed  almost  as  much  aSt 
the  reignmg  sovereign  .is  against  Henry  of  VlyZ^e 
The  adherents  of  the  Guise  faction,  and  ^speci.lh  cer' 
tain  theologians  in  their  employ,  had  tak^i  v;^!?!!]; 
grounds  upon  the  relations  hLlon  ktg  and\^^Ll;^ 

who  did  not  discharge^hi^tV^^^^^^^^ 
was  robbery,  and  it  was  as  absurd  to  call  hin^a  tf^^ 
who  knew  not  how  to  govern,  as  it  was  to  take  a  H  nd 
man  for  a  guide,  or  to  believe  tliat  a  staturcould    n 
fluence  the  movements  of  liviu"-  men  '"^ 

not  find  a  smgle  royal  or  manly  wird  of  renl  v  H« 
threw  himself  on  his  knees,  when,  if  ever  he  should 
have  assumed  an  attitude  of  eomn^nd.  He  a~ed 
the   .nsolenee  of  the  men   who  were   ra,.ding  fhet 

»  IHjTIjou,  i.\.  -iHistq.  .,  „     _ 

'  ■'  I'orc'fijie,  5». 

1  2 


116 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CUAP.  IV. 


1585. 


ATTITUDE  OF  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE. 


117 


contempt  for  Ms  authority,  by  humble  excuses  and 
supplications  for  pardon.  He  threw  his  crown  in  the 
dust  before  their  feet,  as  if  such  humility  would  induce 
them  to  place  it  again  upon  his  head.  He  abandoned 
the  minions  who  had  been  his  pride,  his  joy,  and  his 
defence,  and  deprecated,  with  an  abject  whimper,  all 
responsibility  for  the  unmeasured  ambition  and  the 
ins^itiable  rapacity  of  a  few  private  individuals.  He 
conjured  the  party-leaders,  who  had  hurled  defiance  in 
his  face,  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  promised  that 
they  should  find  in  his  wisdom  and  bounty  more  than 
all  the  advantages  which  they  were  seeking  to  obtain 
by  war.* 

Henry  of  Navarre  answered  in  a  different  strain. 
The  gauntlet  had  at  last  been  thrown  down  to  him, 
and  he  came  forward  to  take  it  up  ;  not  insolently  nor 
carelessly,  but  with  the  cold  courtesy  of  a  Christian 
knight  and  valiant  gentleman.  He  denied  the  charge 
of  heresy.  He  avowed  detestation  of  all  doctrines  con- 
trary to  the  Word  of  God,  to  the  decrees  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church,  or  condemned  by  the  councils.  Hie 
errors  and  abuses  which  had  from  time  to  time  crept ^ 
into  the  church,  had  long  demanded,  in  the  opinion  of 
all  pious  persons,  some  measures  of  reform.  After 
many  bloody  wars,  no  better  remedy  had  been  dis- 
covered to  arrest  the  cause  of  these  dire  religious 
troubles,  whether  in  France  or  Germany,  than  to  per- 
mit all  men  to  obey  the  dictates  of  their  own  con- 
science. The  Protestants  had  thus  obtained  in  France 
many  edicts  by  which  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  had 
been  secured.  He  could  not  himself  be  denounced  as 
a  heretic,  for  he  had  always  held  himself  ready  to 
receive  instruction,  and  to  be  set  right  where  he  had 
erred.  To  call  him  "  relapsed  "  was  an  outrage.  \N'ere 
it  true,  he  were  indeed  unworthy  of  the  crown,  but  the 
world  knew  that  his  change  at  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bar 
tholomew  had  been  made  under  duresse,  and  that  he 
had  returned  to  the  reformed  faith  when  he  had 
recovered  his  liberty.  Religious  toleration  had  l)een 
the  object  of  his  life.  In  what  the  tyranny  of  the 
popes  and  the  violence  of  the  Spaniards  had  left  him 
of  his  kingdom  of  Navarre,  Catholics  and  Protestants 

1  De  Thou,  Ix.  288. 


enjoyed  a  perfect  religious  liberty.  No  man  had  the 
right,  therefore,  to  denounce  him  as  an  enemy  of  the 
church,  or  a  disturber  of  the  public  repose,  for  he  had 
ever  been  willing  to  accept  all  propositions  of  peace 
which  left  the  rights  of  conscience  protected. 

He  was  a  Frenchman,  a  prince  of  Franco,  a  living 
member  of  the  kingdom,  feeling  with  its  pains,  and 
bleeding  with  its  wounds.  They  who  denounced  him 
were  alien  to  France,  factitious  portions  of  her  body, 
feeling  no  sutTering,  even  should  she  be  consuming 
with  living  fire.  The  Leaguers  were  the  friends  and 
the  sei'\'ants  of  the  S))aniards,  while  he  had  been  born 
the  enemy,  and  with  too  good  reason,  of  the  whole 
Spanish  race. 

''  Let  tlie  name  of  Papist  and  of  Huguenot,"  he  said, 
"be  heard  no  more  among  us.  Tliose  terms  were 
buried  in  the  edict  of  peace.  Let  us  speak  only  of 
Frenchmen  and  of  Spaniards.  It  is  the  counter-lcao-ue 
which  we  must  all  unite  to  form,  the  natural  union  of 
the  head  with  all  its  members." 

Finally,  to  save  the  shedding  of  so  much  innocent 
blood,  to  spare  all  the  countless  miseries  of  civil  war, 
he  implored  the  royal  permission  to  terminate  this 
quarrel  in  person,  by  single  combat  with  the  Duke  of 
Guise  one  to  one,  two  to  two,  or  in  as  large  a  number 
as  might  be  desired,  and  upon  any  spot  within  or  without 
the  kingdom  that  should  be  assigned.  "  'Die  Duke  of 
Guise,'  said  Henry  of  Navarre,  "cannot  but  accept  my 
challenge  as  an  honour,  coming  as  it  does  from  a  prince 
inhnitely  his  sui)erior  in  rank;  and  thus,  may  God 
defend  tlie  right." 

This  paper,  dra^v^l  up  by  the  illustrious  Duplessis- 
Mornay,  wlio  was  to  have  been  the  second  of  the  Kin"- 
ot  Navarre  in  ihi,  proposed  duel,  was  signed  10  June*^ 

.1  '■^^^^f^"^\^^»^^"^':j^.<^  I^enry  IIL,  not  so  dull  as  to  doubt 
that  the  true  object  of  the  Guise  party  was  to  reduce 
iiim  to  msignifirance,  and  to  open  their  own  way  to 
the  throne  was  too  impotent  of  purpose  to  follow  the 
dictates  which  his  wisest   counsellors  urged   and    his 

>' Declaration  duRoy  do  Navarre  contre    ed.  1824,  vol.  ill    91  ^n     D«  Tho.,  Iv 
loscaluinni..sdelaI.)«uc.;     In  Dupl.-ssb-    3-.'u«.v.         '•''"'  ^^  ""i'    »«  "lou.  U. 
•Aloruay,  •Alemoircs  el  Correspoudanci',' 


<* 


118 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


1585. 


DESIGNS  OF  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN, 


119 


il 


I 


own  reason  approved.  His  choice  had  lain  between 
open  hoHtility  with  his  Spanish  enemy  and  a  more  ter- 
rible coin])at  with  that  implacable  foe  wearing  the 
mask  of  friendship.  He  had  refused  to  annex  to  his 
crown  the  rich  and  powerful  Netherlands,  from  dread 
iff  a  foreign  war ;  and  he  was  now  about  to  accept  for 
himself  and  kingdom  all  the  horrors  of  a  civil  contest, 
in  which  his  avowed  antagonist  was  the  first  captain 
of  the  age,  and  his  nominal  allies  the  stipendiaries  of 
Philip  II. 

Villeroy,  his  prime  minister,  and  Catherine  de' 
Medici,  his  mother,  had  both  devoted  him  to  disgrace 
and  ruin.  The  deputies  from  the  Netherlands  had 
been  dismissed,  and  now,  notwithstanding  the  festivities 
and  exuberant  demonstrations  of  friendship  with  which 
the  Earl  of  Derby's  Nj)lendid  embassy  had  been  greeted, 
it  became  necessary  to  bind  Henry  hand  and  foot  to 
the  cfmspirators,  who  had  sworn  the  destruction  of  that 
Queen,  as  well  as  his  own,  and  the  extirpation  of 
heresy  and  heretics  in  every  realui  of  Christendom.       # 

On  the  Dth  Juno  the  League  demanded  a  royal 
decree,  forbidding  the  practice  of  all  religion  but  the 
Eoman  Catholic,  on  pain  of  death.  In  vain  had  the 
clear-sighted  Bishop  of  Acqs  uttered  his  eloquent  warn- 
ings. Despite  sueli  timely  counsels,  which  lie  was 
capable  at  once  of  appreciating  and  of  neglecting, 
Henry  followed  slavisldy  the  advice  of  those  whom  he 
Icnew  in  his  heart  to  be  his  foes,  and  authorised 
the  great  conspiracy  against  Elizabeth,  against  Pro- 
testantism, and  against  himself. 

On  tlu3  5th  June  Villeroy  had  expressed  a  wisli  for  a 
very  secret  interview  with  Mendoza,  on  the  subject  of 
the  invasion  oi'  England. 

**  It  needed  not  this  overture,"  said  that  magnilo- 
quent Spaniard,  *'  to  engender  in  a  person  of  my 
talents,  and  with  the  heart  of  a  Mendoza,  venom 
enough  for  vengeance.  I  could  not  more  desire  than 
I  did  already  to  assist  in  so  holy  a  work ;  nor  could  I 
aspire  to  greater  honour  than  would  bo  gained  in 
uniting  those  crowns  (of  France  and  Spain)  in  strict 
friendship  for  the  pui-jiose  of  extirpating  heresy  through- 
out Europe,  and  of  chastising  the  Queen  of  England— 
whose  alxmiinations  I  am  never  likely  to  forget,  having 


I 


had  them  so  long  before  my  eyes— and  of  satisfying  my 
just  resentment  for  the  injuries  she  has  inflicted  on 
myself.  It  was  on  this  subject,"  continued  the  ambas- 
sador, "  that  Monsieur  de  Villeroy  wished  a  secret  inter- 
view with  me,  pledging  himself— if  your  Majesty 
would  deign  to  unite  yourself  with  this  King,  and  to 
aid  him  with  your  forces— to  a  successful  result."  ' 

Mendoza  accordingly  expressed  a  willingness  to  meet 
the  ingenuous  Secretary-  of  State— who  had  so  recently 
been  assisting  at  the  banquets  and  rejoicings  with 
Lord  Derby  and  his  companions,  which  had  so  much 
enlivened  the  French  capital— and  assured  him  that  his 
most  Catholic  Majesty  would  be  only  too  glad  to  draw 
closer  the  bcmds  of  friendship  with  the  most  Christian 
King,  for  the  service  of  God  and  the  glory  of  his 
Church. 

The  next  day  the  envoy  and  the  Secretary  of  State 
met  very  secretly,  in  the  house  of  the  Signer  Gondi 
V  illeroy  commenced  his  harangue  by  an  allusion  to  the 
current  opinion,  that  Mendoza  had  arrived  in  France 
with  a  torch  in  his  hand,  to  light  the  fires  of  civil  war 
m  that  kingdom,  as  he  had  recently  done  in  En^rland « 

"  I  do  not  believe,"  replied  Mendoza,  "  that  discreet 
and  pnident  persons  in  France  attribute  my  actions  to 
any  such  motives.  As  for  the  ignorant  people  of  the 
kingdom,  they  do  not  appal  me,  although  they  evi- 
dently imagine  that  I  have  imbibed,  during  mV  resi- 
dence m  England,  something  of  the  spirit  of  the 
enchanter  I^Ierlin,  that,  by  signs  and  cabalistic  words 
alono,  I  am  thought  capable  of  producing  such  com- 
motions.   *  *  O  "* 


*  -1a    abcrtura  que  estos  royos  me 
havlan  hoi  ho  ....  no  ha\1a  d<^  enijen- 
dmr  en  una   persona  de  mis  prendas  y 
cornfon  de  u»  Mendoza  veneno  para  pro- 
curar  v uRan^as,  y  no  antes  desseo  de 
ayudarobra  tan  sjinta.  pues  que  me  p<i. 
drla  r.-tlundar  uwyor  honra  que  de  otr% 
ninguua,  (sl.-ndo  iii.srruni<nfo   para   unir 
estiis  cor.  mas  c».n  finne  anilstad,  del>axo 
dr»  Id  qual  pudio^se  extfrpar  las  hereglas 
d*  Europa,  daiido  privH.-jno  a  esto,  con 
castigar  a  la  r.  yna  de  Iiigultierra,  cuyas 
alximlnacluncs  creya  que  yo  no  tendria 
olvldiidas.  corao  p«'rs«jna   que   las  havia 
tenld<.  tantos   aiios  adelante   los  <Jos,  y 
causa  de  Justo  resentimiento  per  lo  que 


havla  hedio  a  la  propria  mla.  Sobre  esU 
materia  d«-ssara  el  Seflor  Villeroy  vene 
t^ecretiimento  conmlgo,  y  entender  suyo, 
me  asogurara.  si  V.  Mh.  holgaria  de  ayudar 
con  sus  fuer9as  y  Juntarse  con  este  rey, 
para  el  efeto."  I  ton  BtTn'''""  d  ■  Miiidoza 
a  Su  Cai"  R.  Magd.  (dt^lfrada).  Paris,  7 
June,  1585.  Arch,  de  Simamas,  in  the 
Archives  de  I'Empire  at  Paris,  B.  56 
220,  223.  MS. 

2  "  Con  el  acha  en  la  mano  para  em- 
prendiT  fu^go  de  puorra  civil,  como  havia 
h<>clio  an  Ingaltlerra."  (MS.  just  cited,  7 
June,  1585.) 

'  "  Y  que  los  Ignorantes  de  francia  no 
me  eepantarian,  imaginandose    haverse 


120 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IT. 


I 


After  this  preliminary  flourish  the  envoy  proceeded 
to  cc-mplain  bitterly  of  the  most  Christian  King  andi  his 
m«ither,  who,  after  the  propositions  which  they  had 
made  him  when  on  his  way  to  Spain,  had,  since  his 
fetum,  Ixjcomo  so  very  cold  and  dry  towards  liim.* 
And  on  this  theme  ho  enlarged  for  some  time. 

Villerov  replied  by  complaining,  in  his  turn,  about 
the  dealings  of  the  most  Catholic  King  with  the 
leaguers  and  the  rebels  of  Franco ;  and  ]\Iendoza  re- 
joined by  an  intimation,  that  harping  npon  past 
grievances  and  suspicions  was  hardly  the  way  to  bring 
about  harmony  in  present  matters. 

Struck  with  the  justice  of  this  remark,  the  French 
Secretary  of  State  entered  at  once  upon  business.  He 
made  a  very  long  speech'  upon  the  tyranny  which 
♦*that  Englishwoman"  was  anew  inflicting  upon  the 
Catholics  in  her  kingdom,  upon  the  offences  which  she 
had  committed  against  tlie  King  of  Spain,  and  against 
the  King  of  France  and  his  brothers,  and  upon  the 
aliment  which  she  had  been  yielding  to  the  civil  war 
in  the  Xethtrlands  and  in  France  for  so  many  years. 
He  then  said  that,  if  Mendoza  would  declare  with  sin- 
cerity, and  '^  without  any  of  the  duplicity  of  a  minis- 
ter," that  Philip  would  league  himself  with  Henry 
for  the  purpose  of  invading  England,  in  order  to  reduce 
the  three  kingdoms  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and  to  place 
their  crowns  on  the  head  of  the  Queen  of  Scotland,  to 
whom  they  of  right  belonged,  then  that  the  King,  his 
master,  was  most  ready  to  join  in  so  holv  an  enter- 
Ijrise.  He  begged  Mendoza  to  say  with  what  number 
of  troops  the  invasion  could  bo  made ;  whether  Philip 


me  pegad<>  del  tiemp<>  que  estnve  en  In- 
galtlerra  algo  del  spiritu  de  MerUn,  para 
hftfer,  con  sJgnos  y  palabras,  s*'mejiuites 
oommociunes."  (MS.  Just  cited,  T  June, 
1585.) 

1  "  Havellos  hallado  tan  frioa  y  secos." 
(Ibid.) 

2  "■Reapondio  me  que  era  bien  prtv 
ponlendo  me  con  prande  arenga,  la  tiran- 
nia  con  qu«  proctKiia  contra  los  catolicos 
agora  de  nnevo  k  de  liiKaltierra,  off*  nsas 
que  havia  hecho  a  V.  M"^.,  y  el  mlsrao  a 
este  rey  y  hernianos,  alUnentando  la 
gucrm  »n  los  payses  baxos,  y  en  fraiicia, 
por  lungos    alio*,  que  le  dlxesse,    oou 


llaneza  y  sin  dobler  dfl  mlnlstro,  st  V. 
M"*.  holgaria  de  Juntarse  y  llparee  con 
este  rey,  para  hazer  aquella  Inipresa,  re- 
duziendo  los  tres  reynos  a  la  fee  Cat.-» 
Horn"*,  y  ponlendo  la  corona  u  la  de  la 
reyna  de  Escozia.  que  era  a  la  que  de 
derecho  le  tocava,  y  lo  que  el  rey  bu  amo 
solt*  pretendla,  que  queda*^  a  qu.l  re3'no 
en  la  neutralldad,  que  hasta  aqul,  tjue 
por  ser  empresa  tan  santa,  se  pronutia 
que  v.  M'.  no  nfusarla  cl  assistlr  om 
sus  fuenas  a  ella,  que  de  auinio  de  su 
anio  me  asegurava  de  estar  aparejedis- 
sJuio  para  ello."    (Ibid.) 


1585.         INTERVIEW  OF  MENDOZA  AND  VILLEROY.         121 

could  send  any  from  Flanders  or  from  Spain ;  how 
many  it  would  be  well  to  send  from  France,  and  under 
what  chieftain ;  in  what  manner  it  would  be  best  to 
communicate  with  his  most  Catholic  Majesty  ;  whether 
it  were  desirable  to  despatch  a  secret  envoy  to  him, 
and  of  what  quality  such  agent  ought  to  be.  He  also 
observed  that  the  most  Christian  King  could  not  him- 
self speak  to  Mendoza  on  the  subject  before  having 
communicated  the  matter  to  the  Queen-Mother,  but 
expressed  a  wish  that  a  special  carrier  might  be  forth- 
with despatched  to  Spain ;  for  he  might  be  sure  that 
on  an  affair  of  such  weight,  he  would  not  have  per- 
mitted himself  to  reveal  the  secret  wishes  of  his  master 
except  by  his  commands.'  ' 

Mendoza  replied  by  enlarging  with  much  enthusiasm 
on  the  facility  with  which  England  could  be  conquered 
by  the  combined  power  of  France  and  Spain.     If  it 
were  not  a  very  difficult  matter  before— even  with  the 
jealousy  between  the  two  crowns— how  much  less  so 
now  that  they  could  join  their  fleets  and  annies ;  now 
that  the  arming  by  the  one  prince  would  not  ins])ire 
the  other  with   suspicion  ;    now  that   they  would  be 
certain  of  finding  safe  harbour  in  each  other's  kino-- 
doms  in  case  of  unfavourable  weather  and  head-winds 
and  tbvt  they  could  arrange  from  what  ports  to  sail,  in 
what  direction,  and  under  what  commanders.     He  dis- 
approved, however,  of  sending  a  special  messenger  to 
Spain    on  the  ground  of  wishing  to  keep  the  matter 
entirely  secret,  but  m  reality-as  he  informed  Philii>- 
because  ho  chose  to  keep  the  management  in  his  own 
hands ;  because  he  could  always  let  slip  Mucio  upon 

^T:a  '?^  Tl  Vi"^"^"^^^  ^^""^  ^'"^  ^^«^'  because  he 
feared  that  the  leaking  out  of  the  secret  might  dis- 
courage the  Leaguers;  and  because  he  felt  that  the 
bolder  and  more  livelv  were  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon 
and  his  confederates,  the  stronger  was  the  party  of  the 
King  his  master,  and  the  more  intimidated  and  dispirited 
KW      '/a    ^"'JI!^  ^?^  ^^"  ^^'""^  ^^^^^  most  Christian 

diplomat  sf""^^^  '^'   P^^^*'"  ^i^  th- 

diplomatist,    '»at   which   a  minister   of  your  Maiestv 
should  aim  at  this  season."  *  ^         i>iajest^ 

i  ••  Quf^'e^o  oueT;  ''?'  ,    "''"'^*™  '^^  ^-  ^^^-  ^  ^'  ^^^  P^e.ta  la 

yue  etj,  en  lo  que  en  esta  sazon  el    miru."    (Ibid.)  fu-^oui  i» 


122 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


Thus  the  civil  war  in  France— an  indispensable  part 
of  Philip's  policy — was  to  be  maintained  at  all  hazards ; 
and  although  the  ambassador  was  of  opinion  that  the 
most  Christian  King  was  sincere  in  his  proposition  to 
invade  England,  it  would  never  do  to  allow  any  in- 
terval of  tranquillity  to  the  wretched  subjects  of  that 
Christian  King. 

"  I  cannot  doubt,"  said  Mendoza,  *'  that  the  making 
of  this  proposal  to  me  with  so  much  warmth  was  the 
especial  persuasion  of  God,  who,  hearing  the  groans  of 
the  Catholics  of  England,  so  cruelly  afflicted,  wished 
to  force  the  French  King  and  his  minister  to  feel,  in 
the  necessity  which  surrounds  them,  that  the  ofiending 
Him,  by  impeding  the  grandeur  of  your  Majesty,  would 
be  their  total  ruin,  and  that  their  only  salvation  is  to 
unite  in  sincerity  and  truth  with  your  Majesty  for  the 
desti-uction  of  the  heretics."  ' 

Therefore,  although — .judging  from  the  nature  of  the 
French— he  might  imagine  that  they  were  attempting 
to  put  him  to  sleep,  Mendoz^i,  on  the  whole,  expressed 
a  conviction  that  the  King  was  in  earnest,  having 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  he  could  only  get  rid  of 
tlie  Guise  faction  by  sending  them  over  to  England. 
*•  Seeing  that  ho  cannot  possibly  eradicate  the  war  from 
his  kingdom,"  said  the  envoy,  "  because  of  the  boldness 
Avith  which  the  Leaguers  maintain  it,  with  the  strong 
assistance  of  your  Majesty,  he  has  detennincd  to  cm- 
brace  with  much  ferv^our,  and  without  any  deception 
at  all,  the  enteqirise  against  England,  as  the  only 
remedy  to  quiet  his  own  dominions.  The  subjugation 
of  those  three  kingdoms,  in  order  to  restore  them  to 
their  rightful  owner,  is  a  purpose  so  holy,  just,  and 
worthy  of  your  Majesty,  and  one  which  you  have  had 
BO  constantly  in  view,  that  it  is  superfluous  for  me  to 
enlarge  upon  the  subject.  Your  Majesty  knt)ws  that 
its  effects  will  be  the  tranquillity  and  preservation  of 
all  your  realms.  The  reasons  for  making  the  attempt, 
even  without  the  aid  of  France,  become  demonstrations 
now  that  she  is  unanimously  in  favour  of  the  scheme. 
The  most  Cliristian  King  is  resolutely  bent— so  far  as  I 
can  comprehend  the  intrigues  of  Villeroy — to  carry  out 
this  project  on  the  foundation  of  a  treaty  with  the  Guise 

»  MS.  Just  cited,  7  June,  1585. 


1585.       ALLEGED  PERSECLTIOX  OF  THE  CATHOLICS.        123 

party.  It  will  not  iake  much  time,  therefere,  to  put 
down  the  heretics  here;  nor  will  it  consume  much 
more  to  conquer  England  with  the  armies  of  two  such 
powerful  Princes.'  The  power  of  that  island  is  of  little 
moment,  there  being  no  disciplined  forces  to  oppose  us, 
even  if  they  were  all  unanimous  in  its  defence ;  how 
niuch  less  then,  with  so  many  Catholics  to  assist  the 
invaders,  seeing  them  so  powerful !  If  your  Majesty, 
on  account  of  your  ^etherlands,  is  not  afraid  of  puttino- 
arms  into  the  hands  of  the  Guise  family  in  France, 
there  need  be  less  objection  to  sending  one  of  that 
house  into  England,  particularly  as  you  will  send 
forces  of  your  own  into  that  kingdom,  by  the  reduction 
of  which  the  affairs  of  Flanders  will  be  secured.  To 
effect  the  pacification  of  the  Netherlands  the  sooner,  it 
would  be  desirable  to  conquer  England  as  early  as 
October."* 

Having  thus  sufficiently  enlarged  upon  the  sincerity 
of  the  IVench  King  and  his  ^mme  minister,  in  their 
dark  projects  against  a  friendly  power,  and  upon  the 
ease  with  whicli  that  friendly  power  could  be  subjected, 
the  ambassador  begged  for  a  reply  from  his  royal  master 
without  delay.  He  would  be  careful,  meantime,  to  keep 
the  civil  war  alive  in  France— thus  verifying  the 
poetical  portmit  of  himself,  the  truth  of  which  he  had 
just  been  so  indignantly  and  rhetorically  denying— but 
It  was  desirable  that  the  French  should  believe  that  this 
civil  war  was  not  Philip's  sole  object.  He  concluded 
by  drawing  his  master  s  attention  to  the  sufierings  of  the 
English  Catholics.  ''  I  cannot  ]  efrain,"  he  said,  "  from 
placing  before  your  eyes  the  terrible  persecutions  which 
the  Catholics  arc  sufiering  in  England  ;  the  blood  of  the 
martyi-s  flowing  in  so  many  kinds  of  torments :  the 
groans  of  the  prisoners,  of  the  widows  and  orphans  :  the 
general  oppression  and  servitude,  which  is  the  greatest 
ever  endured  by  a  people  of  God,  under  any  tyrant 
whatever.     Your  IMajesty,  into  whose  hands  God  iJ  now 


*  "  Lo8  de  Gnlsa,  tenlendo  las  armas  en 
la  mano,  coiiibnten  a  los  hereges  de  aqui, 
que  no  pucde  ser  mucho  titnipo,  y  assi 
mismo,  el  que  se  consumira  en  nduzir  a 
Ingaltitrracuiifucrvasde  tan  i>o<iero!>lssl- 
mo9  princlpes  y  la  de  la  i.>la  no  de  mo- 
nitnto,  para  iiodellos  contrastar  gente  do 


exercltada,  si  bien  estuviessen  todos  una- 
nimos  para  dofenilarse,  quanto  nijis, 
haviendo  tantos  Cat'«  que  han  de  acudir 
a  los  estrangcros,  viendo  los  tan  podero- 
SOS."  (MS.  just  cited,  7  June,  15»50 
2  Ibid. 


124 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


1585. 


EDICT  OF  NEMOURS. 


125 


pleased  to  place  the  means,  so  long  desired,  of  extir- 
pating and  totally  destroying  the  heresies  of  oui-  time, 
can  afone  liberate  them  from  their  bondage."  * 

The  picture  of  these  kings,  pnme  ministers,  and 
ambassadors,  thus  plotting  treason,  stratagem,  and  mas- 
sacre, is  a  dark  and  dreary  one.  The  description  of 
Enf'-lish  sufferings  for  conscience'  sake,  under  the  Pro- 
testant Elizabeth,  is  even  more  painful;  for  it  liad 
unfortunately  too  much  of  truth,  although  as  wilfully 
darkened  and  exaggerated  as  could  be  done  by  religious 
liatred  and  Spanish  bombast.  ITie  Queen  was  surrounded 
by  legions  of  deadly  enemies.  Spain,  the  Pope,  the 
League,  were  united  in  one  perpetual  conspimcy  against 
her  ;  and  they  relied  on  the  co-operation  of  those  subjects 
of  hers  whom  her  own  cruelty  was   converting   into 

traitors. 

We  read  with  a  shudder  these  gloomy  secrets  of  con- 
spiracy and  wholestdo  murder,  which  make  up  the 
diplomatic  history  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  we 
cease  to  wonder  that  a  woman,  feeling  herself  so  con- 
tinually the  mark  at  wliich  all  the  tyrants  and  assjissins 
of  Europe  were  aiming — although  not  possessing  perhaps 
the  evidences  of  her  peril  so  completely  as  they  have 
l>een  revealed  to  us — should  come  to  consider  every 
English  Papist  as  a  traitor  and  an  assassin.  It  was 
imtbrtunate  that  she  was  not  able  to  rise  beyond  the  vile 
instincts  of  the  age,  and  by  a  magnanimous  and  sublime 
toleration  to  convert  her  secret  enemies  into  loyal 
•subjects. 

And  now  Henry  of  Valois  was  to  choose  between 
league  and  counter-league,  between  Henry  of  Guise  and 
Heniy  of  Kavarre,  between  France  and  Spain.  The 
whole  chivalry  of  Gascony  and  Guienne,  the  vast  swann 
of  industrious  and  hardy  Iluguenot  artisans,  the  Nether- 
land  rebels,  the  great  English  Queen,  stood  ready  to 
support  the   cause   of  French  nationality,  and  of  all 


*  "  Ante  cuyoa  ojos  no  pnedo  dexnr  de 
anteponer  en  esta  la  tenble  p(>rs*>cucii)n 
que  iwuisan  loa  Cat"'  eii  Ingiilt',  con 
muchii  Kingn*  d*  niartirt's  (ierrt.'niada  con 
diversos  generos  de  tonnentos,  los  genii- 
dos  de  k)s  prison  ierus,  de  los  viudas  y 
huerfanos.  y  opression  gmK-ral  y  sent- 
dumbre  que  ea  la  mayor  que  baparescido 


Jamas'puehio  de  Dlos,  dobaxo  de  ninguu 
tinuio,  «le  tuya  niano  espera  solo  sit 
llberlados  por  las  de  V'.  M"*.  a  qnien  DiiH 
OS  servidodo  pont-r  en  las  pruprias  la  ooi- 
sion  que  tantus  dlas  ha  procurado  jiara  la 
extlrpaclon  y  tot;il  dcstruycion  de  lea 
hen-Rias  de  n"'  tlemix),  ol  M?a  servldo  de  re- 
medlallo-s."  (MS  Just  cited,  7  June,  l&f^b.) 


t 


nationalities,  against  a  threatening  world-empire :  of 
religious  liberty  against  sacerdotal  absolutism ;  and  the 
crown  of  a  King,  whose  only  merit  had  hitherto  been  to 
acquiesce  in  a  religious  toleration  dictated  to  him  hy 
others,  against  those  who  derided  his  authority  and 
insulted  his  person.  The  bold  knight-errant  of  Christ 
endom,  the  chamjiion  to  the  utterance  against  Spain, 
stood  there  with  lance  in  rest,  and  tlie  King  scarcely 
hesitated. 

The  League,  gliding  so  long  unheeded,  now  reared  its 
crest  in  the  very  palace  of  France,  and  full  in  the 
monarch's  face.  \\  ith  a  single  shudder  the  victim  fell 
into  its  coils. 

The  choice  was  made.  On  the  18th  of  July  the 
edict  of  Nemours  was  published,  revoking  all  previous 
edicts  by  which  religious  peace  had  been  secured. 
Death  and  confiscation  of  property  were  now  proclaimed 
as  the  penalty  of  practising  any  religious  rites  save  those 
of  the  lioman  Catholic  Church.  Six  months  were 
allowed  to  the  Nonconformists  to  put  their  affairs  in 
order,  after  which  they  were  to  make  public  profession 
of  the  Catholic  religion,  with  regular  attendence  upon 
its  ceremonies,  or  else  go  into  perpetual  exile.  To 
remain  in  France  without  abjuring  heresy  was  thence- 
forth a  mortal  crime,  to  be  expiated  upon  the  gallows. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  all  Huguenots  were  instan- 
taneously incapacitated  from  public  office,  the  mixed 
chambers  of  justice  were  abolished,  and  the  cautionary 
towns  were  to  be  restored.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Guise  faction  were  to  receive  certain  cities  into  their 
possession,  as  pledges  that  this  sanguinary  edict  should 
be  fulfilled.' 

Thus  did  Henry  III.  abjectly  kiss  the  hand  which 
smote  him.  His  mother,  having  since  the  death  of 
Anjuu  no  farther  interest  in  affecting  to  favour  ,51^  jui 
the  Huguenots,  had  arranged  the  basis  of  this  Jsms/' 
treaty  with  the  Spanish  party.  And  now  the  unfor- 
tunate King  had  gone  solemnly  down  to  the  parliament 
of  Paris,  to  be  present  at  the  registration  of  the  edict. 
The  counsellers  and  presidents  were  all  assembled,  and, 
as  they  sat  there  in  their  crimson  robes,  they  seemed' 
to  the  excited  imagination  of  those  who  loved  their 

»  De  Thou,  ix.  32s  seq. 


126 


TEE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IV. 


country,  like  embodiments  of  the  impending  and  most 
sanguinary  tragedy.  As  the  monarch  left  the  par- 
liament-house a  faint  cr>^  of  **  God  save  the  King !"  was 
heard  in  the  street.  Henry  hung  his  head,  for  it  was 
long  since  that  cry  had  met  his  ears,  and  he  knew  that 
it  was  a  false  and  languid  demonstration  which  had 
been  paid  for  by  the  Leaguers. 

And  thus  was  the  compact  signed— an  unequal  com- 
pact. Madam  League  was  on  horseback,  armed  in 
proof,  said  a  contemporary  ;  the  King  was  on  foot,  and 
dressed  in  a  shirt  of  penitence.'  The  alliance  was  not 
an  auspicious  one.  Not  peace,  but  a  firebrand— /acm, 
non  pacem—h'dd  the  King  held  forth  to  his  subjects.* 

When  the  news  came  to  Henry  of  Navarre  that  the 
Kino-  had  really  promulgated  this  fatal  edict,  he  re- 
mained for  a  time,  with  amazement  and  sorrow,  leaning 
heavily  upon  a  table,  with  his  face  in  his  right  hand. 
When  he  raised  his  head  again— so  he  afterwards 
asserted— one    side    of   his    moustachio    had    turned 

wliite.'  r      J  X 

Meantime  Gregory  XIII.,  who  had  always  refused  to 

sanction  the  League,  was  dead,  and  Cardinal  Peretti, 

24th  April,  under  the  name  of  Sixtus  V.,  now  reigned  in 

1585.  '  his  place.  Born  of  an  illustrious  house,  as  he 
said— for  it  was  a  house  without  a  roof* — this  monk  of 
humble  origin  was  of  inordinate  ambition.  Feigning 
a  humility  which  was  but  the  cloak  to  his  pride,  he  was 
in  reality  as  grasping,  self-seeking,  and  revengeful,  as 
he  seemed  gentle  and  devout.  It  was  inevitable  that  a 
pontiff  of  this  character  should  seize  the  opportunity 
offered  him  to  mimic  Hildebrand,  and  to  brandish  on 
high  the  thunderbolts  of  the  Church. 

With  a  flaming  prelude  concerning  the  omnipotence 
delegated  by  Almighty  God  to  St.  Feter  and  his  suc- 
cessors—an authority  infinitely  superior  to  all  earthly 
powers— the  decrees  of  which  were  irresistible  alike 
l)y  the  highest  and  the  meanest,  and  which  hurled  mis- 
guided princes  from  their  thrones  into  the  abyss,  like 

I  UEstolle.  186. 

«  "  Gulsiadis  fiictum  dum  puto  dicerp  pacem, 
Pdcem  nou  {K>b6um  dicere,  dico  facem." 

L'Estuile,  137. 
»  Mutliiou,  anno  1535.  *  l>e  Ihou,  Ix.  368  teq. 


1585.     EXCOMMUNICAriON  OF  NAVARRE.-HIS  REPLY.     127 

children  of  Beelzebub,  the  Tope  proceeded  to  fulminate 
His  sentence  of  excommunication  against  those  children 
ot   wrath,    Henry   of  Navarre   and   Henry   of  Conde 
I  hey  were  denounced  as  heretics,  relapsed,  and  enemies 
ot  bod.      1  he  King  was  declared  dispossessed  2^^  ^uir 
of  his  principality   of  Beam,    and   of   what      ^^^^ 
remained  to  him  of  Navarre.      He  was  stripped  of  all 
dignities,  privileges,  and  property,  and  especially  pro- 
clainied  incapable   of   ever  ascending  the   throne   of 
Jc  ranee. 

Tlie  Bt^amcse  replied  by  a  clever  political  squib  A 
tei-so  and  spirited  paper  found  its  way  to  Borne  and 
was  soon  aftxed  to  the  statues  of  I'asquin  and  Marforio 
and  m  other  public  places  of  that  city,  and  even  to  the 
gates  of  the  papal  palace.  A\  ithout  going  beyond  his 
own  doors  his  Holiness  had  the  opportunity  oFrcadi^' 
to  his  profound  amazement,  that  Mr.  Sixtus    calliil^r 

the  King  of  Navarre  a  heretic.      This  Henry  oflered  to 
prove  before  any  free  council  legitimately  cCen       ]f 
the  Pope  refused  to  submit  to'such  decision  he  was 
himself  no  better  than  excommunicate  and  A  tichrrt 
and  tlie  king  of  Xayarro  thereby  declared  mo  •  ^  "5 
erpotual  war  upon  him.     The  ancient  kings  of  Fiance 
had  known  how  to  chastise  tlie  insolence  of  fSrmer  popes 
and  he  hoped,  when  he  ascended  the  throne    toTke 
■^vngeanee  on  Mr.  Sixtus  for  the  insult  thusoflWed  to 
al     the   kiujis  of  Christendom-and   so  on  in  a  vei« 
winch  sho,u.,l  the  Bernese  to  be  a  man  rathe?  aniS 
tlian  blasted  by  these  papal  fireworks.' 
TT.  i^    '  I  "     f'S''  ""'porious,  was  far  from  beinc  dull 
lie  knew  how  to  appreciate  a  man  when  he  ibund  one 

ri:LV!:nM-:s'Kn"au'^^^^^^^^^ 

two  persons  fit  to  wear  a  cro A-t n^^-^f  ^1;-.:  a^d 


'  De  Thou,  Ix.  369.    L'Estollo,  190. 

»  De  Thou,  Ix.  376-378.  iVrefixe,  62, 
63.  L'h^toilo.  I9t».  The  last-nained 
writer  declares  him.self  tlie  author  of  this 
famous  aii.sw.r  to  the  hull  of  .Sixtus  : 

"  Au  Busdit  writ,  fait  par  Tauteur  des 


presena  menioires.  on  a  fait  faire  du  pa- 
als  de  rari.s  un  voyaire  a  IJuuio,  ou  Ton 
1  a  nns,  signlfie.  et  affich^,  et  I'a  l  on  in- 
ser^  aux  recueils  de  ce  Urns,  Imprimis  a 
la  Lochelle.  lant  la  vanlte  et  curiobitc  de 
ce  tcmii  estoit  yraude." 


128  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  IV. 

Elizabeth  of  England.      "  Twas  pity,"  he  said,  *'  that 
both  should  be  heretics."  •  v  -ux   i 

And  thus  the  fires  of  civil  war  had  been  lighted 
throughout  Christendom,  and  the  monarch  of  1  ranee  hail 
thrown  himself  head  foremost  into  the  flames. 

»  Dc  lliou,  PereBxe,  mW  tup. 


1585. 


EMBASSY  TO  ENGLAND. 


129 


CHAPTER  V. 

PosiUon  and  Character  of  Farncae  —  PfeparaUons  for  Antwerp  Siege  — Its  Charac- 
teristics -  Foresight  of  William  the  Silent  — Sainte  Aldegonde,  the  Burgomaster 

—  Anarchy  in  Antwerp  — Character  of  Sainte  Aldegonde  —  Admiral  Treslong  — 
Justinus  de  Nassau  —  Hohenlo  —  Opposition  to  the  l»lan  of  Orange  —  LlefTceiishotk 

—  Head-quart4'r8  of  Parma  at  Kalloo  -  Difficulty  of  supplying  the  City  —  Resultg 
of  not  piercing  the  Dykea  -  Preliminaries  of  the  Siege  —  Succesaes  of  the  Spaniards 
-Energy  of  Famese  with  sword  and  pen  — His  Correspondence  with  the  Ant- 
werpers  —  Progress  of  the  Bridge  —  Impoverished  Condition  of  Parma  -  Patriots 
attempt  Bols-ie-I)uc  —  Their  Misconduct  —  Failure  of  the  Enterprise  —  The 
Scheldt  Bridge  completed  — Description  of  the  Structure  —  Position  of  Alexander 
and  his  Army-  U  Motte  attempts  In  vain  Ostend  —  Patriots  gain  Llefkenshoek 

—  Projects  of  Glanibelli- Alarm  on  the  Bridge  —  The  Fire-Ships  -  The  Explo- 
sion-Its Results  -  Death  of  the  Viscount  of  Ghent  -  Perpetual  Anxiety  of  Far- 
neae- Impoverished  State  of  the  Spaniards  -  Intended  Attack  of  the  Kowenstyn 

—  Second  Attack  of  the  Kowenstyn  — A  lading  elTected  — A  sharp  Combat  — 
The  Dyice  pierced  -  Rally  of  the  Spaniards  -  Parma  comes  to  the  Rescue - 
I-^eroe  Struggle  on  the  Dyke -The  Spaniards  successful  -  Premature  Triumph 
at  Antwerp -Defeat  of  the  Patriots -The  Ship  ••  War's  End  "-Despair  of  tie 
Citizens -Sainte  Aldegonde  discouraged  — His  critical  Position  — His  Negotia- 
tions with  the  enemy  -Correspondence  with  Richanlot  -  Commotion  in  the  City 

—  Interview  of  Manilx  with  Parma  —  Suspicious  conduct  of  Mamlx  —  I  )eputation 
to  the  Prince -Oration  of  Mam  ix  -  Private  Views  of  Parma -Capitulation  of 
Antwerp-Mistakes  of  Mamix- Philip  on  the  Religious  Question  -  Triumphal 
Entrance  of  Alexivider  —  Rebuilding  of  the  Citadel  — GraUficatlon  of  Philip  — 
Note  on  Sainte  Aldegonde. 

The  negotiations  between  France  and  the  Netherlands 
have  been  massed,  in  order  to  present  a  connected  and 
distinct  view  of  the  relative  attitude  of  the  different 
countries  of  Europe.  TJie  conferences  and  diplomatic 
protocolhng  had  resulted  in  nothing  positive  ;  but  it  is 
very  necessary  for  the  reader  to  understand  the  negative 
effects  of  all  this  dissimulation  and  palace-politics  upon 
the  destiny  of  the  new  commonwealth,  and  upon 
Christendom  at  large.  The  League  had  now  achieved 
a  great  triumph ;  the  King  of  France  had  virtually 
abdicated,  and  it  was  now  requisite  for  the  King  of 
Navarre,  the  Netherlands,  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  to  dmw 
more  closely  together  than  before,  if  the  last  hope  of 
forming  a  counter-league  were  not  to  be  abandoned. 
Ihe  next  step  m  political  combination  was  therefore 
a  «c.lemn  embassy  of  the  States-General  to  England 
lefore    detiiilmg    these    negotiations,    however,   it   is 

VOL.   1.  j^      '. 


130 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


proper  to  direct  attention  to  tlie  external  public  events 
which  had  been  unrolling  themselves  in  die  Provinces 
contemporaneously  with  the  secret  history  which  has 
been  detailed  in  the  preceding  chapters. 

By  presenting  in  their  natural  groupings  various 
distinct  occurrences,  rather  than  by  detailing  them  in 
strict  chronological  order,  a  clearer  view  of  the  wholo 
picture  will  be  furnished  than  could  be  done  by  inter- 
mingling personages,  transactions,  and  scenery,  accord- 
ing to  the  arbitrary  command  of  Time  alone. 

The  Netherlands,  by  the  death  of  Orange,  had  been 
left  without  a  head.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Spanish 
party  had  never  been  so  fortunate  in  their  chief  at  any 
period  since  the  destiny  of  the  two  nations  had  been 
blended  with  each  other.     Alexander  Famese,  Prince 
of  Parma,  was  a  general  and  a  politician,  whose  character 
had  been  steadily  ripening  since  he  came  into  the  com- 
mand of  the  country.     He  was  now  thirty-seven  years 
of  age — with  the  experience  of  a  sexagenarian.      No 
longer  the  impetuous,  arbitrary,  hot-headed  youth,  whose 
intelligence  and  courage  hardly  atoned  for  his  insolent 
manner  and  stormy  career,  he  had  become   pensive, 
modest,  almost  gentle.     His  genius  was  rapid  in  con- 
ception, patient  in  combination,  fertile  in  expedients, 
adamantine  in  the  endurance  of  suffering  ;  for  never  did 
a  heroic  general  and  a  noble  army  of  veterans  manifest 
more  military  virtue  in  the   support  of  an  infamous 
cause  than  did  Parma  and  his  handful  of  Italians  and 
Spaniards.      That  which  they  considered  to  be  their 
duty  they  performed.     The  work  before  them  they  did 
with  all  their  might. 

Alexander  had  vanquished  the  rebellion  in  the  Celtic 
provinces  by  the  masterly  diplomacy  and  liberal  bribeiy 
which  have  been  related  in  a  former  work.  Artois, 
Hainault,  Douay,  Orchies,  with  the  rich  cities  of  Lille, 
Tournay,  Valenciennes,  Arras,  and  othor  important 
places,  were  now  the  property  of  Philip.  These  un- 
liappy  and  misguided  lands,  however,  were  already 
reaping  the  reward  of  their  treason.  Beggared,  trampled 
upon,  plundered,  despised,  they  were  at  once  the  prey 
of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  cause  that  their  sister-states, 
which  still  held  out,  were  placed  in  more  desperate 
condition  than  ever.     They  were  also,  even  in  their 


1585  STRUGGLE  IN  FLANDERS  AND  BRABANT. 


131 


abject  plight,  made  still  more  forlorn  by  the  forays  of 
Balagny,  who  continued  in  command  of  Cambray. 
Catherine  de'  Medici  claimed  that  city  as  her  property' 
by  will  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou.»  A  strange  title- 
founded  upon  the  treason  and  cowardice  of  her  favourite 
son— but  one  which,  for  a  time,  was  made  good  by 
the  possession  maintained  by  Balagny.  That  usurper 
meantime,  with  a  shrewd  eye  to  his  own  interests 
pronounced  the   truce   of  Cambray,    which  was   soon 

^r^^T^-?^"^®  ^^S^<^'  ^^^^  year  to  year,  by  permission 
of  1  hihp,  as  a  "  most  excellent  milch-cow  ;  "  *  and  he 
continued  to  fill  his  pails  at  the  expense  of  the  "  recon- 
ciled "  provinces,  till  they  were  thoroughly  exhausted. 

This  large  south-western  section  of  the  Netherlands 
being    thus   permanently  re-annexed  to  the    Spanish 
crown,  while  Holland,  Zeeland,  and  the  other  provinces 
already  constituting    the  new  Dutch  republic    were 
more  obstmate  in  their  hatred  of  Philip  than  ever  there 
remumed  the  rich  and  fertile  territory  of  Flanders  and 
Brabant  as  the  great  debateable  land.     Here  were  the 
royal  and  political  capital,  Brussels,  the  commercial 
capital,  Antwei-p,   with  Mechlin,   Dendermonde    Vil- 
voorde,  and  other  places  of  inferior  importance,*  all  to 
be  struggled  for  to  the  death.     With  the  subjection  of 
this  district  the  last  bulwark  between  the  new  com- 
monwealth and  the  old  empire  would  be  overthrown, 
and  bpam  and  Holland  would  then  meet  face  to  face 

If  there  had  ever  been  a  time  when  every  nerve  in 
1  rotestant  Christendom  should  be  strained  to  weld  all 
those  provinces  together  into  one  great  commonwealth 
as  a  bulwark  for  European  liberty,  rather  than  to  allow 
them  to  be  broken  into  stepping-stones,  over  which 
absolutism  could  stride  across  France  and  Holland  into 
J^ngland,  that  moment  had  arrived.  Every  sacrifice 
should  have  been  cheerfully  made  by  all  Netherlanders,' 
the  uttermost  possible  subsidies  and  auxiliaries  should 
have  been  furnished  by  all  the  friends  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  in  fevery  land,  to  save  Flanders  and 
lirabant  from  their  impending  fate. 

No  man  felt  more  keenly  the  importance  of  tho 
business  m  which  he  was  engaged  than  Parma.  He 
knew  his  work  exactly,  and  lie  meant  to  execute  it 


*  S.r.«lj,  iL296. 


*  Le  Petit,  iL  499, 
K   2  " 


132 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


thorougHy.  Antwerp  was  the  hinge  on  which  the  fate 
of  the  whole  countr}',  perhaps  of  all  Christendom,  was 
to  turn.  "  If  we  get  Antwerp,"  said  the  Spanihh 
soldiers— 80  frequently  that  the  expression  passed  into 
a  proverb — "  you  shall  all  go  to  mass  with  us  ;  if  you 
save  Antwerp,  we  will  all  go  to  conventicle  with  you." 

Alexander  rose  with  the  difficulty  and  responsibility 
of  his  situation.  His  vivid,  almost  poetic  intellect 
formed  its  schemes  with  peifect  distinctness.  Every 
episode  in  his  great,  and,  as  he  himself  termed  it,  bis 
'*  heroic  enterprise,"  was  traced  out  beforehand  with 
the  tranquil  vision  of  creative  genius ;  and  he  was  pre- 
pared to  convert  his  conceptions  into  reality,  with  the 
aid  of  an  iron  nature  that  never  knew  fatigue  or  fear. 

But  the  obstacles  were  many.  Alexander's  master 
sat  in  his  cabinet  with  his  head  full  of  Mucio,  Don 
Antonio,  and  Queen  Elizabeth ;  while  Alexander  him- 
self was  left  neglected,  almost  forgotten.  His  army 
was  shrinking  to  a  nullity.  The  demands  upon  him  were 
enormous,  his  finances  delusive,  almost  exhausted.  To 
drain  an  ocean  dry  he  had  nothing  but  a  sieve.  What 
was  his  position  ?  He  could  bring  into  the  field  per- 
haps eight  or  ten  thousand  men  over  and  above  the 
necessary  garrisons.  He  had  before  him  Brussels,  Ant- 
werp, Mechlin,  Ghent,  Dendermonde,  and  other  power- 
ful places,  which  he  was  to  subjugate.  Here  was  a 
problem  not  easy  of  solution.  Given  an  army  of  eight 
thousand,  more  or  less,  to  reduce  therewith,  in  the  least 
possible  time,  half-a  dozen  cities,  each  containing  fifteen 
or  twenty  thousand  men  able  to  bear  arms.  To  besiege 
these  places  in  form  was  obviously  a  mere  chimsera. 
Assault,  battery,  and  surprises — these  were  all  out  of 
the  question. 

Yet  Alexander  was  never  more  truly  heroic  than  in 
this  position  of  vast  entanglement.  Untiring,  uncom- 
plaining, thoughtful  of  others,  prodigal  of  himself, 
generous,  modest,  brave  ;  with  so  much  intellect  and  so 
much  devotion  to  what  he  conlsidered  his  duty,  he  de- 
served to  be  a  patriot  and  a  champion  of  the  right, 
rather  than  an  instrument  of  despotism. 

And  thus  he  paused  for  a  moment — with  much  work 
already  accomplished,  but  his  hardest  life -task  before 
him ;  still  in  the  noon  of  manhood,  a  fine  martial  figure, 


1585.  PREPARATIONS  FOR  ANTWERP  SIEGE.  133 

Standing,  spear  in  hand,  full  in  the  sunlight,  thou-h 
all  the  scene  around  him  was  wrapped  in  gloom-a 
noble  commandmg  shape,  entitled  to  the  aLiration 
wh.ch  the  energetic  display  of  great  powers,  however 
unscnipulous,  must  always  command  A  d^rk,  meri- 
dional physiognomy,  a  quick,  alert,  imposing  head  •  iet 

Si    r^r^^PP'^  hair;  a  bold  eagle'^face^ith  fiUl 
blight,  restless  eye;    a   man  rarely   reposing,    alwavs 
ready,  never  alarmed ;  living  in  the  saddle,  with  har! 
ness   on  his   back-such   was   the   Prince   if  Parma . 
matured  and  me   owed,  but  still  unbanned  by  tii^r    ' 

rJuolT''  ^^^^^^^«^«  *^d  Brabant  he  deteVmined  to 
reduce  by  gaming  command  of  the  Scheldt.     The  five 

LTTL'^''''"^-^^'^*'  Dendermonde,  Mechlin,  Bnis! 

l.oh  JX    ^^-^}^  ^«,  ^  narrow  circle,  at  distances  from 

each  other  var>'ing  from  five  miles  to  thirty   and  Z 

al   stmng  together  by  the  great  Netherland  r^e'  orTts 

tributaries.     His  plan  wa«  immensely  furthered  by  the 

success  of  Balthasar  Gerard,  an  all/whom  Alexander 

had  despised  and  distrusted,  even  while  he  eSyed 

?C  f  }^  T^^'^'^^'on  of  Orange  was  better  to  Pama 

than  forty  thousand  men.     A  crowd  of  allies  instan^v 

started  up  for  him,  in  the  shape  of  treason,  f2t  We/ 

ness,  envy,  jealousy,  insubordination,  within  the  wa^^^^^ 

of   every   beleaguered    city.      Alex;nder    knew  we  1 

how  to  deal  with  those  auxiliaries.     Letters  ^£^11; 

cuS'-  '""  ''  conciliation  and  of  promLe  Were^^^^^ 

culated  m  every  council-room,  in  almost  eve;y  ho'!se 

llie  surrender  of  Ghent-brought  about  by  tL 
governor's  eloquence,  aided  by  the%olden  arcumenf! 
which  he  knew  so  well  how  to  advance-had^ 

tTe  coas       B^i";^'"''  T'^  ^^.^  ^^P^^^^t  exception  of 

day     whUe  ^he   fl^^'^^f^'T^^'P^*?^^*^^  ^*  ^  still  earlier 
uay,  wnue   the   fall  of  Brussels,  which   held  mif  +ni 

however,  was  one  of  the  moet  striking  eVents  of  Z 

*  Meteren.  xii.  217  $eq 


134 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


li>85. 


ITS  CHARACTERISTICS. 


135 


ago ;  and  althoiigli  the  change  in  military  tactics  and 
the  progress  of  science  may  have  rendered  this  leaguer 
of  less  technical  importance  than  it  possessed  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  yet  the  illustration  that  it  affords  of 
the  splendid  abilities  of  Parma,  of  the  most  cultivated 
mode  of  warfare  in  use  at  that  period,  and  of  the  in- 
ternal politics  by  which  the  country  was  then  regulated, 
make  it  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  details  of  an 
episode  which  must  ever  possess  enduring  interest. 

It  is  agreeable  to  reflect,  too,  that  the  fame  of  the 
general  is  not  polluted  with  the  wholesale  butchery 
which  has  stained  the  reputation  of  other  Spanish 
commanders  so  indelibly.  There  was  no  killing  for  the 
mere  love  of  slaughter.  With  but  few  exceptions,  there 
was  no  murder  in  cold  blood :  and  the  many  lives  that 
were  laid  down  upon  those  watery  dykes  were  sacrificed 
at  least  in  bold,  open  combat ;  in  a  contest,  the  ruling 
spirits  of  which  were  patriotism,  or  at  least  honour. 

It  is  instnictive,  too,  to  observe  the  diligence  and 
accuracy  with  which  the  best  lights  of  the  age  were 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  great  problem  which  Paima 
had  undertaken  to  solve.  All  the  science  then  at  com- 
mand was  applied  both  by  the  Prince  and  by  his 
burgher  antagonists  to  the  advancement  of  their  ends. 
Hydrostatics,  hydraulics,  engineering,  navigation,  gun- 
nery, pyrotechnics,  mining,  geometry,  were  summoned 
as  broadly,  vigorously,  and  intelligently  to  the  destruc- 
tion or  preservation  of  a  trembling  city,  as  they  have 
ever  been,  in  more  commercial  days,  to  advance  a 
financial  or  manufacturing  purpose.  Land  converted 
into  water,  and  water  into  land,  castles  built  upon  the 
breast  of  rapid  streams,  rivers  turned  from  their  beds 
and  taught  new  courses  ;  the  distant  ocean  driven  across 
ancient  bulwarks,  mines  dug  below  the  sea,  and  canals 
made  to  percolate  obscene  morasses— which  the  red 
hand  of  war,  by  the  very  act,  converted  into  blooming 
gardens— a  mighty  stream  bridged  and  mastered  in  the 
very  teeth  of  winter,  floating  icebergs,  ocean-tides,  and 
an  alert  and  desperate  foe,  ever  ready  with  fleets  and 
armies  and  batteries— such  were  the  materials  of  which 
the  great  spectacle  was  composed ;  a  spectacle  which 
enchained  the  attention  of  Europe  for  seven  months, 
and  in  the  result  of  which,  it  was  thought,  depended 


1 


the   fato  of  all  the  Netherlands,  and  perhaps  of  all 
Christendom. 

Antwerp,  then  the  commercial  centre  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  of  Europe,  stands  upon  the  Scheldt.  The 
river,  flowing  straight,  broad,  and  full  along  the  verge  of 
the  city,  subtends  the  arc  into  which  the  place  arranges 
itself  as  it  falls  back  from  the  shore.  Two  thousand 
ships  of  the  largest  capacity  then  known  might  easily 
find  room  in  its  ample  harbours.  The  stream,  nearly 
lialf  a  mile  in  width,  and  sixty  feet  in  depth,  with  a 
tidal  rise  and  fall  of  eleven  feet,  moves,  for  a  few  miles, 
in  a  broad  and  steady  current  between  the  provinces  of 
Brabant  and  Flanders.  Then  dividing  itself  into  many 
ample  estuaries,  and  gathering  up  the  level  isles  of 
Zeeland  into  its  bosom,  it  seems  to  sweep  out  with  them 
into  the  Northern  Ocean.  Here,  at  the  junction  of  the 
river  and  the  sea,  lay  the  perpetual  hope  of  Antwerp, 
for  in  all  these  creeks  and  currents  swarmed  the  fleets 
of  the  Zeelanders,  that  hardy  and  amphibious  race, 
with  which  few  soldiers  or  mariners  could  successfully 
contend,  on  land  or  water. 

Even  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  1584  Parma 
had  been  from  time  to  time  threatening  Antwerp.    The 
victim  instinctively  felt  that  its  enemy  was  poising  and 
hovering  over  head,  although  he  still  delayed  to  strike. 
Early   m    the    summer    Sainte    Aldegonde,    Recorder 
Martini,  and  other  official  personages,  were  at  Delft, 
upon   the   occasion   of   the   christening-ceremonies    of 
Frederic  Henry,  youngest  child  of  Orange.    The  Prince, 
at  that  moment,  was  aware  of  the  plans  of  Parma,  and 
held  a  long  conversation  with  his  friends  upon  the 
measures  which  he  desired  to  see  immediately  under- 
taken.    Unmindful  of  his  usual  hospitality,  he  insisted 
that  these  gentlemen  should   immediately  leave   for 
Antwerp.     Alexander  Farnese,  he  assured  them,  had 
taken  the  firm  determination  to  possess  himself  of  that 
place  without  further  delay.     He  had  privately  sig- 
nified his  purpose  of  laying  the  axe  at  once  to  the  root 
of  the  tree,  believing  that  with  the  fall  of  the  com- 
mercial  capital  the  infant   confederacy  of  the  I^nited 
States  would  fall  likewise.     In  order  to  accomplish  this 
object,  he  would  forthwith  attempt  to  make  himself 
master  of  the  banks  of  the  Scheldt,  and  would  even 


136 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


throw  a  bridge  across  the  stream,  if  his  plans  were  not 
instantly  circumvented/ 

William  of  Orange  then  briefly  indicated  his  plan ; 
adding  that  he  had  no  fears  for  the  result ;  and  assuring 
his  friends,  who  expressed  much  anxiety  on  the  subject, 
that  if  Parma  really  did  attempt  the  siege  of  Antwerp 
it  should  be  his  ruin.  The  plan  was  perfectly  simple. 
The  city  stood  upon  a  river.  It  was  practicable, 
although  extremely  hazardous,  for  the  enemy  to  bridge 
that  river,  and  by  so  doing  ultimately  to  reduce  the 
place.  But  the  ocean  could  not  be  bridged  ;  and  it 
was  quite  possible  to  convert  Antwerp,  for  a  season, 
into  an  ocean-port.  Standing  alone  upon  an  island, 
with  the  sea  flowing  around  it,  and  with  full  and  free 
marine  communication  with  Zeeland  and  Holland,  it 
might  safely  bid  defiance  to  the  land-forces,  even  of  so 
great  a  commander  as  Parma.  To  the  furtherance  of 
this  great  measure  of  defence,  it  was  necessary  to 
lothJaue.  destroy  Certain  bulwarks,  the  chief  of  which 

1684.  was  called  the  Blauw-garen  Dyke ;  and  Sainte 
Aldegonde  was  therefore  requested  to  return  to  the 
city,  in  order  to  cause  this  task  to  be  executed  without 
delay.* 

Nothing  could  be  more  judicious  than  this  advice. 
The  low  lands  along  the  Scheldt  were  protected  against 
marine  encroachments,  and  the  river  itself  was  confined 
to  its  bed,  by  a  magnificent  system  of  dykes,  which 
extended  along  its  edge  towards  the  ocean,  in  parallel 
lines.  Other  b^irriers  of  a  similar  nature  ran  in  oblique 
directions,  through  the  wide  open  pasture  lands,  which 
they  maintained  in  green  fertility  against  the  ever- 
threatening  sea.  The  Blaw-garen,  to  which  the  prince 
mainly  alluded,  was  connected  with  the  great  dyke 
upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Scheldt.  Between  this  and 
the  city,  another  bulwark  called  the  Kowenstyn  Dyke, 
crossed  the  country  at  right  angles  to  the  river,  and 
joined  the  other  two  at  a  point,  not  very  far  from  Lillo, 
where  the  States  had  a  strong  fortress." 

The  country  in  this  neighbourhood  was  low,  spongy, 
full  of  creeks,  small  meres,  and  the  old  bed  of  the 
Scheldt.     Orange,  therefore,  made  it  very  clear,  that, 


1  Bor.  li.  xtx.  466. 

*  Bor,  uW  tup.    Meteren,  zil.  216-18. 


*  Bor,  Meteren,  ubi  tup.    Hoofd  Yer- 
▼olgb,  4  teq. 


1584. 


FORESIGHT  OF  WILLIAM  THE  SlLENT. 


137 


by  piercing  the  great  dyke  just  described,  such  a  vast 
body  of  water  would  be  made  to  pour  over  the  land  as 
to  submerge  the  Kowenstyn  also,  the  only  other  obstacle 
in  the  passage  of  fleets  from  Zeeland  to  Antwerp.  The 
city  would  then  be  connected  with  the  sea  and  its 
islands,  by  so  vast  an  exjjanse  of  navigable  water,  that 
any  attempt  on  Parma's  part  to  cut  ofl"  supplies  and 
succour  would  be  hopeless.  Antwerp  would  laugh  the 
idea  of  famine  to  scorn ;  and  although  this  immunity 
would  be  purchased  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  large  amount 
of  agricultural  territory,  the  price  so  paid  was  but  a 
slender  one,  when  the  existence  of  the  capital,  and  with 
it  perhaps  of  the  whole  confederacy,  was  at  stake.* 

Sainte  Aldegonde  and  Martini  suggested,  that,  as 
there  would  be  some  opposition  to  the  measure  pro- 
posed, it  might  be  as  well  to  make  a  similar  attempt  on 
the  Flemish  side,  in  preference,  by  breaking  through  the 
dykes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Saftingen.  Orange  re- 
plied by  demonstrating  that  the  land  in  the  region 
which  he  had  indicated  was  of  a  character  to  ensure 
success,  while  in  the  other  direction  there  were  certain 
yer}'  unfavourable  circumstances  which  rendered  the 
issue  doutful.'  The  result  was  destined  to  prove  the 
sagacity  of  the  Prince,  for  it  will  be  shown  in  the  sequel 
that  the  Saftingen  plan,  afterwards  really  carried  out, 
was  rather  advantageous  than  detrimental  to  the  ene- 
my's projects. 

Sainte  Aldegonde,  accordingly,  yielded  to  the  argu- 
ments and  entreaties  of  his  friend,  and  repaired  without 
delay  to  Antwerp. 

The  advice  of  William  the  Silent— as  will  soon  be 
related— was  not  acted  upon  ;  and  within  a  few  weeks 
after  it  had  been  given  he  was  in  his  grave.  Nowheie 
was  his  loss  more  severely  felt  than  in  Antwerp.  It 
seemed,  said  a  contemporary,  that  with  his  death  had 
died  all  authority.*  The  Prince  was  the  only  head 
which  the  many-membered  body  of  that  \ery  demo- 
cratic city  ever  spontaneously  obeyed.  Antwerp  was  a 
small  republic— in  time  of  peace  intelligently  and  suc- 
cessfully administered— which  in  the  reason  of  a  great 
foeign  war,  amid  plagues,  tumults,  famine,  and  inter- 
nal rebellion,  required  the  firm  hand  and  the  clear  brain 

»  Bor,  Meteren,  ubi  tup.    Hoofd  Vervolgh.  4  teq.       t  ibid.        »  R«.yd.  iv.  59. 


138 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1584. 


ANAliCHY  IN  ANTWERP. 


139 


of  a  single  chief.     That  brain  and  hand  had  been  pos- 
sessed by  Orange  alone. 

Before  his  de^th  he  had  desired  that  Sainte  Aldegondo 
should  accept  the  office  of  burgomaster  of  the  city.  No- 
minally, the  position  was  not  so  elevated  as  were  many 
of  the  posts  which  that  distinguished  patriot  had  filled. 
In  reality,  it  was  as  responsible  and  arduous  a  place  as 
could  be  offered  to  any  man's  acceptance  throughout 
the  country.  Sainte  Aldegonde  consented,  not  without 
some  reluctance.  He  felt  that  there  was  odium  to 
be  incurred ;  he  knew  that  much  would  be  expected  of 
him,  and  that  his  means  would  be  limited.  His  powers 
would  be  liable  to  a  constant  and  various  restraint. 
His  measures  were  sure  to  be  the  subject  of  perpetual 
cavil.  If  the  city  were  besieged,  there  were  nearly  one 
hundred  thousand  mouths  to  feed,  and  nearly  one  hun- 
dred thousand  tongues  to  dispute  about  furnishing  the 

food. 

For  the  government  of  Antwerp  had  been  degenerat- 
ing from  a  well-organised  municipal  republicanism  into 
anarchy.  The  clashing  of  the  various  bodies  exercising 
power  had  become  incessant  and  intolerable.'  The 
burgomaster  was  charged  with  the  chief  executive  au- 
thority, both  for  peace  and  war.  Nevertheless  he  had 
but  a  single  vote  in  the  board  of  magistrates,  where  a 
mcijority  decided.  Moreover,  he  could  not  always  at- 
tend the  sessions,  because  ho  was  also  member  of  the 
council  of  Brabant.  Important  measures  might  there- 
fore be  decided  by  the  magistracy,  not  only  against  his 
judgment,  but  without  his  knowledge.  Then  there  was 
a  variety  of  boards  or  colleges,  all  arrogating  concur- 
rent— which  in  truth  was  conflicting  —authority.  There 
was  the  board  of  militia  colonels,  which  claimed  great 
powers.  Here,  too,  the  burgomaster  was  nominally 
the  chief,  but  he  might  be  voted  down  by  a  majority, 
and  of  course  was  often  absent.  Then  there  were  six- 
teen captains  who  came  into  the  colonel's  sessions 
whenever  they  liked,  and  had  their  word  to  say  upon 
all  subjects  broached.  If  they  were  refused  a  hearing, 
they  were  backed  by  eighty  other  captains,  who  were 
ready  at  any  moment  to  carry  every  disputed  point  be- 
fore the.  *'  broad  council." 

1  Mctercu,  :iii.  218.    GultxianKui,  in  voce. 


I 


There  were  a  college  of  ward-masters,  a  college  of 
select  men,  a  college  of  deacons,  a  college  of  ammuni- 
tion, of  fortification,  of  ship-building,  all  claiming  equal 
authority,  and  all  wrangling  among  themselves  ;  and 
there  was  a  college  of  *'  peace-makers,"  who  wrangled 
more  than  all  the  rest  together. 

Once  a  week  there  was  a  session  of  the  broad  or 
general  council.  Dire  was  the  hissing  and  confusion, 
jis  the  hydra  heads  of  the  multitudinous  government 
were  laid  together.  Heads  of  colleges,  presidents  of 
chambers,  militia-chieftains,  magistrates,  ward-masters, 
deans  of  fishmongers,  of  tailors,  gardeners,  butchers,  all 
met  together  pell-mell ;  and  there  was  no  predominant 
authority.  This  was  not  a  convenient  working  machi- 
nery for  a  city  threatened  with  a  siege  by  the  first 
captain  of  the  age.  Moreover  there  was  a  deficiency  of 
regular  troops.  The  burgher- militia  were  well  trained 
and  courageous,  but  not  distinguished  for  their  docility. 
There  was  also  a  regiment  of  English  under  Colonel 
Morgan,  a  soldier  of  great  experience,  and  much  re- 
spected ;  but,  as  Stephen  Le  Sieur  said,  "  this  force, 
unless  seconded  with  more,  was  but  a  breakfast  for  the 
enemy."  Unfortunately,  too,  the  insubordination,  which 
was  so  ripe  in  the  city,  seemed  to  affect  these  auxiliaries. 
A  mutiny  broke  out  among  the  English  troops.  Many 
deserted  to  Parma,  some  escaped  to  England,  and  it 
was  not  until  Morgan  had  beheaded  Captain  Lee  and 
Captain  Powell,'  that  discipline  could  be  restored. 

And  into  this  scene  of  wild  and  deafening  confusion 
came  Philip  de  Marnix,  Lord  of  Sainte  Aldegonde. 

There  were  few  more  brilliant  characters  than  he  in 
all  Christendom.  He  was  a  man  of  a  most  rare  and 
verstitile  genius.  Educated  in  Geneva  at  the  very  feet 
of  Calvin,  he  had  drunk,  like  mother's  milk,  the  strong 
and  bitter  waters  of  the  stem  reformer's  creed ;  but  he 
had  in  after-life  attempted,  although  hardly  with  suc- 
cess, to  lift  himself  to  the  height  of  a  general  religious 
toleration.  He  had  also  been  trained  in  the  severe 
and  thorough  literary  culture  which  chamcteriised  that 
rigid  school.  He  was  a  scholar,  ripe  and  rare  ;  no 
holiday  trifler  in  the  gardens  of  learning.  He  spoke 
and  wrote   Latin  like   his  native  tongue.     He   could 

*  Melertn,  xii.  218. 


140 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Cha\.  V. 


1584. 


CHARACTER  OF  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


141 


compose  poignant  Greek  epigrams.  He  was  so  familiar 
with  Hebrew,  that  he  had  rendered  the  Psalms  of 
iJavid  out  of  the  original  into  flowing  Flemish  verse, 
for  the  use  of  the  reformed  churches.  That  he  pos- 
wessed  the  modem  tongues  of  civilised  Europe,  Spanish, 
Italian,  French,  and  German,  was  a  matter  of  course. 
He  was  a  profound  jurisconsult,  capable  of  holding 
debate  against  all  competitors  upon  any  point  of  theory 
or  practice  of  law,  civil,  municipal,  international.  He 
was  a  learned  theologian,  and  had  often  proved  himself 
a  match  for  the  doctors,  bishops,  or  rabbin  of  Europe, 
in  highest  argument  of  dogma,  creed,  or  tradition.  He 
was  a  practised  diplomatist,  constantly  employed  in 
delicate  and  diificult  negotiations  by  William  the  Silent, 
who  ever  admired  his  genius,  cherished  his  friendship, 
and  relied  upon  his  character.  He  was  an  eloquent 
orator,  whose  memorable  liarangue,  beyond  all  his  other 
efforts,  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  had  made  the  German 
princes  hang  their  heads  with  shame,  when,  taking  a 
broad  and  philosophical  view  of  the  Netherland  matter, 
he  had  shown  that  it  was  the  great  question  of  Europe  ; 
that  Nether  Germany  was  all  Germany;  that  Pro- 
testantism could  not  be  unravelled  into  shreds;  that 
there  was  but  one  cause  in  Christendom — that  of 
absolutism  against  national  liberty.  Papacy  against  the 
reform  ;  and  that  the  seventeen  rravinces  were  to  be 
assisted  in  building  themselves  into  an  eternal  barrier 
against  Spain,  or  that  the  *'  burning  mark  of  shame 
would  be  branded  upon  the  forehead  of  Germany ;"  that 
the  war,  in  short,  was  to  be  met  by  her  on  the  threshold, 
or  else  that  it  would  come  to  seek  her  at  home — a 
prophecy  which  the  horrible  Thirty  Years*  War  was  in 
after-time  most  signally  to  verify. 

He  was  a  poet  of  vigour  and  originality,  for  he  had 
accomplished  what  has  been  achieved  by  few  ;  he  had 
composed  a  national  hymn,  whose  strophes,  as  soon  as 
heard,  struck  a  chord  in  every  Netherland  heart,  and 
for  three  centuries  long  have  rung  like  a  clarion  wher- 
ever the  Netherland  tongue  is  spoken.  *Wilhelmu8 
van  Nassouwe,'  regarded  simply  as  a  literary  com- 
position, has  many  of  the  qualities  which  an  ode 
demands ;  an  electrical  touch  upon  the  sentiments,  a 
throb  of  patriotism,  sympathetic  tenderness,  a  dash  of 


indignation,  with  rhythmical  harmony  and  graceful 
expression  ;  and  thus  it  has  rung  from  millions  of  lips, 
from  generation  to  generation. 

He  was  a  soldier,  courageous,  untiring,  prompt  in 
action,  useful  in  council,  and  had  distinguished  himself 
in  many  a  hard-fought  field.  Taken  prisoner  in  the 
sanguinary  skirmish  at  Maaslandssluys,  he  had  been 
confined  a  year,  and,  for  more  than  three  months,  had 
never  laid  his  head,  as  he  declared,  upon  the  pillow 
without  commending  his  soul  as  for  the  last  time  to  his 
Maker,  expecting  daily  the  order  for  his  immediate 
execution,  and  escaping  his  doom  only  because  W  illiam 
the  Silent  proclaimed  that  the  proudest  head  among 
the  Spanish  prisoners  should  fall  to  avenge  his  death  ; 
so  that  he  was  ultimately  exchanged  against  the  veteran 
Mondragon. 

From  the  incipient  stages  of  the  revolt  he  had  been 
foremost  among  the  patriots.  He  was  supposed  to  be 
the  author  of  the  famous  '  Compromise  of  the  Nobles,* 
that  earliest  and  most  conspicuous  of  the  state-papers 
of  the  republic,  and  of  many  other  important  political 
documents ;  and  he  had  contributed  to  general  literature 
many  works  of  European  celebrity,  of  which  the 
*  Koman  Bee- Hive  *  was  the  nfost  universally  known. 

Scholar,  theologian,  diplomatist,  swordsman,  orator, 
poet,  pamphleteer,— he  had  genius  for  all  things,  and  was 
eminent  in  all.  He  was  even  tamous  for  his  dancing, 
and  had  composed  an  intelligent  and  philosophical 
treatise  upon  the  value  of  that  amusement,  as  an  a^-ent 
of  civilisation,  and  as  a  counteractor  of  the  grosser 
pleasures  of  tlie  table  to  which  Upper  and  Nether 
Germans  were  too  much  addicted. 

Of  ancient  Savoyard  extraction,  and  something  of  a 
southern  nature,  he  had  been  bom  in  Bmssels,  and  was 
national  to  the  heart's  core. 

A  man  of  interesting,  sympathetic  presence;  of  a 
physiognomy  where  many  of  the  attaching  and  attrac- 
tive qualities  of  his  nature  revealed  themselves ;  with 
crisp  curling  hair,  surmounting  a  tall,  expansive 
forehead- full  of  benevolence,  idealism,  and  quick 
perceptions;  broad,  brown,  melancholy  eyes,  over- 
flowing with  tendemess  ;  a  lean  and  hag<r:ard  cheek,  a 
rugged  Flemish  nose;  a  thin  flexible  mouth;  a  slender 


142 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V, 


moustache,  and  a  peaked  and  meagre  beard ;  so  appeared 
Sainte  Aldegonde  in  the  forty-seventh  year  of  his  age, 
when  he  came  to  command  in  Antwerp. 

Yet  after  all — many-sided,  accomplished,  courageous, 
energetic,  as  he  was — it  may  be  doubted  whether  he  was 
the  man  for  the  hour  or  the  post.  He  was  too  impres- 
sionable;  he  had  too  much  of  the  temperament  of 
genius.  Without  being  fickle,  he  had,  besides  his 
versatility  of  intellect,  a  character  which  had  much 
facility  in  turning ;  not,  indeed,  in  the  breeze  of  self- 
interest,  but  because  he  seemed  placed  in  so  high  and 
clear  an  atmosphere  of  thought  that  he  was  often  acted 
upon  and  swayed  by  subtle  and  invisible  influences. 
At  any  rate  his  conduct  was  sometimes  inexplicable. 
He  had  been  strangely  fascinated  by  the  ignoble  Duke 
of  Anjou :  and,  in  the  sequel,  it  will  be  found  that  he 
was  destined  to  experience  other  magnetic  or  magical 
impulses,  which  were  once  thought  suspicious,  and  have 
remained  mysterious  even  to  the  present  day. 

He  was  imaginative.  He  was  capable  of  broad  and 
boundless  hopes.  Ho  was  sometimes  prone  to  deep 
despair.  His  nature  was  exquisitely  tempered;  too 
fine  and  polished  a  blade  to  be  wielded  among  those 
hydra-heads  by  which  he  *was  now  surrounded  ;  and  for 
which  the  stunning  sledge-hammer  of  arbitrary  force 
was  sometimes  necessary. 

He  was  perhaps  deficient  in  that  gift,  which  no 
training  and  no  culture  can  bestow,  and  which  comes 
from  above  alone  by  birthright  divine — that  which 
men  willingly  call  master — authority ;  the  effluence 
which  came  so  naturally  from  the  tranquil  eyes  of 
^\  illiam  the  Silent. 

Nevertheless,  Sainte  Aldegonde  was  prepared  to  do 
his  best,  and  all  his  best  was  to  be  tasked  to  the  utmost. 
His  position  was  rendered  still  more  difficult  by  the 
unruly  nature  of  some  of  his  co-ordinates. 

*'  From  the  first  day  to  the  last,"  said  one  who  lived 
in  Antwerp  during  the  siege,  "  the  mistakes  committed 
in  the  city  were  incredible."  '  It  had  long  been  obvious 
that  a  siege  was  contemplated  by  Parma.  A  liberal 
sum  of  money  had  been  voted  by  the  States-General,  of 
which  Holland  and  Zeeland  contributed  a  very  largo 

»  Le  Petit,  U.  516. 


15S4. 


ADMIRAL  TRESLONG. 


143 


proportion  (two  hundred  thousand  florins);  the  city 
Itself  voted  another  large  subsidy,  and  an  order  w£^ 
issued  to  purchase  at  once  and  import  into  the  city  at 
least  a  year's  supply  of  every  kind  of  provisions  of  life 
and  munitions  of  war.* 

WiUiam  de   Blois,   Lord   of  Treslong,   Admiral   of 
Holland  and  Zeeland,  was  requested  to  carry  out  this 
order,  and   superintend   the   victualling  of  Antwerp 
But  Treslong  at  once  became  troublesome.     He  was  one 
of  the  old  -  beggars  of*  the  sea,"  a  leader  in  the  wild 
band  who  had  taken  possession  of  the  Brill,  in  tlie  teetli 
ot  Alva,  and  so  laid  the  foundation  of  the  republic    An 
impetuous  noble,  of  wealthy  family,  high  connections 
and  refractory  temper— a  daring  sailor,  ever  ready  for 
any  rash  adventure,  but  possessed  of  a  very  moderate 
share  of  prudence  or  administrative  ability,  he  fell  into 
loose  and  lawless  courses  on  the  death  of  Orange,  whose 
tirm   hand   was  needed  to  control  him.     llie  French 
negotiation   had   excited  his  profound    disgust,   and, 
knowing  Sainte  Aldegonde  to  be   heart  and   soul   in 
tavour  of  that  alliance,  he  was  in  no  haste  whatever  to 
carry  out  his  orders  with  regard  to  Antwerp."    He  had 
also  an  insignificant  quairel  with  President  Meetkerk 
Ihe  1  rince  of  Parm^ever  on  the  watch  for  such 
opportunities- waii  soon  informed  of  the  Admiral's  dis- 
content, and  had  long  been  acquainted  with  his  turbu- 
lent character.     Alexander  at  once  began  to  inflame  liis 
jealousy  and  soothe  his  vanity  by  letters  and  messengers 
urging  upon  him  the  propriety  of  reconciling  himself 
with  the  King,  and  promising  him  large  rewards  and 
magnificent  employments  in  the  royal  service.      Even 
the   splendid   insignia  of   the    Golden    Fleece    were 
dangled  before  his  eyes.     It  is  certain  that  the  bold 
Hollander  was  not  seduced  by  these  visions,  but  theio 
IS  no  doubt  that  he  listened  to  the  voice  of  the  tempter 
Ho  unquestionably  neglected  his  duty.     Week   after 
week  he  remained  at  Ostend,  sneering  at  the  French 

Zfh  "^^  A??^  .If  ^'^''^l'^'  ^^  ^^"^"^  ^^  Q^^^"  Eliza- 
beth.    At  last,  after  much  time  had  elapsed,  he  agreed 

to  victual  Antwerp  if  he  could  be  furnished  with  thirty 

krom-ste^jens  -a  peciiliar  kind   of  vessel,  not  to  bo 

found  m  Zeeland.     The  krom-stevens  were  sent  to  him 


I 


144 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


2584. 


from  Holland.  Then,  lieanng  that  his  negligence  had 
been  censured  by  the  States-General,  he  became  more 
obstinate  than  ever,  and  went  up  and  down  proclaiming 
that  if  people  made  themselves  disagreeable  to  him  he 
would  do  that  which  should  make  all  the  women  and 
children  in  the  Netherlands  shriek  and  tremble.  ^Vhat 
this  nameless  horror  was  to  be  he  never  divulged,  but 
me^time  he  went  down  to  Middelburg,  and  swore  that 
not  a  boat-load  of  com  should  go  up  to  Antwerp  until 
two  members  of  the  magistracy,  whom  he  considered 
unpleasant,  had  been  dismissed  from  their  oftice. 
Wearied  with  all  this  bluster,  and  imbued  with  grave 
suspicion  as  to  his  motives,  the  States  at  last  rose  upon 
their  High  Admiral  and  threw  him  into  prison.  He 
was  accused  of  many  high  crimes  and  misdemeanours, 
and,  it  was  thought,  would  be  tried  for  his  life.  He 
was  suspected  and  even  openly  accused  of  having  been 
tampered  with  by  Spain,  but  there  was  at  any  rate  a 

deficiency  of  proof.  . 

"  Treslong  is  apprehended,"  wrote  Davison  to  Imrgh- 
ley,  "  and  is  charged  to  have  been  the  cause  that  the 
fleet  passed  not  up  to  Antwerp.  He  is  suspected  to 
have  otherwise  forgotten  himself,  but  whether  justly  or 
not  will  appear  by  his  trial.  Meantime  he  is  kept  in 
the  common  prison  of  Middelburg,  a  treatment  which 
it  is  thought  they  would  not  offer  him  if  they  had  not 
somewhat  of  importance  against  him."  ' 

He  was  subsequently  released  at  the  intercession  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  passed  some  time  in  England. 
He  was  afterwards  put  upon  trial,  but,  no  accuser 
appearing  to  sustain  the  charges  against  him,  he  was 
eventually  released.  He  never  received  a  command  m 
the  navy  again,  but  the  very  rich  sinecures  of  Grand 
Falconer  and  Chief  Forester  of  Holland  were  bestowed 
upon  him,  and  he  appears  to  have  ended  his  days  in 

peace  and  plenty."  .    ,    r  tt  n     a 

He  was  succeeded  in  the  post  of  Admiral  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland  by  Justinus  de  Nassau,  natural  sun  of 
William  the  Silent,  a  young  man  of  much  promise  but 
of  little  experience.' 

»  D»vi8on  to  Burghlry  and  Walsing-    Bor.  U.   xx.   670-594.     Wagenaor,  vUL 
ham.  Feb.  2«,  1585.    S.  P.  Office  MS.  84-87.    Meteren,  xil.  318. 

*  Slradd,  ii.   33i  «<■(/.     Keyd,  iv.  69         »  IbUi. 


COUNT  HOHENLO. 


145 


General  Count  Hohenlo,  too,  lieutenant  for  young 
Maunoe,  and  virtual  commander-in-chief  of  the  States^ 
forces,  was  apt  to  give  much  trouble.     A  German  noble 
of  ancient  descent  and  princely  rank,  brave  to  temerity' 
making  a  jest  of  danger,  and  riding  into  a  foray  as  if  to  a 
meriymaking ;  often  furiously  intoxicated,  and  always 
turbulent  and  uncertein ;   a  handsome,  dissipated  ^ 
vaher,  with  long  curls  floating  over  his  shoulders,^ 
imposing  aristocratic  face,  and  a  graceful,  athletic  figure 
he  needed  some  cool   brain  and  steady  hand  to  Slide 
him-valuable  as  he  was  to  fulfil  any  darin^r  proif^W 
but  was  hardly  willing  to  accept  the  authority  of^^ 
burgomaster,     While  the  young'^Maurice  yet   needed 
Hot^'  ^l^^le^'thesaplingwas  growing  into  the  tree," 

VVith  such  municipal  machinery  and  such  coadjutors 
had  baiute  Aldegonde  to  deal,  While,  meantime  iS^ 
delusive  French  negotiation  was  dr^ging  S  slow 
length  along,  and  while  Parma  was  noisfleLly  a^d 
patienUy  proceeding  with  his  preparations!  ^  "^^ 

was  requested  to  viVw  f>!l  i       vl  ,^"^^  ^^^^ee^'s* 

^or^l^eL^^^^^  to  take  order 

sion  Sr\tt^^^  ""^^  ^*^-  ^--^«  -  -s. 

siacs  that  of  the  Schepens,  manv  other  motives 


VOL.    I. 


*  Bor,  li.  467. 


if 


146 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


at  work  besides  those  of  patriotism.  The  guild  of 
butchers  held  a  meeting,  so  soon  as  the  plan  suggested 
was  known,  and  resolved  with  all  their  strength  to 

oppose  its  execution.  rr.     t      xi.  j 

The  butchers  were  indeed  furious.     Twelve  thousand 
oxen  grazed  annually  upon  the  pastures  which  were 
about  to  be  submerged,  and  it  was  represented  as  un- 
reasonable that  all  this  good  flesh  and  blood  should  be 
sacrificed.     At  a  meeting  of  the   magistrates  on  the 
following  dav,  sixteen  butchers,  delegates  from  their 
guild,  made  their  appearance,  hoarse  with  indignation. 
They  represented  the  vast   damage  which  would   be 
inflicted  upon  the  estates  of  many  private  individuals 
by  the  proposed  inundation,  by  this  sudden  conversion 
of  teeming  meadows,  fertile  farms,  thriving  homesteads, 
prolific  orchards,  into   sandy  desolation.      Above   all 
they  depicted  in   glowing   colours   and  with  natural 
pathos  the  vast  destruction  of  beef  which  was  imminent, 
and  they  urged— with  some  show  of  reason— that,  if 
Parma  were  really  about  to  reduce  Antwerp  by  famine, 
his  scheme  certainly  would  not  be  obstructed  by  the 
premature  annihilation  of  these  wholesome  supplies. 

That  the  Scheldt  could  be  closed  in  any  manner  was, 
however,  they  said,  a  preposterous  conception.      That 
it  could  be  bridged  was  the  dream  of  a  lunatic.     Even 
.     if  it  were  possible  to  construct  a  bridge,  and  probable 
that  the   Zeelanders   and  Antwerpers  would  look  on 
with  folded  arms  while  the  work  proceeded,  the  fabric, 
when  completed,  would   be  at  the  mercy  of  the  ice- 
floods  of  the  winter  and  the  enormous  power  of  the 
ocean-tides.      ITie    Prince   of    Orange    himself,   on   a 
former  occasion,  when  Antwerp  was  Spanish,  had  at- 
tempted to  close  the  river  with  rafts,  sunken  piles,  and 
other  obstructions,  but  the  whole  had  been  swept  away. 
like  a  dam  of  bulrushes,  by  the  first  descent  of  the  ice- 
blocks  of  winter.     It  was  witless  to  believe  that  1  arma 
contemplated  any  such  measure,  and  utterly  monstrous 
to  believe  in  its  success.*  . 

Thus  far  the  butchers.  Soon  afterwards  came  sixteen 
colonels  of  militia,  as  representatives  of  their  branch  ot 
the  multiform  government.     These  personages,  attended 

I  Bor,  H.  467  Kq.    Meteren.  xli.  «6-       «  Bor,  Meteren.  Hoofd,  uW  sup.    Le 
318  wg.   Hoofd  Venrolgh,  4  leg.  Patit.  li.  600  r j. 


f 


1584. 


OPERATIONS  OF  PARMA. 


147 


by  many  officers  of  inferior  degree,  sustained  the 
position  of  the  butchers  with  many  voluble  and  vehe 
ment  arguments.  Not  the  least  convincing  of  their 
conclusions  was  the  assurance  that  it  would  be  idle  for 
the  authorities  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  the  dyke, 
seeing  that  the  municipal  soldiery  itself  would  prevent 
the  measure  by  main  force,  at  all  hazards,  and  without 
regard  to  their  own  or  others*  lives. 

ITie  violence  of  this  opposition,  and  the  fear  of  a 
serious  internecine  conflict  at  so  critical  a  juncture, 
proved  fatal  to  the  project.  Much  precious  time  was 
lost ;  and  when  at  last  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  awoke 
from  their  delusion,  it  was  to  find  that  repentance, 
as  usual,  had  come  many  hours  too  late.* 

For  Parma  had  been  acting  while  his  antagonists  had 
been  wrangling.  He  was  hampered  in  his  means,  but 
he  was  assisted  by  what  now  seems  the  incredible 
supineness  of  the  Netherlanders.  Even  Sainte  Alde- 
gonde  did  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  erecting  the 
bndge ;  not  a  man  in  Antwerp  seemed  to  believe  it. 
**  The  preparations,"  said  one  who  lived  in  the  city, 
"went  on  before  our  very  noses,  and  every  one  was 
ridiculing  the  Spanish  commander's  folly."  ■ 

A  very  great  error  was,  moreover,  committed  in 
abandoning  Herenthals  to  the  enemy.  The  city  of 
Antwerp  governed  Brabant,  and  it  would  have  been  far 
better  for  the  authorities  of  the  commercial  capital  to 
succour  this  small  but  important  city,  and,  by  so  doinff, 
to  protract  for  a  long  time  their  own  defence.  Mon- 
dragon  saw  and  rejoiced  over  the  mistake.  "  Now  'tis 
easy  to  see  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  is  dead,"  said  the 
veteran,  as  he  took  possession,  in  the  King's  name,  of 
the  forsaken  Herenthals.* 

Early  in  the  summer  Parma's  operations  had  been 
of  necessity  desultory.     He  had  sprinkled  forts  up  and 

nn^  i^^Lt^^^^^'  ^^^  ^^  gradually  been  gaining 
control  of  the  navigation  upon  that  river.  Thus  Ghent 
and  Dendermonde,  Vilvoorde,  Brussels,  and  Antwerp, 
had  each  been  isolated,  and  all  prevented  from  render- 
ing mutual  assistance  Below  Antwerp,  however,  was 
to  be  the  scene  of  the  great  struggle.     Here,  within 


•  ?**^*  *'**««'•  Hoofd.  vbi  sup.   Le  PeUt.  U.  500  sea. 
»  l4J  PeUt,  U.  498,  4W.  .      -w*^. 


H 


L  2 


148 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


nine  miles  of  tlie  city,  were  two  forts  belonging  to  the 
States,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stream,  Lillo  and  Lief- 
kenshoek.  It  was  important  for  the  Spanish  commander 
to  gain  possession  of  both  before  commencing  his  con- 
templated bridge. 

Unfortunately  for  the  States,  the  fortifications  of 
Liefkenshoek,  on  the  Flemish  side  of  the  river,  had  not 
been  entirely  completed.  Eight  hundred  men  lay 
within  it,  under  Colonel  John  Pettin  of  Arras,  an  old 
patriotic  officer  of  much  experience.  Parma,  after  recon- 
noitring the  place  in  person,  despatched  the  famous 
Viscount  of  Ghent— now  called  Marquis  of  Roubaix  and 
Kichebourg— to  carry  it  by  assault.  The  Marquis  sent 
one  hundred  men  from  his  Walloon  legion,  under  two 
officers  in  whom  he  had  confidence,  to  attempt  a  sur- 
prise, with  orders,  if  not  successful,  to  return  without 
delay.  They  were  successful.  The  one  hundred  gained 
entrance  into  the  fort  at  a  point  where  the  defences  had 
not  been  put  into  sufficient  repair. 

They  were  immediately  followed  by  Richebourg,  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment.  The  day  was  a  fatal  one.  It 
loth  July,  was  the  lOth  July,  and  W  illiam  of  Orange  was 
1684.  *  falling  at  Delft  by  the  hand  of  Balthazar 
Gerard.  Liefkenshoek  was  canied  at  a  blow.  Of  the 
eight  hundred  patriots  in  the  place,  scarcely  a  man 
escaped.  Four  hundred  were  put  to  the  sword,  the 
others  were  hunted  into  the  river,  when  nearly  all  were 
drowned.  Of  the  royalists  a  single  man  was  killed,  and 
two  or  three  more  were  wounded.  *'  Our  Lord  was 
pleased,"  wrote  Parma  piously  to  Philip,  "  that  we 
should  cut  the  throats  of  four  hundred  of  them  in  a 
single  instant,  and  that  a  great  many  more  should  be 
killed  upon  the  dykes ;  so  that  I  believe  very  few  to 
have  escaped  with  life.  We  lost  one  man,  besides  two 
or  three  wounded."  ^  A  few  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
among  them  was  the  commander  John  Pettin.  He  was 
at  once  brought  before  Richebourg,  who  was  standing 
in  the  presence  of  the  Prince  of  Parma.  The  Marquis 
drew  his  sword,  walked  calmly  up  to  the  captured 
Colonel,  and  ran  him  through  the  body.      Pettin  fell 


»  "Y  fue  nnestro  Seftor  servido  que 
entraasen  con  sola  perdida  de  un  muerto 
y  2  o  3  heridos.  y  qne  8e  degollasen  badta 
400  taotnbres  en  el  niiuroo  instante,  y  que 
■e  inatasseD  en  los  diques  mQcho«-de 


manera  quo  cr<H)  que  ban  quedado  poco« 
cc.n  vida."  Parma  to  PhiUp  II.,  15  July, 
1584.  Arcliivo  de  Simancas  MS.  Com- 
pare Bor,  ii.  469  seq.  Meterfii,  xU. 
218V0.    Strada.  li.  304  «fq. 


I 


1584. 


SIEGE  OF  LILLO. 


149 


dead  upon  the  spot.   The  Prince  was  displeased.   "  Too 
much   choler,    Marquis,   too   much   choler"— said   he 
reprovingly.      "  Troppa    colera,    Signor    Marchese,   I 
questa."'      But  Richebourg   knew   better.      He   had, 
while  still  Viscount  of  Ghent,  carried  on  a  year  pre- 
viously a  parallel  intrigue  with  the  royalists  and  the 
patriots,     llie  Prince  of  Parma  had  bid  highest  for  his 
services,  and    had,    accordingly,    found    him    a   most 
effectual  instrument  in  completing  the  reduction  of  the 
Walloon  Provinces.      The  Prince  was  not  aware,  how- 
ever, that  his  brave  but  venal  ally  had,  at  the  very 
same  momemt,  been  secretly  treating  with  William  of 
Orange ;  and  as  it  so  happened  that  Colonel  Pettin  had 
been  the  agent  in  the  unsuccessful  negotiation,  it  was 
possible  that  his  duplicity  would  now  be  exposed.*  The 
Marquis  had,  therefore,  been  prompt  to  place  his  old 
confederate  in  the  condition  wherein  men  tell  no  tales 
and,  if  contemporary  chronicles  did  not  bely  him  it  was 
not  the  first  time  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  such  cold- 
blooded murder.     The  choler  had  not  been  superfluous 

1  he  fortress  of  LiUo  was  garrisoned  by  the  Antwerp 
volunteers,  called  the  **  Young  Bachelors."  Telign/ 
the  brave  son  of  the  illustrious  "  Iron-armed  "  La  Noue 
commanded  in  chief:  and  he  had,  besides  the  militia  a 
company  of  French  under  Captain  Gascoigne,  and  four 
hundred  Scotchmen  under  Colonel  Morgan-perhaps  two 
thousand  men  in  all.  o         x-        r 

Mondragon  hero  of  the  famous  submarine  expeditions 
of  1  hihpslaiid  and  Zierickzee,  was  ordered  by  Parma  to 
take  the  place  at  every  hazard.  With  five  thousand 
men-a  large  proportion  of  the  Spanish  effective  force 
at  that  moment- the  veteran  placed  himself  before  the 
fort,  taking  possession  of  the  beautiful  country-house  and 
farm  of  LiUo,  where  he  planted  his  batteries,  and  com- 
tTr'l  -^fl^'^^  cannonade.  The  place  was  stronger  , 
than  Liefkenshoek,  however,  and  Teligny  thoronghlv 
comprehended  the  importance  of  maintaining  it  for  the 

mtned  ^«^S^"^  .^"f  .r^^«>  ^^^  Teligny  counter- 
mined The  Spanish  daily  cannonade  was  cheerfully 
responded  to  by  the  besieged,  and  by  the  time  Mon- 
dragon  ^/d^hot  away  fifty  thousand  pounds  of  powder, 
he  found  that  he  had  made  no  impression  upon  ihe 
fortress,   while   the   number  of  his    troops   hid  been 


»  Meteren,  xii.  213. 


'Ibid. 


150 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


diminislimg  with  great  rapidity.  Mondragon  was  not 
80  impetuous  as  he  had  been  on  many  former  occasions. 
He  never  ventured  an  assault.  At  last  Teligny  made  a 
sortie  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force.  A  warm 
action  succeeded,  at  the  conclusion  of  which,  without  a 
decided  advantage  on  either  side,  the  sluice-gate  in  the 
fortress  was  opened,  and  the  torrent  of  the  Scheldt, 
swollen  by  a  high  tide,  was  suddenly  poured  upon  the 
Spaniards.  Assailed  at  once  by  the  fire  from  the  LiUo 
batteries,  and  by  the  waters  of  the  river,  they  were 
forced  to  a  rapid  retreat.  This  they  effected  with  great 
loss,  but  with  signal  courage,  struggling  breast  high  m 
the  waves,  and  bearing  off  their  field-pieces  in  their  arms 
in  the  very  face  of  the  enemy.' 

Three  weeks  long  Mondragon  had  been  before  J?  ort 
Lillo,  and  two  thousand  of  his  soldiers  had  been  slain 
in  the  trenches.  The  attempt  was  now  abandoned. 
Parma  directed  permanent  batteries  to  be  established  at 
Lillo-house,  at  Oordam,  and  at  other  places  along  the 
river,  and  proceeded  quietly  with  his  carefully-matured 
plan  for  closing  the  river.*  ,     -  ^v      m 

His  own  camp  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  vil- 
lages of  Beveren,  Kalloo,  and  Borght.  Of  the  ten 
thousand  foot  and  seventeen  hundred  horse  which 
composed  at  the  moment  his  whole  army,  about  one- 
half  lay  with  him,  while  the  remainder  were  with  Count 
Peter  Ernest  Mansfeld,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Stab- 
roek.  Thus  the  Prince  occupied  a  position  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Scheldt,  nearly  opposite  Antwerp,  while 
Mansfeld  was  stationed  upnon  the  right  bank,  and  ten 
miles  farther  down  the  river.  From  a  point  m  the 
neighbourhood  of  Kalloo,  Alexander  intended  to  throw 
a  fortified  bridge  to  the  opposite  shore.  When  com- 
pleted, all  traffic  up  the  river  from  Zeeland  would  be 
cut  off:  and  as  the  country  on  the  land  side,  about 
Antwerp,  had  been  now  reduced,  the  city  would  bo 
effectually  isolated.  If  the  Prince  could  hold  his  bridge 
until  famine  should  break  the  resistance  of  the  burghers, 
Antwerp  would  fall  into  his  hands. 

His  head-quarters  were  at  Kalloo,  and  this  obscure 
epot  soon  underwent  a  strange  transformation.-  A 
drowsy   placid   little   village— with   a  modest   pansh 

»  Hoofd  Vervolgh.  7.  8.    Stradft,  tt.  304  wg.    Bor,  li.  4«9  lej.    Meteren,  xil.  218. 
*  Jieteren,  xii.  iiH, 


1584. 


KALLOO. 


151 


spire  peeping  above  a  clump  of  poplars,  and  with  half- 
a-dozen  cottages,  with  8torks*-nests  on  their  roofs, 
sprinkled  here  and  there  among  pastures  and  orchards 
— suddenly  saw  itself  changed  as  it  were  into  a  thriving 
bustling  town ;  for,  saving  the  white  tents  which  dot- 
ted the  green  turf  in  every  direction,  the  aspect  of  the 
scene  was,  for  a  time,  almost  pacific.  It  was  as  if  some 
great  manufacturing  enterprise  had  been  set  on  foot,  and 
the  world  had  suddenly  awoke  to  the  hidden  capabili- 
ties of  the  situation. 

A  great  dockyard  and  arsenal  suddenly  revealed  them- 
selves— rising  like  an  exhalation — where  shipbuilders, 
armourers,  blacksmiths,  joiners,  carpenters,  caulkers, 
gravers,  were  hard  at  work  all  day  long.  The  din  and 
hum  of  what  seemed  a  peaceful  industiy  were  unceas- 
ing. From  Kalloo,  Parma  dug  a  canal  twelve  miles 
long  to  a  place  called  Steeken,  hundreds  of  pioneers 
being  kept  constantly  at  work  with  pick  and  spade  till 
it  was  completed.  Through  this  artificial  channel — so 
soon  as  Ghent  and  Dendermonde  had  fallen — came 
floats  of  timber,  fleets  of  boats  laden  with  provisions 
of  life  and  munitions  of  death,  building-materials,  and 
every  other  requisite  for  the  great  undertaking,  all  to 
be  disembarked  at  Kalloo.  The  object  was  a  temporary 
and  destructive  one,  but  it  remains  a  monument  of  the 
great  general's  energy  and  a  useful  public  improvement. 
The  amelioration  of  the  fenny  and  barren  soil,  called 
the  Waesland,  is  dated  from  that  epoch ;  and  the  spot 
in  Europe  which  is  the  most  prolific,  and  which  nou- 
rishes the  largest  proportion  of  inhabitants  to  the  square 
mile,  is  precisely  the  long  dreary  swamp  which  the 
Prince  thus  drained  for  military  purposes,  and  con- 
verted into  a  garden.  Drusus  and  Corbulo,  in  the  days 
of  the  Koman  Empire,  had  done  the  same  good  service 
for  their  barbarian  foes. 

At  Kalloo  itself,  all  the  shipwrights,  cutlers,  masons, 
brass-founders,  rope-makers,  anchor-forgers,  sailors^ 
boatmen,  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  with  a  herd  of 
bakers,  brewers,  and  butchers,  were  congregated  by 
express  order  of  Parma.  In  the  little  church  itself 
the  main  workshop  was  established,  and  all  day  long, 
week  after  week,  month  after  month,  the  sound  of  saw 
and  hammer,  adze  and  plane,  the  rattle  of  machineiy, 
the  cry  of  sentinels,  the  cheers  of  mariners,  resounde'd, 


152 


THE  tJNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


where  but  lately  had  been  heard  nothing  save  the 
diowsy  homily  and  the  devout  hymn  of  rustic  worship.* 
Nevertheless  the  summer  and  autumn  wore  on,  and 
still  the  bridge  was  haidly  commenced.  The  navigation 
of  the  river — although  impeded  and  rendered  dangerous 
by  the  forts  which  Farma  held  along  the  banks — was 
still  open  ;  and,  so  long  as  the  price  of  com  in  Antwerp 
remained  three  or  four  times  as  high  as  the  sum  for 
which  it  could  be  purchased  in  Holland  and  Zeeland, 
there  were  plenty  of  dare-devil  skippers  ready  to  bring 
cargoes.  Fleets  of  fly-boats,  convoyed  by  anned  vessels, 
were  perpetually  running  the  gauntlet.  Sharp  actions 
on  fehore  between  the  forts  of  the  patriots  and  those  of 
Panna, which  were  all  intermingled  promiscuously  along 
the  banks,  and  amphibious  and  most  bloody  encounters 
on  ship-board,  dyke,  and  in  the  stream  itself,  between 
the  wild  Zeelanders  and  the  fierce  pikemen  of  Italy  and 
Spain,  were  of  repeated  occurrence.  Many  a  lagging 
craft  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands,  when,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  the  men,  women,  and  children,  on  board 
were  horribly  mutilated  by  the  Spaniards,  and  were 
then  sent  drifting  in  their  boat  with  the  tide — their 
arms,  legs,  and  ears  lopped  off — up  to  the  city,  in  order 
that  the  dangerous  nature  of  this  provision  trade  might 
be  fully  illustrated.* 

Yet  that  traffic  still  went  on.  It  would  havd  continued 
until  Antwerp  had  been  victualled  for  more  than  a  year, 
2>th  Oct  had  not  the  city  authorities,  in  the  plenitude 
iM4.  Qf  their  wisdom,  thought  proper  to  issue  orders 
for  its  regulation.  On  the  2oth  of  October  a  census  was 
taken,  when  the  number  of  persons  inside  the  walls  was 
found  to  be  ninety  thousand.  For  this  population  it 
was  estimated  that  300,000  veertels,  or  about  900,000 
bushels  of  com,  would  be  required  annually.*  The 
grain  was  coming  in  veiy  fast,  notwithstanding  the 
perilous  nature  of  the  trade  ;  for  wheat  could  be  bought 
in  Holland  for  fifty  florins  the  last,  or  about  fifteen  pence 
sterling  the  buvshel,  while  it  was  worth  five  or  six  flo- 

*  Hoofi!.  Bor,  Meteivn,  ubi  mp.  Le  bommek  et  de«  frromea,  1p«  ana  Inea,  le« 
Petit,  li.  609  ttfj.  Reyd,  Iv.  68,  59.  autres  aans  bra*,  ny  Jambes,  mais  tout 
Strada,  ik  321  Meq.  V.  d.  Kampen.  i.  cela  n'empeachoit  puint  le  pastwge  poor- 
4«a.  BenUvogllo,  'Guenra  dl  Fiandra.'  tan t,"  Ac  Le  Petit,  i v.  600.  The  hi»- 
p.  U.  1.  ili.  torian  was  in  Antwerp  daring  the  siege. 

*  "  Bien  est  vray    qn'W    en  arriralt  '  Bor,  liL  600. 
jovrntllemtrnt  aucuues  qui  amemilf  nt  dea 


1584. 


FOLLY  OF  ANTWERP  MAGISTRATES. 


153 


rins  the  veertel,  or  about  four  shillings  the  bushel,  in 
Antwerp.' 

The  magistrates  now  committed  a  folly  more  stupen- 
dous than  it  seemed  possible  for  human  creatures,  under 
such  circumstances,  to  compass.  They  established  a 
maximum  upon  com.*  The  skippers  who  had  run  their 
cargoes  through  the  gauntlet,  all  the  way  from  Flushing 
to  Antwerp,  found  on  their  arrival,  that,  instead  of  being 
rewarded  according  to  the  natural  laws  of  demand  and 
supply,  they  were  required  to  exchange  their  wheat, 
rj'e,  butter,  and  beef,  against  the  exact  sum  which  the 
Board  of  Schepens  thought  proper  to  consider  a  reason- 
able remuneration.  Moreover,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
accunmlation  of  provisions  in  private  magazines,  it  was 
enacted  that  all  consumers  of  grain  should  be  compelled 
to  make  their  purchases  directly  from  the  ships.*  These 
two  measures  were  almost  as  fatal  as  the  preservation  of 
the  Blauw-garen  Dyke,  in  the  interest  of  the  butchens. 
Winter  and  famine  were  staring  the  city  in  the  face,  and 
the  maximum  now  stood  sentinel  against  the  gate,  to 
prevent  the  admission  of  food.  The  traffic  ceased  with- 
out a  struggle.  Parma  hunself  could  not  have  better 
arranged  the  blockade. 

Meantime  a  vast  and  almost  general  inundation  had 
taken  place.  The  aspect  of  the  country  for  many  miles 
around  was  strange  and  desolate.  The  sluices  had  been 
opened  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Saftingen,  on  the  Flemish 
side,  so  that  all  the  way  from  Ilulst  the  waters  were 
out,  and  flowed  nearly  to  the  gates  of  Antwerp.  A  wide 
and  shallow  sea  rolled  over  the  fertile  plains,  while 
church-steeples,  the  tops  of  lofty  trees,  and  here  and 
there  the  tunets  of  a  castle,  scarcely  lifted  themselves 
above  the  black  waters;  the  peasants'  houses,  the 
granges,  whole  rural  villages,  having  entirely  disap- 
peared. The  high  grounds  of  Doel,  of  Kalloo,  and  Be- 
veren,  where  Alexander  was  established,  remained  out  of 
reach  of  the  flood.  Far  below,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  other  sluices  had  been  opened,  and  the  sea 
had  buret  over  the  wide,  level  plain.  The  villages  of 
\\  limerdonk,  Orderen.  Ekeren,  were  changed  to  iSands 
in  the  ocean,  while  all  the  other  hamlets,  for  miles 
around,  were  utterly  submerged.* 


•  Meteren,  Bor,  ubi  tvp. 

•  Reyd,  Bor,  Meteren. 


*  Reyd.  iv.  5».     Bor,  Meteren,  vbi  iwp. 

*  Bor,  Meteren,  Hoofd,  Le  P«Ut,  Reyri,  uM  sup. 


154 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  T. 


1584. 


PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  SIEGE. 


155 


Ip  M 


I      « 
[) 
i 


Still,  however,  the  Blauw-garen  Dyke  and  its  compa- 
nion the  Kowenstyn  remained  obstinately  above  the 
waters,  forming  a  present  and  more  fatal  obstruction  to 
the  communication  between  Antwerp  and  Zeeland  than 
would  be  furnished  even  by  the  threatened  and  secretly- 
advancing  bridge  across  the  Scheldt.  Had  Orange's  pru- 
dent advice  been  taken,  the  city  had  been  safe.  Over 
the  prostrate  dykes,  whose  destruction  he  had  so  warmly 
urged,  the  ocean  would  have  rolled  quite  to  the  gates  of 
Antwerp,  and  it  would  have  been  as  easy  to  bridge  the 
North  Sea  as  to  control  the  free  navigation  of  the  patriots 
over  so  wide  a  surface. 

When  it  was  too  late,  the  butchers,  and  colonels,  and 
captains  became  penitent  enough.  An  order  was 
passed,  by  acclamation,  in  November,  to  do  what  Orange 
had  recommended  in  June.  It  was  decreed  that  the 
Blauw-garen  and  the  Kowenstyn  should  be  pierced.* 
Alas !  the  hour  had  long  gone  by.  Alexander  of  Parma 
was  not  the  man  to  undertake  the  construction  of  a . 
bridge  across  the  river,  at  a  vast  expense,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  permit  the  destruction  of  the  already 
existing  barrier.  There  had  been  a  time  for  such  a 
deed.  The  Seigneur  de  Kowenstyn,  who  had  a  castle 
and  manor  on  and  near  the  dyke  which  bore  his  name, 
had  repeatedly  urged  upon  the  Antwerp  magistracy 
the  propriety  of  piercing  this  bulwark,  even  after  their 
refusal  to  destroy  the  outer  barrier.  Sainte  Aldegonde, 
who  vehemently  urged  the  measure,  protested  that  his 
hair  had  stood  on  end,  when  he  found,  after  repeated 
entreaty,  that  the  project  was  rejected."  The  Seigneur 
de  Kowenstyn,  disgusted  and  indignant,  forswore  his 
patriotism,  and  went  over  to  Parma.'  The  dyke  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  And  now  from  Stabroek, 
where  old  Mansfeld  lay  with  his  army,  all  the  way 
across  the  flooded  country,  ran  the  great  bulwark, 
strengthened  with  new  palisade-work  and  block-houses, 
bristling  with  Spanish  cannon,  pike,  and  arquebus,  even 
to  the  bank  of  the  Scheldt,  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Fort  Lillo.  At  the  angle  of  its  junction  with  the 
main  dyke  of  the  river's  bank,  a  strong  fortress  called 
Holy  Cross  (Santa  Cruz)  had  been  constructed.     That 

>  Bor,  11.  500.  nalcR  AntwcTplcnsea,'  It.  100  aeq. 

'  Merteng  en  Torp.    Oencbiedenlii  van        »  Bor,  Meicren.  Merteos  en  Torp,  uW 
Antwerpen.  v.  206.    Papebrochii, .' Au-    ivp. 


fortress  and  the  whole  line  of  the  Kowenstyn  were  held 
in  the  iron  grip  of  Mondragon.  To  wrench  it  from 
him  would  be  no  child's  play.  Five  new  strong  redoubts 
upon  the  dyke,  and  five  or  six  thousand  Spaniards 
established  there,  made  the  enterprise  more  formidable 
than  it  would  have  been  in  June.  It  had  been  better 
to  sacrifice  the  twelve  thousand  oxen.  Twelve  thou- 
sand Hollanders  might  now  be  slaughtered,  and  still 
the  dyke  remain  above  the  waves. 

Here  was  the  key  to  the  fate  of  Antwerp. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  opening  of  the  Saftingen 
Sluice  had  done  Parma's  work  for  him.  Even  there, 
too,  Orange  had  been  prophetic.  Kalloo  was  high  and 
dry,  but  Alexander  had  experienced  some  diflSculty  in 
bringing  a  fleet  of  thirty  vessels,  laden  with  cannon  and 
other  valuable  materials,  from  Ghent  along  the  Scheldt, 
into  his  encampment,  because  it  was  necessary  for  them, 
before  reaching  their  destination,  to  pass  in  front  of 
Antwerp.  The  inundation,  together  with  a  rupture  in 
the  dyke  of  Borght,  furnished  him  with  a  watery  road, 
over  which  his  fleet  completely  avoided  the  city,  and 
came  in  triumph  to  Kalloo.* 

Sainte  Aldegonde,  much  provoked  by  this  masterly 
movement  on  the  part  of  Parma,  had  followed  the  little 
squadron  closely  with  some  armed  vessels  from  the 
city.  A  sharp  action  had  succeeded,  in  which  the 
burgomaster,  not  being  properly  sustained  by  the 
Zeeland  ships  on  which  ho  relied,  had  been  defeated. 
Admiral  Jacob  Jacobzoon  behaved  with  so  little  spirit 
on  the  occasion  that  he  acquired  with  the  Antwerp 
populace  the  name  of  "Runaway  Jacob,"  "Koppen 
gaet  loppen  ;"  and  Sainte  Aldegonde  declared,  that,  but 
for  his  cowardice,  the  fleet  of  Parma  would  have  fallen 
into  their  hands.  The  burgomaster  himself  narrowly 
escaped  becoming  a  prisoner,  and  owed  his  safety  only 
to  the  swiftness  of  his  barge,  which  was  called  the 
"Flying  Devil."* 

The  patriots,  in  order  to  counteract  similar  enter- 
prises in  future,  now  erected  a  sconce,  which  they 
called  Fort  Teligny,  upon  the  ruptured  dyke  of  Borght, 
directly  in  front  of  the  Borght  blockhouse,  belonging 
to  the   Spaniards,   and   just  opposite   Fort   Hoboken. 

>  Meteren,  xll.  218.    Bor,  Ij.  601. 

«  Har«ei.  •  Ann.  Turn.  Belg..'  iU.  369.    Bor,  U.  501.    Meteren,  xil.-2l8  ttq. 


■.'.f 


[ 


156 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V 


Here,  in  this  narrow  passage,  close  under  the  walls  of 
Antwerp,  where  friends  and  foes  were  brought  closely 
face  to  face,  was  the  scene  of  many  a  sanguinary 
skirmiKh,  from  the  commencement  of  the  siege  until  its 
close.' 

Still  the  bridge  was  believed  to  be  a  mere  fable,  a 
chimaera.  Panna,  men  said,  had  become  a  lunatic  from 
pride.  It  was  as  easy  to  make  the  Netherlands  submit 
to  the  yoke  of  the  Inquisition  as  to  put  a  bridle  on  the 
Scheldt.  Its  depth,  breadth,  the  ice-floods  of  a  northern 
winter,  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Zeeland*  fleets,  the 
activity  of  the  Antwerp  authorities,  all  were  pledges 
that  the  attempt  would  be  signally  frustrated.* 

And  they  should  have  been  pledges — more  than 
enough.  Unfortunately,  however,  there  was  dissen- 
sion within,  and  no  chieftain  in  the  field,  no  sage  in 
the  council,  of  sufficient  authority  to  sustain  the  whole 
burthen  of  the  war,  and  to  direct  all  the  energies  of  the 
commonwealth.  Orange  was  dead.  His  son,  one  day 
to  become  the  most  illustrious  military  commander  in 
Europe,  was  a  boy  of  seventeen,  nominally  captain- 
general,  but  in  reality  but  a  youthful  apprentice  to  his 
art.  Hohenlo  was  wild,  wilful,  and  obstinate.  Young 
William  Lewis  Nassau,  already  a  soldier  of  marked 
abilities,  was  fully  occupied  in  Friesland,  where  he  was 
stadholder,  and  where  he  had  quite  enough  to  do  in 
making  head  against  the  Spanish  governor  and  gene- 
ral, the  veteran  Verdugo.  Military  operations  against 
Zutphen  distracted  the  attention  of  the  States,  which 
should  have  been  fixed  upon  Antwerp.  Admiral 
Treslong,  as  we  have  seen,  was  refractory,  the  cause  of 
great  delinquency  on  the  part  of  the  fleets,  and  of 
infinite  disaster  to  the  commonwealth.  More  than  all, 
the  French  negotiation  was  betraying  the  States  into 
indolence  and  hesitation  ;  and  creating  a  schism  between 
the  leading  politicians  of  the  country.  Several  thou- 
sand French  troops,  under  Monsieur  d'Allaynes,  were 
daily  expected,  but  never  arrived;  and  thus,  while 
English  and  French  partisans  were  plotting  and  counter- 
plotting, while  a  delusive  diplomacy  was  usurping  the 
place  of  lansquenettes  and  gunboats— the  only  possible 
agents  at  that  moment  to  preserve  Antwerp — the  bridge 

1  Harael.  •  Ann.  Tom.  Belg./  iil,  369.    Bor,  IL  601.    Meteren,  xU.  218  tea. 
«  Stmda,  IL  312,  313.    Reyd.  Iv.  58,  59. 


1584. 


PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  SIEGE. 


167 


of  Parma  was  slowly  advancing.  Before  the  winter 
had  closed  in,  the  preparatory  palisades  had  been 
finished. 

Between  Kalloo  and  Oordam,  upon  the  opposite  side,  a 
sandbar  had  been  discovered  in  the  river's  bed,  which 
diminished  the  depth  of  the  stream,  and  rendered  the 
pile-driving  comparatively  easy.  The  breadth  of  the 
Scheldt  at  this  passage  was  twenty-four  hundred  feet ; 
its  depth,  sixty  feet.  Upon  the  Flemish  side,  near 
Kalloo,  a  strong  fort  was  erected,  called  Saint  Mary,  in 
honour  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  to  whom  the  whole  siege 
of  Antwerp  had  been  dedicated  from  the  beginning. 
()n  the  opposite  bank  was  a  similar  fort,  named  Philip, 
for  the  King.  From  each  of  these  two  points,  thus 
fortified,  a  framework  of  heavy  timber,  suppoiied  upon 
huge  piles,  had  been  carried  so  far  into  the  stream  on 
either  side  that  the  distance  between  the  ends  had  at 
last  been  reduced  to  thirteen  hundred  feet.  The  breadth 
of  the  roadway — formed  of  strong  sleepers  firmly  bound 
together — was  twelve  feet,  along  which  blockhouses 
of  great  thickness  were  placed  to  defend  the  whole 
against  assault.' 

Thus  far  the  work  had  been  comparatively  easy. 
To  bridge  the  remaining  open  portion  of  the  river, 
however,  where  its  current  was  deepest  and  strongest, 
and  where  the  action  of  tide,  tempest,  and  icebergs 
would  be  most  formidable,  seemed  a  desperate  under- 
taking ;  for,  as  the  enterprise  advanced,  this  narrow 
open  space  became  the  scene  of  daily  amphibious  en- 
counters between  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  Parma  and 
the  forces  of  the  States.  Unfortunately  for  the  patriots, 
it  was  only  skirmishing.  Had  a  strong,  concerted 
attack,  in  large  force,  from  Holland  and  Zeeland  below 
and  fiom  the  city  above,  been  agreed  upon,  there  was 
hardly  a  period,  until  very  late  in  the  winter,  when  it 
might  not  have  had  the  best  chances  of  success.  With 
a  vigorous  commander  against  him,  Parma,  weak  in  men, 
and  at  his  wits'  end  for  money,  might,  in  a  few  hours, 
have  seen  the  labour  of  several  months  hopelessly  anni- 
hilated. On  the  other  hand,  the  Prince  was  ably 
seconded  by  his  lieutenant.  Marquis  Richebourg,  to 
whom  had  been  delegated  the  immediate  supenntendence 


•  Bor,  ii.  501  $fq 
ft.  L  lii.  2A8  9eq. 


.    Meteren,  xil.  218  teq.    Strada,  il.  313  feq.     BtmtivogUo,  p. 


M 


158 


THF  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1  '♦ 


:|' 


i'l' 


of  tlie  bridge-building  in  its  minutest  details.  He  was 
never  idle.  Audacious,  indefatigable,  ubiquitous,  he  at 
least  atoned  by  energy  and  brilliant  courage  for  his 
famous  treason  of  the  preceding  year,  while  his  striking 
and  now  rapidly  approaching  doom  upon  the  very  scene 
of  his  present  labours  made  him  appear  to  have  been 
building  a  magnificent  though  fleeting  monument  to  his 
own  memory.* 

Sainte  Aldegonde,  shut  up  in  Antwerp,  and  hampered 
by  dissension  within  and  obstinate  jealousy  without  the 
walls,  did  all  in  his  power  to  frustrate  tbe  enemy's  en- 
terprise and  animate  the  patriots.  Through  the  whole 
of  the  autumn  and  early  winter  he  had  urged  the  States 
of  Holland  and  Zeeland  to  make  use  of  the  long  winter 
nights,  when  moonless  and  stormy,  to  attempt  the  de- 
struction of  Parma's  undertaking,  but  the  fatal  influ- 
ences already  indicated  were  more  efficient  against 
Antwerp  than  even  tbe  genius  of  Famese  ;  and  nothing 
came  of  the  burgomaster  s  entreaties  save  desultory  skir- 
mishing and  unsuccessful  enterprises.  An  especial  mis- 
fortune happened  in  one  of  these  midnight  undertakings. 
Teligny  ventured  forth  in  a  row-barge,  with  scarcely  any 
companions,  to  notify  the  Zeelanders  of  a  contemplated 
movement,  in  which  their  co-operation  was  desired.  It 
was  proposed  that  the  Antwerp  troops  should  make  a 
fictitious  demonstration  upon  Fort  Oordam,  while  at  the 
same  moment  the  States*  troops  from  Fort  Lillo  should 
make  an  assault  upon  the  forts  on  Kowenstyn  dyke; 
and  in  this  important  enterprise  the  Zeeland  vessels 
were  requested  to  assist.  But  the  brave  Teligny  nearly 
forfeited  his  life  by  his  rashness,  and  his  services  were, 
for  a  long  time,  lost  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  It  had  been 
better  to  send  a  less  valuable  officer  upon  such  hazard- 
ous yet  subordinate  service.  The  drip  of  his  oars  was 
heard  in  the  darkness.  He  was  pursued  by  a  number 
of  armed  barges,  attacked,  wounded  severely  in  the 
shoulder,  and  captured.  He  threw  his  letters  overboard, 
but  they  were  fished  out  of  the  water,  carried  to  Parma, 
and  deciphered,  so  that  the  projected  attack  upon  the 
Kowenstyn  was  discovered,  and,  of  necessity,  deferred. 
As  for  Teligny,  he  was  taken,  as  a  most  valuable  prize, 
into  the  enemy's  camp,  and  was  soon  afterwards  thrust 

>  BeotiTOglio,  Strada,  uM  ntp. 


1584.      ENERGY  OF  FARNESE  WITH  SWORD  AND  PEN.      159 

into  prison  at  Toumay,  where  he  remained  six  years — 
one  year  longer  than  the  period  which  his  illustrious 
father  had  been  obliged  to  consume  in  the  infamous 
dungeon  at  Mons.  Few  disasters  could  have  been  more 
keenly  felt  by  the  States  than  the  loss  of  this  brilliant 
and  devoted  French  chieftain,  who,  young  as  he  was, 
had  already  become  very  dear  to  the  republic  ;  and 
Sainte  Aldegonde  was  severely  blamed  for  sending  so 
eminent  a  personage  on  that  dangerous  expedition,  and 
for  sending  him,  too,  with  an  insufficient  convoy.* 

Still  Alexander  felt  uncertain  as  to  the  result.  He 
was  determined  to  secure  Antwerp,  but  he  yet  thought 
it  possible  to  secure  it  by  negotiation.  The  enigmatical 
policy  maintained  by  France  perplexed  him  ;  for  it  did 
not  seem  possible  that  so  much  apparent  solemnity  and 
earnestness  were  destined  to  lead  to  an  impotent  and  in- 
famous conclusion.  He  was  left,  too,  for  a  long  time  in 
ignorance  of  his  own  master's  secret  schemes ;  he  was  at 
liberty  to  guess,  and  to  guess  only,  as  to  the.projects  of 
the  League ;  he  was  without  adequate  means  to  cany- 
out  to  a  certain  triiunph  his  magnificent  enterprise ;  and 
he  was  in  constant  alarm  lest  he  should  be  suddenly 
assailed  by  an  overwhelming  French  force.  Had  a  man 
sat  upon  the  throne  of  Heniy  III.  at  tbat  moment, 
Parma's  bridge-making  and  dyke-fortifying— skilful  as 
they  were— would  have  been  all  in  vain.  Meantime,  in 
uncertainty  as  to  the  great  issue,  but  resolved  to  hold 
firmly  to  his  purpose,  he  made  repeated  conciliatory 
offers  to  the  States  with  one  hand,  while  he  steadily  pro- 
secuted his  aggressive  schemes  with  the  other. 

Parma  had  become  really  gentle,  almost  affectionate, 
towards  the  Netherlanders.  He  had  not  the  disposition 
of  an  Alva  to  smite  and  to  blast,  to  exterminate  the 
rebels  and  heretics  with  fire  and  sword,  with  the  axe, 
the  rack,  and  the  gallows.  Provided  they  would  re^ 
nounce  the  great  object  of  the  contest,  he  seemed  really 
desirous  that  they  should  escape  further  chastisement ; 
but  to  admit  the  worship  of  God,  according  to  the 
reformed  creed,  was  with  him  an  inconceivable  idea.  To 
do  so  was  both  unrighteous  and  impolitic.  He  had  been 
brought  up  to  believe  that  mankind  could  be  saved  from 
eternal  perdition  only  by  believing  in  the  infallibility  of 

»  Bor,  iL  607,  608.    Meteren.  xll.  218.    Strada.  li.  319,  320. 


I)' 


160 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V, 


the  Bishop  of  Kome ;  that  the  only  keys  to  eternal  para- 
dise were  in  hands  of  St.  Peter's  representative.  More- 
over he  instinctively  felt  that  within  this  religions 
liberty  which  the  Netherlanders  claimed  was  hidden  the 
germ  of  civil  liberty ;  and  though  no  bigger  than  a  grain 
of  mustard-seed,  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  it  at  once ; 
for  of  course  the  idea  of  civil  liberty  could  not  enter  the 
brain  of  the  brilliant  general  of  Philip  II. 

On  the  13th  of  November  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
magistracy  and  broad-council  of  Antwerp.  He  asserted 
13th  Nov.  that  the  instigators  of  the  rebellion  were  not 
i****-  seeking  to  further  the  common  weal,  but  their 
own  private  ends.  Especially  had  this  been  the  ruling 
motive  with  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  both  of  whom  God  had  removed  from  the  world, 
in  order  to  manifest  to  the  States  their  own  weakness, 
and  the  omnipotence  of  Philip,  whose  prosperity  the 
Lord  was  constantly  increasing.  It  was  now  more 
than  time  /or  the  authorities  of  the  country  to  have 
regard  for  themselves,  and  for  the  miseries  of  the  poor 
people.  The  affection  which  he  had  always  felt  for  the 
Provinces — from  which  he  had  himself  sprung — and  the 
favours  which  he  had  received  from  them  in  his  youth, 
had  often  moved  him  to  propose  measures  which,  before 
God  and  his  conscience,  he  believed  adequate  to  the 
restoration  of  peace.  But  his  letters  had  been  concealed 
or  falsely  interpreted  by  the  late  Prince  of  Orange,  who 
had  sought  nothing  but  to  spread  desolation  over  the 
land,  and  to  shed  the  blood  of  the  innocent.  He  now 
^Tote  once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  in  all  fervour 
and  earnestness,  to  implore  them  to  take  compassion  on 
their  own  wives  and  children  and  forlorn  fatherland, 
to  turn  their  eyes  backward  on  the  peace  and  prosperity 
which  they  had  formerly  enjoyed  when  obedient  to  his 
Majesty,  and  to  cast  a  glance  around  them  upon  the 
miseries  which  were  so  universal  since  the  rebellion. 
He  exhorted  them  to  close  their  ears  to  the  insidious 
tongues  of  those  who  were  leading  them  into  delusion 
as  to  the  benevolence  and  paternal  sweetness  of  their 
natural  lord  and  master,  which  were  even  now  so  bound- 
less that  he  did  not  hesitate  once  more  to  offer  them  his 
entire  forgiveness.  If  they  rhosA  to  negotiate,  they 
would  find  everything  granted  that  with  right  and  rea- 


> 


i 


1584.    HIS  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE  MAGISTRATES.      161 

son  could  be  proposed.  The  Prince  concluded  by  de- 
claring that  he  made  these  advances  not  from  any  doubt 
as  to  the  successful  issue  of  the  military  operations  in 
which  he  was  engaged,  but  simply  out  of  paternal  anx- 
iety for  the  happiness  of  the  Provinces.  Bid  they 
remain  obstinate,  their  ultimate  conditions  would  be 
rendered  still  more  severe,  and  themselves,  not  he. 
would  be  responsible  for  the  misery  and  the  bloodshed 
to  ensue.* 

Ten  days  aften\^ards,  the  magistrates,  thus  addressed— 
after  communication  with  the  broad  council— answered 
Parma's  letter  manfully,  copiously,  and  with  23rd  xov 
the  customary  but  superfluous  historical  sketch.       "h4.  ' 
They  begged  leave  to  entertain  a  doubt  as  to  the  pater- 
nal sweetness  of  a  king  who  had  dealt  so  long  in  racks 
and  gibbets.     With  Parma's  owti  mother,  as  they  told 
the  Prince,  the  Netherlanders  had  once  made  a  treaty 
by  which  the  right  to  worship  God  according  to  their 
consciences  had  been  secured  ;  yet  for  maintaining  that 
treaty  they  had  been  devoted  to  indiscriminate  destnic- 
tioii,  and  their  land  made  desolate  with  fire  and  sword 
Men  had  been  massacred  by  thousands,  who  had  never 
been  heard  in  their  own  defence,  and  who  had  never 
been  accused  of  any  crime,  "save  that  they  had  assem- 
bled  together  in  the  name  of  God,  to  pray  to  Him, 
through  their  only  mediator  and  advocate  Jesus  Christ 
according  to  His  command."  * 

The  axis  of  the  revolt  was  the  religious  question  ; 
and  It  was  impossible  to  hope  anything  from  a  monarch 
who  was  himself  a  slave  of  the  Inquisition,  and  who  had 
less  independence  of  action  than  that  enjoyed  by  Jews 
and  lurks,  according  to  the  express  permission  of  the 
lope.  ^ therefore  they  informed  Parma  that  they  had 
done  with  Phihp  for  ever,  and  that,  in  consequence  of 
the  extraordinaiy  wisdom,  justice,  and  moderation  of 
the  French  King  they  had  offered  him  the  sovereignty 
of  their  land,  and  had  implored  his  protection.  ' 

.ff.r'T  -^^     ^t"b!»/«  to  the  character  of  Famese,  who, 

murh^Tr!^^  '"^""''^  ^I^"^  ^^  ^^^^'  ^^^  manifested  s^; 
miK  h  gentleness  and  disposition  to  conciliate.  They 
doubted  not  that  he  would,  if  he  possessed  the  power^ 

VOL.  1.  ^' 

M 


162 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


have  guided  the  royal  councils  to  better  and  more 
generous  results,  and  protested  that  they  would  not  have 
delayed  to  throw  themselves  into  his  arms,  had  they 
been  assured  that  he  was  authorized  to  admit  that  which 
alcme  could  form  the  basis  of  a  successfid  negotiation — 
religious  freedom.  They  would  in  such  case  have  been 
tcilling  to  close  with  him,  idthout  talking  ahout  other  conditions 
than  such  as  his  Highness  in  his  discretion  and  sweet- 
ness might  think  reasonable. 

Moreover,  as  they  observed  in  conclusion,  they  were 
precluded,  by  their  present  relations  with  France,  frc»ni 
entering  into  any  other  negotiation ;  nor  could  they 
listen  to  any  such  proposals  without  deserving  to  be 
stigmatized  as  the  most  lewd,  blasphemous,  and  tliank- 
less  mortals  that  ever  cumbered  the  earth. 

Being  under  equal  obligations  both  to  the  Union  and 
to  France,  they  announced  that  Parma's  overtures  would 
be  laid  before  the  French  government  and  the  assembly 
of  the  States-General.' 

A  day  was  to  come,  perhaps,  when  it  would  hardly 
seem  lewdness  and  blasphemy  for  the  Nethcrlanders  to 
doubt  the  extraordinary  justice  and  wisdom  of  thu 
French  King.  Meantime,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they 
were  at  lea-st  loyal  to  their  own  engagements,  and  long- 
suftering  wliere  they  had  trusted  and  given  their  hearts. 

Parma  repliedby  another  letter,  dated  December  3rd. 
He  assured  tlie  citizens  that  Henry  III.  was  far  too  dis- 

lotb  Dec.    creet,  and  much  too  good  a  friend  to  Philip 

1^*-  II.,  to  countenance  this  rebellion.  If  he  were 
to  take  up  their  quarrel,  however,  the  King  of  Spain 
had  a  thousjind  means  of  foiling  all  his  attempts.  As 
to  the  religious  question — which  they  affirmed  to  be  the 
sole  cause  of  the  war — he  was  not  inclined  to  waste 
words  upon  that  subject ;  nevertheless,  so  far  as  he  in 
his  simplicity  could  understand  the  true  nature  of  a 
(Christian,  he  could  not  believe  that  it  comported  with 
the  doctiines  of  Jesus,  whom  they  called  their  only 
mediator,  nor  with  the  dictates  of  conscience,  to  take  up 
arms  against  their  lawful  king,  nor  to  bum,  rob,  plunder, 
pierce  dykes,  overwhelm  their  fatherland,  and  reduce 
all  things  to  misery  and  chaos,  in  the  name  of  religion.'' 

Thus  mondizing  and  dogmatizing,  the  Prince  con- 

»  Letters  in  Bor,  Meteren,  Hoold,  ubi  tup.  '  Ibid. 


1584. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  BRIDGE. 


168 


eluded  his  letter,  and  so  the  correspondence  terminated. 
This  last  despatch  was  comnmnicated  at  once  both  to 
the  States-General  and  to  the  French  government,  and 
remained  unanswered.  Soon  afterwards  the  Netherlands, 
and  England,  France,  and  Spain,  were  engaged  in  that 
vast  game  of  delusion  which  has  been  described  in  the 

itreceding    chapters.     Meantime    both    Antwerp    and 
:*arma  remained  among  the  deluded,  and  were  left  to 
fight  out  their  battle  on  their  own  resources. 

Having  found  it  impossible  to  subdue  Antwerp  by 
his  ihetoric,  Alexander  proceeded  with  his  bridge.  It 
is  impossible  not  to  admire  the  steadiness  and  inge- 
nuity with  which  the  Prince  persisted  in  his  plans,  the 
courage  with  which  he  bore  up  against  the  parsimony 
and  neglect  of  his  sovereign,  the  compassionate  tender- 
ness which  he  manifested  for  his  patient  little  army. 
So  much  intellectual  energy  commands  enthusiasm, 
while  the  supineness  on  the  other  side  sometimes 
excites  indignation.  Tliere  is  even  a  danger  of  being 
entrapjied  into  sympathy  with  tyranny,  when  the  cause 
of  tyranny  is  maintained  by  genius  ;  and  of  being  sur- 
prised into  inditi'erence  for  human  liberty,  when  the 
sacred  interests  of  liberty  are  endangered  by  self- 
interest,  perverseness,  andVolly. 

Even  Sainte  Aldegonde  did  not  believe  that  the 
bridge  could  be  comjdeted.  His  fears  were  that  the 
city  would  be  ruined  rather  by  the  cessation  of  its 
conmierce  than  by  want  of  daily  food.  Already,  after 
the  capture  of  Liefkenshoek  and  the  death  of  Orange, 
tlie  panic  among  commercial  people  had  been  so  intense 
that  seventy  or  eighty  merchants,  representing  the  most 
wealthy  mercantile  firms  in  Antwerp,  made  their 
escape  from  the  place,  as  if  it  had  been  smitten  with 
pestilence^  or  were  already  in  the  hands  of  I'arma.'  All 
such  refugees  were  ordered  to  return  on  peril  of  forfeit- 
ing their  ]  property.  Few  came  back,  however,  for  they 
had  found  means  of  converting  and  transferring  their 
funds  to  other  more  secure  places,  despite  the  threatened 
confiscation.  It  was  insinuated  that  Holland  and  Zee- 
land  were  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  Antwerp,  because 
m  the  sequel  the  commercial  cities  of  those  Provinces 
succeeded  to  the  vast  traffic  and  the  boundless  wealth 

1  Baudarlil  •  Polemographia,'  li.  24. 

H  2 


164 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V, 


y 


which  had  been  forfeited  by  the  Brabantine  capital. 
The  charge  was  an  unjust  one.  At  the  very  commence- 
ment of  the  siege  the  States  of  Holland  voted  two 
hundred  thousand  florins  for  its  relief;  and  moreover, 
these  wealthy  refugees  were  positively  denied  admit- 
tance into  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  were 
thus  forced  to  settle  in  Germany  or  England.*  This 
cessation  of  traffic  was  that  which  principally  excited 
the  anxiety  of  Aldegonde.  He  could  not  bring  himself 
to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  a  blockade,  by  an  aniiy 
of  eight  or  ten  thousand  men,  of  a  great  and  wealthy 
city,  where  at  least  twenty  thousand  citizens  were 
capable  of  bearing  arms.  Had  he  thoroughly  understood 
the  deprivations  under  which  Alexander  was  labouring, 
perhaps  he  would  have  been  even  more  confident  as  to 
the  result. 

"  V\  ilh  regard  to  the  aifair   of  the    river  Scheldt," 

wrote  Parma  to  Philip,  *'  I  should  like  to  send  your 

15th  Ja  1.    Majesty  a  drawing  of  the  whole  scheme  ;  for 

i5»5.  |;jje  work  is  too  vast  to  be  explained  by  letters. 
The  more  I  examine  it,  the  more  astonished  I  am  that 
it  should  have  been  conducted  to  this  point ;  so  many 
forts,  dykes,  canals,  new  inventions,  machinery,  and 
engines,  have  been  necessarily  required."  * 

He  then  proceeded  to  enlighten  the  King — as  ho 
never  failed  to  do  in  all  his  letters — as  to  his  own  im- 
poverished, almost  helpless  condition.  Money,  money, 
men!  lliis  was  his  constant  cry.  All  would  be  in 
vain,  he  said,  if  he  were  thus  neglected.  '*  'Tis  neces- 
sary," said  he,  "  for  your  Majesty  fully  to  comprehend, 
that  henceforth  the  enterprise  is  your  own.  I  have 
done  my  work  faithfully  thus  far ;  it  is  now  for  your 
Majesty  to  take  it  thoroughly  to  heart ;  and  embrace  it 
with  the  warmth  with  which  an  affair  involving  so  much 
of  your  own  interests  deserves  to  be  embraced."  ^ 

He  avowed  that  without  full  confidence  in  his  sove- 
reign's sympathy  he  would  never  have  conceived  the 
project.  "  1  confess  that  the  enterprise  is  great,"  he 
said,  "  and  that  by  many  it  will  be  considered  rash. 
Certainly  I  should  not  have  undertaken  it,  had  I  not 
felt  certain  of  your  Majesty's  full  support."* 

«  Baudartll  •  Polemograpbla/  il.  24.  1585.  Archivo  de  Simancas  MS. 

«  Pjrince  of  Parma  to  Tiillip  U.,  15  Jan.       a  Ibid.  *  Ibid. 


1585. 


IMPOVERISHED  CONDITION  OF  PARMA. 


165 


But  he  was  already  in  danger  of  being  forced  to 
abandon  the  whole  scheme  —although  so  nearly  carried 
into  effect— for  want  of  funds.  '•  The  million  promised," 
he  \^Tote,  *'  has  arrived  in  bits  and  morsels,  and  with  so 
many  ceremonies  that  1  haven't  ten  crowns  at  lav 
disj)osal.  How  I  am  to  maintain  even  this  handful  of 
soldiers — for  the  army  is  diminished  to  such  a  mere 
handfid  that  it  would  astonish  your  Majesty — I  am 
unable  to  imagine.  It  would  move  you  to  witness  their 
condition.  They  have  suffered  as  much  as  is  humanly 
possible."  * 

Many  of  the  troops,  indeed,  were  deserting,  and 
making  their  escape,  beggared  and  desperate,  into 
France,  where,  with  natural  injustice,  they  denounced 
their  General,  whose  whole  heart  was  occupied  with 
their  miseries,  for  the  delinquency  of  his  master,  whose 
mind  was  full  of  other  schemes. 

*' There  passed   this   way  many   Spanish   soldiers," 
^vTote  Stafford  from  Paris,  '*  so  jioor  and  naked  as  I  ever 
saw  any.      There  have  been  within  this  fort- 
night two  hundred  at  a  time  in  this  towTi,  who    ^gth  j^' 
report  the  extremity  of  want  of  victuals   in      *^***- 
tlieir  camp,  and  that  they  have  been  twenty-four  months 
without  pay.     They  exclaim  greatly  upon  the  Prince  of 
Parma.     Mendoza  seeks  to  convey  them  away,  and  to 
get  money  for  them  by  all  means  he  can."  * 

Stafford  urged  upon  his  government  the  propriety  of 
being  at  least  as  negligent  as  Philip  had  showed  himself 
to  be  of  the  Spaniards.  By  prohibiting  supplies  to  the 
besieging  army,  England  might  contribute,  negatively, 
if  not  otherwise,  to  the  relief  of  Antwerp.  **  There  is 
no  place,"  he  wrote  to  Walsingham,  ''whence  the 
Spaniards  are  so  thoroughly  victualled  as  from  us. 
English  boats  go  by  sixteen  and  seventeen  into  Dunkirk* 
well  hiden  with  provisions."  * 

This  was  certainly  not  in  accordance  with  the 
interests  nor  the  benevolent  professions  of  the  En^-lish 
ministers.  ° 

These  supplies  were  not  to  be  regularly  depended 
upon,  however.     They  were  likewise  not  to  be  had  with- 

i  Prince  of  Parma  to  PljIUp  H..  tc.,  MS  Jnst  dted. 

t  Stafford  to  WaUlngham.  ^^^  In  Murdln.  U.  434. 


166 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


out  paying  a  heavy  price  for  f  hem,  and  the  Prince  had 
no  money  in  his  coffer.  He  lived  from  hand  to  mouth, 
and  waH  obliged  to  borrow  from  every  private  individual 
who  had  anything  to  lend.  Merchants,  nobles,  official 
personages,  were  all  obliged  to  assist  in  eking  out  the 
scanty  pittance  allowed  by  the  sovereign. 

"The  million  is  all  gone,"  wrote  Parma  to  his 
master :  *'  somo  to  Verdugo  in  Friesland ;  some  to 
repay  the  advances  of  Marquis  Kichebourg  and  other 
gentlemen.  There  is  not  a  farthing  for  the  garrisons.  I 
can't  go  on  a  month  longer,  and,  if  not  supplied,  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  abandon  the  work.  I  have  not  money 
enough  to  pay  my  sailors,  joiners,  carpenters,  and,other 
mechanics,  from  week  to  week,  and  they  will  all' leave 
mo  in  the  lurch  if  1  leave  them  unpaid.  I  have  no 
resource  but  to  rely  on  your  Majesty.  Otherwise  the 
enterprise  must  wholly  fail."  ^ 

In  case  it  did  fail,  the  Prince  wiped  his  hands  of  the 
responsibility.     He  certainly  had  the  right  to  do  so. 

( )ne  of  his  main  sources  of  supply  was  the  city  of 
Hertogcnbosch,  or  Bois-le-Duc.  It  was  one  of  the  four 
chief  cities  of  Brabant,  and  still  held  for  the  King, 
although  many  towns  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood 
had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  republic.  The  States  had 
long  been  anxious  to  effect  a  diversion  for  the  relief  of 
Antwerp,  by  making  an  attack  on  Bois-le-Duc.  Could 
they  carry  the  place,  Panna  would  be  almost  inevitably 
compelled  to  abandon  the  siege  in  which  he  was  at 
present  engaged  ;  and  he  could  moreover  spare  no  troops 
tor  its  defence.  Bois  le-Duc  was  a  popiilous,  wealthy, 
thriving  town,  situate  on  the  Deeze,  two  leagues  above 
its  confluence  with  the  Meuse,  and  about  twelve  leagues 
from  Antwerp.  It  derived  its  name  of  "  Duke's  Wood  " 
from  a  magnificent  park  and  forest,  once  the  favourite 
resort  and  residence  of  the  old  Dukes  of  Brabant,  of 
which  some  beautiful  vestiges  still  remained.  It  was  a 
handsome  well-built  city,  with  two  thousand  houses  of 
the  better  class,  besides  more  humble  tenements.  Its 
qitizens  were  celebrated  for  their  courage  and  belligerent 
skill,  both  on  foot  and  on  horseback.  They  were  said 
to  retain  more  of  the  antique  Belgic  ferocity  which 
Caesar  had  celebrated  than  that  which  had  descended  to 

*  M>1.  Letter  ol  rarma,  before  cIUhL 


1585. 


PATKIOTS  ATTEMIT  BuIS-LE-DUC. 


167 


most  of  their  kinsmen.  The  place  was,  moreover,  the 
soat  of  many  prosperous  manufactures,  its  clothiei-s 
tM'iit  the  products  of  their  looms  over  all  Christendom, 
and  its  linen  and  cutlery  were  equally  renowned.' 

It  would  be  a  most  fortunate  blow  in  the  cause  of 
freedom  to  secure  so  thriving  and  conspicuous  a  town, 
situated  thus  in  the  heart  of  what  seemed  the  natural 
territory  of  the  United  States  ;  and,  by  so  doing,  to 
render  nugatory  the  mighty  preparations  of  l^anna 
against  Antwerp.  Moreover,  it  was  known  that  there 
was  no  Sj)anish  or  other  ganison  within  its  walls,  so 
that  there  w;us  no  opposition  to  be  feared,  except  from 
tlic  warlike  nature  of  its  citizens. 

Count  Huheido  was  entrusted,  early  in  January,  with 
this  important  enterprise.  He  accordingly  collected  a 
force  of  four  thousand  infantry,  together  with  January, 
two  hundred  mounted  lancers;  having  pre-  ^'>*^- 
viously  reconnoitred  the  ground.  He  relied  verj'^  much, 
for  the  success  of  the  undertaking,  on  Captain  Kleer- 
hagen,  a  Brussels  nobleman,  whose  wife  was  a  native  of 
Bois-le-Duc,  and  who  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
l»»cality.  One  dark  winter's  night,  Kleerhagen,  with 
tifty  picked  soldiers,  advanced  to  the  Antwerp  gate  of 
Bois-le-Duc,  while  Hohenlo,  with  his  whole  force,  lay 
in  ambuscade  as  neiir  as  possible  to  the  citv. 

lietween  the  drawbridge  and  the  portciillis  were  two 
small  guard-houses,  which,  very  carelessly,  had  been 
left  empty.  Kleerhagen,  with  his  fifty  followers,  suc- 
cessfully climl)ed  into  these  lurking-places,  where  they 
quietly  ensconced  themselves  for  the  night.  At  ei^'-ht 
o'clock  of  the  following  morning  (20th  Janu-  20fhJ^ 
ary)  the  guards  of  the  gate  drew  up  the  poi-t<-  i^***- 
cullis,  and  reconnoitred.  At  the  same  instant  the 
ambushed  fifty  sprang  from  their  concealment,  put  tliem 
to  the  sword,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  gate. 
>one  of  the  night-watch  escaped  with  life,  save  one 
poor  old  invalided  citizen,  whose  business  had  been  to 
draw  up  the  portcullis,  and  who  was  severely  wounded, 
and  left  for  dead.  The  fifty  immediately  summoned  all 
of  Hohenlo's  ambuscade  that  were  witliin  hearing,  and 
then,  >vithout  waiting  for  them,  entered  the  town  pell- 
mell  in  the  best  of  spirits,  and  shouting  Victory,  victor}' ! 

*  Guicdanliui,  in  vooe. 


168 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


till  they  were  hoarse.  A  single  corporal,  with  two  men, 
was  left  to  guard  the  entrance.  Meantime,  the  old 
wounded  gate-opener,  bleeding  and  crippled,  crept  into 
a  dark  comer,  and  laid  himself  down,  unnoticed,  to  die. 
Soon  afterwards  Hohenlo  galloped  into  the  town,  clad 
in  complete  armour,  his  long  curls  floating  in  the  wind, 
with  about  two  hundred  troopers  clattering  behind  him] 
closely  followed  by  five  hundred  pikemen  on  foot. 

Very  brutally,  foolishly,  and  characteristically,  he 
had  promised  his  followers  the  sacking  of  the  city  so 
soon  as  it  should  be  taken.  They  accordingly  set  about 
the  sacking,  before  it  was  taken.  Hardly  had  the  five 
or  six  hundred  effected  their  entrance,  than,  throwing  off 
all  control,  they  dispersed  through  the  principal  streets, 
and  began  bursting  open  the  doors  of  the  most  opulent 
households.  The  cries  of  "Victory!"  "Gained  city!" 
"  Down  with  the  Spaniards !"  resounded  on  all  sides. 
Many  of  the  citizens,  panic-stmck,  fled  from  their  homes, 
which  they  thus  abandoned  to  pillage ;  while,  meantime, 
the  loud  shouts  of  the  assailants  reached  the  ears  of  the 
corporal  and  his  two  companions,  who  had  been  left  in 
charge  of  the  gate.  Fearing  that  they 'should  l)e  cheated 
of  their  rightful  share  in  the  plunder,  they  at  once 
abandoned  their  post,  and  set  forth  after  their  comrades 
as  fast  as  their  legs  could  carry  them. 

Now  it  so  chanced — although  there  was  no  garrison 
in  the  town— that  forty  Burgundian  and  Italian  lancers, 
wath  about  thirty  foot-soldiers,  had  come  in  the  day 
before  to  escort  a  train  of  merchandize.  The  Seigneur 
de  Haultepenne,  governor  of  Breda,  a  famous  royalist 
commander—son  of  old  Count  Berlaymont,  who  first 
gave  the  name  of  "  beggars  "  to  the  patriots— had  ac- 
companied them  in  the  expedition.  The  little  troop 
were  already  about  to  mount  their  horses  to  depart,  when 
they  became  aware  of  the  sudden  tumult.  Elmont, 
governor  of  the  city,  had  also  flown  to  the  rescue,  and 
had  endeavoured  to  rally  the  burghers.  Kot  unmindful 
of  their  ancient  warlike  fame,  they  had  obeyed  his 
entreaties.  Elmont,  with  a  strong  party  of  armed 
citizens,  joined  himself  to  Ilaultepenne's  little  band  of 
lancers.  They  fired  a  few  shots  at  straggling  parties  of 
plunderers,  and  pursued  others  up  some  narrow  streets. 
They  were  but  a  handful  in  comparison  with  the  number 


1585. 


THEIU  MISL'O.NDUCT. 


169 


of  the  pati-iois  who  had  gained  entrance  tp  the  city. 
They  were,  however,  compact,  united,  and  resolute. 
The  assailants  were  scattered,  disorderly,  and  bent  only 
upon  plunder.  \N  hen  attacked  by  an  aniied  and  regular 
band,  they  were  amazed.  They  had  been  told  that 
there  was  no  garrison  ;  and  behold  a  choice  phalanx  of 
Spanish  lancers,  led  on  by  one  of  the  most  famous  of 
Thilip's  Netherland  chieftains.  They  thought  them- 
selves betrayed  by  Kleerhagen,  entrapped  into  a  de- 
liberately arranged  ambush.  There  was  a  panic.  The 
soldiers,  dispersed  and  doubtful,  could  not  be  rallied. 
Hohenlo,  seeing  that  nothing  was  to  be  done  with  his 
five  hundred,  galloped  furiously  out  of  the  gate,  to  bring 
in  the  rest  of  his  troops  wlio  had  remained  outside  the 
walls.  The  prize  of  the  wealthy  city  of  Bois-le-Duc 
was  too  tempting  to  be  lightly  abandoned;  but  he  had 
much  better  have  thought  of  making  himself  master  of 
it  himself  before  he  should  present  it  as  a  prey  to  his 
followers. 

During  his  absence  the  panic  spread.     The  States* 
trcK)p8,    bewildered,    astonished,   vigorously    assaulted, 
turned  their  backs  upon  their  enemies,  and  fled  helter- 
skelter  towards  the  gates,  through  which  they  had  first 
gained  admittance.     But,  unfortunately  for  them,  so  soon 
as  the  cori>oral  had  left  his  position,  the  wounded  old 
gate-opener,  m  a  dying  condition,  had  crawled  forth  on 
his  hands  and  knees  from  a  dark  hole  in  the  tower  cut 
with  a  pocket-knife,  the  ropes  of  the  portcullis,  and'then 
given  up  the  ghost.     Most  effective  was  that  blow  struck 
by  a  dead  man's  hand.    Down  came  the  portcullis.    The 
flying  plunderers  were  entrapped.     Close  behind  them 
c^mo  the  excited  burgliers-their  antique  Belgic  ferocity 
now  fully  arousod-iiriiig  away  with  carbine  and  match- 
ock,  dealing  about  them  with  bludgeon  and  cutlass,  and 
led  merrily  on  by  Haultepenne  and  Ehnont,  aimed  in 
proot,  at  the  head  of  their  squadron  of  lancers      The 
unfortimate  patriots  had  risen  very  early  in  the  moi-nin- 
only  to  shear  the  wolf.     Some  were  cut  to  pieces  in  the 
streets  ;  others  c  imbed  the  walls,  and  threw  themselves 
head  foremost  into  the  moat.     Many  were  drowned,  and 
but  a  very   few  effected    their   escape.      Justinus   de 
Wu    sprang  over    the   parapet,   and    succeeded  in 
swimming  the  ditch.    Kleerhagen,  driven  into  the  Holy  ^ 


170 


THE  UNITED  NETHEKLANDS. 


Chap.  V 


Cross  tower,  ascended  to  its  roof,  leaped,  all  accoutred 
as  he  .was,  into  the  river,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
Scotch  soldier,  came  safe  to  land.  Ferdinand  Tnichsess, 
brother  of  the  ex-elector  of  Cologne,  was  killed.  Four 
or  five  hundred  of  the  assailants — nearly  all  who  had 
entered  the  city — were  slain,  and  about  fifty  of  the 
burghers. 

Ilohenlo  soon  came  back,  with  Colonel  Ysselsteiu 
and  two  thousand  fresh  troops.  But  their  noses,  says  a 
contemporary,  grew  a  hundred  feet  long  with  surprise 
when  they  saw  the  gate  shut  in  their  faces.*  It  might 
have  occurred  to  the  Count,  when  he  rushed  out  of  the 
town  for  reinforcements,  that  it  Avould  be  as  well  to 
replace  the  guard,  which— as  he  must  have  seen— had 
abandoned  their  j)ost. 

Cursing  his  folly,  he  returned,  marvellously  discom- 
fited, and  deservedly  censured,  to  Certruydenberg.  And 
thus  had  a  most  important  enterprise,  which  had  nearly 
been  spendidly  successful,  ended  in  disaster  and  dis- 
grace. To  the  recklessness  of  the  general,  to  the  cupidity 
which  he  had  himself  awakened  in  his  followers,  was 
the  failure  alonet  o  be  attributed.  Had  he  taken  pos- 
session of  the  city  with  a  firm  grasp  at  the  head  of  his 
four  thousand  men,  nothing  could  have  resisted  him; 
llaultepenne,  and  his  insignificant  force,  would  have 
been  dead,  or  his  prisoners  ;  the  basis  of  Parma*s  magni- 
ficent operations  would  have  been  withdrawn ;  Antwerp 
would  have  been  saved.* 

"  Infinite  gratitude,"  wrote  Parma  to  Philip,  ♦*  should 
be  rendered  to  the  Lord.  Great  thanks  are  also  due  to 
llaultepenne.  Had  the  rebels  succeetied  in  their  enterprise 
wjainiit  Boldttc,  I  should  ham  been  cotnjyelkd  to  aliandon  the  siege 
of  Antwerp.  The  town,  by  its  strength  and  situation,  is 
of  infinite  importance  for  the  reduction  both  of  that 
pla(;e  and  of  Brussels,  and  the  rebels  in  possession  of 
Bolduc  would  have  cut  off  my  supplies."* 

The  Prince  recommended  llaultepenne  most  warmly 


>  liC  Petit,  li.  506. 

*  For  the  enterprise  against  Boi»-le- 
I>uc.  see  Le  Petit,  il.  505-506 ;  Baudurtil 
Polemog.  11. 39 ;  Meteren.  xli.  222 ;  Strada. 
ii.  326,  327  (who  by  a  singular  lapse  of 
the  pen  repre^nts  Justlnim  de  Nassau  as 
having  been  killed, "  Reperti  Inter  eo«j,  qui 


deKlderati  sunt.Ferd.Truchseslus.  etyothus 
Orangii  Jilius,"  kc  327);  Bor,  li.  558 ; 
Van   Wyn   op  Wagenaar,  vili.  34  m/.; 
L»tter  of  Parma  to  the  King,  12  Feb 
15K5.     (Anhivo  de  Slmancas  Ma) 
'  MS.  Letter  of  Parma  Jubt  cited. 


lObi>. 


FAILURE  OF  THE  ENTERPRISE. 


171 


to  the  King  as  desei-ving  of  a  rich  "  merced."  The  true 
hero  of  the  day,  hoAvever— at  least  the  chief  agent  in 
the  victory— was  the  poor,  crujshed,  nameless  victim 
M-ho  had  cut  the  ropes  of  the  portcullis  at  the  Antwerp 
gate. 

Hohenlo  was  deeply  stung  by  the  disgrace  which  he 
had  incurred.  For  a  time  he  sought  oblivion  in  hard 
drinking ;  but— brave  and  energetic,  though  reckless- 
he  soon  became  desirous  of  retrieving  his  reputation  by 
more  successful  enterprises.  There  was  no  lack  of 
work,  and  assuredly  his  hands  were  rarely  idle. 

"  Hollach  (Hohenlo)  is  gone  from  hence  on  Friday 
last,"  wrote  Davison  to  W  alsingham  ;  ''  he  will  do  what 
he  may  to  recover  his  reputation  lost  in  the  attempt  of 
Bois-le-Duc  ;  which,  for  the  grief  and  trouble  he  hath 
conceived  thereof,  hath  for  the  time  greatly  altered 
him."  * 

Meantime  the  turbulent  Scheldt,  lashed  by  the  storms 
of  winter,  was  becoming  a  more  formidable  enemy  to 
Parma's   great  enterprise  than  the  military  demonstra- 
tions of  his  enemies,  or  the  famine  which  was  makin^-- 
such  havoc  with  his  little  army.     The  ocean  tides  were 
rolling  huge  ice-blocks  up  and  down,  which  beat  against 
his  palisade  with  the  noise  of  thunder,  and  seemed  to 
threaten  its  immediate  destruction.     But  the  work  stood 
firm.     The  piles  supporting  the  piers,  which  had  been 
thrust  out  from  eacli  bank  into  the  stream,  had  been 
driven  fifty  feet  into  the  river's  bed,  and  did  their  duty 
well.     But  m  the  space  between,  twelve  hundred  and 
forty  feet  in  width,  the  current  was  too  deep  for  pile- 
di  iving,  and  a  permanent  bridge  was  to  be  established 
upon  boats.     And  that  bridge  was  to  be  laid  across  the 
icy  and  tempestuous  flood,  in  the  depth  of  winter  in 
the  teeth  of  a  watchful  enemy,  with  the  probability  of 
an  immediate  invasion  from  France— where  the  rebel 
envoys  were  known  to  be  negotiating  on  express  invi- 
tation of  the  King-by  half-naked,  half-starving  soldiers 
and  sailors,  unpaid  for  years,  and  for  the  sake  ol' a  master 
who  seemed  to  have  forgotten  their  existence 

iiZv^^'\^'^/\r'^^  Alexander,  -the  palisade  stands 
firm  m  spite  of  the  ice.  Now,  with  the  favour  of  the 
l^ord,  we  shaU  soon  get  the  fruit  we  have  been  hoping, 

»  Davison  to  WaUingham,  Fib.  12, 1685.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


172 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


if  your  Majesty  is  not  wanting  in  that  to  which  your 
grandeur,  your  great  Christianity,  your  own  interests, 
oblige  you.  In  tnith  'tis  a  great  and  heroic  work,  wor- 
thy the  great  power  of  your  Majesty."  *'For  my  own 
part,"  he  continued,  *'  I  have  done  what  depended  upon 
me.  From  your  own  royal  hand  must  emanate  the  rest ; 
— men,  namely,  sufficient  to  maintain  the  posts,  and 
money  enough  to  support  them  there."  * 

He  expressed  himself  in  the  strongest  language  con- 
cerning the  danger  to  the  royal  cause  from  the  weak 
and  gradually  sinking  condition  of  the  army.  Even 
without  the  French  intrigues  with  the  rebels,  conoeraing 
which,  in  his  ignorance  of  the  exact  state  of  affairs,  he 
expressed  much  anxiety,  it  would  be  impossible,  he  said, 
to  save  the  royal  cause  without  men  and  money. 

"  I  have  spared  myself,"  said  the  Prince,  *'  neither 
day  nor  night.  Let  not  your  Majesty  impute  the  blame 
to  me  if  we  fail.  Verdugo  also  is  uttering  a  perpetual 
cry  out  of  Friesland  for  men— men  and  money."* 

Yet,  notwithstanding  all  these  obstacles  the   bridge 
23th  Feb.  was  finished  at  last.     On  the  25th  February, 

1586.  ^i^Q  ^y^y.  gacred  to  Saint  Matthew,  and  of  fortu- 
nate augury  to  the  Emperor  Charles,  father  of  Philip 
and  grandfather  of  Alexander,  the  Scheldt  was  closed." 

As  already  stated,  from  Fort  Saint  Mary  on  the  Kalloo 
side,  and  from  Fort  Philip,  not  far  fromOordam  on  the  Bra- 
bant shore  of  the  Scheldt,  strong  stnictures,  supported 
upon  piers,  had  been  projected,  reaching,  respectively, 
five  hundred  feet  into  the  stream.  These  two  opposite 
ends  were  now  connected  by  a  permanent  bridge  of 
boats.  There  were  thirty-two  of  these  barges,  each  of 
them  sixty -two  feet  in  length  and  twelve  in  breadth,  the 
spaces  between  each  couple  being  twenty-two  feet  wide, 
and  all  being  bound  together,  stem,  stem,  and  midships, 
by  quadruple  hawsers  and  chains.  Each  boat  was  an- 
chored at  stem  and  stem  with  loose  cables.  Strong 
timbers,  with  cross  rafters,  were  placed  upon  the  boats, 
upon  which  heavy  framework  the  planked  pathway 
was  laid  down.  A  thick  parapet  of  closely-fitting  beanis 
was  erected  along  both  the  outer  edges  of  the  whole 
fabric.     Thus  a  continuous  and  well-fortified  bridge, 


1585. 


THE  BRIDGE  COMPLETED. 


173 


)  MS.  Letter  of  Parma  before  cited, 
sibid. 


»  Parma  to  Philip.  27  F*.  1585.    (At- 
«bivo  de  Slmimcew  MS.) 


two  thousand  four  hundred  feet  in  length,  was  stretched 
at  last  from  shore  to  shore.  Each  of  the  thirty-two 
boats  on  which  the  central  portion  of  the  structure  re- 
posed, was  a  small  fortress  provided  with  two  heavy 
pieces  of  artillery,  pointing  the  one  up,  the  other  down 
the  stream,  and  manned  by  thirty-two  soldiers  and  four 
siiilors,  defended  by  a  breast- work  formed  of  gabions  of 
great  thickness. 

The  forts  of  Saint  Philip  and  Saint  Mary,  at  either 
end  of  the  bridge,  had  each  ten  great  guns,  and  both 
were  filled  with  soldiers.  In  front  of  each  fort,  more- 
over, was  stationed  a  fleet  of  twenty  armed  vessels,  car- 
r^'iiig  heavy  pieces  of  artillery ;  ten  anchored  at  the 
aiigle  towards  Antwerp,  and  as  many  looking  down  the 
river.  One  hundred  and  seventy  great  guns,  including 
the  armaments  of  the  boats  under  the  bridge,  of  the  ar- 
mada and  the  forts,  protected  the  whole  structure,  point- 
ing up  and  down  the  stream. 

But,  besides  these  batteries,  an  additional  precaution 
had  been  taken.     On  each  side,  above  and  below  the 
bridge,  at  a  moderate  distance— a  bow-shot— was  an- 
chored a  heavy  raft  floating  upon  empty  barrels.     Each 
raft  was  composed  of  heavy  timbers,  bound  together  in 
bunches  of  three,  the  spaces  between  being  connected  by 
ships'  masts  and  lighter  spar-work,  and  with  a  tooth- 
like projection  along  the  whole  outer  edge,  formed  of 
strong  rafters,  pointed  and  araied  with  sharp  prongs  and 
hooks  of  iron.     Thus  a  serried  phalanx,  as  it  were,  of 
spears  stood  ever  on  guard  to  protect  the  precious  inner 
stnicture.     Vessels  coming  from  Zeeland  or  Antwerp, 
and  the  floating  ice-masses,  which  were  almost  as  for- 
midable, were  obliged  to  make  their  first  attack  upon 
these   dangerous   outer  defences.      Eacii   raft,  floating 
in  the  middle   of  the   stream,   extended  twelve  hun- 
dred   and   fifty-two   feet   across,   thus    protecting  the 
wh(,le  of  the  bridge  of  boats  and  a  portion  of  that  rest- 
ing upon  piles.* 

Such  was  the  famous  bridge  of  Parma.     The  ma<rni- 
iicent  undertaking  has  been  advantageously  compared 

»  MS.  Letter  of  Parma  before  cited.    admlral>le   plans.   etclUne-    and  man.^  • 

TTL"rt!-  tr^^r  i,r '"°*"^'  '^•■•'""'  '''^-'V  «"^%  r^r^:;^ 


174 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585.         POSITION  OF  ALEXANDER  AND  HIS  ARMY. 


ITU 


with  tlie  celebrated  Rhine-bridge  of  Julius  Caesar. 
When  it  is  remembered,  however,  that  the  Roman 
work  was  performed  in  summer,  across  a  river  only 
half  as  broad  as  the  Scheldt,  free  from  the  disturbing 
action  of  the  tides,  and  flowing  through  an  unresisting 
country,  while  the  whole  character  of  the  structure, 
intended  only  to  serve  for  the  single  jmssage  of  an 
army,  was  far  inferior  to  the  massive  solidity  of  Parma's 
bridge ;  it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  assign  the  supe- 
riority to  the  general  who  had  surmounted  all  the 
obstacles  of  a  northern  winter,  vehement  ebb  and  flow 
from  the  sea,  and  enterprising  and  desperate  enemies 
at  every  point. 

When  the  citizens,  at  last,  looked  upon  the  completed 
fabric,  converted  from  the  *'  dream,"  which  they  had 
pronounced  it  to  be,  into  a  terrible  reality  ;  when  they 
saw  the  shining  array  of  Spanish  and  Italian  legions 
marching  and  countermarching  upon  their  new  load, 
and  trampling,  as  it  were,  the  turbulent  river  beneath 
their  feet ;  when  they  witnessed  the  solemn  military 
spectacle  with  which  the  Governor-General  celebrated 
his  success,  amid  peals  of  cannon  and  shouts  of  triumjih 
from  his  army,  they  bitterly  bewailed  their  o^vn  folly. 
Yet,  even  then,  they  could  hardly  believe  that  the  work 
had  been  accomplished  by  human  agency,  but  they 
loudly  protested  that  invisible  demons  had  been  sum- 
moned to  plan  and  perfect  this  fatal  and  preterhuman 
work.  They  were  wrong.  There  had  been  but  one 
demon — one  clear,  lofty  intelligence,  inspiring  a  steady 
and  untiring  hand.  The  demon  was  the  intellect  of 
Alexander  Farnese ;  but  it  had  been  assisted  in  its 
labour  by  the  hundred  devils  of  envy,  covetousness, 
jealousy,  sefishness,  distrust,  and  discord,  that  had 
housed,  not  in  his  camp,  but  in  the  ranks  of  those  who 
were  contending  for  their  hearths  and  altars. 

And  thus  had  the  Prince  arrived  at  success  in  spite 
of  every  obstacle.  He  took  a  just  pride  in  the  achieve- 
ment, yet  he  knew  by  how  many  dangers  he  was  still 
surrounded,  and  he  felt  hurt,  at  his  sovereign's  neglect. 
"  The  enterprise  at  Antwerp,"  he  wrote  to  Philip  on  the 
day  the  bridge  was  completed,  "  is  so  great  and  heroic, 
that  to  celebrate  it  would  require  me  to  speak  more  at 
large  than  I  like  to  do,  for  fear  of  being  tedious  to  your 


Majesty.  What  I  will  say,  is  that  the  labours  and  difti- 
culties  have  been  every  day  so  great,  that,  if  your  Alajesty 
knew  them,  you  would  estimate  what  we  have  done  more 
highly  than  you  do;  atid  not  forget  us  so  utterly,  leaving  us 
to  die  uf  hufif/er."  * 

lie  considered  the  fabric  in  itself  almost  impregnable, 
provided  he  were  furnished  with  the  means  to  maintain 
what  he  had  so  painfully  constructed. 

*'  The  whole  is  in  such  condition,"  said  he,  "  that  in 
opinion  of  all  competent  military  judges  it  would  stand 
though  all  Holland  and  Zeeland  should  come  to  destroy 
our  palisades.  Their  attacks  must  be  made  at  immense 
danger  and  disadvantage,  so  severely  can  we  play  upon 
them  with  our  artillery  and  musketry.  Every  boat  is 
garnished  with  the  most  dainty  captains  and  soMiers,  so 
that,  if  the  enemy  should  attempt  to  assail  us  now,  they 
would  come  back  with  broken  heads."  * 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  his  apparent  triumph  he  had,  at 
times,  almost  despair  in  his  heart.  He  felt  really  at  the 
last  gasp.  His  troops  had  dwindled  to  the  mere  shadow 
of  an  army,  and  they  were  forced  to  live  almost  upon  air 
1  he  cavalry  had  nearly  vanished.  The  garrisons  in  the 
different  cities  were  starving.  ITie  burghers  had  no 
toed  for  the  soldiers  nor  for  themselves.  -  As  for  the 
rest  of  the  troops,"  said  Alexander,  -they  are  stationed 
^here  they  have  nothing  to  subsist  upon,  save  saltwater 
and  the  dykes,  and  if  the  Lord  does  not  grant  a  miracle 

too  late.         He  assured  his  ma-ster  that  he  could  not  eo 

feXT  1         n''  ""l  '^^^^'«  ^^"-"^'  '^'^^  ^'^  had  been 
fe edmg  his  sohl.ers  for  a  long  time  from  hand  to  mouth, 

and  that  it  would  soon  be  impossible  for  him  to  keep  his 

His  j.ictures  were  most  dismal,  his  supnlicatirms  f..r 
inoney  very  moving,  but  he  never  allS  to  Se  f 

i  hey  must  have  food,"  he  said.     -  '  Tis  impossible  io 
sustain  them  any  longer  by  driblet.,  as  I  haTdone  for 


*  "  V  no  nos  tenia  tan  olvid  idos,  nl  per- 
mitiHrt  dtxaiTj**  en  nuita  n.-cessidud  que 
ro  h:»b<Mnos  de  nmrlr  de  hambre."  *c 
(MS.  letter  of  I'anua  to  Philip,  27  Feb. 
16(i5.) 


2  Parma  to  PblUp  II.,  23  Feb.  15S5 
(Archlvo  de  Simnnciis  jSIS.) 

»  Smne  to  same.  27  Feb.  1685.  (ArcLivo 
de  Simancas  MS.) 
*  Ibid. 


176 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


a  long  time.  Yet  how  can  T  do  it  without  money  ?  And 
I  have  none  at  all,  nor  do  I  see  where  to  get  a  sinde 
florin."  ° 

But  these  revelations  were  made  only  to  his  master's 
most  secret  ear.  His  letters,  deciphered  after  three 
centuries,  alone  make  manifest  the  almost  desperate 
condition  in  which  the  apparently  triumphant  general 
was  placed,  and  the  facility  with  which  his  antajronists 
liad  they  been  well  guided  and  faithful  to  themselves' 
might  have  driven  him  into  the  sea. 

But  to  those  adversaries  he  maintained  an  attitude  of 
serene  and  smiling  triumph.  A  spy,  sent  from  the  city 
to  obtain  intelligence  for  the  anxious  burghers,  had 
gamed  admission  into  his  lines,  was  captured  and 
brought  before  the  Prince.  He  expected,  of  course,  to 
be  immediately  hanged.  On  the  contrary,  Alexander 
gave  orders  that  he  should  be  conducted  over  everv  mi-t 
of  the  encampment.  The  forts,  the  palisades,  the  brido-e 
were  all  to  be  carefully  exhibited  and  explained  to  hhn 
as  if  he  had  been  a  friendly  visitor  entitled  to  every 
information.     He  was  requested  to  count  the  pieces  of 

After  thoroughly  studying  the  scene  he  was  then  dis- 
missed with  a  safe-conduct  to  the  city 

"Go  back  to  thos-e  who  sent  ^ou,"  said  the  Prince. 
"Convey  to  them  the  information  in  quest  of  which 
you  came.  Apprise  them  of  everything  which  you 
have  inspected  counted,  heard  explained.  Tell  tllem 
further,  that  the  siege  will  never  be  abandoned,  and 

!nto  Arwer"?-  "  "'^  "^"'^'^^^  "^  ^^  ^^'"'^^y 

And  now  the  aspect  of  the  scene  was  indeed  por- 

IwTnV/     a^?''^*"''  had  become  a  vei^-  visible  brist- 

Ll  -n     {•  1  ^  1  T  ''r^  '^^  ^''^^^  ^^i^h  t^«  citizens 
had  iidiculcd  while  it  was  growing  before  their  faces. 

There    scowled    the    Kowenstyn-black  with    cannon, 

covered  all  over  with  fortresses -which   the  butchers 

had  so  sedulously  preser^'ed.     From  Parma's  camp  at 

Beveren  and  kalloo  a  great  fortified  road  led  across  the 

river  and   along  the   fatal   dyke  all   the  way   to   the 

entrenchments  at  Stabroek,  where  Mansfeld's  army  lay. 

Grim  3Iondragon  held  the  "  Holy  Cross"  and  the  whole 

»  Strada,  ii.  325.  326. 


1585. 


BRUSSELS  CAPITULATES. 


177 


Kowenstyn  in  his  own  iron  grasp.  A  chain  of  forts, 
built  and  occupied  by  the .  contending  hosts  of  the 
patriots  and  the  Spaniards,  were  closely  packed  to- 
gether along  both  banks  of  the  Scheldt,  nine  miles 
long  from  Antwerp  to  Lillo,  and  interchanged  per- 
petual cannonades,  llie  country  all  around,  once  fertile 
as  a  garden,  had  been  changed  into  a  wild  and  wintr}' 
sea,  where  swarms  of  gun-boats  and  other  armed  vessels 
manoeuvred  and  contended  with  each  other  over  sub- 
merged villages  and  orchards,  and  among  half-drowned 
turrets  and  steeples.  Yet  there  rose  the  great  bulwark 
— whose  early  destruction  would  have  made  all  this 
desolation  a  blessing— unbroken  and  obstinate ;  a  per- 
petual obstacle  to  communication  between  Antwerp  and 
Zeeland.  The  very  spirit  of  the  murdered  Prince  of 
Orange  seemed  to  rise  sadly  and  reproachfully  out  of 
the  waste  of  waters,  as  if  to  rebuke  the  men  who  had 
been  so  deaf  to  his  solemn  warnings. 

Bi-ussels,  too,  wearied  and  worn,  its  heart  sick  with 
hope  deferred,  now  fell  into  despair  a^  the  futile  result 
of  the  French  negotiation  became  apparent.    The  stately 
and  opulent  city  had  long  been  in  a  most  abject  con- 
dition.    Many  of  its  inhabitants  attempted  to  escape 
fiom  the  horrors  of  starving  by  flying  from  its  walls, 
ut  the  tugitives,  the  men  were  either  scourged  back  by 
the  Spaniards  into  the  city,  or  hanged  up  along  the 
road-side.     1  ho   women  were   treated   leniently,   even 
playfully,  for  it  was  thought  an  excellent  jest  to  cut  off 
the  petticoats  of  the  unfortunate  starving  creatures  up 
to  their  knees,  and  then  command  them  to  go  back  and 
starve  at  home  with  their  friends  and  fellow-citizens 
A  great  many  persons  literally  died  of  hunger.     Matrons 
^v  th  large  families  poisoned  their  children  and  them- 
selves to  avoid  the  more  terrible  death  by  star^-inir  '    At 
a*t,  when  Vilvoorde  was  taken,  when  the  bareness  of 
1  w!'^r'i       ""^   '^'''    thoroughly   understood,    when 
1  amas  bridge  was  completed  and  the  Scheldt  13th  March 
bridled,  Bi-ussels  capitulated  on  as  favourable  ' 

terms  as  could  well  have  been  expected.' 


1585. 


'  Strada,  Ii.  329.  330. 

2  Ibid. ;  Meteren.  xH.  22»» ;  U  Petit, 

i\  511.    The  burghers  were  allowed  two 

years,  during  which  tl.ey  were  to  dei  ide 

beiwetii  the  Papacy  and  perpetual  exile. 

VOL.  I. 


The  inimlclpal  liberties  were  to  depend 
npon  the  pleasure  of  tly>  King.  The 
houses  of  Cardinal  Granville  and  of 
Count  Mansfeld  were  to  be  rebuilt  ai.d 
refomished. 

H 


178 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


Notwithstanding  these   triumphs,  Panna  was  nmcli 
inconvenienced  by  not  possessing  the  sea-coast  of  Flan- 
ders.    Ostend  was  a  pei-pctual  stumbling-block  to  him. 
He  therefore  assented,  with  pleasure,  to  a  proposition 
made  by  La  Motte,  one  of  the  most  experienced  and 
courageous  of   the   \\alloon    royalist   commanders,   to 
attempt  the  place  by  surprise.     And  La  ^Motte,  at  the 
first  blow,  was  more  than  half  successful.     On  the  night 
29th  March,  of  the  29th  March,  with  two  thousand  foot  and 
15M5.      twelve  hundred  cavalry,  he  carried  the  whole 
of  the  old  port  of  Ostend.     Leaving  a  ^V\alloon  officer, 
in   whom  he    had   confidence,   to  guard   the   position 
already  gained,  he  went  back  in  person  for  reinforce- 
naents.      During  his  advance  the  same  ill  luck  attended 
his  enterprise  which  had  blasted  Ilohenlo's  achievement 
at  Bois-le-Duc.    The  soldiers  he  left  behind  him  deserted 
their  posts  for  the  sake  of  rifling  the  town.     The  officer 
in  command,  instead  of  keeping  them  to   their  duty, 
joined  in  the  chase.     The  citizens  roused  themselves^ 
attacked  their  invaders,  killed  many  of  them,  and  j)ut 
the  rest  to  flight.     When  La  Motte  returned,  he  found 
the  panic  general.     His  whole  force,  including  the  fiv.sli 
soldiers  just  brought  to  tlie  rescue,  were  beside  them- 
selves with  fear.     He  killed  several  with  his  own  hand, 
but  the    troops   were  not    to  be   rallied. '    IHs   quick 
triumph  was  changed  into  an  absolute  defeat. 

Parma,  furious  at  the  ignominious  result  of  a  i)lan 
from  which  so  much  had  been  expected,  ordered  the 
AValloon  captain,  from  whose  delinquency  so  much 
disaster  had  resulted,  to  be  forthwith  hanged.  *'  Such 
villany,"  said  he,  '*  must  never  go  unpunished."  ^ 

It  was  impossible  for  the  Prince  to  send  a  second 
expedition  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  Ostend,  for  the 
patriots  were  at  last  arousing  themselves  to  the  necessity 
of  exertion.  It  was  very  obvious— now  that  the  bridge 
had  been  built,  and  tlie  Kowenst^Ti  fortified— that  one 
or  the  other  was  to  be  destroyed,  or  Antwerp  abandoned 
to  its  fate. 

The  patriots  had  been   sleeping,  as  it  were,  all  the 

»  I^rma  Ui  Philip  II..  lo  Apr.   is'ts.  on  account  of  the  previous  pood  conduct 

(Arrhivo  d,"  Slinaiica.s   MS.)     Comiwre  of  one  of  them.     Alexaud.r  in  his  1  tter 

Strndi.  ii,  332,  who  says  tliat  thrt>e  of  tlie  infonns  the  Kiiij?  tliat  h-  had  ord.  mi  ..ne 

cfticorswcrcionduniie*!  to  be  exmitcd.  to  W  ex««cut.-d  lorthwith.us  an  cvuinple 

but  that  all  wore  nib-e<iuently  pardoned,  to  the  oilier*. 


1585. 


PATRIOTS  GAIN  IJEFKENSHOElv. 


179 


winter,  hugging  the  delusive   dream  of  French  sove- 
reignty   and    French    assistance.      No    language    can 
exaggerate  the  deadly  effects  from  the  slow  poison  of 
that  negotiation.     At  any  rate,  the  negotiation  was  now 
concluded.     The  dream  was  dispelled.     Antweip  must 
nctw  fall,  or  a  decisive   blow  must   be   sti*uck  by  the 
])atriots  themselves,  and  a  telling  blow  had  been  secretly 
and    maturely    meditated.      Certain    prejiaratory    steps 
were  however  necessary. 

The  fort  of  Liefkenshoek,  *'  Darling's  Comer,"  was  a 
most  important  jwst.  The  patiiots  had  never  ceased  to 
regret  that  precious  possession,  lost,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
so  tmgical  a  manner  on  the  very  day  of  Orange's  death. 
Fort  Lillo,  exactly  opposite,  on  the  Brabant  shore  cf 
the  Scheldt,  had  always  been  securely  held  by  them, 
and  was  their  strongest  position.  Were  both  places  in 
their  power,  the  navigation  of  the  liver,  at  least  as  far 
as  the  bridge,  would  be  comparatively  secure. 

A  sudden   dash   was   made   upon   Liefkenshoek      A 
number  of  armed  vessels  sailed  up  from  Zeeland,   4th  \prii 
under  command  of  J ustinus  de  Nassau.     They      i5«5.  ' 
were  assisted  from  Fort  Lillo  by  a  detachment  headed 
by  Count  Ilohenlo.     These  two  officers  were  desirous  of 
retrieving  the  reputation  which  they  had  lost  at  Bois-le- 
JMic.     They  were   successful,  and  the  *' Darling"  fort 
was  cariied  at  a  blow.      After  a  brief  cannonade  the 
patiiots  made  a  breach,  efiected  a  landing,  and  sprano- 
over  the  rami)arts.     The  W  alloons  and  Spaniards  fled  m 
dismay;    many  of  them   were   killed   in   the  fort   and 
along  the  dvkes ;  othei-s  were*  hurled  into  the  Scheldt 
Ihe  victors  followed  up  their  success  by  reducing,  with 
equal  iinpetuosity,  the  fort  of  Saint  Anthony,  situate  in 
the  neighUmrhood  farther  doMii  the  river.     They  thus 
gained  entire  command  of  all  the  high  ground,  which 

''TT^^  'W  ^^f!  ^''^'*^'  ^^^"'^  ^^^  inundation,  and  was 
called  the  Doel' 

^  The  dvke  on  which  Liefkenshoek  stood,  led  uv  the 
river  towards  Kalloo,  distant  less  than  a  league.     There 

p;;r«tFT^'-^fAi"'^"^'^r  ^^^^  *^^«  ^^^^^^^  bridge. 

Lut  at  iort  baint  Mary,  where  the  Flemish  head  of  that 
bridge  rested,  the  djke  was  broken.  Upon  that  broken 
end  the  commanders  of  the  expedition  against  Lief- 

>  Le  KUt.  il.  611 ;  Stmda,  il.  33a. 

N  2 


180 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


PROJECTS  OF  GIANIBELLI. 


181 


kenslioek  were  ordered  to  throw  up  an  entrenchment, 
without  loss  of  a  moment,  so  soon  as  thev  should  have 
gained  the  fortresses  which  they  were  ordered  first  to 
assault.  Sainte  Aldegonde  had  given  urgent  written 
directions  to  this  effect.  From  a  redoubt  situated  thus, 
in  the  very  face  of  Saint  Mary's,  that  position,  the 
palisade-work,  the  whole  bridge,  might  be  battered 
with  all  the  artillery  that  could  be  brought  from  Zeelaud. 

But  Parma  was  beforehand  '^vith  them.  Notwith- 
standing his  rage  and  mortification  that  Spanish  soldiers 
should  have  ignominiously  lost  the  important  fortress 
which  Kichebourg  had  conquered  so  brilliantly  nine 
months  before,  he  was  not  the  man  to  spend  time  in 
unavailing  regrets.  His  quick  eye  instantly  detected 
the  flaw  which  might  soon  be  falal.  In  the  very  same 
night  of  the  loss  of  Liefkenshoek,  he  sent  as  strong  a 
party  as  could  bo  spared,  with  plenty  of  sappers  and 
miners,  in  flat-bottomed  boats  across  from  Kalloo.  As 
the  morning  dawned,  an  improvised  fortress,  with  the 
Spanish  flag  waving  above  its  bulwarks,  stood  on  the 
broken  end  of  the  dyke.  That  done,  he  ordered  one  of 
the  two  captains  who  had  commanded  in  Liefkenshoek 
and  Saint  Anthony  to  be  beheaded  on  the  same  dyke. 
The  other  was  dismissed  with  ignominy.'  Ostend  was,  of 
course,  given  up  ;  "  but  it  was  not  a  small  matter,"  said 
Parma,  **to  fortify  ourselves  that  very  night  upon  the 
ruptured  place,  and  so  prevent  the  rebels  from  doing  it, 
which  would  have  been  very  mal  ^-propos.* 

Nevertheless,  the  rebels  had  achieved  a  considerable 
success ;  and  now  or  never  the  telling  blow,  long 
meditated,  was  to  be  struck. 

There  lived  in  Antwerp  a  subtle  Mantuan,  Gianibelli 
by  name,  wlio  had  married  and  been  long  settled  in  the 
city.  He  had  made  himself  busy  with  various  schemes 
for  victualling  the  place.  He  had  especially  urged 
upon  the  autliorities,  at  an  early  period  of  the  siege, 
the  propriety  of  making  large  purchases  of  com  and 
storing  it  in  magazines  at  a  time  when  the  famine-price 
had  by  no  means  been  reached.'   But  the  leading  men  had 

J  Strada,  li.  32X  Bor,  U.  590,  and  Ben-  but  says  nothing  of  the  punishment  in* 

tlvugUo,  p.  li.  I.  lil.  p.  291,  say  that  both  fllcted  up^m  the  culprits, 

the  coramand.mts  were  beheaded.    The  '  MS.  letter  of  Parma,  Just  cited. 

Prince  himself  (MS.  letter  to  Philip,  10  '  Bor,  ii.  500- 
April,  1585)  rektes  the  loss  of  the  fort^ 


then  their  heads  full  of  a  great  ship,  or  floating  castle, 
which  they  were  building,  and  which  they  had  pomp- 
ously named  the  "  War's  End,"  "  Fin  de  la  Guerre."  \Ve 
shall  hear  something  of  this  phenomenon  at  a  later 
period.  Meanwhile,  Gianibelli,  who  knew  something 
of  Khipbuilding,  as  he  did  of  most  other  useful  matters, 
ridiculed  the  design,  which  was  likely  to  cost,  in  itself 
before  completion,  as  much  money  as  would  keep  the 
city  in  bread  for  a  third  of  a  year. 

Gianibelli  was  no  patriot.  He  was  purely  a  man  of 
science  and  of  great  acquirements,  who  was  looked  upon 
by  the  ignorant  populace  alternately  as  a  dreamer  and  a 
wizard.  He  was  as  indifferent  to  the  cause  of  freedom 
as  of  despotism,  but  he  had  a  great  love  for  chemistr3\ 
He  was  also  a  j)rofound  mechanician,  second  to  no  man 
of  his  age  in  theoretic  and  practical  engineering. 

He  had  gone  from  Italy  to  Spain  that  he  might  offer 
his  services  to  Philip,  and  give  him  tlie  benefit  of  many 
original  and  ingenious  inventions.  Forced  to  dance 
attendance,  day  after  day,  among  sneering  courtiers  and 
insolent  placemen,  and  to  submit  to  the  criticism  of 
practical  sages  and  philosophers  of  routine,  while  he 
was  constantly  denied  an  opportunity  of  explaining  his 
projects,  the  quick-tempered  Italian  had  gone  away  at 
last  indignant.  He  had  tlien  vowed  revenge  upon  the 
dulness  by  which  his  genius  had  been  slighted,  and  had 
Bworn  that  the  next  time  the  Spaniards  heard  the  name 
of  the  man  whom  they  had  dared  to  deride,  they  should 
hear  it  with  tears.' 

He  now  laid  before  the  senate  of  Antwerp  a  plan  for 
some  vessels  likely  to  prove  more  effective  than  the 
gigantic  "  War's  End,"  which  he  had  prophesied  would 
prove  a  failure.  With  these  he  pledged  himself  to  de- 
stroy the  bridge.  He  demanded  three  ships  which  he  had 
selected  from  the  city  fleet— the  "  Orange,"  the  "  Post," 
and  the  '*  Golden  Lion,"— measuring,  respectively, 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  three  hundred  and  fifty,  and  five 
hundred  tons.  Besides  these,  he  wished  sixty  flat- 
lx)ttomed  scows,  which  he  proposed  to  send  down  the 
river,  partially  submerged,  disposed  in  the  shape  of  a 
half-moon,    with    innumerable  anchore  and    grapnels 

»  Stnwia,  M.  334,  335. 


182 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


thrusting  themselves  out  of  the  water  at  every  point. 
This  machine  was  intended  to  operate  against  the  raft. 

Ignorance  and  incredulity  did  their  work,  as  usual, 
and  Gianibelli's  request  was  refused.  As  a  quarter- 
measure,  nevertheless,  ho  was  allowed  to  take  two 
smaller  vessels  of  seventy  and  eighty  tons.  The  Italian 
was  disgusted  with  this  parsimony  upon  so  momentous 
an  occa^sion,  but  he  at  the  same  time  determined,  even 
with  these  slender  materials,  to  give  an  exhibiti(»n  of  his 

power.' 

Not  all  his  the  glory,  however,  of  the  ingenious  pro- 
jeet.  Associated  with  him  were  two  skilful  artizans  of 
Antwei-p  ;  aclockmaker  named  Bory,  and  a  mechanician 
named  Timmerman  ;  ^  but  Gianibelli  was  the  chief  and 
superintendent  of  the  w^hole  daring  enterprise. 

Flo  gave  to  his  two  ships  the  cheerful  names  of  the 
**  Fortune  "  and  the  "  Hope,"  and  set  himself  energeti- 
cally to  justify  their  titles  by  their  efficiency.  They  were 
to  be  floating  marine  volcanos,  which,  drifting  down  the 
river  with  the  ebb  tide,  were  to  deal  destruction  where 
the  Spaniards  deemed  themselves  most  secure. 

In  the  hold  of  each  vessel,  along  the  whole  length, 
was  laid  down  a  solid  flooring  of  brick  and  mortar,  one 
foot  thick,  and  five  feet  wide.  Upon  this  was  built  a 
chamber  of  marble  mason-work,  forty  feet  long,  three 
and  a  half  feet  broad,  as  many  high,  and  with  side- walls 
five  feet  in  thickness.  This  was  the  crater.  It  was 
filled  with  seven  thousand  pounds  of  gunpowder,  of  a 
kind  superior  to  anything  kno\NTi,  and  prepared  by 
Gianibelli  himself.  It  was  covered  with  a  roof,  six  feet 
in  thickness,  formed  of  blue  tombstones  placed  edgewise. 
Over  this  crater  rose  a  hollow  cone,  or  pyramid,  made 
of  heavy  marble  slabs,  and  filled  with  millstones, 
cannon-balls,  blocks  of  marble,  chain-shot,  iron  hooks, 
plough-coulters,  and  every  dangerous  missile  that  could 
be  imagined.  The  spaces  between  the  mine  and  the  sides 
of  each  ship  were  likewise  filled  with  paving  stones, 


»  Bor,  IL  696,  59T;  Hoofd  Vervc.lgh. 


91. 

»  Bor,  a.  596.  597  ;  Hoofd  Venolgh, 
91;  Strada,  il.  33 1  teq.;  Met»Tin.  xll. 
22V";  Baodartll  Pnlomog.  il.  24-27,  with 
very  curious  Illustrative  plates;  BeiitU 
vv^glio.  p.  H.  L  m.  201.  292;   lloyd.  iv.    Antwerpcn,  v.  223  »f'i. 


60.  (T^ettcr  of  Parma  to  Philip,  10  April. 
1585.   Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 

'  Hundias,  *  Korte  BeschryvinR  ende 
•  Afbeeldlng  van  de  penorale  Regt'lon  dt  r 
Fortlficatie.'  "S  Gravenbage,  1624,  fol. 
cited   la   Mertens  and  Torfs'  Ge^ch.  v. 


1585. 


ATTACK  ON  THE  BRIDGE. 


183 


iron-bound  stakes,  harpoons,  and  other  projectiles.  The 
whole  fabric  wa^  then  covered  by  a  smooth  light  flooring; 
of  planks  and  biick-work,  upon  which  was  a  pile  ot 
wood.  This  was  to  be  lighted  at  the  proper  time,  in 
order  that  the  two  vessels  might  present  the  appearance 
of  simple  fire-ships,  intended  only  to  excite  a  con- 
flagration of  the  bridge.  On  the  "Fortune "a  slow 
mat<jh,  very  carefully  prepared,  communicated  with  the 
submerged  mine,  which  was  to  explode  at  a  nicely- 
calculated  moment.  The  eruption  of  the  other  floating 
volcano  was  to  be  regulated  by  an  ingenious  piece  of 
clock-work,  by  which,  at  the  appointed  time,  fire,  struck 
from  a  flint,  was  to  inflame  the  hidden  mass  of  gun- 
powder below. 

In  addition  to  these  two  infernal  machines,  or  "  hell- 
burners,"  as  they  were  called,  a  fleet  of  thirty-two 
smaller  vessels  was  prepared.  Covered  with  tar,  tur- 
pentine, rosin,  and  tilled  with  inflammable  and  com- 
bustible matepals,  these  barks  were  to  be  sent  from 
Antwerp  down  the  river  in  detachments  of  eight  every 
half-hour  with  the  ebb  tide.  The  object  was  to  clear 
the  way,  if  possible,  of  the  raft,  and  to  occupy  the 
attention  of  the  Spaniards,  until  the  "  Fortune  "  and  the 
"  Hope  "  should  come  do^vn  upon  the  bridge. 

The  5th  April,  being  the  day  following  that  on  which 
the  successful  assault  upon  Liefltenshoek  and  5tb  April. 
Saint  Anthony  had  taken  place,  was  fixed  for  ^^**^- 
the  descent  of  the  fire-ships.  So  soon  as  it  should  be 
dark,  the  thirty -two  lesser  burning  vessels,  under  the 
direction  of  Admiral  Jacob  Jacobzoon,  were  to  be  sent 
forth  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  "  Boor's  Sconce  " — 
a  fort  close  to  the  city  walls — in  accordance  with  the 
Italian's  plan.  "  Runaway  Jacob,"  however,  or  **  Kop- 
pen  Loppon,"  had  earned  no  new  laurels  which  could 
throw  into  the  shade  that  opprobrious  appellation.  He 
was  not  one  of  Holland's  naval  heroes,  but,  on  the 
whole,  a  very  incompetent  officer ;  exactly  the  man  to 
damage  the  best-concerted  scheme  which  the  genius  ot 
others  could  invent.  Accordingly,  Koppen  Loppen 
began  with  a  grave  mistake.  Instead  of  allowing  the 
precursory  fire-ships  to  drift  down  the  stream,  at  the 
regular  intervals  agreed  upon,  he  despatched  them  all 
rapidly,  and  helterskelter,  one  after  another,  as  fast  aa 


184 


THE  UN1TP:D  NEfHEHLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


they  could  be  set  forth  on  their  career.  Xot  long  after- 
wards, he  sent  the  two  "  hell-biirners,"  the  *'  Fortune  '* 
and  the  "  Hope,"  directly  in  their  wake,  llius  the  whole 
fiery  fleet  had  set  forth,  almost  at  once,  upon  its  I'utal 
voyage. 

It  was  known  to  Parma  that  preparations  for  an 
attack  were  making  at  Antwerp,  but  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  danger  he  was  necessarily  in  the  dark.  He  was 
anticipating  an  invasion  by  a  fleet  from  the  city  in 
combination  with  a  squadron  of  Zeelanders  coming  up 
from  beU)w.  So  soon  as  the  first  vessels,  therefore,  with 
their  trains  not  yet  lighted,  were  discovered  bearing 
down  from  the  city,  he  was  confirmed  in  his  conjecture. 
His  dnims  and  trumpets  instantly  called  to  arms,  and 
the  whole  body  of  his  troops  was  mustered  upon  the 
bridge,  the  palisades,  and  in  the  nearest  forts,  llius 
the  preparations  to  avoid  or  to  contend  with  the  danger, 
were  leading  the  Spaniards  into  the  very  jaws  of 
destruction.  Alexander,  after  crossing  and  recrossing 
the  river,  giving  minute  directions  for  repelling  the 
expected  assault,  finally  stationed  himself  in  the  block- 
house at  the  point  of  junction,  on  the  Flemish  side, 
between  the  palisade  and  the  bridge  of  boats.  He  wa.s 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  superior  officers,  among  whom 
Eichebourg,  Billy,  Gaetano,  Cei^sis,  and  the  Englishman 
Sir  Rowland  Yorke,  were  conspicuous.- 

It  was  a  dark,  mild  evening  of  early  spring.  As  the 
fleet  of  vessels  dropped  slowly  down  the  river,  they 
suddenly  became  luminous,  each  ship  flaming  out  of  the 
darkness,  a  phantom  of  living  fire.  Tlio  very  waves  of 
the  Scheldt  seemed  glowing  with  the  conflagration, 
while  its  banks  were  lighted  up  with  a  preternatural 
glare.  It  was  a  wild,  pompous,  theatrical  spectacle. 
The  array  of  soldiers  on  Doth  sides  the  river,  along  the 
dykes  and  upon  the  bridge,  with  banners  waving,  and 
spear  and  cuirass  glancing  in  the  lurid  light;  the 
demon  fleet,  guided  by  no  human  hand,  wrapped  in 
flames,  and  flitting  through  the  darkness,  with  irregular 
movement,  but  portentous  aspect,  at  the  caprice  of  wind 
and  tide ;  the  death-like  silence  of  expectation  which 
liad  succeeded  the  sound  of  trumpet  and  the  shouts  of 
the  soldiers  ;  iind  the  weird  glow  which  had  supplanted 
the  darkness — all  combined  with  the  sense  of  iiiniiincnt 


1585. 


THE  FIKE-SHIPS. 


185 


and  mysterious  danger  to  excite  and  ojjpress  the  imagi- 
nation. 

Presentl}",  the  Spaniards,  as  they  gazed  from  the 
bridge,  began  to  take  heart  again.  One  after  another, 
many  of  the  lesser  vessels  drifted  blindly  against  the 
raft,  where  they  entangled  themselves  among  the  hooks 
and  gigantic  spearheads,  and  burned  slowly  out  without 
causing  any  extensive  conflagration.  Others  grounded 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  before  reaching  tlieir  desti- 
nation.    Some  sank  in  the  stream. 

Last  of  all  came  the  two  infernal  ships,  swaying  un- 
steadily with  the  current ;  the  pilots  of  course,  as  they 
neared  the  bridge,  having  noiselessly  effected  their 
escape  in  the  skiff's.  The  slight  fire  upon  the  deck 
scarcel}'  illuminated  the  dark  phantom-like  hulls.  Both 
were  carried  by  the  current  clear  of  the  raft,  which,  by 
a  great  error  of  judgment,  as  it  now  appeared,  on  the 
part  of  the  builders,  had  only  been  made  to  protect  the 
floating  portion  of  the  bridge.  The  "  Fortune  "  came 
first,  staggering  inside  the  raft,  and  then  lurching 
clumsily  against  the  dyke,  and  groimding  near  Kalloo, 
without  touching  the  bridge.  There  was  a  moment's 
pause  of  expectation.  At  last  the  slow  match  upon  the 
deck  burned  out,  and  there  was  a  faint  and  partial  ex- 
plosion, by  which  little  or  no  damage  was  produced. 

Panna  instantly  called  for  volunteers  to  board  the 
mysterious  vessel.  The  desperate  expedition  was 
headed  by  the  bold  Powland  Yorke,^  a  Londoner,  of 
whom  one  day  there  was  more  to  be  heard  in  Nether- 
land  history.  The  pai-ty  sprang  into  the  deserted  and 
now  harmless  volcano,  extinguishing  the  slight  fires 
that  were  smouldering  on  the  deck,  and  thrusting 
spears  and  long  poles  into  the  hidden  recesses  of  the 
hold.  There  was,  however,  little  time  to  pursue  these 
periU)us  investigations,  and  the  party  soon  made  their 
escjipe  to  the  bridge. 

The  troops  of  Parma,  crowding  on  the  palisade,  and 
looking  over  the  i)arapet«,  now  began  to  greet  the  ex- 
hibition with  peals  of  derisive  laughter.  It  was  but 
cliild's  play,  they  thought,  to  threaten  a  Spanish  army, 
and  a  geneial  like  Alexander  Farnese,  with  such  paltry 


»  Stowe,  •  Chronicle  of  England,'  ed.  1631,  p.  TOO. 


186 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


ClIAP.  V. 


fire-works  as  these.  Nevertheless  all  eyes  were 
anxiously  fixed  ui>on  the  remaining  fire-ship,  or  "  hell- 
bunier,"  iho  ''  Hope,"  which  had  now  drifted  very  near 
the  place  of  its  destination.  Tearing  h^r  way  between 
tbe  raft  and  the  shore,  she  struck  heavily  against  the 
bridge  on  the  Kallo  side,  close  to  the  blockhouse  at 
the  commencement  of  the  floating  portion  of  the  bridge. 
A  thin  wreath  of  smoke  was  seen  curling  over  a  slight 
and  smouldering  fire  upon  her  deck. 

^larcpiis  Kichebourg,  standing  on  the  bridge,  laughed 
loudly  at  the  apparently  impotent  conclusion  of  the 
whole  adventure.  It  was  his  last  laugh  on  earth.  A 
number  of  soldiers,  at  Parma's  summons,  instantly 
sprang  on  board  this  second  mysterious  vessel,  and 
occupied  themselves,  as  the  party  on  boai-d  the  *'  For- 
tune "  had  done,  in  extinguishing  the  flames,  and  in 
endeavouring  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  machine, 
liichebourg  boldly  directed  from  the  bridge  their 
hazardous  experiments. 

At  the  same  moment  a  certain  ensign  Do  Vega,  who 
stood  near  the  Prince  of  Parma,  close  to  the  blockhouse, 
approached  him  with  vehement  entreaties  that  he 
should  retire.  Alexander  refused  to  stir  from  the  spot, 
being  anxious  to  learn  the  result  of  these  investigations. 
Vega,  moved  by  some  instinctive  and  irresistible  appre- 
hension, fell  upon  his  knees,  and,  plucking  the  General 
earnestly  by  the  cloak,  implored  him  with  such 
passionate  words  and  gestures  to  leave  the  place,  that 
the  Prince  reluctantly  yielded. 

It  was  not  a  moment  too  soon.  The  clock-work  in 
the  "  Hope  "  had  been  better  adjusted  than  the  slow 
match  in  the  "Fortune."  Scarcely  had  Alexander 
reached  the  entrance  of  Saint  Mary's  Fort,  at  the  end 
of  the  bridge,  when  a  horrible  explosion  was  heartl. 
The  "  Hope  "  disappeared,  together  with  the  men  who 
had  boarded  her,  and  the  blockhouse,  against  which 
she  had  struck,  with  all  its  garrison,  while  a  large 
portion  of  the  bridge,  with  all  the  troops  stationed  upon 
It,  had  vanished  into  air.  It  was  the  work  of  a  single 
instant.  The  Scheldt  ya^vned  to  its  lowest  depth,  and 
then  cast  its  waters  across  the  dykes,  deep  into  the 
forts,  and  far  over  the  land,  llio  earth  shook  as  with 
tlio  throb  of  a  volcano.     A  wild  glare  lighted  up  the 


1585. 


THE  EXPLOSION. 


187 


scene  for  one  moment,  and  was  then  succeeded  by 
pitchy  darkness.  Houses  were  toppled  down  miles 
away,  and  not  a  living  thing,  even  in  remote  places, 
could  keep  its  feet.  The  air  was  filled  with  a  rain  of 
ploughshares,  grave-stones,  and  marble  balls,  inter- 
mixed with  the  heads,  limbs,  and  bodies  of  what  had 
been  human  beings.  Slabs  of  granite,  vomited  by  the 
flaming  ship,  were  found  afterwards  at  a  league's 
dist^mce,  and  buried  deep  in  the  earth.  A  thousand 
soldiers  were  destroyed  in  a  second  of  time ;  many  of 
them  l>eing  torn  to  shreds,  beyond  even  the  semblance 
of  humanity. 

Kichebourg  disappeared,  and  was  not  found  until 
several  days  later,  when  his  body  was  discovered, 
doubled  around  an  iron  chain,  which  hung  from  one  of 
the  bridge-boats  in  the  centre  of  the  river.  The  veteran 
Kobles,  Seigneur  de  Billy,  a  Portuguese  officer  of 
eminent  service  and  high  military  rank,  was  also 
destroyed.  Months  afterwards,  his  body  was  discovered 
adhering  to  the  timber-work  of  the  bridge,  upon  the 
ultimate  removal  of  that  structure,  and  was  only  recog- 
nised by  a  peculiar  gold  chain  which  he  habitually 
wore.  Parma  himself  was  thrown  to  the  ground, 
stunneil  by  a  blow  on  the  shoulder  from  a  fljnng  stake. 
The  page  who  was  behind  him,  carrying  his  helmet, 
fell  dead  without  a  wound,  killed  by  the  concussion  of 
the  air. 

Several  strange  and  less  tragical  incidents  occurred. 
ITie  Viscomte  de  Bruxelles  was  blown  out  of  a  boat  on 
the  Flemish  side,  and  descended  safe  and  sound  into 
another  in  the  centre  of  the  stream.  Captain  Tucci, 
clad  in  complete  armour,  was  whirled  out  of  a  fort,  bhot 
perpendicularly  into  the  air,  and  then  fell  back  into  the 
river.  Being  of  a  cool  terperament,  a  good  swimmer, 
and  very  ])ious,  he  skilfully  divested  himself  of  cuirass 
and  helmet,  recommended  himself  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  swanr  safely  asliore.  Another  young  officer  of 
Parma's  body-guard,  Fran9ois  de  Liege  by  name,  stand- 
ing on  the  Kalloo  end  of  the  bridge,  rose  like  a  feather 
into  the  clouds,  and,  flying  quite  across  the  river, 
alighted  on  the  opposite  bank  with  no  further  harm  than 
a  contused  shoulder.  He  imagined  himself  (he  said 
afterwards)  to  have  been  changed  into  a  cannon-ball,  as 


188 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


he  rushed  through  the  pitchy  atmosphere,  propelled  hy 
a  blast  of  irresistible  fury.' 

It  had  been  agreed  that  Admiral  Jacobzoon  should 
immediately  after  the  explosion  of  the  fire-ships  send 
an  eight-oared  barge  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  damage. 
If  a  breach  had  been  effected,  and  a  passage  up  to  the 
city  opened,  he  was  to  fire  a  rocket.  At  this  signal, 
the  fleet  stationed  at  Lillo,  carrying  a  heavy  annament, 
laden  with  provisions  enough  to  relievo  Antvvei-p  from 
all  anxiety,  and  ready  to  sail  on  the  instant,  was  at  once 
to  force  its  way  up  the  river. 

The  deed  was  done.  A  breach,  two  hundred  feet  in 
width,  was  made.  Had  the  most  skilful  pilot  in  Zeeland 
held  the  helm  of  the  "Hope,"  with  a  choice  crew 
obedient  to  his  ordera,  he  could  not  have  guided  her 
more  carefully  than  she  had  been  directed  by  wind  and 
tide.  Avoiding  the  raft  which  lay  in  her  way,  she  had, 
as  it  were,  M'ith  the  intelligence  of  a  living  creature, 
fulfilled  the  wishes  of  the  daring  genius  that  had  created 
her;  and  laid  herself  alongside  the  bridge,  exactly  at 
the  most  telling  point.  She  had  then  destroyed  herself, 
precisely  at  the  right  moment.  All  the  effects,  and 
more  than  all,  that  had  been  predicted  by  the  MantuaH 
wizard  had  come  to  pass.  The  famous  bndge  was  cleft 
through  and  through,  and  a  thousand  picked  men— 
Pai-maXvery  "daintiest"— were  blown  out  of  existence. 
The  Governor-General  himself  was  lying  stark  and  stiff 
upon  the  bridge  which  he  said  should  be  his  triumphal 
monument  or  his  tomb.  His  most  distinguished  officers 
were  dead,  and  all  the  survivors  were  dumb  and  blind 
with  astonishment  at  the  unheard-of  convulsion.  The 
passage  was  open  for  the  fleet,  and  the  fleet  lay  below 
with  sails  spread,  and  oars  in  the  rowlocks,  only  waiting 
for  the  signal  to  bear  up  at  once  to  the  scene  of  action, 
to   smite   out  of   existence  all  that  remained  of  the 


J  The  chief  authorities  used  In  the  fore- 
gtrtng  account  of  this  famous  enterprise 
are  those  already  cited  on  a  previous  page, 
via.:  the  MS.  letters  of  the  Prince  of 
Parma  in  the  Archives  of  Simancas ;  Bor, 
Jl.  596.  597  ;  Strada.  11. 334  w/.;  Meteren, 
xil.  223«;  Hoofd  Vervoigh,  91;  Bau- 
dartli  Polemographia,  il.  24-27  ;  Bentivo- 
glio,  p.  il.  i.lli.  291,  292;  Reyd,  Iv.  60; 


Martens  and  Torfs,  Gesch.  v.  Antw.  v.  223 
uq. ;  Papcbroclil  Ann.  Antv.  Iv,  ido  stq 
et  al.—\  have  not  thought  it  necessary 
to  cite  them  step  by  step ;  for  all  the  no- 
counts,  with  som**  Inevitable  and  unim- 
portant discrepancies,  agree  with  each 
other.  'Ihe  most  copious  details  are  to 
be  ibuud  in  Strada  and  in  Bur. 


1585. 


ITS  RESULTS. 


189 


Splendid  structure,  and  to  cany  relief  and  triumph  into 
Antwerp. 

Not  a  soul  slept  in  the  city.  The  explosion  had 
shook  its  walls,  and  thousands  of  people  thronged  the 
streets,  their  hearts  beating  high  with  expectation.  It 
was  a  moment  of  exquisite  triumph.  The  "  Hope,"  word 
of  happy  augury,  had  not  been  relied  upon  in  vain,  and 
Parma's  seven  months  of  patient  labour  hud  been  anni- 
hilated in  a  moment.  Sainte  Aldegonde  and  Gianibelli 
stood  in  the  "Boors' Sconce"  on  the  edge  of  the  river. 
They  had  felt  and  heard  the  explosion,  and  they  were 
now  straining  their  eyes  through  the  darkness  to  mark 
the  flight  of  the  welcome  rocket. 

That  rocket  never  rose.  And  it  is  enough,  even  after 
the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  to  cause  a  pang  in  every 
heart  that  beats  for  human  liberty  to  think  of  the  bitter 
di.sappointment  which  crushed  these  great  and  legitimate 
hopes.  The  cause  lay  in  the  incompetency  and  coward- 
ice of  the  man  who  had  been  so  unfortunately  entrusted 
with  a  share  in  a  noble  enterprise. 

Admiral  Jacobzoon,  paralyzed  by  the  explosion,  which 
announced  his  own  triumph,  sent  off  the  barge,  but  did 
not  wait  for  its  return.  The  boatmen,  too,  appalled  by 
the  sights  and  sounds  which  they  had  witnessed,  and  by 
the  murky  darkness  which  encompassed  them,  did  not 
venture  near  the  scene  of  action,  but,  after  rowing  for  a 
short  mterval  hither  and  thither,  came  back  with  the 
lying  report  that  nothing  had  been  accomplished  and 
that  the  bridge  remained  unbroken.  Sainte  Aldegonde 
and  Gianibelli  were  beside  themselves  with  rage  as 
tliey  surmised  the  imbecility  of  the  Admiral,  'and 
devoted  him  in  their  hearts  to  the  gallows,  which  he 
rcrtainly  deserved.  The  wrath  of  the  keen  Italian  may 
be  conceived,  now  that  his  ingenious  and  entirely  suc- 
cessfiil  scheme  was  thus  rendered  fruitless  by  the 
blunders  of  the  incompetent  Fleming.* 

On  the  other  side,  there  was  a  man  whom  no  danger 
could  appal.  Alexander  had  been  thought  dead,  and 
tlie  dismay  among  his  followers  was  universal  He  was 
known  to  have  been  standing  an  instant  before  the  ex- 
plosion on  the  veiy  blockhouse  where 'the  "Hone"  had 
struck.     After  the  first  terrible  moments  had  passed, 

*  Bor,  Hoofd,  Meteroa,  ubi  supra. 


190 


THE  UNITED  NETHEIILANDS. 


C.IAP.  V. 


158i 


DEATH  OF  THE  VISCOUNT  OF  GHENT. 


191 


liis  soldiers  found  their  general  lying,  as  if  in  a  trance, 
on  the  threshold  of  St.  Mary's  Fort,  his  drawn  sword 
in  his  hand,  with  Cessis  embracing  his  knees,  and 
Gaetano  extended  at  his  side,  stunned  with  a  blow  upon 

the  head/ 

Kecovering  from  his  swoon,  Parma  was  the  hrst  to 
spring  to  his  feet.  Sword  in  hand,  he  rushed  at  once 
upon  the  bridge  to  mark  the  extent  of  the  disaster. 
The  admirable  structure,  the  result  of  so  much  patient 
and  intelligent  energy,  was  feaifully  shattered;  the 
brid<»-e,  the  liver,  and  the  shore,  strewed  with  the 
mangled  bodies  of  his  soldiers.  He  expected,  as  a 
mattlir  of  certainty,  that  the  fleet  from  below  would 
instantly  force  its  passage,  destroy  the  remainder  of  his 
troops— stunned  as  they  were  with  the  sudden  catas- 
trophe—complete the  demolition  of  the  bridge,  and 
tlien  make  its  way  to  Antwei-p,  with  ample  reinforce- 
ments and  supplies.  And  Alexander  saw  that  the 
expedition  would  be  successful.  Momently  expecting 
the  attack,  he  maintained  his  courage  and  semblance  of 
cheerfulness,  with  despair  in  his  heart. 

His  winter's  work  seemed  annihilated,  and  it  w'as 
probable  that  he  should  be  obliged  to  raise  the  siege. 
Nevertheless,  he  passed  in  person  from  rank  to  rank, 
from  post  to  post,  seeing  that  the  wounded  were  pro- 
vided for,  encouraging  those  that  remained  unhurt,  and 
endeavouring  to  infuse  a  portion  of  his  own  courage 
into  the  survivors  of  his  panic-stricken  army. 

Nor  was  he  entirely  unsuccessful,  as  the  night  wore 
on  and  the  expected  assault  was  still  delayed.  Without 
further  loss  of  time,  he  employed  his  men  to  collect  the 
drifting  boats,  timber,  and  spar- work,  and  to  make  a 
hasty  and  temporary  restoration— in  semblance  at  least 
— of  the  ruined  portion  of  his  bridge.  And  thus  he 
employed  himself  steadily  all  the  night,  although  expect- 
ing every  instant  to  liear  the  first  broadside  of  the 
Ze'eland  cannon.  When  morning  broke,  and  it  became 
obvious  that  the  patriots  were  unable  or  unwilling  to 


»  Such  is  the  picture  minutely  painted 
by  Sirada,  li.  342 ;  and,  aUhoujih  the 
Prinw.  In  bis  own  letters,  wTilten  from 
th'-  scene  of  action,  and  pn\>-prv.nl  tn  the 
Siniancas  Atvhivej,  oniitf  the  nicid  ut, 
yei  1  aiu  iucliiicd  to  rtly  upon  the  very 


ample  materials  possessed  by  the  g'-nnll 
Jesuit,  in  the  shape  of  private  conU-iu- 
porary  letters  from  Spanish  ofRcers  en- 
gaged in  the  war— letters,  alas  !  which 
have  probttbly  for  ever  disappeared. 


follow  up  their  o"svn  success,  the  Governor-General  felt 
as  secure  as  ever.  He  at  once  set  about  the  thorough 
repairs  of  his  great  work,  and — before  he  could  be 
again  molested — had  made  good  the  damage  which  it 
liad  sustained.' 

It  was  not  till  three  days  afterwards  that  the  truth 
was  known  in  Antwerp.  Hohenlo  then  sent  down  a 
messenger,  who  swam  under  the  bridge,  ascertained  the 
exact  state  of  affairs,  and  returned,  when  it  was  too  late, 
witli  the  first  intelligence  of  the  triumph  which  had 
been  won  and  lost.  The  disappointment  and  mortifi- 
cation were  almost  intolerable.  And  thus  had  Run- 
away Jacob,  "  Koppen  Loppen,"  blasted  the  hopes  of  so 
many  wiser  and  braver  spirits  than  his  own. 

The  loss  to  Parma  and  to  the  royalist  cause  in 
Marquis  Kichebourg  was  very  great.  The  death  of  De 
Billy,  who  was  a  faithful,  experienced,  and  courageous 
general,  was  also  much  lamented.  "The  misfortune 
from  their  death,"  said  Parma,  *'  is  not  to  be  exaggerated. 
J]acli  was  ever  ready  to  do  his  duty  in  your  Majesty's 
service,  and  to  save  me  much  fatigue  in  all  my  various 
aflairs.  Nevertheless,"  continued  the  I*rince,  with  great 
piety,  "  we  give  the  Lord  thanks  for  all,  and  take  as  a 
favour  everj'thing  which  comes  from  His  hand."* 

Alexander  had  indeed  reason  to  deplore  the  loss  of 
Robert  de  Melun,  Viscount  of  Ghent,  Marquis  of  Kou- 
baix  and  Pichebourg.  He  was  a  most  valuable  officer. 
His  wealth  was  great.  It  had  been  recently  largely 
increased  by  the  confiscation  of  his  elder  brother's  estates 
fur  his  benefit,  a  measure  which  at  Panua's  intercession 
liad  been  accorded  by  the  King.  That  brother  was  the 
patriotic  Prince  of  Espinoy,  whom  we  have  recentlv 
seen  heading  the  legation  of  the  States  to  France.  And 
liichebourg  was  grateful  to  Alexander,  for,  besides  these 
fraternal  spoils,  he  had  received  two  marquisates  througli 
liis  great  patron,  in  addition  to  the  highest  militajy  of- 
fices. Insolent,  overbearing,  tniculent  to  all  the  world, 
to  Panua  he  was  ever  docile,  affectionate,  watchful,  ob- 
sequious. A  man  who  knew  not  fatigue,  nor  fear,'  nor 
remorse,  nor  natural  aflfection,  who  could  patiently  su- 

»  Bor,  Stradv  Meteren,  Hoofd,  Benti-    u5»  nipra  ) 
voglio    lU-yd.  Mertens  «,d  Torfs.  I'ape-        1  MS.  letter.  10  April.  1685.  already 
brochll   Ann.      (MS.   letters  of  Parma,    cited.  .         «v 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CiiAr.  V. 


192 

nerintend  all  tie  details  of  a  great  militarj-  ^^'rk^<^ 
Slna-e  a  vit  political  intrigue  by  alternations  of  brow- 
f^^*^!  1^  briberv  or  lead  a  forlorn  hope,  or  murder  a 
beating  ^T^^"^?^' ."""oV  leap  into  the  blazing  crater  of 
^"eVrd  a  Se  vSio,  the  Marquis  of  Riche- 
L'^ptver  niado  h^so^^^^^^^^  active  y^and  unscni- 

Walloon  Provinces,  and  in  the  I^^^^S^"^,    ,    y^^      jjo 

Srg:tlc&"  ling  a  P^H  and  Uy  doubled  r^^    an 

^1.1^  KATioafVi  the  cnrrent  of  the  restless  rnei. 
iron  cable  beneatn  ^»^^^'"     ,       p  ^s  alwavs,  had 

And  in  this  eventful  nighty,  i  arnic^,  cw  , 

befn  true  to  himself  and  to  his  sovereign         ^\e  e x^ 
f.^  "  Lid  he  "  that  the  rebels  would  instantly  attack 
l::tn';il^s7de^after*e  explosion.     But  ^1 -inajned  s^ 
astonished  by  the  unheard-of  -<=«f  ent   flwt  J  ery  te        . 

understood  what  wa.s  going  on.    /'  ~^f  ^"^een- 
I_notwithstanding  the  risk  of  letting  mj  selt  be  seen 

should  encoumge  the  people  no  ♦»  ^^  *^^^„  J^*^:^ 
c.  nnd  remedied  matters  a  little,  but  not  so  nmcu  *» 
hLt^^fTe  enemy  had  then -attacked  -—  f  ^^  ™ 
have  been  in  the  rery  greatest  r,sk  and  n^'-J^^Xio- 
to  do  what  I  am  obliged  to  do,  and  al«a) s  Wo  ^^ J^" ' 
\^v,t  T  R!iv  no  more  of  what  passed,  or  what  was  aont.  vy 
myself  Lcaurit  does  not  Lcome  me  to  speak  of  these 

'^NSwiAstanding  this  discomfiture,  tl^e  patnots Jcop^^ 
UD  heart,  and  were  incessantly  making  demonr,tra  ions 

ZinstParma's  works.     Their  P^o-^f t'"^%hf«t 
V,?;.l"e   althou<'h  energetic  enough  to  keep  the  Spanish 
commander  in  a  state  of  perpetual  anxiety,  were  never 
s^Xk-nt  however  as  on  ?he  memorable  occasion  when 
ttie  Manhian  engineer  and  the  P-t<=^:-'tTh;^„ti 
exhausted  all  their  ingenuity.     >'«^«'-*«l«^V*7„  ""Zl- 
barks  sw.tnned  all  over  the  submerged  tern  orj^,  "OT^ 
threatening  this  po.st,  and  now  tha^^  ^:^:^%'\l^^ 
retreat  at  pleasure  ;  for  "^'^'^ly  *;  ™emities  of  his 
little  armada  was  stationed  at  the  t^°  ^"'^^""ti^o  to 
brid.'e.     Many  firc-ships  were  sent  do«n  from  time 

,  ._  y  no  dijo  ma.  «,«.  do  ,o  qoc    Ucn  .r..ar  del.o."     (MS.  l«»r  before 
.ntoncM  paso,  J  yo  bice  por  no  estmne    died.) 


1585. 


PERPETUAL  ANXIETY  OF  FARNESE. 


193 


^ 


time,  but  Alexander  had  organized  a  systematic  patrol 
of  a  few  sentry-boats,  armed  with  scythes  and  hooks, 
which  rowed  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  rafts,  and  liro- 
tected  them  against  invasion. 

Some  little  effect  was  occasionally  produced,  but  there 
was  on  the  whole  more  anxiety  excited  than  damage  ac- 
tually inflicted.  The  perturbation  of  spirit  amon«-  the 
Spaniards  when  any  of  these  '*  demon  fire-ships,"  as  they 
called  them,  appeared  bearing  down  upon  their  brido-e 
was  excessive.  It  could  not  be  forgotten  that  Sie 
"Hope  "  had  sent  into  space  a  thousand  of  the  best  sol- 
diers of  the  little  army  within  one  moment  of  time.  Such 
rapid  proceedings  had  naturally  left  an  uneasy  impression 
on  tho  minds  of  the  survivors.  The  fatigue  of  watch- 
ing was  enormous.  Hardly  an  officer  or  soldier  amono- 
the  besieging  forces  knew  what  it  was  to  sleep.  There  was 
a  peq)etual  exchanging  of  signals  and  beacon-fires  and 
rockets  among  the  patriots—not  a  day  or  night,  when  a 
concerted  attack  by  the  Antwerpers  from  above,  and  the 
Hollanders  from  below,  with  gun-boats,  and  fire-ships, 
and  floating  mines,  and  other  devil's  enginry,  was  not 
expected. 

*'  We  are  always  upon  the  alert,"  wrote  Parma,"  with 
arms  in  our  hands.  Eveiy  one  must  mount  guard, 
myself  as  well  a.s  the  rest,  almost  every  night,  and  the 
better  part  of  every  day."  ' 

He  was  quite  aware  that  something  was  ever  in  pre- 
paration ;  and  the  nameless,  almost  sickening  apprehen- 
fcion  which  existed  among  his  stout-hearted  veterans 
was  a  proof  that  the  Mantuan's  genius— notAvithstandin<^ 
the  disappointment  as  to  tho  great  result— had  not  beeS 
exercised  entirely  in  vain.  The  image  of  the  Antwerp 
devil-ships  imprinted  itself  indelibly  upon  the  Spanish 
mind,  as  of  something  preternatural,  with  which  human 
valour  could  only  contend  at  a  disadvantage ;  and  a 
day  was  not  very-  for  distant-one  of  the  memorable 
days  of  the  world's  history,  big  with  the  fate  of  Eno-- 
land.  Spam,  Holland,  and  all  Christendom— when  the 
sight  of  a  half-dozen  blazing  vessels,  and  the  cry  of  "  the 
Antwerp  fire-ships,"  was  to  decide  the  issue  of  a  most 
momentous  enterj^rise.  The  blow  struck  by  the  obscure 
Italian  against  Antwerp  bridge,  although  ineffective  then, 

•  Tarma  to  Philip,  6  May.  1585.    (Archlvo  de  Slmancas  MS.) 
VOL.  I.  ^ 


194 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


was  to  be  most  sensibly  felt  after  a  few  years  had  passed, 
upon  a  wider  field. 

Meantime  the  uneasiness  and  the  watchfulness  in  the 
besieging  army  were  very  exhausting.  "  They  are  never 
idle  in  the  city,"  wrote  Farma.  "  They  are  perpetually 
proving  their  obstinacy  and  pertinaci^  by  their  indus- 
trious genius  and  the  machines  which  they  devise. 
Every  day  we  are  expecting  some  new  invention.  On 
our  side  wo  endeavour  to  counteract  their  efforts  by  every 
human  means  in  pur  power.  Nevertheless,  1  confess  that 
our  merely  human  intellect  is  not  competent  to  penetrate  the 
designs  of  their  diabolical  genius.  Certainly,  most  wonder- 
ful and  extraordinary  things  have  been  exhibited,  such  as 
the  oldest  soldiers  here  have  never  before  witnessed." ' 

Moreover,  Alexander  saw  himself  growing  weaker 
and  weaker.  His  force  had  dwindled  to  a  mere  phan- 
tom of  an  army.  His  soldiers,  ill-fed,  half-clothed, 
unpaid,  were  fearfully  overworked.  He  was  obliged  to 
concentrate  all  the  troops  at  his  disposal  around  Ant- 
werp. Diversions  against  Ostend,  operations  in  Fries- 
land  and  Gelderland,  although  most  desirable,  had  thus 
been  rendered  quite  impossible. 

"  I  have  recalled  my  cavalry  and  infantrj^  from  Os- 
tend," he  wrote,  *'  and  Don  Juan  de  Manrique  has  for- 
tunately arrived  in  Stabroek  with  a  thousand  good 
German  folk.  The  commissary-general  of  the  cavalry 
has  come  in,  too,  with  a  good  lot  of  the  troops  that  had 
been  encamped  in  the  open  country.  Nevertheless,  we 
remain  wretchedly  weak — quite  insufficient  to  attempt 
what  ought  to  bo  done.  If  the  enemy  were  more  in 
force,  or  if  the  French  wished  to  make  trouble,  your 
Majesty  would  see  how  important  it  had  been  to  provide 
in  time  against  such  contingencies.  And  although  our 
neighbours,  crestfollen  and  rushing  upon  their  own  de- 
struction, leave  us  in  quiet,  we  are  not  without  plenty 
of  work.  It  would  be  of  inestimable  advantage  to  make 
diversions  in  Gelderland  and  Friesland,  because  in  that 
case  the  Hollanders,  seeing  the  enemy  so  near  their  own 
borders,  would  be  obliged  to  withdraw  their  assistance 

1  .1 aunque  confieso  que  nuestros  aseguran  cuantos   eoldados   vlejt*   aqui 

ingenios  no  alcaiizaii  nl  poiietran  lo  que  hay."    (Parma  to  I'hllip,  25  May,  15S5. 

!o9  Buyos  dlabolicos  hazoii,  porque  cierto  Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 
M  veeu  oosas  estrafia:)  y  nuvvas  a  lo  que 


1585.         IMPOVERISHED  STATE  OF  THE  SPANIARDS.         195 

from  Antwerp.  Tis  pity  to  see  how  few  Spaniards 
your  Majesty  has  left,  and  how  diminished  is  our  army. 
Now,  also,  is  the  time  to  expect  sickness,  and  this  affair 
of  Antwerp  is  obviously  stretching  out  into  large  pro- 
portions. Unless  soon  reinforced,  we  must  inevitably 
go  to  destruction.  I  implore  your  Majesty  to  ponder 
the  matter  well,  and  not  to  defer  the  remedy."  * 

His  Majesty  was  sure  to  ponder  the  matter  well,  if 
that  had  been  all.  Philip  was  good  at  pondering ;  but 
it  was  equally  certain  that  the  remedy  woiSd  bo 
deferred.  Meantime  Alexander  and  his  starving  but 
heroic  little  army  were  left  to  fight  their  battles  as  they 
could. 

His  complaints  were  incessant,  most  reasonable,  but 
unavailing.  With  all  the  forces  he  could  muster,  by 
withdrawing  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Ghent,  Brussels, 
Vilvoorde,  and  from  all  the  garrisons,  every  man  that 
could  b«  spared,  he  had  not  strength  enough  to  guard 
his  own  posts.  To  attempt  to  win  back  the  important 
forts  recently  captured  by  the  rebeLs  on  the  Doel  was 
quite  out  of  the  question.  The  pictures  he  painted  of 
his  iuiny  were  indeed  most  dismal.  The  Spaniards 
were  so^  reduced  by  sickness  that  it  was  pitiful  to  see 
them.  Tlie  Italians  were  not  in  much  better  condition, 
noi-  the  Germans.  "As  for  the  Walloons,"  said  he,' 
'*  thcv  aro  deserting,  as  they  always  do.  In  truth,  one 
of  my  principal  dangers  is  that  the  French  civil  wai-s 
are  now  tempting  my  soldiers  across  the  frontier ;  the 
country  there  is  so  much  richer,  and  offers  so  much 
more  for  the  plundering."  * 

During  tlio  few  weeks  which  immediately  followed 
the  fmious  descent  of  the  '*  Hope"  and  the  *' Fortune," 
there  had  accordingly  been  made  a  variety  of  less 
elabijnite,  but  apparently  mischievous,  efforts  against 
the  brulge.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  object  was 
rather  to  deceive  and  amuse  the  royalists,  by  keepincr 
their  attention  fixed  in  that  quarter,  while  a  grea^t 
attiiek  was,  m  reality,  preparing  against  the  Kowenstyn. 
lliat  strong  barrier,  as  repeatedly  stated,  was  even  a 
more  formidable  obstacle  than  the  bridge  to  the  com- 
munication between  the  beleaguered  city  and  their  aHies 

J2^S.  letter,  lo  April.  1585.  before       «  MS.  letter.  Parma  to  PbUip,  6  May. 

0  2 


196 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  V, 


upon  the  oxitside.  Its  capture  and  demolition,  even  at 
this  late  period,  would  open  the  navigation  to  all  the 
fleets  of  Zeeland 

In  the  undertaking  of  the  5th  of  April  all  had  been 
accomplished  that  human  ingenuity  could  devise ;  yet 
the  triumph  had  been  snatched  away  even  at  the  very 
moment  when  it  was  complete.  A  determined  and  vigo- 
rous effort  was  soon  to  be  made  upon  the  Kowenstyn,  in 
the  very  face  of  Parma ;  for  it  now  seemed  obvious  that 
the  true  crisis  was  to  come  upon  that  fatal  dyke.  The 
gieat  bulwark  was  three  miles  long.  It  reached  from 
8tabroek  in  Brabant,  near  which  village  Mansfeld's 
troops  were  encamped,  across  the  inundated  country, 
up  to  the  line  of  the  Scheldt.  Thence  along  the  river- 
dyke,  and  across  the  bridge  to  Kalloo  and  Beveren, 
where  Parma's  forces  lay,  was  a  continuous  fortified 
road  some  three  leagues  in  length;  so  that  the  two 
divisions  of  ihe  besieging  army,  lying  four  leagues  apart, 
were  all  connected  by  this  important  line. 

Could  the  Kowenstyn  be  pierced,  the  waters,  now 
divided  by  that  great  bulwark  into  two  vast  lakes,  would 
flow  together  in  one  continuous  sea.  Moreover  the 
Scheldt,  it  was  thought,  would,  in  that  case,  return  to 
its  old  channel  through  Brabant,  deserting  its  present 
bed,  and  thus  leaving  the  famous  bridge  high  and  dr}-. 
A  wide  sheet  of  navigable  water  would  then  roll  between 
Antwerp  and  the  Zeeland  coasts,  and  Parma's  bridge, 
the  result  of  seven  months'  labour,  would  become  as 
useless  as  a  child's  broken  toy. 

Alexander  had  thoroughly  comprehended  the  necessity 
of  maintaining  the  Kowenstj-n.  All  that  it  was  possible 
to  do  with  the  meagre  forces  at  his  disposal,  he  had 
done.  He  had  fringed  both  its  margins,  along  its  whole 
length,  with  a  breastwork  of  closely-driven  stakes.  He 
had  strengthened  the  whole  body  of  the  dyke  with 
timber-work  and  piles.  Upon  its  river-end,  just  at  the 
junction  with  the  great  Scheldt  dyke,  a  strong  fortress, 
called  the  Holy  Cross,  had  been  constructed,  which  was 
under  the  special  command  of  Mondragon.*  Besides 
this,  three  other  forts  had  been  built,  at  intervals  of 
about  a  mile,  upon  the  dyke.  TTie  one  nearest  to 
Mondragon  was  placed  at  the  Kowenstyn  manor-house, 

1  Strada.  li.  315.  346. 


1585.         INTENDED  ATTACK  ON  THE  KOWENSTFN.  197 

and  was  called  Saint  James.  This  was  entrusted  to 
Camillo  Bourbon  del  Monte,  an  Italian  officer,  who 
boasted  the  blood  royal  of  France  in  his  veins,  and 
was  disposed  on  all  occasions  to  vindicate  that  proud 
pedigree  by  his  deeds.'  The  next  fort  was  Saint 
George's,  sometimes  called  the  Black  Sconce.  It  had 
been  built  by  La  Motte,  but  it  was  now  in  command  of 
the  Spanish  officer  Benites.  The  third  was  entitled  the 
Fort  of  the  Palisades,  because  it  had  been  necessarv  to 
support  it  by  a  stockade-work  in  the  water,  there  being 
absolutely  not  earth  enough  to  hold  the  structure.  It 
%yas  placed  in  the  charge  of  Captain  Gamboa.  These 
little  castles  had  been  created,  as  it  were,  out  of  water 
and  upon  water,  and  under  a  hot  fire  from  the  enemy's 
forts  and  fleets,  which  gave  the  pioneers  no  repose.* 

"  'Twas  very  hard  work,"  said  Parma,  "  our  soldiers 
are  so  exposed  during  their  labour,  the  rebels  playino- 
upon  them  perpetually  from  their  musket-proof  vessels^ 
I  hey  fill  the  submerged  land  with  their  boats,  skimming 
everywhere  as  they  like,  while  we  have  none  at  all. 
We  have  been  obliged  to  build  these  three  forts  with 
neither  material  nor  space  ;  making  land  enough  for  the 
foundation  by  bringing  thither  bundles  of  hurdles  and 
ot  earth,  llie  fatigue  and  anxiety  are  incredible.  l\ot 
a  man  can  sleep  at  night ;  not  an  officer  nor  soldier  but 
IS  perpetually  mounting  guard.  But  they  are  animated 
to  their  hard  work  by  seeing  that  I  share  in  it.  like  one 
ot  themselves.  We  have  now  got  the  dyke  into  ffood 
order,  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  give  them  a  warm  reception 
whenever  they  choose  to  come."  *  ' 

Quite  at  the  farther  or  land  end  of  the  Kowenstyn 
was  another  fort,  called  the  Stabroek,  which  commanded 
and  raked  the  whole  dyke,  and  was  in  the  neighbour- 
hoo<l  of  Mansfeld's  head-quarters.  fe"i>eur 

^J^'^'if  f-T/.  !^^'^  H"^^  ^^*^^^^«  ""Von  a  slender 
and-a   a  bnef  distance-invisible  thread  of  land,  with 

nr^i^f  7^^''  '''i^'''^  ^"f"'^^  *^^^  ^^  ^^d  near  they 
presented  an  unsubstantial  dream-like  aspect,  seeming 

actual  fortifications-a  deceptive   mirage  rather  than 


•  De  Thou,  vili.  428. 

*  Strada,  il.  345. 34«.   Bor,  U.  697.  698. 


•  Panna  to  Philip,  6  May,  1886,  Ar- 
chlvo  de  Simancas  MS. 


198 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


SECOND  ATTACK  ON  THE  KOWENSTYN. 


199 


reality.    There  was  nothing  imaginary,  however,  in  the 
work  which  they  were  to  perform. 

A  series  of  attacks,  some  serious,  others  fictitious,  had 
been  made,  from  time  to  time,  upon  both  bridge  and 
i\h  May,  dyke ;  but  Alexander  was  unable  to  inspire  his 
1586.  soldiers  with  his  own  watchfulness.  Upon  the 
7th  of  May  a  more  determined  attempt  was  made  upon 
the  Kowenstyn,  by  the  fleet  from  Lillo.  Hohenlo  and 
Colonel  Ysselstein  conducted  the  enterprise.  The  sen- 
tinels at  the  point  selected — having  recently  been  so 
often  threatened  by  an  enemy,  who  most  frequently 
made  a  rapid  retreat,  as  to  have  grown  weary  and 
indifferent — were  surprised,  at  dawn  of  day,  and  put  to 
the  sword.  *'  K  the  truth  must  be  told,"  said  Panna, 
"  the  sentries  were  sound  asleep."  *  Five  hundred  Zee- 
landers,  with  a  strong  party  of  sappers  and  miners,  fairly 
established  themselves  upon  the  dyke,  between  St. 
George's  and  Fort  Palisade.  The  attack,  although 
spirited  at  its  commencement,  was  doomed  to  be  un- 
successful. A  co-operation,  agreed  upon  by  the  fleet 
from  Antwerp,  failed  through  a  misunderstanding. 
Sainte  Aldegonde  had  stationed  certain  members  of  the 
munition-chamber  in  the  cathedral  tower,  with  orders 
to  discharge  three  rockets  when  they  should  perceive  a 
beacon-fire  which  he  should  light  in  Fort  Tholouse. 
The  watchmen  mistook  an  accidental  camp-fire  in  the 
neighbourhood  for  the  preconcerted  signal,  and  sent  up 
the  rockets.  Hohenlo  understanding,  accordingly,  that 
the  expedition  was  on  the  point  of  starting  from  Antwerp, 
hastened  to  perform  his  portion  of  the  work,  and  sailed 
up  from  Lillo.  He  did  his  duty  faithfully  and  well, 
and  established  himself  upon  the  dyke,  but  found  him- 
self alone  and  without  sufficient  force  to  maintain  his 
position.  The  Antwerp  fleet  never  sailed.  It  was  even 
whispered  that  the  delinquency  was  rather  intended  than 
accidental ;  the  Antwerpers  being  supposed  desirous  to 
ascertain  the  result  of  Hohenlo's  attempt  before  coming 
forth  to  share  his  fate.  Such  was  the  opinion  expressed 
by  Famese  in  his  letters  to  Philip,  but  it  seems  probable 
that  he  was  mistaken.  Whatever  the  cause,  however, 
the  fact  of  the  Zeelanders*  discomfiture  was  certain. 
The  St,  Geoi-ge  battery  and  that  of  the  Palisade  were 

t  In  SUsdA,  U.  349. 


\ 


opened  at  once  upon  them,  the  balls  came  plunging 
among  the  sappers  and  miners  before  they  had  time 
to  throw  up  many  spadefuls  of  earth,  and  the  whole 
party  was  soon  dead  or  driven  from  the  dyke.  The 
survivors  effected  their  retreat  as  they  best  could,  leav- 
ing four  of  their  ships  behind  them  and  three  or  four 
hundred  men. 

*'  Forty  rebels  lay  dead  on  the  dyke,"  said  Parma, 
*'  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  more,  at  least,  were  drowned. 
The  enemy  confess  a  much  larger  loss  than  the  number 
I  state,  but  I  am  not  a  friend  of  giving  details  larger 
tlian  my  ascertained  facts ;  nor  do  I  know  how  many 
were  killed  in  the  boats."  * 

This  enterprise  was  but  a  prelude,  however,  to  the 
great  undertaking  which  had  now  been  thoroughly 
matured.  Upon  the  26th  May  another  andpethMay, 
most  determined  attack  was  to  be  made  upon  ^^**^- 
the  Kowenstj-n,  by  the  Antwerpers  and  Hollanders 
acting  in  concert.  This  time,  it  was  to  be  hoped,  there 
would  be  no  misconception  of  signals.  "It  was  a 
determination,"  said  Parma,  "  so  daring  and  desperate 
that  there  was  no  substantial  reason  why  we  should 
believe  they  would  carry  it  out ;  but  they  were  at  last 
solemnly  resolved  to  die  or  to  effect  their  purpose."  * 

Two  hundred  ships  in  all  had  been  got  ready,  part  of 
them  under  Hohenlo  and  Justinus  de  Nassau,  to  sail  up 
from  Zeeland  ;  the  others  to  advance  from  Antwerp 
under  Sainte  Aldegonde.  Their  destination  was  the 
Kowenstyn  Dyke.  Some  of  the  vessels  were  laden  with 
provisions,  others  with  gabions,  hurdles,  branches, 
sacks  of  sand  and  of  wool,  and  with  other  materials  for 
the  rapid  throwing  up  of  fortifications. 

It  was  two  o'clock,  half  an  hour  before  the  chill 
dawn  of  a  May  morning,  Sunday,  the  26th  of  the  month. 
The  pale  light  of  a  waning  moon  was  faintly  percep- 
tible in  the  sky.  Suddenly  the  sentinels  upon  the 
Kowenstyn — this  time  not  asleep — descried,  as  they 
looked  towards  Lillo,  four  fiery  apparitions  gliding 
towards  them  across  the  waves.     The  alarm  was  given, 

I  Parma  to  Philip  II.,  25  May,  1685,  p.  11, 1.  lil.  294. 
Arch,   (le    Sim.   MS.     Compare  Rir,  ii.        '  Parma  to  Philip  XL,  26  May,  1585. 

598.  599.    Strada,  348,  349.     Le  Petit,  ii.  Arch,  de  Sim.  MS. 
512.     Meteren,  xii.  224.     BenUvogil« 


200 


THE  UNHED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


' 


and  soon  afterwards  the  Spaniards  began  to  muster, 
somewhat  reluctantly,  upon  the  dyke,  filled  as  they 
always  were  with  the  mysterious  dread  which  those 
demon-vessels  never  failed  to  inspire. 

The  fire-ships  floated  slowly  nearer,  and  at  last  struck 
heavily  against  the  stockade-work.  There,  covered 
with  tar,  pitch,  rosin,  and  gunpowder,  they  flamed, 
flared,  and  exploded,  during  a  brief  period,  with  much 
vigour,  and  then  burned  harmlessly  out.  One  of  the 
objects  for  which  they  had  been  sent — to  set  fire  to  the 
palisade — was  not  accomplished.  The  other  was  gained ; 
for  the  enemy,  expecting  another  volcanic  shower  of 
tombstones  and  plough -coulters,  and  remembering  the 
recent  fate  of  their  comrades  on  the  bridge,  had  retired 
shuddering  into  the  forts.  Meantime,  in  the  glare  of 
these  vast  torches,  a  great  swarm  of  gun-boats  and  other 
vessels,  skimming  across  the  leaden-coloured  waters, 
was  seen  gradually  approaching  the  dyke.  It  was  the 
fleet  of  Hohenlo  and  Justinus  de  Nassau,  who  had  been 
sailing  and  rowing  since  ten  o'clock  of  the  preceding 
night.  The  burning  ships  lighted  them  on  their  way, 
while  it  had  scared  the  Spaniards  from  their  posts. 

The  boats  ran  ashore  in  the  mile-long  space  between 
Ibrts  St.  George  and  the  Palisade,  and  a  party  of 
Zeelanders,  Admiral  Haultain,  governor  of  Walcheren, 
at  their  head,  sprang  upon  the  dyke.  Meantime,  how- 
ever, the  royalists,  finding  that  the  fire-ships  had  come 
to  so  innocent  an  end,  had  rallied  and  emerged  from 
their  forts.  Haultain  and  his  Zeelanders,  by  the  time 
they  had  fairly  mounted  the  dyke,  found  themselves  in 
the  iron  embrace  of  several  hundred  Spaniards.  After 
a  brief  fierce  struggle,  face  to  face,  and  at  push  of  pike, 
the  patriots  reeled  backward  down  the  bank,  and  took 
refuge  in  their  boats.  Admiral  Haultain  slipped  as  he 
left  the  shore,  missed  a  rope's  end  which  was  thrown  to 
him,  fell  into  the  water,  and,  borne  down  by  the  weight 
of  his  armour,  was  drowned.  The  enemy,  pursuing 
them,  sprang  to  the  waist  in  the  ooze  on  the  edge  of 
the  dyke,  and  continued  the  contest.  The  boats 
opened  a  hot  fire,  and  there  was  a  severe  skirmish  for 
many  minutes,  with  no  certain  result.  It  was,  how- 
ever, beginning  to  go  hard  with  the  Zeelanders,  when, 
just  at  the  critical  moment,  a  cheer  from  the  other  side 


1585. 


A  LANDING  EFFECTED. 


201 


! 


of  the  dyke  was  heard,  and  the  Antwerp  fleet  was  seen 
coming  swiftly  to  the  rescue.  The  Spaniards,  taken 
between  the  two  bands  of  assailants,  were  at  a  dis- 
advantage, and  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  the  landing 
of  these  fresh  antagonists.  The  Antwerpers  sprang 
ashore.  Among  the  foremost  was  Sainte  Aldegonde,' — 
ix)et,  orator,  hymn-book  maker,  burgomaster,  lawyer, 
polemical  divine — now  armed  to  the  teeth  and  cheering 
un  his  men,  in  the  very  thickest  of  the  fight.  The 
diversion  was  successful,  and  Sainte  Aldegonde  gal- 
lantly drove  the  Spaniards  quite  off  the  field.  The  whole 
combined  force  from  Antwerp  and  Zeeland  now  effected 
their  landing.  Three  thousand  men  occupied  all  the 
space  between  Fort  George  and  the  Palisade. 

With  Sainte  Aldegonde  came  the  unlucky  Koppen 
Loppen,  and  all  that  could  be  spared  of  the  English  and 
Scotch  troops  in  Antwerp,  under  Balfour  and  Morgan. 
With  Hohenlo  and  Justinus  do  Nassau  came  Eeinier 
Kant,  who  had  just  succeeded  Paul  Buys  as  Advocate 
of  Holland.  Besides  these  came  two  other  men,  side 
by  side,  perhaps  in  the  same  boat,  of  whom  the  world 
was  like  to  hear  much  from  that  time  forward,  and 
whose  names  are  to  be  most  solemnly  linked  together, 
so  long  as  Netherland  history  shall  endure  ;  one  a  fair- 
faced,  flaxen-haired  boy  of  eighteen,  the  other  a  square- 
visaged,  heavy-browed  man  of  forty — Prince  Maurice  * 
and  John  of  Olden-Bameveld.  The  statesman  had  been 
foremost  to  urge  the  claim  of  William  the  Silent 's  son 
upon  the  stadholderate  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  and  had 
been,  as  it  were,  the  youth's  political  guardian.  He 
had  himself  borne  arms  more  than  once  before,  having 
shouldered  his  matchlock  under  Batenburg,and  marched 


>  "  Monsr.  Ste.  Aldegonde  being  one  of 
the  first."    Letter  of  CapU  Thomas  James 

to  WaUlngham.  ^  May,  1585,  S.  P.  Office 

MS.  The  Knglish  soldier  had  no  remark- 
able tulent  for  description,  but  he  had  been 
flKbtlng  all  day  on  the  dyke,  and  sent  off 
a  ruugb  orconnt  of  the  buslncfs,  the  same 
night,  U>  Kngland. 

'  "The  Count  Maurice,  with  divers  of 
the  States,  was  here,"  says  Capt.  James, 
lu  the  letter  above  cited. 

There  Is  a  doubt  as  to  Olden-Bame- 


veld's  presence.  My  authority,  in  etaUng 
the  fact,  rested  on  a  contemporaneous  MS., 
but  the  note  has  unluckily  been  lost.  The 
common  biographers  of  the  great  advo- 
cate, and  the  contemporary  Iilstorians, 
are  silent  as  to  the  fact,  if  It  be  one.  It  la 
certain,  however,  that  many  members  of 
the  States-General  came  up  in  Hobenlo's 
fleet,  and  it  was  nut  likely  that  Bameveld 
would  stay  behind.  His  presence  is  dis- 
tinctly stated  by  some  one,  but  the  reader 
is  at  liberty  to  be  incredulous  if  he  choose. 


202 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


A  SHARP  COMBAT. 


203 


4 


on  that  officer's  spirited  but  disastrous  expedition  for 
the  relief  of  Haarlem.  But  this  was  the  life  of  those 
Dutch  rebels.  Quill-driving,  law-expounding,  speech- 
making,  diplomatic  missions,  were  intermingled  with 
very  practical  business  in  besieged  towns  or  open  fields, 
with  Italian  musketeers  and  Spanish  pikemen.  And 
here,  too,  young  Maurice  was  taking  his  first  solid 
lesson  in  the  art  of  which  he  was  one  day  to  be  so  dis- 
tinguished a  professor.  It  was  a  sharp  beginning. 
Upon  this  riband  of  earth,  scarce  six  paces  in  breadth, 
with  miles  of  deep  water  on  both  sides — a  position 
recently  fortified  by  the  first  general  of  the  age,  and 
held  by  the  famous  infantry  of  Spain  and  Italy— -there 
was  likely  to  be  no  prentice-work. 

To  assault  such  a  position  was  in  truth,  as  Alexander 
had  declared  it  to  be,  a  most  daring  and  desperate  reso- 
lution on  the  part  of  the  States.  "  Soldiers,  citizens, 
and  all,"  said  Parma,  "  they  are  obstinate  as  dogs  to  try 
their  fortune." ' 

With  wool-sacks,  sand-bags,  hurdles,  planks,  and 
other  materials  brought  with  them,  the  patriots  now 
rapidly  entrenched  themselves  in  the  position  so 
brilliantly  gained;  while,  without  deferring  for  an 
instant  the  great  purpose  which  they  had  come  to  eff"ect, 
the  sappers  and  miners  fastened  upon  the  iron-bound 
soil  of  the  dyke,  tearing  it  with  pick,  mattock,  and 
shovel,  digging,  delving,  and  throwing  up  the  earth 
around  them,  busy  as  human  beavers  instinctively 
engaged  in  a  most  congenial  task. 

But  the  beavers  did  not  toil  unmolested.  The  large 
and  determined  force  of  Antwerpers  and  English, 
Hollanders  and  Zeelanders,  guarded  the  fortifications  as 
they  were  rapidly  rising,  and  the  pioneers  as  they  were 
so  manfully  delving;  but  the  enemy  was  not  idle. 
From  Fort  Saint  James,  next  beyond  Saint  George, 
Camillo  del  Monte  led  a  strong  party  to  the  rescue. 
There  was  a  tremendous  action,  foot  to  foot,  breast  to 
breast,  with  pike  and  pistol,  sword  and  dagger.  Never 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war  had  there  been  harder 
fighting  than  now  upon  that  narrow  isthmus.  *'  'Twas 
an  affair  of  most  brave  obstinacy  on  both  sides,"  said 
Parma,  who  rarely  used  strong  language.     **  Soldiers, 

»  Parma  to  Thllip  II.,  6  June,  1685,  Arch,  de  Sim,  MS. 


\ 


citizens,  and  all — they  were  like  mad  bulldogs."  *  Hol- 
landers, Italians,  Scotchmen,  Spaniards,  Englishmen, 
fell  thick  and  fast.  The  contest  was  about  the  entrench- 
ments before  they  were  completed,  and  especially 
around  the  sappers  and  miners,  in  whose  picks  and 
shovels  lay  the  whole  fate  of  Antwerp.  Many  of  the 
dyke-breakers  were  digging  their  own  graves,  and 
rolled,  one  after  another,  into  the  breach  which  they 
were  so  obstinately  creating.  Upon  that  slender  thread 
of  land  the  hopes  of  many  thousands  were  hanging.  To 
tear  it  asunder,  to  roll  the  ocean-waves  up  to  Antwerp, 
and  thus  to  snatch  the  great  city  triumphantly  from  the 
grasp  of  Philip— to  accomplish  this,  the  three  thousand 
had  come  forth  that  May  morning.  To  prevent  it,  to 
hold  firmly  the  great  treasure  entrusted  to  them,  was 
the  determination  of  the  Spaniards.  And  so,  closely 
pent  and  packed,  discharging  their  carbines  into  each 
other's  faces,  rolling,  coiled  together,  down  the  slimy 
sides  of  the  dyke  into  the  black  waters,  struggling  to 
and  fro,  while  the  cannon  from  the  rebel  fleet  and  from 
the  royal  forts  mingled  their  roar  with  the  sharp  crack 
of  the  musketry,  Catholics  and  patriots  contended  for 
an  hour,  while  still,  through  all  the  confufiion  and 
uproar,  the  miners  dug  and  delved. 

At  fast  the  patriots  were  victorious.  They  made 
good  their  entrenchments,  drove  the  Spaniards,  after 
much  slaughter,  back  to  the  fort  of  Saint  George  on  the 
one  side,  and  of  the  Palisade  on  the  other,  and  cleaied 
the  whole  space  between  the  two  points.  The  centre  of 
the  dyke  was  theirs  ;  the  great  Kowenstyn,  the  only  key 
by  which  the  gates  of  Antwerp  could  be  unlocked,  was 
in  the  deliverers*  hands.  They  pursued  their  victoiy, 
and  attacked  the  Palisade  Fort.  Gamboa,  its  com- 
mandant, was  severely  wounded;  many  other  officers 
dead  or  dying ;  the  outworks  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Hollanders;  the  slender  piles  on  which  the  fortress 
rested  in  the  water  were  rudely  shaken ;  the  victory 
was  almost  complete. 

And  now  there  was  a  tremendous  cheer  of  triumph. 
The  beavers  had  done  their  work,  the  barrier  was 
bitten  through  and  through,  the  salt  water  rushed  like 
a  river  through  the  ruptured  dyke.     A  few  moments 

>  Same  to  same,  26  May,  1886,  MS. 


204 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


i 


later,  and  a  Zeeland  barge,  freighted  with  provisions, 
floated  triumphantly  into  the  waters  beyond,  now  no 
longer  an  inland  sea.  The  deed  was  done — the  victor j 
achieved.  Nothing  more  was  necessary  than  to  secure 
it,  to  tear  the  fatal  barrier  to  fragments,  to  bury  it,  for 
its  whole  length,  beneath  the  waves.  Then,  after  the 
isthmus  had  been  utterly  submerged,  when  the  Scheldt 
was  rolled  back  into  its  ancient  bed,  when  Parma's 
famous  bridge  had  become  useless,  when  the  maritime 
communication  between  Antwerp  and  Holland  had 
been  thoroughly  established,  the  Spaniards  would  have 
nothing  left  for  it  but  to  drown  like  rats  in  their  en- 
trenchments or  to  abandon  the  siege  in  despair.  All 
this  was  in  the  hands  of  the  patriots.  The  Kowenstyn 
was  theirs.  The  Spaniards  were  driven  from  the  field, 
the  batteries  of  their  forts  silenced.  For  a  long  period 
the  rebels  were  unmolested,  and  felt  themselves  secure.' 
"  We  remained  thus  some  three  hours,"  says  Captain 
James,  an  English  officer  who  fought  in  the  action,  and 
described  it  in  rough,  soldierly  fashion  to  Walsingham 
the  same  day,  *'  thinking  all  things  to  be  secure."  *  Yet, 
in  the  very  supreme  moment  of  victory,  the  leaders,  both 
of  the  Hollanders  and  of  the  Antwerpers,  proved  them- 
selves incompetent  to  their  position.  With  deep  regret 
it  must  be  admitted,  that  not  only  the  reckless  Hohenlo, 
but  the  all-accomplished  Sainte  Aldegonde,  committed 
the  gravest  error.  In  the  hour  of  danger  both  had 
comported  themselves  with  perfect  courage  and  conduct. 
In  the  instant  of  triumph  they  gave  way  to  puerile 
exultation.  With  a  celerity  as  censurable  as  it  seems 
incredible,  both  these  commanders  sprang  into  the 
first  barge  which  had  thus  floated  across  the  dyke,  in 
order  that  they  might,  in  person,  carry  the  news  of  the 
victory  to  Antwerp,  and  set  all  the  bells  ringing  and 
the  bonfires  blazing.  They  took  with  them  Ferrante 
Spinola,  a  mortally- wounded  Italian  officer  of  rank,  as  a 
trophy  of  their  battle,  and  a  boat-load  of  beef  and  flour 
as  an  earnest  of  the  approaching  relief.' 

>  Meteren,  xli.  224.    Bor,  il.  599,600.  ^.,  .„  .^  w  ,  .     .         17  „       .,„,  o 

Hoofd  Vervolgh.  97-99  seq.  Bentlv^gllo.  ^"P'"  ^  Walslnghain.  -  May.  1585.  S. 

p.  11.   1.  111.  297  seq.     Slrada,  11.  354-  P.  Office  MS.     Parma  to  Philip  II.,  26 

367.  Baudarttl, '  Polemograpbia,' 11.  27-30.  May  and  6  June.  1586,  Archive  de  Si- 

Le  Petit,  11.  614.    Capt  T.  James  to  Wal-  miincas  MS. 


Iff 


Bingham,  -  May,  1585,  S.  P.  Office  MS. 


2  MS.  letter  before  dtcd. 

>  Meteren,  Bor,  Hoofd,  Strada.  ubi  tup. 


1585. 


THE  DYKE  PIERCED. 


205 


While  tlie  conquerors  were  thus  gone  to  enjoy  their 
triumph,  the  conquered,  though  perjilexed  and  silenced, 
were  not  yet  disposed  to  accept  their  defeat.  They  were 
even  ignorant  that  they  were  conquered.  They  had 
been  forced  to  abandon  the  field,  and  the  patriots  had 
entrenched  themselves  upon  the  dyke,  but  neither  Fort 
Saint  George  nor  the  Palisade  had  been  carried,  althouoh 
the  latter  was  in  imminent  danger 

Old  Count  Peter  Ernest  Mansfeld — a  grizzled  vete- 
ran, who  had  passed  his  childhood,  youth,  manhood,  and 
old  age  under  fire— commanded  at  the  land-end  of  the 
dyke,  in  the  fortress  of  Stabroek,  in  which  neighbour- 
hood his  whole  division  was  stationed.  Seeing  how  the 
day  was  going,  he  called  a  council  of  war.  The  patriots 
had  gained  a  large  section  of  the  dyke.  So  much  was 
certain.  Could  they  succeed  in  utterly  demolishing  that 
bulwark  in  the  course  of  the  day  ?  If  so,  how  were 
they  to  be  dislodged  before  their  work  was  perfected  ? 
It  was  difficult  to  assault  their  position.  Three 
thousand  Hollanders,  Antwerpers,  Englishmen—*'  mad 
bulldogs  all,"  as  Parma  called  them— showing  their 
teeth  very  mischievously,  with  one  hundred  and  sixty 
Zeeland  vessels  throwing  in  their  broadsides  from  both 
margins  of  the  dyke,  were  a  formidable  company  to 
face. 

*'  Oh  for  one  half-hour  of  Alexander  in  the  field !  " 
sighed  one  of  the  Spanish  officers  in  council.  But 
Alexander  was  more  than  four  leagues  away,  and  it  was 
doubtful  whether  he  even  knew  of  the  fatal  occurrence. 
Yet  how  to  send  him  a  messenger.  Who  could  reach  him 
through  that  valley  of  death  ?  Would  it  not  be  better 
to  wait  till  nightfall  ?  Under  the  cover  of  darkness  some- 
thing might  be  attempted,  which  in  the  daylight  would  be 
hopeless.  There  was  much  anxiety,  and  much  diflerenco 
of  opinion  had  been  expressed,  when  C^amiUo  Capizucca 
colonel  of  the  Italian  Legion,  obtained  a  hearing  A 
man  bold  in  words  as  in  deeds,  he  vehemently  de- 
nounced the  pusillanimity  which  would  wait  either  for 
Parma  or  for  nightfall.  -  What  difference  will  it 
maJce,  he  a.sked,  -  whether  we  defer  our  action  until 
either  darkness  or  the  General  arrives?  In  each  case 
we  give  the  enemy  time  enough  to  destroy  the  dyke 
and  thoroughly  to  ml -eve  the  city.     That  done,  whot 


206 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


RALLY  OF  THE  SPANIARDS. 


207 


1 


1 


good  can  be  accomplished  by  our  arms  ?  Then  onr  dis- 
heartened soldiers  will  either  shrink  from  a  fruitless 
combat  or  march  to  certain  death."  Having  thus,  very 
warmly  but  very  sagaciously,  defined  the  position  in 
which  all  were  placed,  he  proceeded  to  declare  that  he 
claimed  neither  for  himself  nor  for  his  legion  any  supe- 
riority over  the  rest  of  the  army.  He  knew  not  that 
the  Italians  were  more  to  be  relied  upon  than  others 
in  the  time  of  danger,  but  this  he  did  know,  that  no  man 
in  the  world  was  so  devoted  as  he  was  to  the  Prince  of 
Parma.  To  show  that  devotion  by  waiting  with  folded 
arms  behind  a  wall  until  the  Prince  should  arrive  to 
extricate  his  followers,  was  not  in  his  constitution.  He 
claimed  the  right  to  lead  his  Italians  against  the  enemy 
at  once — in  the  front  rank,  if  others  chose  to  follow ; 
alone,  if  the  rest  preferred  to  wait  till  a  better  leader 
should  arrive.* 

The  words  of  the  Italian  colonel  sent  a  thrill  through 
all  who  heard  him.  Next  in  command  under  Capizucca 
was  his  camp-marshal,  an  officer  who  bore  the  illustrious 
name  of  Piccolomini — father  of  the  Duke  Ottavio,  of 
whom  so  much  was  to  be  heard  at  a  later  day  through- 
out the  fell  scenes  of  that  portion  of  the  eighty  years' 
tragedy  now  enacting,  which  was  to  be  called  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  of  Germany.  The  camp-marshal 
wannly  seconded  the  proposition  of  his  colonel.  Mans- 
feld,  pleased  with  such  enthusiasm  among  his  officers, 
yielded  to  their  wishes,  which  were,  in  truth,  his  own. 
Six  companies  of  the  Italian  Legion  were  in  his  encamp- 
ment, while  the  remainder  were  stationed,  far  away, 
upon  the  bridge,  under  command  of  his  son,  Count 
Charles.  Early  in  the  morning,  before  the  passage 
across  the  dyke  had  been  closed,  the  veteran  condot- 
tiere,  pricking  his  ears  as  he  snuffed  the  battle  from 
afar,  had  contrived  to  send  a  message  to  his  son. 

"  Chai-les,  my  boy,"  were  his  words,  *•  to-day  we  must 
either  beat  them  or  burst."  * 

Old  Peter  Ernest  felt  that  the  long-expected,  long-de- 
ferred assault  was  to  be  made  that  morning  in  full  force, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  royalists,  on  both 
bridge  and  dyke,  to  hold  their  own.     Piccolomini  now 

«  Strada.  11.  357.  358  ttq. 

*  Charles,  mon  fib.  U  te  faut  valncre  ou  crever."  Le  Tetlt,  li.  514 


drew  up  three  hundred  of  his  Italians,  picked  veterans 
all,  and  led  them  in  marching  order  to  Mansfeld.  That 
general,  at  the  same  moment,  received  another  small 
but  unexpected  reinforcement.  A  portion  of  the  Spa- 
nish Legion,  which  had  long  been  that  of  Pedro  Pacchi, 
lay  at  the  extreme  verge  of  the  Stabroek  encampment* 
several  miles  away.  Aroused  by  the  distant  cannon- 
ading, and  suspecting  what  had  occurred,  Don  Juan 
d'  Aquila,  the  colonel  in  command,  marched  without  a 
moment's  delay  to  Mansfeld's  head -quarters,  at  the 
head  of  all  the  force  he  could  muster— about  two  hun- 
dred strong.  With  him  came  Cardona,  Gonzales  de 
Ca«tro,  Toralva,  and  other  distinguished  officers.  As 
they  aiTived,  Capizucca  was  just  setting  forth  for  the 
field.  There  arose  a  dispute  for  precedence  between  the 
Italians  and  the  Spaniards.  Capizucca  had  first  de- 
manded the  privilege  of  leading  what  seemed  a  forlorn 
hope,  and  was  unwilling  to  yield  his  claim  to  the  new 
comer.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Spaniards  were  not  dis- 
posed to  follow  where  they  felt  entitled  to  lead.  The 
quarrel  was  growing  warm,  when  Aquila,  seizing  his 
Italian  rival  by  the  hand,  protested  that  it  was  not  a 
moment  for  friends  to  wrangle  for  precedence. 

"Shoulder  to  shoulder,"  said  he,  "let  us  go  into  this 
business,  and  let  our  blows  rather  fall  on  our  enemies' 
heads  than  upon  each  other's."  This  terminated  the 
altercation.  The  Italians  and  Spaniards— in  battle 
array  as  they  were— all  dropped  on  their  knees,  offered 
a  brief  prayer  to  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  then,  in  the  best 
possible  spirits,  set  forth  along  the  dvke.  Next  to  fort 
btabroek— whence  they  issued— was  the  Palisade  Fort 
nearly  a  mile  removed,  which  the  patriots  had  neariy 
carried,  and  between  which  and  St.  George,  another  mile 
larther  ou,  their  whole  force  was  established.* 

I  ho  troops  under  Capizucca  and  Aquila  soon  reached 
the  I  ahsade,  and  attacked  the  besiegers,  while  the  gar- 
rison, cheered  by  the  unexpected  relief,  made  a  vigor- 
ous sortie.  Ihere  was  a  brief  sharp  contest,  in  which 
many  were  killed  on  both  sides ;  but  at  last  the  patriots 
tell  back  upon  their  own  entrenchments,  and  the  fort 
was  saved.  Its  name  was  instantly  changed  to  Fort 
A  lctorJ^  and  the  royalists  then  prepared  to  charge  the 

•  Strada,  ubi  sup. 


<  ' 


208 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


fortified  camp  of  the  rebels,  in  the  centre  of  which  the 
dyke-cutting  operations  were  still  in  progress.  At  the 
same  moment,  from  the  opposite  end  of  the  bulwark, 
a  cry  was  heard  along  the  whole  line  of  the  dyke. 
From  Fort  Holy  Cross,  at  the  Scheldt  end,  the  welcome 
intelligence  was  suddenly  communicated — as  if  by  a 
magnetic  impulse — that  Alexander  was  in  the  field.* 

It  was  true.  Having  been  up  half  the  night,  as  usual, 
keeping  watch  along  his  bridge,  where  he  was  ever  ex- 
pecting a  fatal  attack,  he  had  retired  for  a  few  hours' 
rest  in  his  camp  at  Beveren.  Aroused  at  daybreak  by 
the  roar  of  the  cannon,  he  had  hastily  thrown  on  his 
armour,  mounted  his  horse,  and,  at  the  head  of  two  hun- 
dred pikemen,  set  forth  for  the  scene  of  action.  De- 
tained on  the  bridge  by  a  detachment  of  the  Antwerp 
fleet,  which  had  been  ordered  to  make  a  diversion  in 
that  quarter,  he  had,  after  beating  off  their  vessels  with 
his  boat-artillery,  and  charging  Count  Charles  Mansfeld 
to  heed  well  the  brief  injunction  of  old  Peter  Ernest, 
made  all  the  haste  he  could  to  the  Kowenstyn.  Aniv- 
ing  at  Fort  Holy  Cross,  he  learned  from  Mondragon  how 
the  day  was  going.  Three  thousand  rebels,  he  learned, 
were  established  on  the  dyke,  Fort  Palisade  was  totter- 
ing^  a  fleet  from  both  sides  was  cannonading  the  Spanish 
entrenchments,  the  salt  water  was  flowing  across  the 
breach  already  made.  His  seven  months'  work,  it 
seemed,  had  come  to  nought.  The  navigation  was 
already  open  from  the  sea  to  Antwerp,  the  Kowenstj-n 
was  in  the  rebels'  hands.  But  Alexander  was  not  prone 
to  premature  despair.  "  I  arrived,"  said  he  to  Philip  in 
a  letter  written  on  the  same  evening,  *'  at  the  verj-  nick 
of  time."  *  A  less  hopeful  person  might  have  thought 
that  he  had  arrived  several  hours  too  late.  Having 
brought  with  him  every  man  that  could  be  spared  fioiii 
Beveren  and  from  the  bridge,  he  now  ordered  Camillo 
del  Monte  to  transport  some  additional  pieces  of  artil- 
lery from  Holy  Cross  and  from  Saint  James  to  Fort 
Saint  George.  At  the  same  time  a  sharp  cannonade 
was  to  be  maintained  upon  the  rebel  fleet  from  all  the 
forts.* 

Strada,  ubi  sup.  fue  qiiando  se  habia  comenzado  el  fuego. 

'  MS.  letter  tefore   cited.     "  T.logiie        '  Slrada.  ubi  sup. 
a  la  mayor  coi^uutura  del  mundo  que 


PARMA  COMES  TO  THE  RESCUE. 


209 


Mondragon,  with  a  hundred  musketeers  and  pikemen 
was  sent  forward  likewise  as  expeditiously  as  possible* 
to  Saint  George.     No  one  could  be  more  alert.     The 
battered  veteran,  hero  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
military  adventures  that  history  has   ever  recorded* 
fought  his  way  on  foot,  in  the  midst  of  the  fray,  like  a 
young  ensign  who  had  his  first  laurels  to  win.     And, 
m  truth,  the  day  was  not  one  for  cunning  manoeuvres 
directed,  at  a  distance,  by  a  skilful  tactician.     It  was 
a  brisk  close  contest,  hand  to  hand  and  eye  to  eye— a 
Homeric  encounter,  in  which  the  chieftains  were  to 
prove  a  right  to  command  by  their  personal  prowess. 
Alexander,   descending  suddenly— dramatically  as   it 
were-when  the  battle  seemed  lost— like  a  deity  from 
the  clouds-was  to  justify,  by  the  strength  of  his  aim 
the   enthusiasm   which    his   name   always  awakened' 
Having,  at  a  glance,  taken  in  the  whole  situation,  he 
made  his  bnef  arrangements,  going  from  rank  to  rank 
aiid  disposing  his  troops  in  the  most  eflective  maimer 

t^Ui^  effect.   '"  ""''•  '"*  ""''  '''''  ^^  ^^-^3-s  a 

"The  man  who  refuses,  this  day,  to  follow  me  "  he 

^.id, '^  ha«  never  had  regard  to  his'  ovvn  honom,'  nor 

has^Gods  cause  or  the  King's  ever  been  dear  to  his 

His  disheartened  Spaniards  and  Italians-roused  as 
by  a  magic  trumpet-eagerly  demanded  to  be  led 
agamst  the  rebels.  And  now,  from  each  end  of  the 
dyke  the  royalists  were  advancing  toward  the  central 
position  occupied  by  the  patriots^  While  Cap^^^^^^^^ 
and  Aquila  were  occupied  at  Fort  Victory,  Pamawas 

gS'  c^/lT  -fr  °?^^'  ^^-s:^rs:i" 

ueor^e.  Un  foot,  armed  with  sword  and  shield  and  in 
coat  of  mail,  and  marching  at  the  head  of  his  inenTw 
the  dyke,  surrounded  by  Bevilacqua,  Bentrvo^Ho^ 
Manmiuez,  Sforza,  and  other  officers^  hisS  nlme 
and  distinguished  courage,  now  upon  the  sum^t  r7T^ 
causeway,  now  on  its  shelving  banL  now  Wt  1  ^ 

^ni^d^^y^T'e^^tiT^il  ^  \r?^X 

the  patriots,  who  slow^y^  ::^^ir^-t^:l 

'  sT^^'r.  1^''  ^^^'  ^^"'•^^•'  ^•«'-  "•  ^'-P.  ^"..  -^  VOL  ili.  c^p.  iu. 
VOL.    1. 


210 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


camp,  and  with  the  Antwei*p  and  Zeeland*  vessels, 
whose  balls  tore  through  the  royalist  ranks,  the 
General  at  last  reached  Saint  George.  On  the  preser- 
vation of  that  post  depended  the  whole  fortune  of  the 
day,  for  Panna  had  already  received  the  welcome  in- 
telligence that  the  Palisade— now  Fort  Victory— had 
been  regained.  He  instantly  ordered  an  outer  breast- 
work of  wool-sacks  and  sand-bags  to  bo  thrown  up  in 
front  of  Saint  George,  and  planted  a  battery  to  play 
point-blank  at  the  enemy's  entrenchments.  Here  the 
final  issue  was  to  be  made. 

The  patriots  and  Spaniards  were  thus  all  enclosed  in 
the  mile-long  space  between  St.  George  and  the  Talisade. 
IJpon  that  narrow  strip  of  earth,  scarce  six  paces  in 
wadth,  more   than   five   thousand  men  met  in  mortal 
combat— a  naiTOW  arena  for  so  many  gladiators,  hemmed 
in  on  both  sides  by  the  sea.     The  patriots  had,  with 
solemn  ceremony,  before  starting  upon  their  enterprise, 
vowed  to  destroy  the  dyke  and  relieve  Antwerp,  or  to 
perish  in  the  attempt.     They  were  true  to  their  vow. 
Isot  the  ancient  Batavians  or  Nervii  had  ever  mani- 
fested more  tenacity  against  the  Roman  legions  than  did 
their  descendants  against  the  far-famed  Spanish  infantry 
upon  this  fVital  day.      The  fight  on  the  Kowenstyn  was 
to  be  long  remembered  in  the  military  annals  of  Spam 
and  Holland.      Never,  since  the  curtain  first  rose  upon 
the  great  Netherland  tragedy,  had  there  been  a  fiercer 
encounter.'      Flinching  was   impossible.     There  was 
scant  room  for  the  play  of  pike  and  dagger,  and,  cLisc 
packed  as  were  the  combatants,  the  dead  could  hardly 
fall  to  the  ground.     It  was  a  mile-long  series  of  separate 
moiial  duels,  and  the  oozy  dyke  was  soon  slippery  with 

blood. 

From  both  sides,  under  Capizucca  and  Aquila  on  the 
one  hand,  and  under  Alexander  on  the  other,  the  en- 
trenchments of  the  patriots  were  at  last  assaulted ;  and 
as  the  royalists  fell  thick  and  fast  beneath  the  breast- 
work which  they  were  stonning,  their  comrades 
clambered  upon  their  bodies,  and  attempted,  from  such 
vantage-ground,  to  effect  an  entrance.     Three  times  the 

1  "  Mihi  tan  to  accuratius  dicendum,"  vlctorlae,  aut  nobilioribos  audpnUura  ex- 
says  Strada.  •' quanto  raro  alias  in  Belglo,  empll^.  aut  prasenliore  taelitum  ope, 
•udaciore  loco,  aut  falUciorls  aliematione    dimicatum  est,"  &c.,  ii.  319. 


1585. 


FIERCE  STRUGGLE  ON  THE  DYKE. 


211 


invaders  were  beaten  back  with  heavy  loss,  and  after 
each  repalse  the  attack  was  renewed  with  fresh  vio-our 
while  within  the  entrenchments  the  pioneers  still  plied 
the  pick  and  shovel,  undismayed  by  the  uproar  around 
them. 

A  fmrth  assault,  vigorously  made,  was  cheerfully 
repelled  by  the  Antweipers  and  Hollanders,  clusterino- 
behind  their  breast-works,  and  looking  steadily  into 
ineir  enemies'  eyes.  Captain  Heraugiere— of  whom 
more  was  to  be  heard  one  day— had  led  two  hundred 
men  into  action,  and  now  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
only  thirteen.'  The  loss  had  been  as  severe  among 
many  other  patriot  companies,  as  well  as  in  the  Spanish 
ranks,  and  again  the  pikemen  of  Spain  and  Italy 
^Itered  before  the  iron  visages  and  cordial  blows  of  the 
Hollanders. 

This  work  had  lasted  a  good  hour  and  a  half,  when 
at  last  on  the  fifth  assault,  a  wild  and  mysterious 
apjmrition  renewed  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Spaniards, 
Ihe  ligiire  of  the  dead  commander  of  the  old  Spanish 
Legion,  Don  Pedro  Pacchi,  who  had  fallen  a  few  months 
befi,re  at  the  siege  of  Dendennonde,  was  seen  chargincr 
m  front  of  his  regiment,  clad  in  his  wel^kno^^^l  armour 
hit  IT^  l\.S^^l^^f^  which  had  been  habitual  with 
him   n  life,    ^o  satisfactory  explanation  was  ever  made 

^L  '  r^^'V.^^l''"'^'''  ^"^  ^*  ^^«  g^'^e^l  throughout 
as  trut'h  '  tL"  '''"'  -P-stitious  4e  was  as  effective 
nnr  rfi;  ^A  "^^^^^S  Spaniaixis  rallied  once  more 
under  the  guidance  of  their  phantom-leader,  and  a-ain 
charged  the  breast-work  of  the  patriots.  ToraJva  mount 

^ault  into  the  entrenchments.      At  the  next  instint  ho 

wiotrbTr^  "''""''''  ''^*^''  ground,  but  "^"/i 
followea  by  Capizucca,  sustained  by  a  determined  band 
1  ho  entrenchment  was  carried,  but  the  furious  conflict 
^t,ll  continued.     At  nearly  the  same  moment  however 
several  of  the  patriot  vessels  wore  observed  to  casroff 


*  Meterei),  ubi  tujt. 


«  Stcada.  II.  364. 

p  2 


212 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


THE  SPANIARDS  SUCCESSFUL. 


213 


1./ 

■ 

] 

f  r 

t 


I  f 


to  tho  commander  of  the  others  but  to  retreat  or  to 
remain  and  fall  in  to  the  enemy's  hands,  should  ho  gain 
the  day.  Had  they  risked  the  dangerous  alternative,  it 
might  have  ensured  the  triumph  of  the  whole  enterprise, 
while  their  actual  decision  proved  most  disastrous  m 

"We*  have  conquered,'*  cried  Alexander,  stretching 
his  arm  towards  the  receding  waters.  "  The  sea  deserts 
the  impious  heretics.  Strike  from  them  now  their  last 
hope,  and  cut  oflf  their  retreat  to  the  departing  ships. 
The  Spaniards  were  not  slow  to  perceive  their  advan- 
tasce,  wliile  the  courage  of  the  patriots  at  last  began  to 
ebb  with  the  tide.  The  day  was  lost.  In  the  hour  of 
transitory  triumph  the  leaders  of  the  expedition  had 
turned  their  backs  on  their  followers,  and  now,  after 
so  much  heroism  had  been  exhibited,  fortune  too  had 
averted  her  face.  The  grim  resistance  changed  to 
desperate  panic,  and  a  mad  chase  began  along  the 
blood -stained  dyke.  Some  were  slain  with  spear  and 
bullet  others  were  hunted  into  the  sea,  many  were 
smothered  in  the  ooze  along  the  edge  of  the  embank- 
ment. The  fugitives,  making  their  way  to  the  retreat- 
ing vessels,  were  pursued  by  the  Spaniards,  who  swain 
after  them,  with  their  swords  in  their  teeth,  and 
engaged  them  in  mortal  combat  in  the  midst  ot  the 

waves 

"  And  so  we  cut  all  their  throats,"  said  Parma,  "  the 
rebels  on  every  side  remaining  at  our  mercy,  and  I 
having  no  doubt  that  my  soldiers  would  avenge  the  loss 

of  their  friends." '  ,       -r»  ,i.  i 

The  English  and  the  Scotch,  under  Balfour  and 
Morgan,  were  the  very  last  to  abandon  the  position 
which  they  had  held  so  manfully  seven  hours  long. 
Honest  Captain  James,  who  fought  to  the  last,  and 
described  the  action  the  same  night  m  the  fewest 
possible  words,  was  of  opinion  that  the  fleet  had  moved 
away  only  to  obtain  a  better  position.  **  ITiey  put-off 
to  have  more  room  to  play  on  the  enemy,"  said  he ; 
"  but  the  Hollanders  and  Zcelanders,  seeing  the  enemy 
come  on  so  hotly  and  thinking  our  galleys  would  leave 

1  Stmla  II  365  mlaericordia.  y  yo  fiador  que  vengaron 

J  "  Y  a.i  Im  d.goUaron  a  todos.  qne-    la  per.lida  de  Ion  amlgos''     Paniu  W 
<!»n<lo  iH>r  una  parte  y  olm  a  nueutra    PUiUp  U..  May  26. 1585.  MS. 


them,  abandoned  their  string.  The  Scots,  seeing  them 
to  retire,  left  their  string.  The  enemy  pursued  very 
hotly;  the  Englishmen  stood  to  repulse,  and  are  put 
most  to  the  sword.  In  this  shameful  retreat  there  were 
slain  or  drowned  to  the  number  of  two  thousand."* 
llie  blunt  Englishman  was  justly  indignant  that  an 
entoiprise  so  nearly  successful  had  been  ruined  by  the 
desertion  of  its  chiefs.  **  We  had  cut  the  dyke  in  three 
places,"  said  he ;  "  but  left  it  nwst  shamefully  for  want  of 
commnndmenty ' 

Po«^>r  Koppen  Loppen — whose  blunders  on  former 
occa.sions  had  caused  so  much  disaster — was  now  for- 
tunate enough  to  expiate  them  by  a  soldier's  death. 
Admiral  Haultain  had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  drovTied 
at  the  commencement  of  the  action.*  Justinus  de 
Nassau,  at  its  close,  was  more  successful  in  his  retreat 
to  the  ships.  He,  too,  sprang  into  the  water  when  the 
overthrow  was  absolute  ;  but,  alighting  in  some  shallows, 
was  able  to  conceal  himself  among  weeds  and  water- 
lilies  till  he  had  divested  himself  of  his  armour,  when 
he  made  his  escape  by  swimming  to  a  boat,  which  con- 
veyed him  to  Lillo.  Roelke  van  Deest,  an  officer  of 
some  note,  was  so  honubly  wounded  in  the  face,  that 
he  wfuj  obliged  to  wear  a  mask  for  the  remainder  of  his 
life.* 

Pai-rna,  overjoj^ed  at  his  victory,  embraced  Oapizucca 
before  the  whole  army,  with  warm  expressions  of 
admimtion  for  his  conduct.  Both  the  Italian  colonel 
and  his  Spanish  rival  Aquila  were  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  l^hilip  for  reward  and  promotion.  The 
wounded  Toralva  was  carried  to  Alexander's  own 
quarters,  and  placed  in  Alexander's  own  bed,  where  he 
remained  till  his  recover^',  and  was  then  presented— a 
disiinction  which  he  much  valued-M^th  the  armour 
winch  the  Pnnce  had  woni  on  the  day  of  the  battle.' 
rariiia  himself,  so  soon  as  the  action  wa^  concluded 
went  with  his  chief  officers  straight  from  the  field  to 
the  little  village-church  of  Stabroek,  where  he  fell  upon 
hi8  knees  and  offered  up  fervent  thanks  for  his  victory. 

^^^'James  to  Wakingham.^  MS.  before    the  death  of  the  Admiral  a.  occurring  in 

•  i-his  appear,  from  the  lelUr  ^f  Cap-    ^X!  W  ™"' *'w ''''''"''''' '*"^^- 
Uin  JameTrhe  other  .cconu^^'X        .  IZ^M 3^ J*«^^"^'  ^'^^  *»• 


214 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


r  4 


He  next  set  about  repairing  the  mptured  dyke, 
damaged  in  many  places  but  not  hopelessly  mined,  and 
for  this  ptirpose  the  bodies  of  the  rebels,  among  other 
materials,  were  cast  by  hundreds  into  the  ditches  which 
their  own  hands  had  dug.' 

Thus  ended  the  eight  hours'  fight  on  the  Kowcnstyn. 
*'  The  feast  lasted  from  seven  to  eight  hours,"  said 
Fanua,  ''  with  the  most  brave  obstinacy  on  both  sides 
that  has  l>een  seen  for  many  a  lung  day."  *  A  thousand 
royalists  wore  killed  and  twice  as  many  patriots,  and 
the  issue  of  the  conflict  was  most  unceitain  up  to  the 

very  last. 

"Our  loss  is  greater  than  I  wish  it  was,"  wrote 
Alexander  to  Philip.  *'  It  was  a  ver>'  close  thing,  and  I 
have  never  been  more  anxious  in  my  life  as  to  the  result 
for  your  Majesty's  serv-ice.  The  whole  fate  of  the  battle 
was  hanging  all  the  time  by  a  thread.'"  More  than 
ever  were  reinforcements  necessary,  and  it  was  only  by 
a  miracle  that  the  victory  had  at  last  been  gained  with 
such  slender  resources.  **  'Tis  a  large,  long,  laborious, 
expensive,  and  most  perilous  war,"  said  Parma,  when 
urging  the  claims  of  Capizucca  and  Aquila,  ''  for  we 
have  to  light  every  minute ;  and  there  are  no  castles 
and  other  rewards,  so  that,  if  soldiers  are  not  to  have 
promotion,  they  will  lose  their  spirit."  *  Thirty-two  of 
the  rebel  vessels  grounded,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Spaniards,  who  took  from  them  many  excellent  pieces 
of  artillery.  The  result  was  most  conclusive  and  most 
disheartening  for  the  patriots. 

Meantime— as  wo  have  seen — Hohenlo  and  Sainte 
Aldeg<jnde  had  reached  Antwerp  in  breathless  haste  to 
announce  their  triumph.  They  had  been  met  on  the 
quay  by  gruups  of  excited  citizens,  who  eagerly  ques- 
tioned the  two  generals  arriving  thus  covered  with 
laurels  from  the  field  of  battle,  and  drank  with  delight 
all  the  details  of  the  victory.     The  poor  dying  Spinola 


'  Simla,  ii.  307. 

2  "  Y  haliiendo  tlnrado  esta  fiesta,  obra 
de  7  0  8  hore,  con  la  mas  brava  obutlna- 
cion  de  entrambus  partes  que  se  ha  vlato 
hartos  dias  ba."  Panna  to  Pblllp  11., 
MS.  before  citod. 

»  "  De  los  nuestros  Uimblen  ban  que- 
dado  mas  de  los  que  yo  quklera— ha  sido 
pendencia  tan  reiilda— que  bartaa  vecea 


ha  poesto  harto  mas  cuidado  el  ver  Xer- 
niino  en  que  estaba  el  servicio  de  V.  -M. 
Todo  esto  ha  estado  colgado  de  un  hilo." 
Panna  to  Philip  II.    MS.  before  cited. 

*  "Gut^rra'larga,  trab«yosa,  costo&a,  y 
muy  peligTosa,  pues  sempre  se  trata  de 
pelear,  y  que  no  se  bay  castUlos  nl  oiros 
premlos,"  &c.    (Ibid.) 


1585. 


PREMATURE  TRIUMPH  AT  ANTWERP. 


215 


was  exhibited  in  triumph,  the  boat -load  of  bread-stufis 
received  with  satisfaction,  and  vast  preparations  were 
made  to  receive,  on  wliai"ves  and  in  storehouses,  the 
plentiful  supplies  about  to  arrive.  Beacons  andbonfii'es 
were  lighted,  the  bells  from  all  the  steeples  rang  their 
merriest  peals,  cannon  thundered  in  triumph  not  only 
in  Antwerp  itself,  but  subsequently  at  Amsterdam  and 
other  more  distant  cities.  In  due  time  a  magnificent 
banquet  was  spread  in  the  town-house  to  greet  the 
conquering  Hohenlo.  Immense  gratification  was  ex- 
pres«ed  by  those  of  the  reformed  religion  ;  dire  threats 
were  uttered  against  the  Catholics.  Some  were  for 
hanging  them  all  out  of  hand,  others  for  throwing  tliem 
into  the  Scheldt ;  the  most  moderate  proposed  packing 
them  all  out  of  town  so  soon  as  the  siege  should  be 
raised — an  event  which  could  not  now  be  delayed  many 
days  longer. 

Hohenlo,  placed  on  high  at  the  head  of  the  banquet- 
table,  assumed  the  very  god  of  war.  Beside  and  near 
liim  sat  the  loveliest  dames  of  Antwerp,  rewarding  his 
bravery  with  their  brightest  smiles.  The  Count  drained 
huge  goblets  to  their  health,  to  the  success  of  tlie  patriot.^, 
and  to  the  confusion  of  the  ro3'alists,  while,  as  he  still 
drank  and  feasted,  the  trumpet,  kettle-drum,  and  cym 
bal,  and  meiTy  peal  of  bell  without,  did  honour  to  his 
triumph.  So  gay  and  gallant  was  the  victor,  that  he 
announced  another  banquet  on  the  following  day,  still 
further  to  celebrate  the  happy  release  of  Antwerp,  and 
invited  the  fair  ladies  around  him  again  to  grace  the 
boaid.  It  is  recorded  that  the  gentlewoman  next  him 
responded  with  a  sigh,  that,  if  her  presentiments  were 
just,  the  morrow  would  scarcely  bo  so  joyful  as  the 
present  day  liad  been,  and  that  she  doubted  whetlier  the 
triumph  were  not  premature.' 

Hardly  had  she  spoken  when  sinister  sounds  were 
heard  in  the  streets.  The  first  few  stragglers,  surv^ivors 
of  the  deadly  fight,  had  amved  with  the  fatal  news  that 
all  wii8  lost,  the  dyke  regained,  the  Spaniards  victorious, 
the  whole  band  of  patriots  cut  to  pieces.  A  few  frioht- 
fully-wounded  and  dying  sufferers  were  brought  ?nto 
the  hanqueting-hall.  Hohenlo  sprang  from  the  feast- 
interrupted  in  so  ghastly  a  manner— pursued  by  shouta 

^  Mortens  en  Torji.-,  v.  212 


■*■  •i 


t: 


216 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


/ 1 

m 


*^, 


f    4 


and  hisses.  Howls  of  execration  saluted  him  in  the 
Btreets,  and  he  was  obliged  to  conceal  himself  for  a  time, 
to  escape  the  fury  of  the  populace.' 

On  the  other  hand,  Parma  was,  not  unnaturally, 
Gverioyed  at  the  successful  issue  to  the  combat  and 
expressed  himself  on  the  subject  in  lan^age  of  (for 
him)  unusual  exultation.  **  To-day,  Sunday  26th  of 
June,"  said  he,  in  a  letter  to  Philip,  despatched  by 
special  courier  on  the  very  same  night,  "  the  Lord  has 
been  pleased  to  grant  to  your  Majesty  a  great  and  most 
signal  victory.  In  this  conjuncture  of  so  great  import- 
ance it  may  be  easily  conceived  that  the  best  results 
that  can  be  desired  will  be  obtained  if  your  Majesty  is 
now  ready  to  do  what  is  needful.  I  congratulate  your 
Majesty  very  many  times  on  this  occasion,  and  I  desire 
to  render  infinite  thanks  to  Divine  Providence."  *        ^ 

He  afterwards  proceeded,  in  a  rapid  and  hurried 
manner,  to  give  his  Majesty  the  outlines  of  the  battle, 
mentioning,  with  great  encomium,  Capizucca  .^d  Aquila 
Mondragon  and  Vasto,  with  many  other  ^  officers,  and 
recommending  them  for  reward  and  promotion;  praising 
in  short,  heartily  and  earnestly,  all  who  had  contributed 
to  the  victory,  except  himself,  to  whose  personal  exer- 
tions it  was  ihiefly  due.  **  As  for  good  old  Mansfeld 
said  he,  *'he  bore  himself  like  the  man  he  is,  and  he 
desert-es  that  your  Majesty  should  send  him  a  particular 
mark  of  your  royal  approbation,  writing  to  him  yourseit 
pleasantly  in  Spanish,  which  is  that  which  will  be 
most  highly  esteemed  by  him." »  Alexander  hinted  also 
that  Philip  would  do  well  to  bestow  upon  Mansfeld  the 
countship  of  Biart,  as  a  reward  for  his  long  years  ot 
faithful  service.*  . 


1  Mertena  enTorps.  v.  242.  Compare 
Bor.  Meteren.  Hoofd,  et  ai.,  ubi  tup. 

2  "  I)oy  a  V.  M.  muy  muches  vezes  la 
enora  buena  y  Inftnltas  gracias  a  la  1)1- 
vlna,"  &c.    MS.  letter  before  cited. 

>  "  El  buen  vlejo  del  conde  de  Mansfeld 
anduvo  como  qulen  e3,  y  ntiprece  que  V.  M. 
se  le  mande  en  partlailar  agTadt>cer,  escri- 
bieudole  en  Espaflol  regaladamente  que 
es  lo  que  mas  estimarla,'  &c.    (Ibid.) 

*  Ibid.  The  account  of  this  remarkable 
octlon  haa  been  mainly  gathered  from  the 
niatmacript  letters  of  Parma  to  Philip, 
written  from  the  scene  itself  of  some 


Englishmen,  also  eye-witnesses,  and  from 
a  careful  comparison  of  conu-mporary  his- 
torians. Vide  Bor,  II.  699.600.  Meteren. 
xil  224.  Hoofd  Vervolgb,  97-99  seq. 
Bentlvogllo,  p.  ii.  I.  IH.  2y7  seq.,  whose 
brother,  the  Marchese  HippolUo  Bentlvo- 
glio.  distinguished  himself  In  the  action, 
and  was  promoted.  In  consequence,  to  a 
compiiny  of  lancers  by  Parma.  Strada, 
li.  354-367.  •  Baudartii,  •  Polemographla, 
II.  27-30.  I^  Petit,  li.  614.  Wagenaar. 
vlil.  80.  Van  W>ti  op  Wagenaar,  vUl. 
39,  40,  et  al. 


1585. 


THE  SHIP  "WAR'S  END.' 


217 


Tliis  action  on  the  Kowenstyn  terminated  the  effective 
resistance  of  Antwerp.  A  few  daj's  before,  the  monster- 
vessel,  in  the  construction  of  which  so  much  time  and 
money  had  been  consumed,  had  at  last  been  set  afloat. 
She  had  been  called  the  '*  War's  End,"  and,  so  far  as 
Antwerp  was  concerned,  the  fates  that  preside  dover 
her  birth  seemed  to  have  been  paltering  in  a  double 
sense  when  the  ominous  name  was  conferred.  She  was 
larger  than  anything  previously  known  in  naval  archi- 
tecture;  she  had  four  masts  and  three  helms.  Her 
bulwarks  were  ten  feet  thick ;  her  tops  were  musket- 
proof.  Slie  had  twenty  guns  of  largest-  size,  besides 
many  other  pieces  of  artillery  of  lesser  calibre,  the  lower 
tier  of  which  was  almost  at  the  water's  level.  She  was 
to  caiTy  one  thousand  men,  and  she  was  so  supported  on 
corks  and  barrels  as  to  be  sure  to  float  under  any 
circumstances.  Thus  she  was  a  great  swimmino-  fortress 
which  could  not  be  sunk,  and  was  impervious* to  shot. 
Unluckily,  however,  in  spite  of  her  four  masts  and  three 
helms,  she  would  neither  sail  nor  steer,  and  she  proved 
but  a  great,  unmanageable  and  very  ridiculous  tub,  fully 
justifying  all  the  sarcasms  that  had  been  launched  upon 
lier  during  the  period  of  her  construction,  which  had 
been  almost  as  long  as  the  siege  itself.' 

The  Spaniards  called  her  the  Bugaboo— a  monster  to 
scare  children  withal.*  The  patriots  christened  her  the 
Elephant,  the  Antwerp  Folly,  the  Lost  Penny,  with 
many  similar  appellations.*  A  small  army  might  have 
been  maintained  for  a  month,  they  said,  on  the  money 
she  had  cost,  or  the  whole  city  kept  in  bread  for  three 
months.  At  last,  late  in  May,  a  few  days  before  the 
battle  of  the  Kowenstyn,  she  set  forth  fiim  Antwerp 
across  the  submerged  land,  upon  her  expedition  to 
sweep  all  the  Spanish  forts  out  of  existence,  and  to 
bring  the  war  to  its  end.  She  came  to  her  own  end 
very  briefly,  for,  after  drifting  helplessly  about  for  an 
hour,  she  .stuck  fast  in  the  sand  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Oordam,  while  the  crew  and  soldiers  made  their  escape 
and  came   back  to  the   city  to  share  in   the  ridicufe 

»  Strada.  ii.  353.     Le  Petit.  11.  512.    Boofd,  et  al^  ubi  sup 
Riudartn,   .Polemog.'  i..    30.    with    an        2  ••  CaranjlTu^^-    Strada  uM  sup 
admirable    en^rav.ng.      Meteren,    Bor.        «  Baudar tins.  Le  Petit.  StradTuSp. 


/  ■ 


218 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


STATE  OF  ANTWERP. 


219 


J. 


♦ 


f 


whicli,  from  first  to  last,  had  attached  itself  to  the 

monstor-ship.*  «,  .      » ,         j 

Two  days  after  the  Kowenstyn  affair,  Alexander  sent 
an  expedition  under  Count  Charles  Mansfeld  to  take 
possession  of  the  great  Bugaboo.  The  boat  m  which 
were  Count  Charles,  Count  Aremberg,  his  brother  de 
Barban^on,  and  other  noble  volunteers,  met  with  an 
accident :  a  keg  of  gunpowder  accidentally  exploding, 
blowing  Aremberg  into  the  water,  whence  he  escaped 
unharmed  by  swimming,  and  frightfully  damaging 
Mansfeld  in  the  face.*  This  indirect  mischief— the  only 
injury  ever  inflicted  by  the  '*  War's  End  "  upon  the  enemy 
—did  not  prevent  the  rest  of  the  party  in  the  boats  from 
taking  possession  of  the  ship,  and  bringing  her  m 
triumph  to  the  Prince  of  Parma.  After  being  thoroughly 
examined  and  heartily  laughed  at  by  the  Spaniards,  she 
was  broken  up — her  cannon,  munitions,  and  other  valu- 
able materials,  being  taken  from  her— and  then  there 
was  an  end  of  the  "  War's  End."  » 

This  useless  expenditure— against  the  judgment  and 
entreaties  of  many  leading  personages— was  but  a  typo 
of  the  difficulties  with  which  Sainte  Aldegonde  had 
been  obliged  to  contend  from  the  first  day  of  the  siege 
to  the  IjSt.  Every  one  in  the  city  had  felt  himself 
called  on  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  proper  mea- 
sures for  defence.  Diversity  of  humours,  popular  licence, 
anarchy,  did  not  constitute  the  best  government  for  a 
city  beleagured  by  Alexander  Famese.  We  have  seen 
the  deadly  injuiy  inflicted  upon  the  cause  at  the  out- 
set by  the  bmtality  of  the  butchers,  and  the  manful 
stni"-<^le  which  Sainte  Aldegonde  had  maintained  against 
their  cupidity  and  that  of  their  friends.  Ho  had  dealt 
with  the  thousand  difficulties  which  rose  up  around  him 
from  day  to  day,  but  his  best  intentions  were  perpetu- 
ally misconstrued,  his  most  strenuous  exertions  steadily 
foiled.  It  was  a  city  where  there  was  much  love  of 
money,  and  where  commerce — always  timid  by  nature, 
particularly  when  controlled  by  alien  residents— was 
often  the  cause  of  almost  abject  cowardice. 

From  time  to  time  there  had  been  threatening  demon- 
strations made  against  the  burgomaster,  who,  by  pra- 

1  Baudartlas,  Le  PeUt,  Strada,  ubi  sup. 
«  Stiada,  li.  36j».  '  IWd. 


tracting  the  resistance  of  Antwerp,  was  bringing  about 
the  absolute  destruction  of  a  world-wide  trade,  and  the 
downfall  of  the  most  opulent  capital  in  Christendom. 
There  were  also  many  popular  riots — very  easily  in- 
flamed by  the  Catholic  portion  of  the  inhabitants for 

bread.  *'  Bread,  bread,  or  peace  !  '*  was  hoarsely  shouted 
by  ill-looking  mischievous  crowds,  that  dogged  the 
steps  and  besieged  the  doors  of  Sainte  Aldegonde ;  but 
the  burgomaster  had  done  his  best  by  eloquence  of  tongue 
and  pei-sonal  courage,  both  against  mobs  and  against  the 
enemy,  to  inspire  the  mass  of  his  fellow-citizens  w-ith  his 
own  generous  spirit.  He  had  relied  for  a  long  time  on 
the  negotiation  with  France,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to 
exaggerate  the  disastrous  effects  produced  by  the  trea- 
chery of  the  Yalois  court.  The  historian  Le  Petit,  a 
resident  of  Antwerp  at  the  time  of  the  siege,  had  been 
despatched  on  secret  mission  to  Paris,  and  had  commu- 
nicated to  the  States'  deputies  Sainte  Aldegonde's  ear- 
nest adjurations  that  they  should  obtain,  if  possible, 
before  it  should  bo  too  late,  an  auxiliary  force  and  a 
pecuniary  subsidy.  An  immediate  assistance,  even  if 
slight,  might  be  sufficient  to  prevent  Antwerp  and  its 
sister  cities  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
On  that  messenger's  return,  the  burgomaster,  mucli 
encourageil  by  his  report,  had  made  many  eloquent 
speeches  in  the  senate,  and  for  a  longtime  sustained  the 
sinking  spirits  of  the  citizens.' 

The  irritating  termination  to  the  triumph  actually 
achieved  against  the  bridge,  and  the  tragical  result  to 
the  great  enterprise  against  the  Kowenstyn,  had  now 
thoroughly  broken  the  heart  of  Antwerp.  For  the  last 
catastrophe  Sainte  Aldegonde  himself  was  hip'hly  cen 
surable,  although  the  chief  portion  of  the  blame  rested 
on  the  head  of  Hohenlo.  Nevertheless  the  States  of 
Holland  were  yet  true  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  of 
liberty.  N  otwithstanding  their  heavy  expenditures,  and 
heir  own  loss  of  men.  they  urged  warmly  and  earnestly 
the  continuance  of  the  resistance,  and  promised,  ^vithin 
at  latest  three  months'  time,  to  raise  an  army  of  twelve 
thousand  foot  and  seven  thousand  horse,  with  which 
they  pledged  themselves  to  relieve  the  city,  or  to  peri.h 
m  the  endeavour.'    At  the  same   time,  the  legation 

^  Le  ^eU^  11.  505.  ,  Meteren.  xli.  325. 


220 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


LA  NOUE  LIBERATED. 


221 


wliicli  had  been  sent  to  England  to  offer  the  sovereignty 
to  Queen  Elizabeth,  sent  encouraging  despatches  to 
Antwerp,  assuring  the  autliorities  that  arrangements  for 
an  auxiliary'  force  had  been  effected  ;  while  Elizabeth 
herself  wrote  earnestly  upon  the  subject  with  her  own 
hand.' 

"  I  am  informed,"  said  that  Princess,  "  that  through 
the  closing  of  the  Scheldt  you  are  likely  to  enter  into  a 
treaty  with  the  Prince  of  Parma,  the  issue  of  which  is 
very  much  to  be  doubted,  so  far  as  the  maintenance  of 
your  privileges  is  concerned.  Remembering  the  warm 
friendship  which  has  ever  existed  between  this  crown 
and  the  house  of  Burgimdy,  in  the  realms  of  which  you 
are  an  important  member,  and  considering  that  my  sub- 
jects engaged  in  commerce  have  always  met  with  more 
privilege  and  comity  in  the  Netherlands  than  in  any 
other  country,  I  have  resolved  to  send  you  at  once  assist- 
ance, comfort,  and  aid.  The  details  of  the  plan  >vill  be 
stated  by  your  envoys  ;  but  be  assured  that  by  me  you 
will  never  be  foi-saken  or  neglected."  * 

The  negotiations  with  Queen  Elizabeth — most  import- 
ant for  the  Netherlands,  for  England,  and  for  the  desti- 
nies of  Europe — which  succeeded  the  futile  diplomatic 
transactions  with  France,  will  be  laid  before  the  reader  in 
a  subsequent  chapter.  It  is  proper  that  they  should  be 
massed  by  themselves,  so  that  the  eye  can  comprehend 
at  a  single  glance  their  whole  progress  and  aspect,  as 
revealed  both  by  public  and  official,  and  by  secret  and 
hitherto  unpublished  records.  Meantime,  so  far  as 
regards  Antwerp,  those  negotiations  had  been  too  deli- 
berately conducted  for  the  hasty  and  impatient  temper 
of  the  citizens. 

The  spirit  of  the  commercial  metropolis,  long  flagging, 
seemed  at  last  broken.  Despair  was  taking  possession  of 
all  hearts.  The  common  people  did  nothing  but  com- 
plain, the  magistrates  did  nothing  but  wrangle.  In  the 
broad  council  the  debates  and  dissensions  were  discou- 
raging and  endless.  Six  of  the  eight  militia-colonels 
were  for  holding  out  at  all  hazards,  while  a  majority  of 
the  eighty  captains  were  for  capitulation.  The  populace 
was  tumultuous  and  threatening,  demanding  peace  and 
bread  at  any  price.    Holland  sent  promises  in  abundance, 


»  Bor,  !1.  607-609. 


*  See  the  letter  In  Bor,  II.  608. 


and  Holland  was  sincere ;  but  there  had  been  much 
disiippointment,  and  there  was  now  infinite  bitterness. 
It  seemed  obvious  that  a  crisis  was  fast  approaching, 
and — unless  immediate  aid  should  come  from  Holland 
or  from  England — that  a  surrender  was  inevitable.'  La 
None,  after  five  years*  imprisonment,  had  at  last  been 
exchanged  against  Count  Philip  Egmont.  That  noble, 
chief  of  an  ancient  house,  cousin  of  the  Queen  of  France, 
was  mortified  at  being  ransomed  against  a  simple  Hu- 
guenot gentleman — even  though  that  gentleman  was  the 
illustrious  "  iron-armed  "  La  None — but  he  preferred  to 
sacrifice  his  dignity  for  the  sake  of  his  liberty.  He  was 
still  more  annoyed  that  one  hundred  thousand  crowns 
as  security  were  exacted  from  La  None — for  which  the 
King  of  Navarre  became  bondsman — that  he  would 
never  again  bear  arms  in  the  Netherlands  except  in  obe- 
dience to  the  French  monarch,  while  no  such  pledges 
were  required  of  himself.  La  None  visited  the  Prince  of 
Parma  at  Antwerp,  to  take  leave,  and  was  received  with 
the  courtesy  due  to  his  high  character  and  great  distinc- 
tion. Alexander  took  pleasure  in  showing  him  all  his 
fortifications,  and  explaining  to  him  the  whole  system  of 
the  siege,  and  La  None  was  filled  with  honest  amaze- 
ment. He  declared  afterwards  that  the  works  were 
superb  and  impregnable,  and  that,  if  he  had  been  on  the 
outside  at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand  troops,  he  should 
have  felt  obliged  to  renounce  the  idea  of  relieving  the 
city.*  "  Antwerp  cannot  escape  you,"  cc»nfes8ed  the  ve- 
teran Huguenot,  «'  but  must  soon  fall  into  your  hands. 
And  when  you  enter,  I  would  counsel  you  to  hang  up 
your  sword  at  its  gate,  and  let  its  capture  be  the  crown- 
ing trophy  in  your  list  of  victories." 

/*  You  are  right,"  answered  Parma,  "  and  many  of  my 
fnends  have  given  me  the  same  advice;  but  how  am  I 
to  retird,  engaged  as  I  am  for  life  in  the  service  of  mv 
King?"'  ^ 

Such  was  the  opinion  of  La  Noue,  a  man  whose  love 
for  the  reformed  religion  and  for  civil  liberty  can  be  as 
little  doubted  as  his  competency  to  form  an  opinion 
upon  great  military-  subjects.  As  little  could  he  bo 
suspected— just  coming  as  he   did   from  an  infamous 

«  Le   PeUt,  il.   518.     Bor.  il.  610-613        »  Groen  v.  Prmsterer.  '  Archive^  '  &c 
'^'  i.11-m,  ^  Le  Petit,  il.  51S. 


\  : 


222 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


X.  v.«  "haa  been  at  one  time  invited  by 

^TlT^em^l^^^  co-Sition  of  allowing  his  eyes 

K%ut"l^^^^^         partiality  for  that  monarch  or 

his  representative.  ^  Holland  and  the 

Moreover,  although  the  °*^X  desirous  of  relieving 

English  government  were  «^«/|y  "^^[rioL  with  welf- 

the°city,  and  were  «-«-"Xd  luthSs  were  lukc- 

founded  P-X:vfol  tKeeland  navy,  from  which  so 

warn,  ll'^  °3X,^ere  at  last  discouraged.  They 
much  was  expected  ^^eie  a  j^^^j^i  j„stmus  de 

drew  up,  signed  ^^^  ™^^^  ^^^.^  that  the  Scheldt 
Nassau,  a  formal  opi"'°°  ™  ,;„_rou8  places,  and  that 
had  now  so  many  dry  ^^.f  *°f  ^^rent  from  those 
the  tranquil  B---;f -'S^f^Xo  71^,  as  to  allow 

'Ti;  :rK--^^"'y ^°  ^^  ^™^^^  *°  ''''''' 

%tf  certainly  was  much  to  aisc°u«ge.  and  S^^^^^^ 
Aldegondewasat.lengthdiscoumged^   Hef^^  ^^^  .^ 

last  hope  of  saving  '^'^twerp  was  go     , 
all  possibility  of  n^a'^t^VJ-'^S  ^^Vw^Cn  Provinces 
Netherland  <=o'?'"°'jrr*"-Rrussels  Mechlin,  had  also 
^ere  lost  already ;  Ghent,  ^^^^^f^Xerp,  Flanders 
capitulated,  and,  .«  h  *o JaU  of  Antwe^?^^^^  ^^^^ 

and  Brabant  must  fall,     ^f  ^'^t,''"'";^  g^fered  the  heart 

even  to  save  Holland  't«f  •.    ^jXn  J  too  soon  to  its 
of  the  burgomaster   and  he  hstenedto^^^^^^^^.^ 

treacherous  voice.     \«t^'"\rinraained  it  practicable 

state  no  lo^fj.  "^  P°^^^Sb;n:goSn^^  IJ- 

to  secure  religious  Uborty  oy  "^S  ^  otjects 

He  abandoned  with  a  -^S^^^^  ^^  *X  f^Hh  Orange 

for  which  he  l'-^  «*["rt  "  ht  it  P«^^iWe  to  secure 
for  twenty  years,  but  he  tuougni       y  j.  ye 

the  other.     His  purpose  ''"^J  *°  ^^'"time  to  bring 
capitulation  for  Antwerp  and  at  *o  ^^e  tm        ^^^^. 

about  the  submission  of  Holland,  Z««|'^*;*     „^,„  <,er- 
United  Provinces,  to  the  King  of  bpMn^  ^^^ 

tainly  was  a  8^- Vh^AfrtolJ  "nSltt!  i'n  the  ranks 
so  conspicuous,  and  f  "leito  ^o  c  necessary,  m 

s-^cie™"'."-" «  L  -  -  * 

2S1.298 ;  •  Rise  of  the  DuU^h  BepubUc.  Metere 


1.'85. 


SAINTE  ALDEGONDE  DISCOURAGED. 


223 


crisis,  to  follow  carefully  his  steps  through  the  secret 
path  of  negotiation  into  which  he  now  entered,  and  in 
which  the  Antwerp  drama  was  to  find  its  conclusion.  In 
these  transactions  the  chief  actors  are,  on  the  one  side, 
the  Prince  of  Parma,  as  representative  of  absolutism  and 
the  Papacy ;  on  the  other,  Sainte  Aldegonde,  who  had 
passed  his  life  as  the  champion  of  the  Eeformation. 

No  doubt  the  pressure  upon  the  burgomaster  was 
very  great.  Tumults  were  of  daily  occurrence.  Crowds 
of  rioters  beset  his  door  with  cries  of  denunciations  and 
demands  for  bread.  A  large  and  turbulent  mob  upon 
one  occasion  took  possession  of  the  horse-market,  and 
treated  him  with  pei-sonal  indignity  and  violence,  when 
he  undertook  to  disperse  them.^  On  the  other  hand, 
Parma  had  been  holding  out  hopes  of  pardon  with  more 
reasonable  conditions  than  could  well  be  expected,  and 
had,  with  a  good  deal  of  art,  taken  advantage  of  several 
trivial  circumstances  to  inspire  the  burghers  with  con- 
fidence in  his  good-will.  Thus,  an  infirm  old  lady  in 
the  city  happened  to  imagine  herself  so  dependent  upon 
asses'  milk  as  to  have  sent  her  purveyor  out  of  the  city, 
at  the  peril  of  his  life,  to  procure  a  sujjply  from  the 
neiglihourhood.  The  young  man  was  captured,  brought 
to  Alexander,  from  whose  hands  he  very  naturally  ex- 
pected the  punishment  of  a  spy.  The  prince,  however, 
presented  him,  not  only  with  his  liberty,  but  with  a 
she-ass,  and  loaded  the  animal  with  partridges  and 
capons,  as  a  present  for  the  invalid.  The  magistrates, 
hearing  of  the  incident,  and  not  choosing  to  be  outdone 
in  courtesy,  sent  back  a  waggon-load  of  old  wine  and 
remarkable  confectionery  as  an  offering  to  Alexander, 
and  with  this  interchange  of  dainties  led  the  way  to  the 
amenities  of  diplomacy.* 

Sainto  Aldegonde's  position  had  become  a  painful  one. 
The  net  had  been  drawn  closely  about  the  city.  The 
bridge  seemed  impregnable,  the  great  Kowenstj-n  was 
irrecoverably  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  now  all 

the  lesser  forts  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Antweip 

Borght,  lI(.l)oken,  Cantecroix,  Stralen,  Berghen,  and  the 
rest— had  likewise  fallen  into  his  grasp.  An  account 
of  grain,  taken  on  the  1st  of  June,  gave  an  average  of  a 
pound  a-head  for  a  month  long,  or  half  a  pound  for  twc 


>  Bo    ii.  605,  606.    Hoofd  Vervolgh,  108. 


2  Slrada,  ;L  G72. 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


HIS  NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  THE  ENEMY. 


225 


months.*  This  was  not  the  famine -point  according 
Tthe  standard  which  had  once  been  established  m 
Leyden;  but  the  courage  of  the  burghers  had  been 
rapidly  oozing  away,  under  the  pressure  of  their  recent 
dS^^^  It  neemed  obvious  to  the  burgomaster 

that  the  time  for  yielding  had  amved. 

-  I  had  maintained  the  city,"  *  he  said,     for  a  long 
period,  without  any  excessive  tumult  or  great  effusion 
of  bW-a  city  where  there  was  such  a  multitude  o 
Vnh^hltants  mostly  merchants  or  artisans  deprived  ot 
l-^K  traffic!  s4ped  of  their  man^actures.  des^tu^e 
of  all  commodities  and  means  of  living.   I  had  done  this 
in    he  midst  of  a  great   diversity  of  humours   and 
opinions,  a  vast  popular  licence,  a  confused  anarchy, 
among  a  great  number  of  commanders,  most  of  them 
trxplrfenced  in  war;  with  very  little  authonty  of  my 
o"™  with  slender  forces  of  ships,  soldiers,  and  sailors; 
with  slight  appearance  of  support  from  king  or  prmce 
w  hout,  or  of  military  garrison  wiUim ;  and  under  al 
hese  circumstances  I  exerted  myse    to  do  my  uttermo. 
duty   in  preserving  the  city,   both   in  regard  to  its 
Internal  government,  and  by  force  of  anns  by  land  and 
sea  without  sparing  myself  in  any  labour  or  peril. 

'•  1  know  very  well  that  there  aro  many  persons,  who, 
finding  themselves  quite  at  their  ease,  and  far  away 
from  the  hard  blows  that  are  passing,  are  pleased  to 
exhibit  their  wisdom  by  sitting  in  judgment  upon  others 
foiindinc  their  decision  only  upon  the  results.     Hut  l 
domandTo  be  judged  by  equity  and  reason,  when  passion 
hoLTen  set'  asfde.     I  claim  that  my  honour  sha  1  be 
protected   against    my   calumniators;    for    all   diould 
Remember  that  I  am  "^t^e  first  man  nor  shall  I  be 
the  last  that  has  been  blamed  unjustly.     All  persons 
emp  oyed  in  PuW'c  affairs  are  subject  to  such  hazard.^ 
but  I  submit  myself  to  Ilim  who  knows  aU  hearts  a'ul 
who  governs  all.     I  take  Him  to  witness  that  in  th 
affair  of  Antwerp,  as  in  all  my  other  actions  since  me 
eariiest  youth,  I  have  most  sincerely  sought  His  gloo 

vide  'Notices  Historlqups  ft  BiblloRra-    par  Ldgar  ^uUieh 
phlques  bur   Philippe  de  Mumlx.'  par 


and  the  welfare  of  His  poor  people,  without  regard  to 
my  own  private  interests."  ' 

For  it  is  not  alone  the  fate  of  Antwerp  that  is  here  to 
be  recorded.  The  fame  of  Sainte  Aldegonde  was  now 
seriously  cunipromised.  The  character  of  a  gi-eat  man 
must  always  be  closely  scanned  and  scrutinised ;  pro- 
tected, if  needful,  against  calumny,  but  always  unflinch- 
ingly held  up  to  the  light.  Names  illustrious  by  genius 
and  virtue  are  History's  most  precious  treasures,  faith- 
fully to  be  guarded  by  her,  jealously  to  bo  watched : 
but  it  is  always  a  misfortune  when  her  eyes  are  deceived 
by  a  glitter  which  is  not  genuine. 

Sainte  Aldegonde  was  a  man  of  unquestionable 
genius.  His  character  had  ever  been  beyond  the  re- 
l)roach  of  self-seeking  or  ignoble  ambition.  He  had 
multiplied  himself  into  a  thousand  forms  to  serve  the 
cause  of  the  United  Netherland  States,  and  the  services 
so  rendered  had  been  brilliant  and  frequent.  A  great 
change  in  his  conduct  and  policy  was  now  approaching-, 
and  It  is  therefore  the  more  necessary  to  examine 
closely  at  this  epoch  his  attitude  and  his  character. 

Early  m  June,  Kichardot,  president  of  the  council  of 
Artois,  addressed  a  letter  to  Sainte  Aldegonde,  by  com- 
mand of  Alexander  of  Tarma,  suggesting  a  secret  inter- 
view between  tlie  burgomaster  and  the  l*rince. 

On  the  8tli    of  June   Sainte  Aldegonde  replied    in 
tavourublo  ternus  as  to  the  interview  ;    but   observed 
that    as  he  was  an  official  personage,  it  was  necessarv 
tor  hini  to  communicate  the  project  to  the  magis£tacy  of 
the  city.      Ho  expressed  likewise  the  hope  that  Farma 
would  embrace  the  ])resent  opportunity  for  ma^inff  a 
general  treaty  with  ail  the  Provinces.     A  speiiidaccord 
with  Antwerp,  leaving  out  Holland  and  Zeeland,  would 
he  said,  lead  to  the  utter  desolation  of  that  citv  and  to 
the  destniction  of  its  commerce  and  manufactures  while 
the   occasion   now  presented   itself  to  the   Prince    of 
-  winning  prai.se  and  immortal  glory  by  bringing  back 
all  the  country   o  a  voluntary  and  prompt  obedience  to 
his  Majesty.       He  proposed,  that,  instead  of  his  comin<. 
alone,  there  should  be  a  number  of  deputies  sent  from 
Antwerp  to  confer  with  Alexander.'' 

V  OL.  I. 


VI 


Wt 


226  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Ciup.  V. 

On  the  nth  Juno  Kiclm,-dot  replied  by  expressing 
his  own  rcc-rets  and  those  of  the  Prince  that  Ihe  inter- 
V  ew^nW  not  have  been  with  the  burgomaster  alone, 
but  a^toowledging  the  weight  of  his  reasons  and  aeqm- 
escin^  in  Ae  pro^sition  to  send  a  larger  deputation. 
Thief  days  after^Wds,  Sainte  Aldegonde,  on   pnvato 
ionritatt^n  with  some  -uMential  ,...onages  ch^^^^ 
his  irround-   announced  his    preference   toi    a  pinaio 
ill.  view  under  four  eyes,  with  Parma  ;  and  requested 
hata  ;:i;port  might  be'sent      The  passport  wa.a<.ord- 
ingly  forwarded  the  same   day    with  ^-L  f  P™^.*";""  "^^ 
Alexander's  gratification,  and  with  the  offer,  on  the  part 
^^Kfchardott  to  come  himself  to  fnt^^T-  as  hostage 
during  the  absence  of  the  burgomaster  m  larmas  camp 

"iTintrAWegondo  was  accordingly  about  to  start  on 

the  follo^ne  day  (16th  of  June),  but   meantime  tl,e 

the  fo"o«^^?  ay  ^      ^i„d.     A  secret  interview,  thus 

loh  jone.  anajr  iiau  y  ■-      „„„„ipd   bv   the    citizens    as 

..»..     projected,   ^as    regarded   ^y  '  «  .^^.^^^ 

extremely  -X'^^I^^^Jalu^^mly  Solent  demonstra- 

tZ  ''""'SdSnX'theT  -y.  -  g-"S  *"  -«  ^^™f 
•T'  .  ;^  fho  hnr<  hers  "  which^ives  much  dissatiN- 
naid  one  of  the  ^^^r^'J.*^^^^',  .y,^.  l.e  will  make  a  treatv 
taction,  because  'tis  feared  that  lie  ^'^*  ^^l' jx-^y^^eg. 
accordimMo  the  appetite  and  pleasure  of  ^^^^^^/S*^^^^^^^^^ 

number  of  burghers.  Last  Sunday  .O'^tl^.-f  ""^^X  " 
wL  a  meeting  of  the  broad  council.  Ihe  preachei-s 
rame1nr:LLembly,and.soammated^h^^^^^^^^ 

demonstrations  of  their  religion  *^te^\i^t  they  d^  not 
council-house,  crying  with  loud  ^  oices  tnai  luej 

unfortunately,  *»»«  ^ntwen^-  h-^  -  ;1;7^^:  At 
vigorous  or  so  united  in  tneir  re!3ibuiu^.u 

.  K,c^„.  .0  Man.,..i.  June  u«».  ^;^j:p:vir:i'':z':i 

"!--A.d«onded,t  lu'U  veult  .l..r.  c.    n,»  >»^°"«;','  ^  ^^^Z'^wl 
o,«  plu,ieunrt..  bourgeoi,  ne  veument    i™r  ''"f,"";v^"'„,  "  Cl.e  '"Ix  <l"'i" 


1585. 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  RICHARDOT. 


227 


present,  however,  they  were  very  furious,  so  soon  as  the 
secret  purpose  of  Sainte  Aldegonde  became  generally 
known.     The  proposed  capitulation,  which  great  mobs 
had  been  for  weeks  long   savagely  demanding  at  the 
hands  of  the   burgomaster,  was   now  ascribed   to  the 
burgomaster's  unblushing  corruption.    He  had  obviously, 
they  thought,  been  purchased  by  Spanish  ducats  to  do 
what  he  had    hitherto   been    so   steadily   refusing-.     A 
certain  Van  Weme  had  gone  from  Antwerp  into  Holland 
a  few  days  before  upon  his  own  private  affairs,  with  a 
safe-conduct  from  Tarma.     Sainte  Aldegonde   had   not 
communicated  to  him  the  project  then  on  foot,  but  he 
hatl  permitted  him  to  seek  a  secret  interview  with  Count 
Mansfeld.      If  that  were  granted,  Van  Wenie  was   to 
hint  that  in  case  the  Provinces  could  promise  themselves 
a  religious  peace,  it  would  be  possible,  in  the  opinion  of 
Sainto  Aldegonde,  to  induce  Holland  and  Zeeland,  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  United  Provinces,  to  return  to  their 
obedience.     Van   Weme,   on   his   return   to   Antweii) 
divulged  these  secret  negotiations,  and  so  put  a  stop  to 
bamte  Aldegonde's   scheme  of  going  alone  to   Parma. 
**  Ihis  has  given  a  bad  suspicion  to  the  people,"  wrote 
the  burgomaster  to  Kichardot,  -so  much  so  that  I  fear 
to  have  trouble.     Tlie  broad  council  has  been  in  session, 
but  1  don  t  know  what  has  taken  place  there,  and  I  do 
not  dare  to  ask."  > 

Sainte  Aldegonde's  motive,  as  avowed  by  himself  for 
seeking  a  private  interview,  was  because  he  had  received 
no  answer  to  the  main  point  in  his  first  letter,  as  to  the 
proposition  for  a  general  accord.      In  order  therefore 
to   make  the   deliberations   more   rapid,  he   had   been 
disposed  to  discuss  that  preliminary  question  in  secret. 
Put  now,   said  he  to  Kichardot,  -  as  the  affair  has  been 
too   much   divulged,  as   well  by  diverse   reports   and 
writings   sown  about,  very   inopportunely,  as   by  the 
arrival  of  M.  Van  Weme,  I  have  not  found  it  practicable 
o  set  out  upon  my  road,  without  communication  with 
the  members  of  the  government.     ITiis  has  been  done 
however,  not  in  the  way  of  consultation,  but  as  the' 
announcement  of  a  thing  already  resolved  upon  " « 

iiMMiucr,      ecnw  sera68  mal  a  propos,  comme  par  la 
venue  de  S'  Van  Wome.  Je  n'ay  trouvtf 
g  2 


22S 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


:l 


y 


rt  I 


He  proceeded  to  state  that  great  difficulties  had  arisen, 
exactly  as  he  had  foreseen,  'i'he  magistrates  would  not 
hear  of  a  general  accord,  and  it  was  therefore  necessary 
that  a  delay  should  bo  interposed  before  it  would  be 
possible  for  him  to  come.  He  begged  Kichardot  to 
persuade  Alexander  that  he  was  not  trifling  with  him. 
"It  is  not,"  said  he,  "from  lightness,  or  any  other 
passion,  that  1  am  retarding  this  affair.  I  will  do  all  in 
my  power  to  obtain  leave  to  make  a  journey  to  the  (^amp 
of  his  Highness,  at  whatever  price  it  may  cost,  and  I 
hope  iKjfore  long  to  arrive  at  my  object.  If  I  fail,  it 
must  ho  ascribed  to  the  humours  of  the  people  ;  for  my 
anxiety  to  restore  all  the  Provinces  to  obedience  to  his 
Majesty  is  extreme." ' 

Kichardot,  in  reply,  the  next  day,  expressed  regret, 
without  astonishment,  on  the  part  of  Alexander  and 
n.h  June,  himself,  at  the  intelligence  thus  received. 
15^5.  '  People  had  such  difference  of  humour,  he  said, 
and  all  men  were  not  equally  capable  of  reason.  Never- 
theless the  citizens  were  warned  not  to  misconstrue 
Parma's  gentleness,  because  he  was  determined  to  die, 
with  his  whole  army,  rather  than  not  take  Antwerp. 
"  As  for  the  King,"  said  Kichardot,  '*  he  will  lay  down 
all  his  crowns  sooner  than  abandon  this  enterprise."^ 
Van  Wenie  was  represented  as  free  from  blame,  and 
sincerely  desirous  of  peace.  Kichardot  had  only  stated 
to  him,  in  general  terms,  tbat  letters  had  been  received 
from  Sainte  Aldegonde,  expressing  an  opinion  in  favour 
of  peace.  As  for  the  royalists,  they  were  quite  innocent 
of  the  reports  and  writings  that  had  so  inopportunely 
been  circulated  in  the  city.  It  was  desirable,  however, 
that  the  negociation  should  not  too  long  be  deferred,  for 
otherwise  Antwerp  might  perish  before  a  geneml  accord 
with  Holland  and  Zeeland  could  be  made.  He  begged 
Sainte  Aldegonde  to  banish  all  anxiety  as  to  Parma's 
sentiments  towards  himself  or  the  community.  "  Put 
yourself.  Sir,  quite  at  your  ease,"  said  he.  '*  His  Highness 
is  in  no   respects  dissatisfied  witli  you,  nor  prone  to 

fuiaable  de  me  mettre  en  chemln,  sans  le  »  Ibid. 

communlqiier   aux   membree,   non    paa  '•«  Kichardot  to  Mamlx,  17  June,  1585, 

toutelois  en  forme  de  deliberation,  mala  MS.    "  Mettra  toutes  seo  couronn^s  plu- 

comme  une  chose  que  nous  avlons  reso-  tot  qu'abandonner  cette  enireprise,"  &c. 
lue."    Manil.x  to  Kichardot,  MS.,  ubi  sup. 


I 


1585. 


COMMOTION  IN  THE  CITY. 


220 


conceive  any  indignation  against  this  poor  people  " » 
He  assured  the  burgomaster  tliat  he  was  not  suspected 
ot  lightness,  nor  of  a  wish  to  delay  matters  but  Im 
expre«,s«d  solicitude  with  regard  to^h^  .hXa ienin-! 
demonstrations  >vhich  had  been   made  again.t  him  "S 

lull  of  a  thousand  hazards,  and  it  would  be  infinitelv 
painful  to  mo  if  you  should  come  to  harm." '      """'"'^'^ 
Ihus  It  ^yould  appear  that  it  was  Sainte  Aldegonde 
«^ho  was  ehiefly  anxious  to  eifeet  the  mooncilialfon  of 
Holland  and  Zeeland  with  the  King.     The  initiative    f 
this  p.„je<;t  to  mclude  all  the  Inittd  Provinces     i  one 
scheme  with  the  reduction  of  Antwerp  came  orij^  nX 
om  him  and  was  opp.«ed,  at  the  out.^t,  by  <he^n^  'i2^ 
trates  of  that  city,  by  the   Prince  of  Pama  and  1^ 
couneillors,  and  by  the  States  of  Holland  and  ZM 
iho  demonstmtions  on  the  part  of  the  preachers    tie' 
municipal  authorities,  and  the  burghers,  Lil^  t  &.in  o 
Aldegonde  a,Ki  his  plan  for  a  .ecret  int^rfiew  so  ^on 

;:itrtoSr '  '"^^  ^'  '-^-^^'^  ^  -^'  ^ 

about  soiie  kind  of  .u^5=ia  !„  ft' anT;,*:, '^"j"f 
ma«ifeste<l  a  desire  to  come  hither  for  the  'ak;  of  a 
personal  inteixiew  with  me,  which  I  jK^rmit ted  Jt  wVs 
to  have  taken  place  last  Sun.lay,  10th  of  ths  month  b»? 
by  reason  of  a  certain  popular  tumult,  whicCos^o 

atT!:r;\rtSo^;Ts*"n^it^ 

impertinent  demonstration.s  on  the  p-.n  of  som  7  ''"'^ 
people,"  wrote  Kichardot,  ten  days'^rt^r  ••  w HI  IjT 
destruction  of  the  whole  countrj^  aXwill  ^l'^^  t 


^  1  "  Bref,  Monsieur,  mettez  von*  n  repos. 
Car  son  Altoss..  n'est  en  rlen  mal  satUfaite 
<Je  vous,  ni  ladle  a  amcevoir  qiielque  m- 
Ulgnation  cwitrc  ce  pauvre  peuule  "  MS 
ubimp. 

2  "  Car  les  gouvernemetjs  populalres 
fiont  plains  de  mil  hazards,  et  il  me  dts- 
plalralt  inHnimcut  que  vous  eussiez  maL" 
i^ioid.) 

*  '*De  ocho  dia«  La  procurado  AUe- 


gonda.  qnl  golxma  Anveres,  travar  alini,,.! 
platica  de  acuenio  con  aquella  villa,  ni„s- 
trando  dessoo  do  qnerer  venir  el  ml.mo 
a  verse  conmlgo,  lof,«el  le  perniite.  Jfaviu 
de  haverlo  hecho  e.te  ultimo  donnnfio  l« 

tumi  to  p.,puiar,  que  sobrc  el  caso  havl;i 
Fucedldo    la    ha    tenldo    par  differirlo  " 


'I 

i 


if 


230 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


1\ 


Prince's  gentleness  into  anger.  *Tis  these  good  and 
zealous  patriots,  trusting  to  a  little  favourable  breeze 
that  blew  for  a  few  days  past,  who  have  been  the  cause 
of  all  this  disturbance,  and  who  are  mining  their  miser- 
able country— miserable,  I  say,  for  having  produced 
such  abortions  as  themselves."  '  -r,.  ,     j  ^ 

Notwithstanding  what  had  passed,  however,  Kichardot 
intimated  that  Alexander  was  still  ready  to  negociate. 
"  And  if  you.  Sir,"  he  concluded,  in  his  letter  to  Alde- 
o-onde  '•  conceniing  whom  many  of  our  friends  have  at 
present  a  sinister  opinion,-as  if  your  object  were  to 
circumvent  ns,-are  willing  to  proceed  roundly  and 
frankly,  as  I  myself  fiimly  believe  that  yon  will  do,  we 
may  yet  hope  for  a  favourable  issne."  * 

thus  the  burgomaster  was  already  the  object  ot  sus- 
Dicion  to  both  parties.  The  Antwerpers  denounced  him 
as  having  been  purchased  by  Spanish  gold ;  the  royalists 
accused  him  of  intending  to  overreach  the  King.  It  was 
not  probable  therefore  that  all  were  correct  m  their 

^^At^last  it  was  arranged  that  deputies  should  be 
appointed  by  the  broad  council  to  commence  a  negoci- 
5tb  July  ation  with  Parma.  Sainte  Aldegonde  informed 
1585.  '  Eiohardot.  that  he  would  accompany  them,  il 
his  affairs  should  permit.  He  protested  his  sincerity 
and  frankness  throughout  the  whole  affair.  "  1  hey  try 
to  calumniate  me,"  he  said,  "as  much  on  one  side  as  on 
the  other,  but  I  will  overcome  by  my  innocence  a  1  the 
malice  of  my  slanderers.  If  his  Highness  should  be 
pleased  to  grant  us  some  liberty  for  our  religion,  1  dare 
to  promise  such  faithful  sei^ice  as  will  give  very  great 

Rd>tis%faction 

Four  days  later,  Sainte  Aldegonde  himself,  together 
with  M.  de  Duffel,  U.  de  Schoonhoven,  and  Adrian 
Hesselt,  came  to  Parma's  camp  at  Beveren,  as  deputies 
on  the  part  of  the  Antwerp  authorities.  They  were 
courteously  received  by  the  Prince,  and  remained  three 
days  as  his  guests.  During  the  period  of  this  visit  the 
temis   of    a    capitulation  were    thoronghly   discussed, 

1  Kichardot  to  Mamlx.  30  June.  1585.  Arch,  de  Sim.  MS 

-  Ce  sont  ces  bons  et  zeleus  patrlote«  qui  ^  n,cbard«t  to  Mam!^.  30  June.  1  5h^ 

ruynont  Uur  miserable  patrie. misemble.  '  Mamlx  to  Rlcliaulot.  5  July.  158o. 

dis  Je,  d'avolr   prodult  tela   avortous."  Arch,  de  Sim.  MS. 


1585. 


INTERVIEW  OF  MAKNIX  WITH  PARMA. 


231 


between  Alexander  and  his  councillors  upon  one  part 
and   the    four    deputies   on   the    other.       The    envoys 
endeavoured,  with  all  the  arguments  at  their  command, 
to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Piince  to  three  preliminary' 
points  which  they  laid  down  as  indispensable.    Keligious 
liberty  must  be  granted,  the  citadel  must  not  be  recon- 
structed, a  foreign  garrison  must  not  be  admitted,  they 
said.     As  it  was  the  firm  intention  of  tlie  King,  however 
not  to  make  the  slightest  concession  on  any  one  of  these 
points,  the  discussion  was  not  a  very  profitable  one 
Besides  the  public  interviews  at  which  all  the  nco-oci- 
ators   were   present,   there   was   a  private  confei^nce 
between  Panna  and  Sainte  Aldegonde  which  lasted  more 
than  four  hours,  in  which  each  did  his  best  to  enforce  his 
opinions  upon  the  other.     The  burgomaster  endeavoured 
to  persuade  the  l»rince,  with  all  the  eloquence  for  which 
he  was  so  renowned,  that  the  hearts  not  of  the  Antwerpers 
only,  but  of  the  Hollanders  and  Zeelanders,  were  eiily 
to  be  won  at  that  moment.     Give  them  religious  liberty 
and  attempt  to  govern  them  by  gentleness  rather  thaii 
by  bpanish  garrisons,  and  the  road  was  plain  to  a  com- 
plete  reconciliation   of    all    the    Provinces    with    his 
Majesty. 

Alexander,  who  knew  his  master  to  be  inexorable 
upon  these  three  points,  was  courteous  but  peremptory 
in  his  statements.  He  recommended  that  the  rebels 
should  take  into  consideration  their  own  declinino- 
strength,  the  inexhaustible  resources  of  the  Kino-  th? 
impossibility  of  obtaining  succour  from  France,  and  the 
perplexing  dilatoriness  of  England,  rather  than  waste 
their  time  in  idle  expectations  of  a  change  in  the 
bpanish  policy.  He  also  intimated,  obliquely  but  very 
plainb%  to  Sainte  Aldegonde,  that  his  own  fortune 
would  be  made,  and  that  he  had  everything  to  hope  from 
his  Majesty  8  buuiity,  if  he  were  now  willing  to  make 
himself  useful  m  carrying  into  effect  the  royal  plans  » 

1  he  Prince  urged  these  views  with  so  much  eloquence, 
that  ho  seemed,  m  his  own  words,  to  have  been  directly 
inspired  by  the  Lord  for  this  special  occasion.*  Sainto 
Aldegonde,  too  was  signally  impressed  by  Alexanders 
language,  and  thoroughly  fascinated-magnetized,  as  it 

'  Strada.  il  379.  Comp.  Bor.  IL  606.    Hoofd  yervolgb,  109. 
*  btrada,  ubi  sup. 


i 


H 


I « 


)    E  4 


232 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


■I 


were — by  his  character.  He  subsequently  declared 
that  he  had  often  conversed  familiarly  with  many  elo- 
quent personages,  but  that  he  had  never  known  a  man 
more  powerful  or  persuasive  than  the  Prince  of  Parma.' 
He  could  honestly  say  of  him— as  Hasdrubal  had  said 
of  Scipio — that  Farnese  was  even  more  admirable  when 
seen  face  to  face,  than  he  had  seemed  when  one  only 
heard  of  his  glorious  achievements.* 

"  The  burgomaster  and  three  deputies,"  wrote  Parma 
to  Philip,  '*  were  here  until  the  12th  July.  We  dis- 
30th  July,  cussed  the  points  and  form  of  a  capitulation, 
1585.  jm^i  iiiey  liave  gone  back  thoroughly  satisfied. 
Sainte  Aldegonde  especially  was  much  pleased  with  tho 
long  interview  which  he  had  with  me,  alone,  and  which 
lasted  more  than  three  hours.  I  told  him,  as  well  as 
my  weakness  and  siiifering  from  the  tertian  fever 
peimitted,  all  that  God  inspired  me  to  say  on  our 
behalf." ' 

Nevertheless,  if  Sainte  Aldegonde  and  his  colleagues 
went  away  thoroughly  satisfied,  they  had  reason,  soon 
after  their  return,  to  become  thoroughly  dejected.  The 
magistrates  and  burr:;hers  would  nut  listen  to  a  pro- 
position to  abandon  the  three  points,  however  strongly 
urged  to  do  so  by  aiguments  drawn  from  the  necessity 
of' the  situation,  and  by  representations  of  Parma's 
benignity.  As  for  the  burgomaster,  he  became  tho 
target  for  calumny,  so  soon  as  his  three  hours'  private 
interview  became  known ;  and  the  citizens  loudly 
declared  that  his  head  ought  to  be  cut  off,  and  sent  in 
a  bag,  as  a  present,  to  Pliilip,  in  order  that  the  traitor 
might  meet  tho  sovereign  with  whom  he  sought  a 
reconciliation,  face  to  face,  as  soon  as  possible.* 

The  deputies,  immediately  after  their  return,  made 

their   report   to   the   magistrates,    as   likewise   to   the 

f.   15th  July,  cohmels  and   captains,  and   to   the   deans  of 

1585.      guilds.     Next  day,  although  it  was  Sunday, 

there  was  a  session  of  the  broad  council,  and  Sainte 

Aldegonde  made  a  long  address,  in  which—as  he  stated 

»  Stnida,  «M  sup.  3  horas  tuve,  dizlendole  lo  que  Dios  m'" 

2  Ibid.  Inspire  a  n™  propoelto,  y  mejor  me  per- 

*  "Se  dieron  los  pnnfos  y  forma  (\(\  niitl6  laflrquezay  iravajodeliitrciana." 

nraenlo.  con  qu<»   t(in\aii>n    ii   yr  niuy  ranna  to  I'hiilp  II.,  30  July,  15S5,  Aivh. 

^atlsfech^>««,  y  el  Aldeg^«  en  psirHculur  de  de  Sim.  MS. 

la  larga  platica  que  a  solas  tx>n  el  mas  de  *  Bor,  11.  606.    Hoofd  Vervolgh,  109 


I 


1585. 


SUSPICIOUS  CONDUCT  OF  MARXIX. 


233 


in  a  letter  to  Eichardot — he  related  everything  that  had 
passed  in  his  private  conversation  Avith  Alexander.  An 
answer  was  promised  to  Parma  on  the  followino- 
Tuesday,  but  the  burgomaster  spoke  very  discouragino-ly 
as  to  the  probability  of  an  accord.^  ^ 

*'  The  joy  with  w^hich  our  return  was  gieeted,"  he 
said,  "  was  followed  by  a  general  disappointment'  and 
sadness  so  soon  as  the  result  was  known.     The  want  of 
a  relitvious  toleration,  as  well  as  the  refusal  to  concede 
on  the  other  two  points,  has  not  a  little  altered  the 
hearts  of  all,   evni  of  the   Catholics.     A  citadel   and   a 
garrison  are  considered  iiiin  and  desolation  to  a  great 
commercial  city.      I  have  done  what  I  can  to  urge  the 
acceptance  of  Mich  conditions  as  the  Prince  is  willin"- 
to  give,  and  have  spoken  in  general  terms  of  his  benign 
intentioiLs.     The  citiz.ens  still  desire  peace.     Had   his 
Highness   been   willing  to  take   both   religions   under 
his  protection,  he  miglit  have  won  all  hearts,  and  very 
soon  all  the  other  Provinces  would  have  returned  to 
their  obedience,  while  the  clemency  and  magnanimity 
of  his  Majesty  would  thus  have  been  rendered  admirable 
throughout  the  Avorld."  * 

The  power  to  form  an  accurate  conception  as  to  the 
nature  of  Philip  and  of  other  personages  Avith  whom  he 
was  dealing,  and  as  to  the  general  signs  of  his  times, 
seems  to  have  been  wanting  in  the  character  of  the 
gifted  Aldegonde.  1  le  had  been  dazzled  by  the  personal 
presence  of  Parma,  find  he  now  spoke  of  Philip  II.  as 
if  his  tyranny  over  the  Netherlands— which  for  twenty 
years  had  been  one  horrible  and  uniform  whole -^ were 
the  accidental  result  of  circumstances,  not  the  necessary 
expression  of  his  individual  character,  and  mi<rht  be 
easily  changed  at  will— as  if  Nero,  at  a  moment's" warn- 
ing, might  transfonn  himself  into  Trajan.  It  is  true 
that  the  innermost  soul  of  the  Spanish  king  could  by 
no  possibility  be  displayed  to  any  contemporary,  as  it 
reveals  itself,  after  three  centuries,  to  those  who  study 
the  record  of  his  most  secret  thoughts  ;  but,  at  any  rate. 
It  would  seem  that  his  career  had  been  sufficiently  con- 
sistent to  manifest  the  amount  of '^  clemency  and  mao-- 
nanimity  '  which  he  might  be  expected  to  exercise.  ^ 
"  Had  his  Majesty,"  wrote  Sainte  Aldegonde,  '•  been 

:  ilamlx  to  Klchardot,  15  July,  15^5.  MS.  2  ibid. 


it 


"t 


I 


mK 


234 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


willing,  since  Ihe  year  sixty-six,  to  pursue  a  course  of 
15th  July,  toleration,  the   memory  of  his   reign   would 

1585.  have  been  sacred  to  all  posterity,  with  an 
immortal  praise  of  sapience,  benignity,  and  sovereign 
felicity." ' 

This  might  be  true,  but  nevertheless  a  tolerating 
Philip,  in  the  year  1585,  ought  to  have  seemed  to 
Sainte  Aldegonde  an  impoKsible  idea. 

"  The  emperors,"  continued  the  burgomaster,  "  who 
immediately  succeeded  Tiberius  were  the  cause  of  the 
wisdom  which  displayed  itself  in  the  good  Trajan — also 
a  Spaniard — and  in  Antoninus,  Verus,  and  the  rest.* 
If  you  think  that  this  city,  by  the  banishment  of  a 
certain  number  of  persons,  will  be  content  to  abandon 
the  profession  of  the  reformed  faith,  you  are  much 
mistaken.  You  will  see,  with  time,  that  the  exile  of 
this  religion  will  be  accompanied  by  a  depopulation 
and  a  sorrowful  ruin  and  desolation  of  this  flourishing 
city.  But  this  will  be  as  it  pleases  God.  Meantime  1 
shall  not  fail  to  make  all  possible  exertions  to  induce 
the  citizens  to  consent  to  a  reconciliation  with  his 
Majesty.  The  broad  council  will  soon  give  their 
answer,  and  then  we  shall  send  a  deputation.  We  shall 
invite  Holland  and  Zeeland  to  join  with  us,  but  there  is 
little  hope  of  their  consent."  ^ 

Certainly  there  was  little  hope  of  their  consent. 
Sainte  Aldegonde  was  now  occupied  in  bringing  about 
the  capitulation  of  Antwerp,  without  any  provision  for 
religious  liberty — a  concession  which  Parma  had  most 
distinctly  refused— and  it  was  not  probable  that  Holland 
and  Zeeland,  after  twenty  years  of  hard  fighting,  and 
with  an  immediate  prospect  of  assistance  from  England, 
could  now  be  induced  to  resign  the  groat  object  of 
the  contest  without  further  struggle. 

It  was  not  until   a  month   had    elapsed   that  the 

authorities  of  Antwerp  sent  their  propositions  to  the 

12th  Aug.    Prince  of  Parma.      On  the  12th  August,  ho w- 

i5a5.  ever,  Sainte  Aldegonde,  accompanied  by  the 
ssame  three  gentlemen  who  had  been  employed  on  the 
first  mission,  and  by  seventeen  others  besides,  proceeded 

1  Marnix  toIlichardot.JustcJted.  ment  le  bon  Trajan,  anssl  Espagnol,  et 

«  *  I^s  premiers  emperpurs  apres  Ty-    puis  Aiitonlii,  Verus,"  &c    (IbldJ 
bere  rendlreiii  sages  et  advisez  premiere-       *  Ibid. 


1585. 


DEPUTATION  TO  THE  PRINCa 


235 


with  safe-conduct  to  the  camp  at  Beveren.  Here  they 
were  received  with  great  urbanity,  and  hospitably 
entertained  by  Alexander,  who  received  their  formal 
draft  of  articles  for  a  capitulation,  and  referred  it  to  be 
reported  upon  to  llichardot,  Pamel,  and  Vanden  Burgh. 
Meantime  there  were  many  long  speeches  and  seveial 
conferences — sometimes  between  all  the  twenty- one 
envoys  and  the  Prince  together  ;  on  other  occasions, 
more  secret  ones,  at  which  only  Aldegonde  and  one 
or  two  of  his  colleagues  were  present.  It  had  been 
obvious,  from  the  date  of  the  first  interview,  in  the 
preceding  month,  that  the  negociation  would  be  of  no 
avail  until  the  government  of  Antwei'p  was  prepared  to 
abandon  all  the  conditions  which  they  had  originally 
announced  as  indispensable.  Alexander  had  not  much 
disposition  and  no  authority  whatever  to  make  con- 
cessions. 

"So  far  as  I  can  understand,"  Parma  had  written  on 
the  30th  July,  "they  are  very  far  from  a  conclusion. 
They  have  most  exorbitant  ideas,  talking  of  some  kind 
of  liberty  of  conscience,  besides  refusing  on  any  account 
to  accept  of  garrisons,  and  having  many  reasons  to 
allege  on  such  subjects."  * 

The   discussions,   therefore,  after  the   deputies  had 
at  last   arrived,  though   courteously  conducted,  could 
scarcely  be  satisfactory  to  both  parties.     "  The  articles 
were  thoroughly  deliberated  upon,"  WTote  Alexander, 
"  by  all  the  deputies,  nor  did  I  fail  to  have  private  con- 
ferences with  Aldegonde,  that  most  skilful  and  practised 
lawyer  and  politician,*  as  well  as  with  two  or  three  of 
the  others.      I  did  all  in  my  power  to  bring  them  to 
a  thorough  recognition  of  their  errors,  and  to  produce 
a  confidence  in  his  Majesty's  clemency,  in  order  that 
they  might  concede  what  was  needful  for  the  interests 
of  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  security  of  the  city. 
They  hoard  all  I  had  to  say  without  exasperating  them- 
selves, and  without  interposing  any  strong  objections, 
except  in  the  matter  of  religion,  and,  still  more,  in  the 
matter  of  the  citadel  and  the  garrison.     Aldegonde  took 

I  «  Hitota  agora  blen  lejos  de  concluyr,  cion.  alepando  nmchas  cosas  in  su  favor  " 

Bpgmn  las  exhorvitancias  que  pr^st-ntan  MS.  letter,  30  July,  1585 
de  qucrer  alguna  fomia  de  llbertad  de       2  "  Tan   plaiico    letrado   y   politico  " 

consclencla,y  en  nlnguiia  ma«era,  guanii-  I-amm  to  PhUlp  II.,  25  Aug  1535,  MS  " 


f  11 


if 


236 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V 


much  pains  to  persuade  me  that  it  would  be  ruinous 
for  a  great,  opulent,  commercial  city  to  submit  to  a 
foreign  military  force.  Even  if  compelled  by  necessity 
to  submit  now,  the  inhabitants  would  soon  be  com- 
pelled by  the  same  necessity  to  abandon  the  place 
entirely,  and  to  leave  in  ruins  one  of  the  most  si}lendid 
and  powerful  cities  in  the  world,  and  in  this  opinion 
Catholics  and  heretics  unanimously  concurred.  The  de- 
puties protested,  with  one  accord,  that  so  pernicious  and 
abominable  a  thing  as  a  citadel  and  garrison  could  not 
even  be  proposed  to  their  constituents.  I  answered, 
that,  so  long  as  the  rebellion  of  Holland  and  Zeeland 
lasted,  it  would  be  necessary  for  your  Majesty  to  make 
sure  of  Antwerp  by  one  or  the  other  of  those  means, 
but  promised  that  the  city  should  be  relieved  of  the 
incumbrance  so  soon  as  those  islands  should  be  re- 
duced. 

*'  Sainte  Aldegonde  was  not  discouraged  by  this  state- 
ment, but  in  the  hope  of  convincing  others,  or  with  the 
wish  of  showing  that  he  had  tried  his  best,  desired  that 
I  would  hear  him  before  the  council  of  state.  1  granted 
the  request,  and  Sainte  Aldegonde  then  made  another 
long  and  very  elegant  oration,  intended  to  diveit  me 
from  my  resolution." ' 

It  must  be  confessed— if  the  reports,  which  have  come 
do^v^l  to  us  of  that  long  and  elegant  oration  be  correct — 
that  llie  enthusiasm  of  the  burgomaster  for  Alexander 
was  rapidly  degenerating  into  idolatry. 

"  We  are  not  here,  O  invincible  Prince,"  he  said, 
*'  that  we  may  excuse,  by  an  anxious  legation,  the  long 
defence  which  we  have  made  of  our  homes.  Who 
could  have  feared  any  danger  to  the  most  powerful  city 
in  the  Netlierlands  from  so  moderate  a  besieging  force  ? 
You  would  yourself  have  rather  wished  for,  than  ap- 
proved of,  a  greater  facility  on  our  part,  for  the  bravo 
cannot  love  the  timid.  We  knew  the  number  of  your 
troops,  we  had  discovered  the  famine  in  your  camp,  wo 
were  aware  of  the  paucity  of  your  ships,  we  had  heard  of 
the  quarrels  in  your  army,  we  were  ex]iecting  daily  to 
hear  of  a  general  mutiny  among  your  soldiers.  Were  we 
to  believe  that  with  ten  or  eleven  thousand  men  you 

»  "Otra  larga  y  mny  ekgante  oracion    pue»t«>."  JCc.  Parma  to  Thilip  II.,  MS. 
directiva  a    desviar   me    tie    ml    pro-   Just  cited.  • 


158 


o. 


OI^ATION  OF  MARNIX. 


237 


would  be  able  to  block  up  the  city  by  land  and  water, 
to  reduce  the  open  coimtry  of  Brabant,  to  cut  off  all  aid 
as  well  from  the  neighbouring  towns  as  from  the  pow- 
erful provinces   of  Holland  and   Zeeland,   to   oppose, 
without  a  navy,  the  whole  strength  of  our  fleets,  di- 
rected against  the  dyke  ?     Truly,  if  you  had  been  at 
the  head  of  fit ty  thousand  soldiers,  and  every  soldier 
had  possessed  one  hundred  hands,  it  would  have  seemed 
impossible  for  you  to  meet  so  many  emergencies,  in  so 
many  places,  and  under  so  many  distractions.     A\hat 
you  have  done  we  now  believe  possible  to   do,  only 
because  we  see  that  it  has  been  done.     You  have  subju- 
gated the  Scheldt,  and  forced  it  to  bear  its  bridge,  not- 
withstanding the  strength  of  its  current,  the  fury  of  the 
ocean-tides,  the  tremendous  power  of  the  icebergs,  the 
l)erpetual  conflicts  with  our  fleets.     We  destroyed  your 
bridge,  with  great  slaughter  of  your  troops.     Kendered 
more  courageous  by  that  slaughter,  you  restored  that 
mighty  work.     We  assaulted  the  great  dyke,  pierced  it 
through  and  through,  and  opened  a  path  for  our  ships. 
You  drove  us  oti'  when  victors,  repaired  the  ruined  bul- 
wark,  and  again   closed  to  us   the  avenue   of  relief. 
Mhiit  machine  was  there  that  we  did  not  employ  ?  what 
miracles  of  fire  did  we  not  invent?  what  fleets  and 
floating  citadels  did  we  not  put  in  motion?     All  that 
genius,  audacity,  and  art  could  teach  us  we  have  exe- 
cuted, calling  to  our  assistance  water,  earth,  heaven, 
and  hell  itself.     Yet  with  all  these  ettbrts,  with  all  this 
enginry,  we  have  not  only  failed  to  drive  you  from  our 
walls,  but  we  have  seen- you  gaining  victories  over  other 
cities  at  the  same  time.     You  have  done  a  thing,  O 
Prince,   than  which  there  is  nothing  greater  either  in 
ancient  or  modem  story.     It  has  often  occurred,  while 
a  general  was  besieging  one  city,  that  he  lost  another 
situate  iarther  off.     But  you,  while  besieging  Antwerp 
have    reduced    simultaneously    Dendermonde,    Ghent' 
Nymegen,  Brussels,  and  Mechlin."  »  ' 


»  The  oration  is  roportM  by  Strada,  li. 
n74-376,  who  Imd  acci-ss  to  more  of  Far- 
nose's  papers  than  will  probably  ever  be 
In  the  possession  of  any  other  writer.  It 
is  possible  that  the  har.inpiie  is  indebted 
for  some  of  its  d  ■clamatorj*  exuberance 
to  the  imagination  of  ihe  historian;  but 


I  have  foimd  the  Joswlt,  In  general,  very 
accurate  in  transcribing  and  translating 
the  diplomatic  documents  relating  to  his 
hero.  A  circum>tantlal  account  of  this 
particular  interview  between  the  Prince 
and  Mamlx.  with  a  full  report  of  this 
oration  by  the  latter,  Is  not  among  Ute 


IJ  ' 


I 

1 


238 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


♦* 


All  this,  and  much  more,  with  florid  rhetoric,  the 
hurgomaster  pronounced  in  honour  of  Farneso,  and  the 
eulogy  was  entirely  deserved.  It  was  hardly  becoming, 
however,  for  such  lips,  at  such  a  moment,  to  sound  the 
praise  of  him  whoso  victory  had  just  decided  the  down- 
fall of  religious  liberty,  and  of  the  national  independence 
of  the  Netherlands.  His  colleagues  certainly  must  have 
winced  as  they  listened  to  commendations  so  lavishly 
bestowed  upon  the  representative  of  Philip,  and  it  is 
not  surprising  that  Sainte  Aldegonde's  gro^idng  unpo- 
pularity should,  from  that  hour,  have  rapidly  increased. 
To  abandon  the  whole  object  of  the  siege,  when  resist- 
ance seemed  hopeless,  was  perhaps  pardonable,  but  to 
offer  such  lip-homage  to  the  conqueror  was  surely  trans- 
gressing the  bounds  of  decorum. 

His  conclusion,  too,  might  to  Alexander  seem  as  inso- 
lent as  the  whole  tenor  of  his  address  had  been  humble  ; 
for,  after  pronouncing  this  solemn  eulogy  upon  the  con- 
queror, he  calmly  proposed  that  the  prize  of  the  contest 
should  be  transferred  to  the  conquered. 

**  So  long  as  liberty  of  religion,  and  immunity  from 
citadel  and  garrison,  can  be  relied  ui)on,"  he  said,  '*so 
long  will  Antwerp  remain  the  most  splendid  and  flou- 
rishing city  in  Christendom  ;  but  desolation  will  ensue 
if  the  contrary  policy  is  to  prevail."  * 

But  it  was  very  certain  that  liberty  of  religion,  as 
well  as  immunity  from  citadel  and  garrison,  were  quite 
out  of  the  question,  l^hilip  and  Parma  had  long  been 
inexorably  resolved  upon  all  the  three  points. 

*' After  the  burgomaster  had  finished  his  oration," 
wrote  Alexander  to  his  sovereign,  "I  discussed  the 
matter  with  him  in  private,  very  distinctly  and   mi- 

mitely."  * 

The  religious  point  was  soon  given  up,  Sainte  Alde- 
gonde  finding  it  waste  of  breath  to  say  anything  more 
about  freedom  of  conscience.  A  suggestion  was  howevei 
made  on  the  subject  of  the  garrison,  which  the  Prince 
accepted,  because  it  contained  a  condition  which  it 
would  be  easy  to  evade. 

"  Aldegonde  proposed,"  said  Parma,  "  that  a  garrison 
might  be  admissible  if  I  made  my  entrance  into  the  city 


Simancas  MSS. ;   and  I  have  therefore 
relied  upon  Strada. 


«  Strada,  it  374-376. 

*  MS.  letter  of  24  Aug,  IMS,  before  citc<l 


1585. 


PRIVATE  VIEWS  OF  PARMA. 


239 


merely  with  infantry  and  cavalry  of  nations  which  were 
acceptable— Walloons,  namely,  and  Germans— and  in 
no  greater  numbers  than  sufficient  for  a  body-o-uard.  I 
accepted,  because,  in  substance,  this  would  amount  to  a 
garrison,  and  because,  also,  after  the  magistrates  shall 
have  been  changed,  1  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  making 
myself  master  of  the  people,  continuing  the  gamson, 
and  rebuilding  the  citadel."  * 

The  Prince  proceeded  to  give  his  reasons  why  he  was 
willing  to  accept  the  capitulation  on  what  he  con- 
sidered so  favourable  terms  to  the  besieged.  Autumn 
was  approaching.  Already  the  fury  of  the  storms  had 
driven  vessels  clean  over  the  dykes;  the  rebels  in 
Holland  and  Zeeland  were  preparing  their  fleets aug- 
mented by  many  new  ships  of  war  and  fire-machines— 
for  another  desperate  attack  upon  the  Palisades,  in 
which  there  was  great  possibility  of  their  succeeding  • 
an  auxiliary  force  from  England  was  soon  expected ;  so 
that,  m  view  of  all  these  circumstances,  he  had  resolved 
to  throw  himself  at  his  Majesty's  feet  and  implore  his 
clemency.  "Jf  this  people  of  Antwerp,  as  the  head 
IS  gained,"  said  he,  "  there  will  be  tranquillity  in  all  the 
members."  * 

These  reasons  were   certainly  conclusive ;   nor  is  it 
easy  to   believe    that,   under   the    circumstances   thus 
succinctly  ytated   by  Alexander,   it  would  have   been 
impossible  for  the  patriots  to  hold  out  until  the  promised 
succour  from  Holland  and  from  England  should  arrive. 
In  point  of  fact,  the   bridge  could  not  have  stood  the 
winter  which  actually  ensued  ;  for  it  was  the  repeatedly 
expressed  opinion  of  the   Spanish  officers  in  Antwerp 
that  the  icebergs  which  then  filled  the  Scheldt  must 
inevit^ibly  have  shattered  twenty  bridges  to  fragments 
had  there  been  so  many.'*    It  certainly  was  superfluous 
tor  the  1  rince  to  make  excuses  to  Philip  for  acceptincr 
the   proposed  capitulation.     All  the  prizes  of  victor? 
had  been  thoroughly  secured,  unless  pillage,  massacre 
and  rape,  which  had  been  the  regular  accompaniments 
ot  Alvas  victories,  were  to  be   reckoned  amono-  the 
indispensable  trophies  of  a  Spanish  triumph.  "^ 

I  MS.  letter  of  25  Aiig.  1585,  before  blen  y  tninquilidad  a  lo«  irlembroe  que 

,  -.v           ^    ,  restan.-'&c  (Ibid.) 

Y  pues  do  la  que  ee  usasse  con  »  Le  Petit,  11.  5u2. 
cste  pncblo,  como  cabeza,  ha  de  resultar 


'll 


I' 


ll! 


''\\ 


240 


<n 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


T^everthelcss,  the  dearth  in  the  city  had  been  well 
concealed  froiu  the  enemy  ;  for,  three  days  after  the 
surrender,  not  a  loaf  of  bread  was  to  be  had  for  any 
money  in  all  Antwerp,  and  Alexander  declared  that  he 
would  never  have  granted  such  easy  conditions  had  he 
been  aware  of  the  real  condition  of  affairs.' 

The  articles   of  capitulation   agreed   upon  between 
Tarma  and  the  deputies  were  brought  before  the  broad 
council  on  the  9th  August    There  was  much  opposition 
to  them,   as   many   magistrates   and   other   influential 
personages  entertained  sanguine  expectations  from  the 
English  negotiation,  and  were  beginning  to  rely  with 
confidence  ui)on  the  promises  of  Queen  Elizabeth.     The 
debate  was  waxing  warm,  when  some  of  the  councillors, 
looking  out  of  window  of  the  great  hall,  perceived  that 
a  violent  mob  had  collected  in  the  streets.*     Furious 
cries  for  bread  were  uttered,  and  some  meagre-looking 
individuals  were  thrust  forward  to  indicate  the  famine 
which  was  prevailing,  and  the  necessity  of  concluding 
the  treaty  without  further  delay.     Thus  the  municipal 
government  was   perpetually   exposed   to  democratic 
violence,  excited  by  diametrically  opposite  influences. 
Sometimes  the  burgomaster  was  denoimced  for  having 
sold  himself  and  his  country  to  the  Spaniards,  and  wjis 
assailed  with  execrations  for  being  willing  to  conclude 
a  sudden  and  disgraceful  peace.=*    At  other  moments  he 
was  accused  of  forging  letters  containing  promises  of 
succour  from   the   Queen   of   England  and    from   the 
authorities  of  Holland,  in  order  to  protract  the  lingering 
tortures  of  the  war.*     Upon  this  occasion  the  peace  mob 
oaiTied  its  point.     The  councillors  looking  out  of  win- 
dow rushed  into  the  hall  with  direful  accounts  of  the 
popular  ferocity  ;  the  magistrates  and  colonels  who  had 
been  warmest  in   opposition   suddenly  changed   their 
tone,  and  the  whole  body  of  the  broad  council  accepted 
the  articles  of  capitulation  by  a  unanimous  vote.* 

The  window  was  instantly  thrown  open,  and  the 
decision  publicly  announced.  ITie  populace,  wild  with 
delight,  rushed  through  the  streets,  tearing  down  the 
arms  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  which  had  remained  above 
the  public  edifices  since  the  period  of  that  personage's 


*  Meteren.  xll.  225.  *  U  Petit.  11.  513. 

4  iteDtiv«>gIlo,  p.  IL  L  iU.  aS2. 


«  Bor,  11.  609. 
*  Le  Petit,  ubi  tup. 


1585. 


CAPITULATION  OF  ANTWERP. 


241 


temporary  residence  m  the  Netheriands,  and   substi. 
tutmg,  with  wonderful  celerity,  the  escutcheon  onZt 

l«Lf'''"f     ^^"'  "-^^^f^^^  ^^"^^  -^  Antwerp  mot^ 
pass  from  democratic  insolence  to  intense  loyalty 

Ihe  articles,  on  the  whole,  were  as  liberal  as  could 
have  been  expected.  The  only  hope  for  Antwerp  and 
for  a  great  commonwealth  of  all  the  XetherlandT  was 

and  Holland,  now  united,  had  time  to  relieve  the  city 
This    was    unquestionably,   possible.      Had    Antwero 
possessed  the  spint  of  Leyden,  had  William  ofoZnll 
been  alive,  that  Spanish  escutcheon,  now  rai  ed  with 
such  indecent  haste,  might  have  never  been  seen  a -n  1 
oil  the  outside  wall  of  any  Xetherland  ed^ce.  TeS 
would  have  become  at  once  a  constituent  portion  oH 
great  independent  national  realm,  instead  of  langi'^shin^ 
until  our  own  century  the  dependency  of  a  distant  and 
a  foreign  metropolis.     Nevertheless,  as  the  Antwerpers 
were  not  disposed  to  make  themselves  marfvr«   :. 
^ething  that  they  escaped  thermlKo^^  ^  S 
had  often  alighted  upon  cities  subjected  to  an  enTaJed 
soldiery.     It  redounds  to  the  eternal  honour  of  aTcx 

iteelfin  the  horrible  ^^  Sp^^h^^^^^ 

that  here  were  no  scenes  of  violent' and  TuTra^e  inlh^ 

va  uablo  portion  of  the  citizens  seltttoIpeleteSi: 

The  treaty  was  signed  on  the  1 7th  August  Antw^r^ 
was  to  return  to  its  obedience.  There  wl  tZ^ 
entire  amnesty  and  oblivion  for  the  pal^  J^K^,'"' 
smglo  exception.    Royalist  absent^s  w'^.^'to  beTe' 

to  oonfom.  were  allowed  toCVttTy:^  ?:S 

VOt.    r.  -l^Peti^-Mw* 


fl 


•I 


242 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


■t1 


I 


purpose  of  winding  up  their  affairs  and  selling  out  their 
property,  provided  tliat  during  that  period  they  lived 
•'without  scandal  towards  the  ancient  religion"— a 
very  vague  and  unsatisfactor}-  condition.  All  prisoners 
were  to  be  released  excepting  Teligny.  Four  hundred 
thousand  florins  were  to  be  paid  by  the  authorities  as  a 
fine.  The  patriot  garrison  was  to  leave  the  city  with 
arms  and  baggage  and  all  the  honours  of  war.^ 

This  capitulation  gave  more  satisfaction  to  the  hungry 
portion  of  the  Antwerpers  than  to  the  patiiot  party  of 
the   Netherlands.     Sainte   Aldegonde  was  vehemently 
and  unsparingly  denounced  as  a  venal   traitor.     It  is 
certain,  whatever  his  motives,  that  his   attitude   had 
completely  changed.     For   it  was  not  Antwerp  alone 
that  he  had  reconciled  or  was  endeavouring  to  reconcile 
with  the  King  of  Spain,  but  Holland  and  Zeeland  as 
well,  and  all  the  other  independent  Provinces.     The 
ancient  champion   of    the   patriot  party,   the   earliest 
signer  of  the  "  Compromise,"  the  bosom  friend  of  William 
th*e  Silent,   the  author   of  the  "Wilhelmus"  national 
song,  now  avowed  his  conviction,  in  a  published  defence 
of  his  conduct  against  the  calumnious  attacks  upon  it, 
"  that  it  was  impossible,  with  a  clear  conscience,  for 
subjects,   under  any  circumstances,  to  take   up   arms 
against  Philip,  their  king." "    Certainly  if  he  had  always 
entertained  that  opinion  he  must  have  suffered  many 
pangs  of  remorse  during  his  twenty  years  of  active  and 
illustrious   rebellion.     Ho  now  made  himself  secretly 
active  in  promoting  the  schemes  of  Parma  and  in  coun- 
teracting the  negotiation  with  England.  ^  He  flattered 
himself,  with  an   infatuation  which  it  is  difficult  to 
comprehend,  that  it  would  be  possiblfe  to  obtain  religious 
liberty  for  the  revolting  Provinces,  although  he  had  con- 
sented to  its  sacrifice  in  Antwerp.     It  is  true  that  he 
had  not  the  privilege  of  reading  Philip's  secret  letters 
to  Parma,  but  what  was.  there  in  the  character  of  the 
King— what  intimation  had  ever  been   given  by  the 
Governor-General— to  induce  a  belief  in  even  the  pos- 
sibility of  such  a  concession  ? 


1  Bor,  11.  eiO-613.     Hoofd  Vervolgh.  L  xtv.,   cap.  1316.  and  1.  xr.,  c   1-4, 

111-116.     Strada,  H-  378-383.    Compare,  «3.  2«,  29.  ^e  also  De  Thou,  ix.,  1.  80 

for  the  history  of  the  siege,  which  he  and  81;  Bentlvoglio,  p.  il.,  1.  Ul. 

calls  "  the  most  memorable  'n  the  world,"  the  authorities  previously  cited. 
H  rrera,  '  Hist.  Gea  del  Mundo,'  p.  U.       '  Strada,  ii.  379. 


and 


1585. 


MISTAKES  OF  MARNLX. 


243 


fV.oY?>?;-t^^l  ^.^'''^-  ^^d^g^^d^  «  opinions,  it  is  certain 
that  1  hihp  had  no  intention  of  changing  his  own  policy. 
He  at  first  suspected  the  burgomaster  of  a  wish  to  pro- 
tract  the  negotiations  for  a  perfidious  purpose 

"Necessity  has  forced  Antwerp,"  he  wote  on  the 
l/th  of  August-the  very  day  on  which  the  capitula- 
tion was  actually  signed—-  to  enter  into  nee-otiation 
I  understand  the  artifice  of  Aldegonde  in  seeking  tj 
pro  ong  and  make  difficult  the  whole  affair  under 
pretext  of  treating  for  the  reduction  of  Holland  and 
Zeeland  at  the  same  time.  It  was  therefore  very  adioit 
in  you  to  defeat  this  joint  scheme  at  once,  and  urg7the 
Antwerp  matter  by  itself,  at  the  same  time  not  shotting 
the  door  on  the  others.  With  the  prudence  and  del- 
tenty  with  which  this  business  has  thus  far  been 
managed  I  am  thoroughly  satisfied."  ' 

The  King  also  expressed  his  gratification  at  hearino- 

f^F^^^A  '^^'1}'  ^""^^^  ^^^  ^^^^'Si^"«  libeiiy  In  tSe 
Netherlands  would  soon  be  abandoned  ^   "  "^^ 

manife8t^in^l*^^^'^'°'''''"'"  ^"  ^^^'  ''^^^^  they 
manliest  m  the  religious  matter,  desiring  some  kind 

ofhberty   they  will  in  the  end,  as  you  say  th^y  tm 
content  themselves  with  what  the  other  cities   whch 
have  returned  to  obedience,  have  obtained.   I^i't^^ 
be  done  ta  all  aises  without  flinching,  and  without  n^ 
mittmg  any  modification." »  ^  wimout  per- 

What  -had  been  obtained'*  by  Brussels  Mpplil,-n 
Ghent,  was  well  known.  The  he';etics  had  Sed 
the  choice  of  renouncing  their  religion  or  of  goinl  \nto 
perpetual  exile  and  this  wa^  to  be  the  case^' wftho^t 
flinching"  m  Holland  and  Zeeland,  if  those  provinces 
chose  to  return  to  obedience.  Yet  Sainte  ACnde 
deluded  himself  with  the  thought  of  a  religious  peace 
In  another  and  very  important  letter  of  the  same 


>  "  Bien  se  ve  que  necessldad  ha  forzado 
Amberes  a  las  platlcas  de  ooncierto  que 
andan,   y  el  artifldo  de  Aldegonde  en 
haber  tentodo  dilatar  el  negoclo,  so  color 
de  traur  la  reduclou  de  Holanda  y  Ze- 
landi  Juntamente,  y  asl  fud  muy  acertado 
desbaratarle  est*  int^^nto,  y  apretarle  en 
10  que  de  Amberes,  de  casi  no  cerrando  la 
paeru  a  lo  demas.  y  de  la  cordura  y 
destreia  coq  que  todo  esto  se  ha  guiado 
quedo  muy  enterado  y  aatlsfecho."    Phil 


Hpll^to  Panna.i7Aug.i585.Arch.de 

Jl'^""  f""  •""  **"^^  ^"6  muestran 
fiLi*.  '"  '■^"«**'"'  dcseando  alguna 
Ibertad.  al  cabo  se  reduciran  fi  conten- 
tarse  en  esta  parte  con  lo  que  las  otnis 
villas  que  han  venido  a  la  obediencla. 
porque  esto  se  ha  de  hacer  as!  en  todo 
caso,  sin  aflojar,  ni  permltir  otra  cosa  en 
ninguna  manera."  Philip  to  Panna.  17 
Aug.,  MS.  Just  cited. 

u  2 


Vi 


244 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


t' 


flate  Philip  laid  down  his  policy  very  distinctly.  The 
Prince  of  Pama,  by  no  mea!«  snch  a  bigot  as  his  master 
hlTSnted  at  the  ^ssibility  of  ^oler.ii.S^er^^'-^f 
religion  in  the  places  recovered  from  the  rebew.  *"* 
ffi  for  a  period  not  defined,  and  long  enough  for  the 
heretics  to  awake  from  their  enors.  .  .        .,         „ 

"You  have  got  an  expression  of  opinion,  1  see, 
wrote  Ae  King  to  Alexander,  '•  of  some  grave  men  of 
W^m  and  cLcience,  that  the  limitation  o^  time, 
durine  which  the  heretics  may  live  without  scanaai, 
niav  be  left  undefined;   but  I  feel  very  keenly  the 
S.<.rof  such  a  proposition.     With  regard  to  Holland 
tf  zLland,  or  ai^y  other  provinces  or  towns,  the  first 
stTp  mustbe  for  them  to  receive  and  maintain  alo,^  the 
oxerckeof  the  Catholic  religion,  and  to  subject  them- 
selves to  the  Boman  church,   without  to  erating  the 
rxerclse  of  any  other  religion,  in  cHjs  village    fariii- 
house  or  building  thereto  destined,  in  the  helds   or  m 
anHlace  wiiats-^ver;  and  in  this  regulation  there  is 
K  no  flaw,  no  change,  no  concession  ^y  convention 
or  oUierwise  of  a  religious  peace,  or  any^^-S.^^^^^ 
sort     They  are  all  to  embrace  the   Roman  Catnolic 
^ligion^and  the  exercise  of  that  is  alone  to  be  per- 

""'ThU  "(Certainly  was  distinct  enough,  and  nothing  had 
be^evriid  in  public  to  ini"««  -^^^^^'^ ^^t^Jf 
modification  of  the  principles  on  ^^  ,^>«  Vw'llf  t m  to 
fnrmlv  acted  That  monarch  considered  himselt  bom  to 
I^lTheresy.  and  he  had  certainly  been  carrying  out 
this  work  durins;  his  whole  lifetime.  ,      i.  i 

ThT  King  wa^s  willing,  however,  as  Alexander  had 
intimated  in  his  negotiations  with  Antwerp,  and  pre- 
vSrin  the  capftnlations  of  Brussels,  Ghent,  and 
Xer  places,  that  there  should  be  an  absence  of  investi- 
Son  mfo^^  private  chambers  of  jhe^-^^^^^^^^^^ 
the  period  allotted  them  for  chodsing  between  tuo 
Papacy  and  exile. 


I " 


Con  todo  sentlera  yo  mucho  ver 
euta  tolerancia  sin  Umite.  Ha  de  set  el 
primo  pasjo  receblr  y  tener  solamente  el 
Lerclcio  catolico.  y  subJeUirse  &  la  obe- 
diencia  de  la  Yglesia  Konmna,  8ln  tolerar 
nl  consentir  por  via  de  capltulaclon  otro 
ningun  e«erclcio  en  nb.guna  v\\\X  rd 
gpanja.  nl  parte  destinada  para  el  en  el 


campo  nl  dcntro  en  los  lugares  . .  .  •  y 
quanto  &  esto  no  ha  de  haber  qulebra  nl 
mudanza  nl  concederles  por  conclerto  nm- 
guna  llbertad  de  consclencias,  ni  religions- 
fried,  nl  otra  coea  Bemtjante,  slno  quo 
abracen  la  Cat"  Rom"  con  solo  el  eger- 
dclo  della."  Ac.  Philip  IL  to  Pama. 
17  Aug.  1685.    Archive  de  Simancas  M5>. 


1585. 


TRIUMPHANT  ENTRY  OF  ALEXANDER. 


245 


"  It  may  be  permitted,"  said  Philip,  '*  to  abstain  from 
inquiring  as  to  what  the  heretics  are  doing  within  their 
own  doors,  in  a  private  way,  without  scandal,  or  any 
public  exhibition  of  their  rites  during  a  fixed  time.  But 
this  connivance,  and  the  abstaining  from  executing  the 
heretics,  or  from  chastising  them,  even  altliough  they 
may  be  living  very  circumspectly,  is  to  be  expressed  in 
very  vague  terms."  * 

Being  most  anxious  to  provide  against  a  second  crop 
of  heretics  to  succeed  the  first,  which  he  was  determined 
to  uproot,  he  took  pains  to  enjoin  with  his  own  hand 
upon  Parma  the  necessity  of  glutting  in  Catholic  school- 
masters and  mistresses  to  the  exclusion  of  reformed 
teachers  into  all  the  seminaries  of  the  recovered  Pro- 
vinces, in  order  that  all  the  boys  and.  girls  might  grow 
up  in  thorough  orthodoxy.*  , 

Yet  this  was  the  man  from  'whom  Sainte  Aldegonde 
imagined  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  religious  peace. 

Ten  days  after  the  capitulation  Paima  made  his 
triumphal  entrance  into  Antwerp  ;  but,  according  to  his 
agreement,  he  spared  the  citizens  the  presence  of  the 
Spanish  and  Italian  soldiers,  the  military  procession 
being  composed  of  the  Germans  and  Walloons.  Escorted 
by  his  body-guard,  and  surrounded  by  a  knot  of  mag- 
nates and  veterans,  among  whom  the  Duke  of  Arschot, 
the  Prince  of  Chimay,  the  Counts  Mansfeld,  Egmont, 
and  Aremberg,  were  conspicuous,  Alexander  proceeded 
towards  the  captured  city.  He  was  met  at  the  Keyser 
Gate  by  a  triumphal  chariot  of  gorgeous  workmanship, 
in  which  sat  the  fair  nymph  Antwerpia,  magnificently 
bedizened,  and  accompanied  by  a  group  of  beautiful 
maidens.  Antwerpia  welcomed  the  conqueror  with  a 
kiss,  recited  a  poem  in  his  honour,  and  l)estowed  upon 
liito  the  keys  of  the  city,  one  of  which  was  in  gold. 
This  the  Prince  immediately  fastened  to  the  chain  around 
his  neck,  from  vyhich  was  suspended  the  lamb  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  with  which  order  he  had  just  been,  amid 
great  pomp  and  ceremony,  invested. 

»  «  Mas  blen  ge  podradebaxo  desto  no  que  esta  dissimulacion.  y  no  los  egecufar 

fnquirtr  lo  qne  los  heregcs  hlcieron  dentro  nl  castigar  aunque  en  lo  del  mal  egemplo 

de  8418  caua  y  los  unos  en  las  de  Jo«  otros  vtven  menos  rccaUidos  que  debrian  ha  de 

en    forma    privada    y  sin   escandalo,  ni  ser  en  forma  blcn  larga."    Philip  11.  to 

mneatra  de  eKerclcio  publico  de  sue  sectas  Parma,  MS.  just  cited, 

y  hen-ores  durante  el  dicho  tietupo,  por-  *  IWd. 


K 


246 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLx\Nr)S. 


Chap.  V. 


1585. 


KEBUILDING  OF  THE  CITADEL. 


247 


On  the  public  square  called  the  Mere  ihe  Genoese 
merchants  had  erected  two  rostral  columns,  each  sur- 
mounted by  a  colossal  image,  representing  respectively 
Alexander  of  Macedon  and  Alexander  of  I'arma.  Before 
the  house  of  Portugal  was  an  enormous  phoenix,  expand- 
ing her  wings  quite  across  the  street ;  while,  in  other 
parts  of  the  town,  the  procession  was  met  by  ships  of 
war,  elephants,  dromediines,  whales,  dragons,  and  other 
triumphal  phenomena.  In  the  market-place  were  seven 
statues  in  copper,  personifying  the  seven  planets, 
together  with  an  eighth  representing  Bacchus  ;  and  per- 
haps there  were  good  mythological  reasons  why  the  god 
of  wine,  together  with  so  large  a  portion  of  our  solar 
system,  should  1x3  done  in  copper  by  Jacob  Jongeling, 
to  honour  the  triumph  of  Alexander,  although  the  key 
.to  the  enigma  has  been  lost.* 

The  cathedral  had  been  thoroughly  fumigated  with 
frankincense,  and  besprinkled  with  holy  water,  to 
purify  the  sacred  precincts  from  their  recent  pollution 
by  the  reformed  rites  ;  and  the  Protestant  pulpits,  which 
had  been  placed  there,  had  been  soundly  beaten  w4th 
rods,  and  then  bunied  to  ashes.*  The  procession  entered 
within  its  walls,  where  a  magnificent  "  Te  Deum  "  was 
l>erformed,  and  then,  after  much  cannon-firing,  bell- 
ringing,  torchlight  exhibitions,  and  other  p}Totechnics, 
the  Prince  made  his  way  at  last  to  the  palace  provided 
for  him.  The  glittering  display,  by  which  the  royalists 
celebrated  their  triumph,  lasted  three  days  long,  the 
city  being  thronged  from  all  the  countiy  round  with 
eager  and  frivolous  spectators,  who  were  never  wearied 
with  examining  the  wonders  of  the  bridge  and  the  forts, 
and  with  gazing  at  the  tragic  memorials  which  still 
remained  of  the  fight  on  the  Kowenstyn. 

During  this  interval  the  Spanish  and  Italian  soldiery, 
not  willing  to  be  outdone  in  demonstrations  of  respect 
to  their  chief,  nor  defrauded  of  their  rightful  claim  to  a 
holiday,  amused  themselves  with  preparing  a  demon- 
stration of  a  novel  character.  The  bridge,  which,  as  it 
was  well  known,  was  to  be  destroyed  within  a  veiy  few 
days,  was  adorned  with  triumphal  arches,  and  decked 
with  trees  and  flowering  plants ;    its    roadway  was 

I  Bor,  ii.  622.     Hoofd  Verrolgh,  117.    Mfrtens  and  Torfr,  v,  258. 
Strada,  iL  3i*3  $eq.      Metoren,  xil.  225.       2  Le  Petit,  IL  519. 


strewed  with  branches;  and  the  palisades,  parapets, 
and  forts,  were  garnished  with  wreaths,  emblems,  and 
poetical  inscriptions  in  honour  of  the  Prince.  The 
soldiers  themselves,  attired  in  verdurous  garments  of 
foliage  and  flower- work,  their  swart  faces  adorned  with 
roses  and  lilies,  paraded  the  bridge  and  the  dyke  in 
fantastic  procession  with  clash  of  cymbal  and  flourish  of 
tiumpet,  dancing,  singing,  and  discharging  their  car- 
bines, in  all  the  delirium  of  triumph.  Nor  was  a 
suitable  termination  to  the  festival  wanting,  for  Alex- 
ander, pleased  with  the  genial  character  of  these 
demonstrations,  repaired  himself  to  the  bridge,  where 
he  was  received  with  shouts  of  rapture  by  his  army, 
thus  whimsically  converted  into  a  horde  of  fauns  and 
satyrs.  Afterwards  a  magnificent  banquet  was  served 
to  the  soldiers  upon  the  bridge.  The  whole  extent  of 
its  surface,  from  the  Flemish  to  the  Brabant  shore— the 
scene  so  lately  of  deadly  combats,  and  of  the  midnight 
havoc  caused  by  infernal  enginry — was  changed,  as  if 
by  the  stroke  of  a  wand,  into  a  picture  of  sylvan  and 
Arcadian  merrymaking,  and  spread  with  tables  laden 
with  delicate  viands.  Here  sat  that  host  of  war-bronzed 
figures,  banqueting  at  their  ease,  their  heads  cro^^^led 
with  flowers,  while  the  highest  magnates  of  the  army, 
humouring  them  in  their  masquerade,  served  them  with 
dainties,  and  filled  their  goblets  with  wine.' 

After  these  festivities  had  been  concluded,  Paima  set 
himself  to  practical  business.  ITiere  had  been  a  great 
opposition,  during  the  discussion  of  the  articles  of  capi- 
tulation, to  the  reconstruction  of  the  famous  citadel. 
That  fortress  had  been  always  considered,  not  as  a 
defence  of  the  place  against  a  foreign  enemy,  but  as  an 
instrument  to  curb  the  burghers  themselves  beneath  a 
hostile  i>ower.  The  city  magistrates,  however,  as  well 
as  the  deans  and  chief  officei-s  in  all  the  guilds  and 
fraternities,  were  at  once  changed  by  Parma— Catholics 
being  uniformly  substituted  for  heretics.*  In  conse- 
quence, it  was  not  difticult  to  bring  about  a  change  of 
opinion  in  the  broad  council.  It  is  true  that  neither 
Papists  nor  Calvinists  regarded  with  much  satisfaction 
the  pr9si)ect  of  military-  violence  being  substituted  for 

»  Strada.  H.  387  Archive  de  Simancas  MS.    Same  to  same, 

2  VmoM,  to  Philip  IL,  30  Sept.  1585.    11  Nov.  1565.    (ibid.) 


4 

«. 


248 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


ill 


civic  rule ;  but  in  the  first  effusion  of  loyalty,  and  in  the 
triumph  of  the  ancient  religion,  they  forgot  the  absolute 
ruin  to  which  their  own  action  was  now  condemning 
their  city.  Champagny,.who  had  once  covered  himself 
with  glory  by  his  heroic  though  unsuccessful  efforts  to 
save  Antwerp  from  the  dreadful  "  Spanish  fury"  which 
liad  descended  from  that  very  citadel,  was  now  appointed 
governor  of  the  town,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  re- 
construction of  the  hated  fortress.  *'  Champagny  has 
particularly  aided  me,"  wrote  Parma,  **  with  his  rhetoric 
and  clever  management,  and  has  brought  the  broad 
council  itself  to  propose  that  the  citadel  should  be 
rebuilt.  It  will  therefore  be  done,  as  by  the  burghers 
themselves,  without  your  Majesty  or  myself  appearing 
to  desire  it."  ' 

This  was,  in  truth,  a  triumph  of  "  rhetoric  and  clever 
management,"  nor  could  a  city  well  abase  itself  more 
completely,  kneeling  thus  cheerfully  at  its  conqueror's 
feet,  and  requesting  permission  to  put  the  yoke  upon  its 
own  neck.  '*  The  erection  of  the  castle  has  thus  been 
determined  upon,"  said  Parma,  "  and  I  am  supposed  to 
know  nothing  of  the  resolution."  * 

A  little  later  he  obsei-ved  that  they  were  "  working 
away  most  furiously  at  the  citadel,  and  that  within  a 
month  it  would  be  stronger  than  it  ever  had  been 
before."  * 

The  building  went  on,  indeed,  with  astonishing 
celerity,  the  fortress  rising  out  of  its  ruins  almost  as 
'  rapidly,  under  the  hands  of  the  royalists,  as  it  had  been 
demolished,  but  a  few  years  before,  by  the  patriots. 
The  old  foundations  still  remained,  and  blocks  of  houses, 
which  had  been  constructed  out  of  its  ruins,  were  thrown 
down  that  the  materials  might  be  again  employed  in  its 
.  restoration.* 

The  citizens,  impoverished  and  wretched,  humbly 
demanded  that  the  expense  of  building  the  citadel  might 
be  in  part  defrayed  by  the  four  hundred  thousand  florins 
in  which  they  had  been  mulcted  by  the  capitulation. 
"  I  don't  marvel  at  this,"  said  Parma,  "  for  ceiiainly  the 
poor  city  is  most  forlorn  and  poverty-stricken^  the  heretics 


1  MS.  letter  of  11  Nov.  15S5.  before 
dted.    "  Rhetorica  y  binna  mafia,"  kc 

2  MS.  letter,  30  Sept.  1585,  before  cited 


>  I>etterof  11  Nov.  1585. 
«  Strada,  11.  394. 


1585. 


GRATinCATION  OF  PHILIP. 


249 


« 

having  all  left  it.''  >     It  was  not  long  before  it  was  very 
satisfactorily  established  that  the   presence   of  those 
same  heretics  and  liberty  of  conscience   for  all  men 
were  indispensable  conditions  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
great  capital.     Its  downfall  was  instantaneous.     The 
merchants  and  industrious  artisans  all  wandered  away 
from  the  place  which  had  been  the  seat  of  a  world-wide 
traffic.     Civilization  and  commerce  departed,  and   in 
their  stead   were   the   citadel   and   the   Jesuits.      By 
express  command  of  Philip,  that   order,  banished  so 
recently,  was  reinstated  in  Antwerp,  as  well  as  throu"-h- 
out  the  obedient  provinces;  and  all  the  schools  and 
colleges   were   placed  under    its    especial   care.      No 
children  could  be  thenceforth  instructed  except  by  the 
lips  of  those  fathers.*    Here  was  a  curb  more  efficacious 
even  than  the  citadel.     That  fortress  was  at  first  garri- 
soned with  Walloons  and  Germans.     "  I  have  not  yet 
induced  the  citizens,"  said  Parma,  -  to  accept  a  Spanish 
garrison,  nor  am  I  surprised ;  so  many  of  them  remem- 
bering past  events  "  (alluding  to  the  -  Spanish  fury,"  but 
not  mentioning  it  by  name),  and  -  observing  the  frequent 
mutinies  at  the  present  time.     Before  long  I  expect 
however,    tc   make   ^e   Spaniards   a*  acceptable  and 
sdveT^»^   ^  inhabitants   of   the    country   them- 

It  may  easily  be  supposed  that  Philip  was  pleased 
with  the  triumphs  that  had  thus  been  achieved.  He 
was  even  grateful,  or  affected  to  be  grateful,  to  him  who 
had  achieved  them.  He  awarded  great  praise  to  Alex- 
ander  for  his  exertions  on  the  memorable  occasions 
ot  the  attack  upon  the  bridge  and  the  battle  of  the 
Kowenstyn;  but  censured  him  affectionately  for  so 
rashly  exposing  his  life.  "  I  have  no  words,"  he  said, 
to  render  the  thanks  which  are  merited  for  all  that 
jou  have  been   doing.     I   recommend  you   earnestly 

lor  that  IS  of  more  consequence  than  all  the  rest."  * 

de^o  los  be.«es.»  ..    MS.  letter  last   "T^IZ  ^et^'Z^^^Z 
2  Strada.  11  ift<»  ^  vuestra  persona,  pues  en  esta  va  mas 

•  •  la  yo  no  86  palabras  con  que  daros 


7 


250 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


\iV 


I . . 


1 


» 


After  tlio  news  of  the  reduction  of  the  city  he  again 
expressed  gratification,  but  in  rather  cold  language. 
"  From  such  obstinate  people,"  said  he,  "  not  more  could 
be  extracted  than  has  been  extracted  ;  therefore  the 
capitulation  is  satisfactory."  '  ^Vhat  more  he  wished  to 
extract  it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  for  certainly  the 
maiTow  had  been  extracted  ftom  the  bones,  and  the 
dead  city  was  henceforth  left  to  moulder  under  the 
bli"-ht  of  a  foreign  garrison  and  an  army  of  Jesuits. 
"  l*erhap8  religious  attairs  will  improve  before  long,"  * 
said  Philip.  They  did  improve  very  soon,  as  he  under- 
stood the  meaning  of  improvement.  A  solitude  of 
religion  soon  brought  with  it  a  solitude  in  every  other 
reo-ard,  and  Antwerp  became  a  desert,  as  Sainte  Alde- 
gondo  had  foretold  would  be  the  case. 

The  King  had  been  by  no  means  so  calm,  however, 
when  the  intelligence  of  the  capitulation  first  reached 
him  at  Madrid.  On  the  contrary,  his  oldest  courtiers 
had  never  seen  him  exhibit  such  marks  of  hilarity. 

WTien  he  first  heard  of  the  glorious  victory  at  Lepanto, 
his  countenance  had  remained  impassive,  and  he  had 
continued  in  the  chapel  at  the  devotional  exercises 
which  the  messenger  from  Don  John  had  interrupted. 
Only  when  the  news  of  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew 
first  reached  him  had  he  displayed  an  amount  of  cheer- 
fulness equal  to  that  which  he  manifested  at  the  fall 
of  Antwerp.  "  Never,"  said  Granville,  "  had  the  King 
been  so  radiant  with  joy  as  when  he  held  in  his  hand 
the  despatches  which  announced  the  capitulation."^ 
The  letters  were  brought  to  him  after  he  had  retired  to 
rest,  but  his  delight  was  so  great  that  he  could  not 
remain  in  his  bed.  Rushing  from  his  chamber,  so  soon 
as  he  had  read  them,  to  that  of  his  dearly-beloved 
daughter  Clara  Isabella,  he  knocked  loudly  at  the  door, 
and,  screaming  through  the  keyhole  the  three  words, 
"  Antwerp  is  ours,"  returned  precipitately  again  to  his 
own  apartment.* 

It  was  the  general  opinion  in  Spain  that  the  capture 
of  this  city  had  terminated  the  resistance  of  the  Nether- 
lands.    Holland  and  Zeeland  would,  it  was 


thought, 


1  "Sacar  mas  que  lo  que  se  ha  sacado," 
&c.  Philip  to  Paraia,  5  Sepi.  1585.  Arch. 
de  Sim.  :^1S. 


2  IbkL  . 

3  Strada,  ii.  3«',  389. 

4  Ibid. 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


251 


accept  wnth  very  little  hesitation  the  terms  which 
Parma  had  been  offering,  through  the  agency  of  Sainte 
Aldegonde ;  and,  with  the  reduction  of  those  two  pro- 
vinces, the  Spanish  dominion  over  the  whole  country 
would  of  course  become  absolute.  Secretary  Idiaquez 
observed,  on  drawing  up  instructions  for  Carlo  Coloma 
a  Spanish  financier  then  departing  on  special  mission 
for  the  Provinces,  that  he  would  soon  come  back  to 
Spain,  for  the  Prince  of  Parma  was  jubt  putting  an  end 
to  the  whole  Belgic  war.* 

Time  was  to  show  whether  Holland  and  Zeeland  were 
as  malleable  as  Antwerp,  and  whether  there  would  not 
be  a  battle  or  two  more  to  fight  before  that  Belgic  war 
would  come  to  its  end.  Meantime  Antwerp  was 
securely  fettered,  while  the  spirit  of  commerce-to 
which  Its  unexampled  prosperity  had  been  due— now 
took  Its  flight  to  the  lands  where  civil  and  religious 
liberty  had  found  a  home. 


NOTE  ON  MARNIX  DE  SAINTE  ALDEGOljfDE. 

As  every  illustration  of  the  career  and  character  of  this  eminent 
personage  excites  constant  interest  in  the  NetherlandslThave 
here  thrown  together,  in  the  form  of  an  Aj.i^ndix,  mkny  im- 
IKjrtant  and  entirely  unpublished  details,  dra>™  mainly  from  t"e 

BSr^ri^if  ™X;r.  ^^'"" ''"  '"^'^  ''^^  ^''^  -' 


i 


Ir^J^^Tft^",  f""'^  <fetermined  to  counteract  the  po- 
licy of  those  Netherlandcrs  who  wished  to  offer  the  soverei^Sv 
of  the  Provinces  to  the  English  Qneen.  He  had  been  eaS  v 
m  favour  of  annexation  to  France,  for  his  s,-n,patWes  and  fSu 

F^lTnT  "^r""y  '''™''*''-  ««  •''«'  °^-"  £en  a'friend  to 
England,  and  he  was  soon  awar«  that  a  strong  feelin-x  of  indi'- 

fC"      '!*""'".'  -""I  "'  "njo't-existed  against  hiinbi^hfn 

otlntwe"r7        '"        ^""^''""'^^  ""^  ''^~»"'  of  the  suS^^^der 

No'rts  to  USkLv"^'  conference  with  ViUiers,"  wrote  Sir  John 
but  wilUmmuef??rf  "  I'e  condemneth  Ste.  Aldegonde's  doings, 
Dut  win  impute  it  to  fear  and  not  to  malice.    Ste.  Aldegonde! 

*-  Strada,  li.  389. 


til 


252 


THE  U}fITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


I 


notwithstanding  that  lie  was  forbidden  to  come  to  Holland,  and 
1  lid  for  at  the  fleet,  yet  stole  secretly  to  Dort,  where  they  say  he 
is  staid,  but  I  doubt  he  will  be  heard  speak,  and  then  assuredly 

he  will  do  great  hurt."*  ,  ,     ,  .     .• 

It  was  most  certainly  Sainte  Aldegonde  s  determination,  so 
soon  as  the  capitulation  of  Antwerp  had  l^en  resolved  upon  to 
aohis  utmost  to  restore  all  the  independent  Provinces  to  heir 
ancient  allegiance.  Kather  Spanish  than  hnglish  was  his  settled 
resolution.  Liberty  of  religion,  if  possible-that  was  his  che- 
lished  wish-but  still  more  ardently,  perhaps,  did  he  desire  to 
nrevent  the  country  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  Elizabeth 

«  The  Prince  of  Parma  hath  conceived  such  an  assured  hope 
of  the  fidelity  of  Aldegonde,"  wrote  one  of  Walsingham  s  agents, 
Richard  Tomson,  "  in  reducing  the  Provinces,  yet  enemies  into 
a  perft>ct  subjection,  that  the  Spaniards  are  so  wel  persuaded  of 
thrman  as  if  he  had  never  been  against  them.  TJiey  say,  about 
the  middle  of  this  month,  he  departed  for  Zeeland  and  Holland, 
to  prosecute  the  effect  of  his  promises,  and  I  am  the  more 
induced  to  believe  that  he  is  become  altogether  Simmsh,  for  that 
the  common  bruit  goeth  that  he  hastened  the  surrendering  of  the 
town  of  Antwerp  after  he  had  intelligence  of  the  coming  of  the 

English  succours."^  ^ ,    .    .,     •   j         i     4. 

There  was  naturally  much  indignation  felt  in  the  indeiiendent 
Provinces  against  all  who  had  been  thought  instnimental  111 
brincnng  about  the  re«luction  of  the  great  cities  of  I  landers 
Fam^arsT  governor  of  Mechlin,  Van  den  T>Tnpel,  governor  ot 
Brussels,  Martini,  who  had  been  active  in  effecting  the  capitula- 
tion of  Antwerp,  were  all  arrested  in  Holland.  From  all  iiiAt 
I  can  hear,"  said  Parma,  "it  is  likely  that  they  will  be  very 
severely  handled,  which  is  the  reastm  why  Ste.  Aldegonde, 
althou4  he  sent  his  wife  and  children  to  Holland,  has  not  ven- 
tured thither  himself.  It  api^ears  that  they  threaten  him  there, 
but  he  means  now  to  go,  under  pretext  of  demanding  to  justity 
himself  from  the  imputations  against  him.  Although  he  tells 
me  freely  that,  without  some  amplification  of  the  concessions 
hitherto  made  on  the  point  of  religion,  he  hopes  for  no  good 
result  vet  I  trust  that  he  will  do  good  oflices  in  the  mean  time, 
,in  spi'te'of  the  difficulties  which  obstruct  his  efforts.  On  my 
l)art  every  exertion  will  be  made,  and  not  without  hope  of  some 
fruit,  if  not  before,  at  least  after,  these  people  have  become  as 
tired  of  the  English  as  they  were  of  the  French."" 

Of  this  mutual  ill-feeling  between  the  English  and  the  burgo- 
master there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever.  The  Queen  s  govern- 
ment was  fully  aware  of  his  efforts  to  counteract  its  negotiation 


Office  MA 
3  l^uTDA  to  Philip  II. 

RlehwtJ  Tomson  to  Sir  F.  Walslng-    MS. 
ham,  29th  Aagust,  1585   (O.S.>    S.  T. 


I  Sir  John  Norreya  to  Walsingham, 
Aug.  24  (O.S.),  1585.    &  P.  Office  MS. 


Arch,  de  Sim. 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


253 


with  the  Netherlands,  and  to  bring  about  their  reconciliation 
with  Spain.  When  the  Earl  of  Leicester — as  will  soon  be  related 
— arrived  in  the  Provinces,  he  was  not  long  in  comprehending 
his  attitude  and  his* influence. 

"  1  wrote  somewhat  of  Ste.  Aldegonde  in  putting  his  case," 
wrote  Leicester ;  "  but  this  is  certain,  1  have  the  copy  of  his  very 
letters  sent  hither  to  practise  the  peace  not  two  days  before  I 
came,  and  this  day  one  hath  told  me  that  loves  him  well,  that 
he  hates  our  countrymen  unrecoverably.     I  am  sorry  for  it."^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Queen  was  very  indignant  with  the 
man  whom  she  looked  upon  as  the  paid  agent  of  Spain.  She 
considered  him  a  renegade,  the  more  dangerous  because  his  pre- 
vious services  had  been  so  illustrious.  "  Her  Majesty's  mislike 
towards  Ste.  Aldegonde  continueth,"  wrote  Walsingham  to  Lei- 
cester, "  and  she  taketh  offence  that  he  was  not  restrained  of  his 
liberty  by  your  Lordship's  order."^  It  is  unquestionable  that 
the  ex-burgomaster  intended  to  do  his  best  towards  effecting  the 
reconciliation  of  all  the  Provinces  with  Spain  ;  and  it  is  equally 
certain  that  the  King  had  offered  to  pay  him  well  if  he  proved 
successful  in  his  endeavours.  There  is  no  proof,  however,  and 
no  probability,  that  Sainte  Aldegonde  ever  accepted  or 'ever 
intended  to  accept  the  proffered  bribe.  On  the  contrary,  his 
whole  recorded  career  ought  to  disprove  the  supposition.  Yet 
it  is  painful  to  find  him,  at  this  crisi.s,  assiduous  in  his  attempts 
to  undo  the  great  work  of  his  own  life,  and  still  more  distressing 
to  find  that  great  rewards  were  distinctly  offered  to  him  for  such 
service.  Immense  promises  had  been  frequently  made  no  doubt 
to  William  the  Silent ;  nor  could  any  public  man,  in  such 
times,  be  so  pure  that  an  attempt  to  tamper  with  him  might  not 
Ije  made  :  but  when  the  personage,  thus  solicited,  was  evidently 
acting  in  the  interests  of  the  tempters,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
he  should  become  the  object  of  grave  suspicion. 

"  It  does  not  seem  to  me  bad,"-  wrote  Philip  to  Parma,  "  this 
negotiation  which  you  have  commenced  with  Ste.  Aldegonde,  in 
order  to  gain  him,  and  thus  to  employ  his  services  in^brino^inf^ 
about  a  reduction  of  the  islands  (Holland  and  Zeeland)."  In 
exchange  for  this  work,  anything  which  you  think  proper  to 
offer  to  him  as  a  reward,  will  be  capital  well  invested ;  but  it 
must  be  not  given  until  the  job  is  done."* 

But  the  job  was  hard  to  do,  and  Sainte  Aldegonde  cared 
nothing  for  the  offered  bribe.  He  was,  however,  most  stran^^ely 
confident  of  being  able  to  overcome,  on  the  one  hand,  the  oppo- 

1  •  Correspondence  of  Robert  Dudley,    p.  36,  Dec  1586. 

^ll  "iL-^l^rTi  *V^*  y^*«J5Mrand        ' «  que  a  trueque  deUo  sera  bien 

1536,  edited  by  John  Brace.'    Printed  for  emplcado  lo  que  vieredes  que  combendra 

the  Camden  Society,   1844.    p.  27.  28,  ofrecelle  para  darselo  dcspues  de  hecho  el 

-Dec.  1585.  efecto."— Philip  II.  to  Parma,  6th  SepU 

2 'Leycester  Correspondence.' by  Brace.    '"''    ^^-^'^'^■^^' 


254 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


I 


«ll 


sition  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  to  the  bated  authority  of  Spain, 
and,  on  the  othtr,  the  intense  abhorrence  entertained  by  Philip 
to  liberty  of  conscience.  _.  x      •  -. 

Soon  after  the  capitulation  he  applied  for  a  passport  to  visit 
those  two  Provinces.  Permission  to  come  was  refused  him. 
Honest  men  from  Antwerp,  he  was  informed,  would  be  always 
welcome,  but  there  was  no  room  for  him.»  There  was,  however 
—or  Panna  persuaded  himself  that  there  was— a  considerable 
party  in  those  countries  in  favour  of  reconcdiation  with  Spain, 
if  the  ex-burgomaster  could  gain  a  hearing,  it  was  thought  pro- 
bable that  his  elotpience  would  prove  very  effective. 

"  We  have  been  making  efforts  to  bring  about  negotiations 
with  Holland  and  Zeeland,"  wrote  Alexander  to  Philip.  "  Gelder- 
land  and  Overyssel  likewise  show  signs  of  good  disposition,  but 
1  have  not  soldiers  enough  to  animate  the  good  and  terrify  the 
Imd  As  for  Holland  and  Zeeland,  there  is  a  strong  inchnation 
on  the  part  of  the  people  to  a  reconciliation,  if  some  concession 
could  be  made  on  the  religious  question,  but  the  governors 
oppose  it,  becattee  thev  are  prverse,  and  are  relying  on  assistance 
from  En^^land.  Could  this  religious  concession  be  made,  an 
arrangement  could,  without  doubt,  be  accomplished,  and  more 
quickly  than  i^ople  think.  Nevertheless,  in  such  a  delicate 
matter,  I  am  obliged  to  await  your  Majesty's  exact  instructions 
and  ultimatum."''  ,     ,  .^.  ,  .  ^ 

He  then  proceeded  to  define  exactly  the  position  and  inten- 
tions of  the  burgomaster.  ,  „    ,     ,«,        .J   „i. 

*'  The  government  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  he  said,  have 
refused  a  passiK)rt  to  Ste.  Aldegonde,  and  express  di^atisfaction 
with  him  for  having  surrendered  Antwerp  so  soon.  Ihey  know 
that  he  has  much  credit  with  the  people  and  with  the  ministers 
of  the  sects,  and  they  are  in  much  fear  of  him,'because  he  is 
inclined  for  peace,  which  is  against  their  interests.  They  are, 
therefore,  endeavouring  to  counteract  my  negotiations  with  him. 
These  have  been,  thus  far,  only  in  general  terms.  I  have  sought 
to  induce  him  to  perform  the  offices  required,  without  giving  his 
reason  to  expect  any  concession  as  to  the  exercise  of  religion. 
Ee  persuades  himself  that,  in  the  end,  there  will  be  some  satisf ac- 
tion obtained  upon  this  point,  and,  under  this  impression,  he 
considers  the  peace  as  good  as  concluded,  there  remaining  no 
doubt  as  to  other  matters.  He  has  sent  his  wife  to  Zeeland  and 
is  himself  going  to  Germany,  Where,  as  he  says,  he  will  do  all 
the  good  service  that  he  can.  He  hopes  that  very  shortly  the 
Provinces  will  not  only  invite,  but  implore  him  to  come  to  them ; 
in  which  case,  he  promises  me  to  perform  miracles.*'^ 

Alexander  then  proceeded  to  pay  a  distinct  tribute  to  Samte 
Aldec'onde's  motives  ;  and,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  state- 


1  Bor,  li.  614-620.    Hoofd  Vervolgh,  11«. 

*  Panna  to  Philip  U..  30Ui  Sept.  1585.    Arch,  de  Sim.  MS. 


sibUL 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


255 


ment  thus  made  is  contained  m  a  secret  despatch,  in  cipher 
to  the  King,  It  may  be  assumed  to  convey  the  sincere  opinion  of 
the  man  most  qualified  to  judge  correctly  as  to  this  calumniated 
person's  character.  "^i^aicu 

"  Ste.  Aldegonde  offers  me  wonders,*'  he  said,  'Smd  I  have 
promised  him  that  he  shall  be  recompensed  very  lar^relv  •  vet 
although  he  is  ix)or,  I  do  not  find  him  influenced  bv  mefc'enary 
or  selfish  considerations,  but  only  very  set  in  opinio'ns  regarding 
nis  religion.  ^  t3***^"^o 

The  Prince  had  however  no  doubt  of  Sainte  Alde^onde's  sin. 
ceritr,  for  sincerity  was  a  leading  characteristic  of  the'' man  Hi. 
word,  once  given,  wa(S  sacred,  and  he  had  given  his  word  to  do 
his  best  towards  effecting  a  reconciliation  of  the  Provinces  with 
Spain,  and  frustrating  the  efforts  of  England.  "  Throu-h  the 
agency  ot  Ste  Aldegonde  and  that  of  othirs,"  wrote  Panna  "I 
shall  wach  day  and  night,  to  bring  about  a  reduction  of  Holland 
and  Zee  and,  if  humanly  possible.  I  am  quite  persuaded  that 
they  will  soon  be  sick  of  the  English,  who  are  now  arriv  n' 
broken  down,  without  arms  or  money,  and  obviously  in^mWe 

0  holding  out  very  long.    Doubtlei    however^^L  S' 
alliance,  and  the  determination  of  the  Queen  to  do  her  utoos 

•   ?f^^;,"«^"^'f^^P\^cates  matters,  and  assists  the  government  of 
HoU^d  and  Zeeland   in   opposing   the    inclinations  oft hdr 

r..;!J^l^'''°  ^'''''  "^^""'^  ""^  *^^««  intended  negotiations  The 
nin^cles  were  never  wrought ;  and  even  had  Sainte  Aldeaonde 
Wn  as  venal  as  he  was  suspected  of  beincr-which  we"hav« 
bus  proof  positive  that  he  was'  not-he  nev?r  c^uld  h^ve  ob! 
^med  the  recompense,  which,  according  to  Philt's  thrifty 
policy,  ^VH.  not  to  be  paid  until  it  had  been  earned.  Sa  nte 
Aldegonde's  hands  were  clean.     It  is  pity  that  we  (^nnot  render 

atTrLn'tttl"^^  ^''^'  ^^°^^'^'^>'  ^^  cWaS'ltt 
aiso  certain  that  he  remained— not  without  reason— for  a  lone 

time  under  a  cloud.  He  became  the  object  ofZbound^  an.f 
reckless  calumny.  Antwerp  had  fallen,  ind  the  neTerrv  ^n 
Kquence  of  its  reduction  was  the  complete  and  Snent 
prostration  of  its  commerce  and  manufactures.  T^e™  were 
transferred  to  the  new,  free,  national,  independent,  and  pr(«nerou» 
commonwealth  that  had  risen  in  the  "  islands  "  which  1 W  and 
.Z-^  ;*"tg»""le  had  vainly  hoped  to  restore  to  their  Tcient 
servitude  Jn  a  very  few  years  after  the  subjugation  of  AnTwero 
U  appeared  by  statistical  documents  that  nearly  all  the  m^nnf.^ 
tures  of  linen,  coarse  and  fine  cloths,  ser 'es  fus  *s  T^^^ 
gold  embroidery,  arras-work,  silks,  and  vefveChaT  AranI' 

1  —  "enelcnal-caaoofrecemaravilUtt,  solamente  Dn»it/>  #.n  i«  ««•  i       ^ 
como  le  he  ofrecidoyo  de  que  «era  recom-  reSa."-?;^  t^  Ph^linV'^  w'* 
pensado  muy  largamente,  annque  si  blen  MS  Just  cit^                   ^     -       ^^* 
ea  pobre  no  le  veo  interesado,  mas  tan  «  Ibid. 


i 

If 


256 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


Planted  to  the  towns  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  which  xyere 
flourishing  and  thrivin-,  while  the  Flemish  and  Brabantine 
Shadl>ecome  mere  dens  of  thieves  and  beggars.  It  was  in 
the  mistaken  hope  of  averting  this  catastrophe-as  melancholy  as 
it^^^ine^itabl^-and  in  despair  of  seeing  all  the  ^etherlands 
in™,  unless  united  in  slavery,  and  m  deep-rooted  distnist  of 
the  de;i^s  and  policy  of  England,  that  this  statesman  once  so 
dlt  nSd,  had  listened  to  the  insid  ous  tongue  ot  Parma 
He  had  soucrht  to  effect  a  general  reconciliation  with  Spain,  and 
^e  only  insult  of  his  efforts  was  a  blight  upon  his  own  illustrious 

^X' published  a  defence  of  his  conduct,  aVid  a  detailed  account 
of  the  famous  siege.     His  apology,  at  the  time,  was  no    con- 
sWered  conclusive,  but  his  narrative  remains  one  of  the  cleares 
Tnd  most  trustvvonhy  sources  for  the  history  of  these  important 
transactions.     He  was  never  brought  to  trial  but  he  discovert.1, 
with  bit^n  ess,  that  he  had  committed  a  fatal  error,  and  that  his 
PitiS  intiue'ncc  had  passed  away.     He  addre^ed  numerou^^ 
^vate   epistles  to  eminent   persons    indignantly  denying  the 
mputations  against  his  character,  and  d^^^a^t'^^^^I^J^^^^^^^^^^ 
tion      Among  other  letters  he  observed  in  one  to  Count  Hohenlo 
hat  he  w^s  astonished  and  grieved  to  find  that  a  I  h^«  faithful 
abours  and  sufferings  in  the  cause  of  his  father  and  had  been 
fo^otten  in  anhour.°  In  place  of  praise  and  gratitude  he  had 
reaW  nothing  but  censure   and  calumny;  because  men  ever 
ludW,  not  by  the  merits,  but  by  the  issue.     That  common 
iSSe  should  be  so  unjust,  he  said,  was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  bu 
Kn  like  Hohenlo  he  had  hoped  better  things.  ^He  asserted 
thaThe  had  saved  Antwerp  from  another  «  Spanish    ury     and 
from  impending  destruction-a  city  m  which  there  ^^  as  not  a 
8  rie  regular  Soldier,  and  in  which  his  personal  authority  was 
80  slight  Ihat  he  was  unable  to  count  the  number  of  his  masters 
U  a  man  had  ever  iK>rformed  a  service  to  his  country,  he  claimed 
o  have  done  so  in\his  capitulation.    Nevertheless,  he  declared 
that  he  was  the  same  Philip  Marnix,  earnestly  devoted  to  the 
service  of  God.  the  true  religion,  and  the  fatherland;  althoiigh 
TeTvowed  himself  weary  of  the  war,  and  of  this  perpetual 
offerincr  of  the  Netherland  sovereignty  to  foreign  potentates,    tie 
wi  now  going,  he  said,  to  his  estates  in  Zeeland  ;    here  to  turn 
fl^er I4in ;  renouncing  public  affairs,  in  the  administration  of 
"he  had  experienced  sO  much  ingratitude  from  his  country- 
len^    Count  M^irice  and  the  States  of  Holland  and  Zeeland 
wrote  to  him,  however,  in  very  plain  language,  describing  the 
public  indignation  as  so  strong  as  to  make  it  unsafe  for  him  to 

"l^f  SriZnks  and  England-so  soon  as  they  were  united 
in  policy— were,  not  without  reason,  mdignant  with  the  man 


1  Bur,  il.  614. 


«  Ibid. 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


257 


who  had  made  such  strenuous  efforts  to  prevent  that  union    The 
English  were,  in  tmth,  deeply  offended.     He  had  systematically 
opposed  their  schemes,  and  to  his  prejudice  against  their  country 
and  distrust  of  their  intentions,  they  attributed  the  fall  of  Ant- 
werp.    Envoy  Davison,  after  his  return  to  Holland,  on  the  con- 
clusion of  the  English  treaty,  at  once  expressed  his  suspicions  of 
the  ex-burgomaster,  and  the  great  dangers  to  be  apprehended 
from  his  presence  in  the  free  States.     "  Here  is  some  workincr 
underhand,     said  he  to  Walsingham,  "  to  draw  hither  Saint^ 
Aldegonde,  under  a  pretext  of  his  justification,  which— as  it  has 
hitherto  been  denied  him— so  is   the  sequel    suspected,  if  he 
should  obtain  it  before  they  were  well  settled  here,  betwixt  her 
Majesty  and  them,  considering  the  manifold  presumptions  that 
the  subject  of  his  journey  should  be  little  profitable  or  advanta- 
geous to  the  state  of  these  poor  countries,  as  tending,  at  the  best 
to  trie  propounding  of  some  general   reconcilement"'     It  was 
certainly  not  without  substantial  grounds  that  the  English  and 
Hollanders  after  concluding  their  articles  of  alliance,  felt  uneasy 
at  the  possibility  of  finding  their  plans  reversed  by  the  intricni^ 
of  a  man  whom  they  knew  to  be  a  mediator  between  Spain'and 
her  revolted  Provinces,  and  whom  they  suspected  of  being  a 
venal  agent  of  the  Catholic  King.     It  was  giveVout  that  Phflip 
had  been  induced  to  promise  liberty  of  religion,  in  case  of  recon- 
ciliation.     We  have  ^n  that  Panna  was  at  heart  in  favour 

Marnix  to  be  leve  in  the  possibility  of  obtaining  such  a  Wn 
however  certain  the  Prince  had  been  made  by  the^W's  seTr^ 
letters  that  such  a  belief  was  a  delusion.  -Martini  hath  S 
examined,%vrote  Davison,  -  who  confesseth,  both  for  hir^self  and 
others  to  be  come  hither  by  direction  of  he  Prince  Sw 
and  mtelhgence  of  Sainte  Aldegonde,  from  whom  te  wasTst 

^isrc'e  %lfT  "^'  ''fh'l  ''  ^^^-  "^  '^^^-  and 
assistance.     That  the  scope  of  this  direction  was  to  induce  them 

^r.tK  ^'^^^  ^  peace,  wherein  the  Prince  of  Pa^a  pr^ 
miseth  them  toleration  of  religion,  although  he  confeS  y^ 
to  have  no  absolute  power  in  that  behalf,  but  hath  SeTthei^f 
to  the  King  expressly,  and  holdeth  hhnself  assured  th^^ofh^jL 

tw  r/'  •?  I  ^/l'  "^^^^^«  ^^^°  advertised  from  PowS  YoJk 
which  if  1    had  been  propounded  openlv  here  beforrthinaK>L.l 
^ura^r'"'""  r^'    '^^   Majesty,^and   ^l^er  takeL'"^'  W 
assurance    your  honour  can  judge  what  confusion  it  must  of 
necessity  have  brought  forth."»  ^^^  ot 

At  last  when  Marnix  had  become  convinced  that  the  toleration 
would  not  arnve  "by  the  very  next  mail  from  Spain '' and^^^^^^^ 
m  truth,  such  a  blessing  was  not  to  be  expect^  throJ^h  the 

1  Davfaon  to  Walsingham.  Sept.  i  i685,  S.  P.  Office.  MS. 

»  Daviaon  to  Walsingham,  S-pt,  1585. 
VOL*    I. 

8 


I 


258 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  V. 


post-office  at  all,  he  felt  an  inward  consciousness  of  the  mistake 
which  he  had  committed.  Too  credulously  had  he  inclined  his 
ear  to  the  voice  of  Parma;  too  obstinately  had  he  steeled  his 
heart  against  Elizabeth ;  and  he  was  now  the  more  anxious  to 
clear  himself  at  least  from  the  charges  of  corruption  so  cla- 
morously made  against  him  by  Holland  and  by  England.  Con- 
scious of  no  fault  more  censurable  than  credulity  and  prejudice, 
feeling  that  his  long  fidelity  to  the  reformed  religion  ought  to  be 
»  defence  for  him  against  his  calumniators,  he  was  desirous  both 
to  clear  his  own  honour,  and  to  do  at  least  a  tardy  justice  to 
England.  He  felt  confident  that  loyal  natures,  like  those  of 
Davison  and  his  colleagues  at  home,  would  recognise  his  own 
loyalty.  He  trusted,  not  without  cause,  to  English  honour,  and, 
coming  to  his  manor-house  of  Zoubourg,  near  Flushing,  he 
addre^ed  a  letter  to  the  ambassador  of  Elizabeth,  in  which 
the  strong  desire  to  vindicate   his   aspersed  integrity  is  quite 

manifest.  .      i.»i      •        -.     x 

**  I  am  very  joyous,*'  said  he,  "  that  commg  hither  m  order  to 
justify  myself  against  the  false  and  malignant  imputations  with 
which  they  charge  me,  I  have  learned  your  arrival  here  on  the 
part  of  her  Majesty,  as  well  as  the  soon-expected  coming  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester.  I  see,  in  truth,  that  the  Lord  God  is  just, 
and  never  abandons  his  own.  I  have  never  spared  myself  in  the 
service  of  my  country,  and  I  would  have  sacrificed  my  life  a 
thousand  times,  had  it  been  possible,  in  her  cause.  Now,  I  am 
receiving  for  all  this  a  guerdon  of  blame  and  calumny,  which  is 
cast  ui)on  me  in  order  to  cover  up  faults  which  have  been 
committed  by  others  in  past  days.  I  hope,  however,  to  come 
soon  to  give  you  welcome,  and  to  speak  more  particularly  to  you 
of  all  these  things.  Meantime  demanding  my  justification 
before  these  gentlemen,  who  ought  to  have  known  me  lietter 
than  to  have  added  faith  to  such  villanous  imputations,  I  will 
entreat  you  that  my  definite  justification,  or  condemnation,— 
if  I  have  merited  it,— may  be  reserved  till  the  arrival  of  Lord 
Leicester." 


1  Sainte  Aldegonde  to  Davlaon, 


Oct.  SB 
Not.  9 

1585.  S.  P.  Office  MS.    (The  letter  j»  In 
French.) 

Wal«lngham  always  entertained  a  high 
opinion  of  Sainte  Aldegonde'a  Intpgrity. 
•  Je  pourrols  k  bon  droit  estre  tox^," 
wrote  Mamlx,  in  answer  to  a  letter  from 
Sir  Francis,  "  ou  dc  stupidlte,  on  d'lngra- 
titnde— d'autant  plus  qu'en  une  com- 
mune opinion,  mesmes  de  ceux  qui 
estoyent  plus  proches  tesmolgns  de  me» 
actions,  et  avoyent  plus  de  commodity 
d'en  pouvoir  Juger  a  la  Terlte.  »i  ils  en 
eussent  prendre  la  peine  il  vous  a  pleu. 


en  estant  beancoup  plus  esloign^,  et  plus 
environne  de  prejuges,  uuUntenir  con- 
Btamment  I'impresslon  qu'aviez  une  fois 
conceue  de  mon  integrite.  ^  »  «  Et  pleut 
i  Dleu  que  J'eusse  peu  avoir  gens  de 
quallte  et  de  Jugement  tela  qu'est  V.  S. 
ou  spectateurs,  ou  juges  d?  mes  conseils  et 
procedures.  Je  m'  asseure  qu'en  lieu  de 
l>l&me,  que,  ou  les  Ignorans  ou  les  mall* 
cieux  m'ont  mis  bus,  J 'en  eusse  rapport^ 
louange  et  gloire.  Tant  y  a  que  rends 
graces  encore  pour  ce  Jour  d'huy  k  mon 
Dien,  de  ce  qu'en  ces  grandes  extnmltes 
environn^s  de  tant  de  difflcultes,  il  ne  m'a 
oncques  si  avant  prlve  de  son  esprit,  qae 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


259 


Tliis  certainly  was  not  the  language  of  a  culprit.  Neverthe- 
less, his  words  did  not  immediately  make  a  deep  impression  on 
the  hearts  of  those  who  heard  him.  He  had  come  secretly  to 
his  house  at  Zoubourg,  having  previously  published  his  memor- 
able apology ;  and  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  Encrlish 
government,  he  was  immediately  confined  to  his  own  house. 
Confidence  in  the  intention  of  a  statesman  who  had  at  least 
committed  such  grave  errors  of  judgment,  and  who  had  been  so 
deeply  suspected  of  darker  faults,  was  not  likely  very  soon  to 
revive.  So  far  from  shrinking  from  an  investigation  which 
would  have  been  dangerous,  even  to  his  life,  had  the  charges 
against  his  honour  been  founded  in  fact,  he  boldly  demanded'^to 
be  confronted  with  his  accusers,  in  order  that  he  might  explain 
his  conduct  before  all  the  world.  "Sir,  yesternight,  at  th« 
shutting  of  the  gates,"  wrote  Davison  to  Walsingham— trans- 
mitting the  little  note  from  Mamix  which  has  just  been  cited 

**  I  was  advertised  that  Ste.  Aldegonde  was  not  an  hour  before 
secretly  landed  at  the  head  on  the  other  side  the  Rammekens 
and  come  to  his  house  at  Zoubourg,  having  prepared  his  way  by 
an  ajology,  newly  published  in  his  defence,  whereof  I  have  as 
yet  rwjovered  one  only  copy,  which  herewith  I  send  your  honour. 
Ihis  day,  whilst  I  was  at  dinner,  he  sent  his  son  unto  me  with 
a  few  lines  whereof  I  send  you  the  copy,  advertising  me  of  his 
arnval  (which  he  knew  I  understood  before),  together  with  the 
d^ire  he  had  to  see  me,  and  speak  Avith  me,  if  the  States,  before 
whom  he  was  to  come  to  purge  himself  of  the  crimes  wherewith 
he  stood  as  hesaith,  unjustly  charged,  would  vouchsafe  him  so 
much   liberty.     The  same  morning,   the  council  of  Zeeland 
taking  knowledge  of  his  arrival,  sent  unto  him  the  pensioner  of 
Middelhurgh  and  this  town,  to  sound  the  causes  of  his  comina 
and  to  will  him,  in  their  behalf,  to  keep  his  house,  and  to  forbeS 
ail  meddling,  by  word  or  writing,  with  any  whatsoever  till  thev 
should  further  advise  and  determine  in  his  cause.     In  defence 
thereof,  he  fell  into  large  and  particular  discourse  with  the  depu- 
ties, accusing  his  enemies  of  malice  and  untruth,  ofTerincr  himself 
to  any  trial,  and  to  abide  what  punishment  the  laws  should  lay 

cannot  discern  that  Uiere  is  any  doubt  to 
be  had  of  him,  that  he  should  be  led  away 
by  any  persuasion  to  seek  his  advance- 
ment but  by  her  Mi^esty;   and  Sainte 
Aldegonde,  contrary  to  the  opinion  con- 
ceived of  him,  by  her  Majesty,  is  noted 
here  of  all  men  to  be  a  good  patriot,  and 
worthy  to  be  employed  in  the  services  here 
in  respect  of  his  ability  and  wisdom,  howl 
beit  J  perceive  (to  take  away  the  offence 
tMt  may  be  musUred  to  her  Majesty) 
they  are  contented  to  forbear  the  use  of 
his  services."    Wilkes  to   the  Lords  of 
Council,  20th  Aug.  1586.   S.  P.  oiHce  Mft 
8  2 


Je  to'aye  tot^onrs  eu  mon  sen!  but  et  la 
gloire  de  son  nom  et  la  conservation  de 
ses  egliscs.  Ce  que  Je  vous  prle  de  crolre, 
et  vous  asseure  qu'en  oette  resolution  Je 
desire  vivre  et  mourlr."  Marnlx  de  Sainte 

Aldegonde  to  Walsingham,  May  -.  1586, 
from  Zoubourg,  S.  P.  Office  MS. 

-  The  Count  Maurice,"  wrote  envoy 
and  counsellor  Wilkes,  a  year  later,  from 
Utrecht,  -  Is  loved  and  rttjpt'cU'd  here  of  the 
people,  for  the  merits  of  his  late  father; 
and  Is  (80  far  as  i  can  Judge)  like  to  suc- 
ceed hhn  In  wisdom  and  sufficiency     I 


200 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


upon  him,  if  he  were  foTind.guilty  of  the  crimes  imputed  to  him. 
Touching  the  cause  of  his  coming,  he  pretended  and  protested 
that  he  had  no  other  end  than  his  simple  justification,  prefernn<: 
any  hazard  he  might  incur  thereby  to  his  honour  and  good 
fame."*  As  to  the  great  question  at  issue,  Marnix  had  at  last 
become  conscious  that  he  had  been  a  victim  to  Spanish  dissimu- 
lation, and  that  Alexander  Farnese  was  in  reality  quite  powerless 
to  make  that  concession  of  religious  liberty,  without  which  a 
reconciliation  between  Holland  and  Philip  was  impossible. 
"  Whereas,**  said  Davison,  **  it  was  supposed  that  Ste.  Aldegonde 
had  commission  from  the  Prince  of  Parma  to  make  some  otter  of 
peace,  he  assured  them  of  the  contrary  as  a  thing  which  neither 
the  Prince  had  any  power  to  yield  unto  with  the  surety  of  reli- 
gion, or  himself  would,  in  conscience,  persuade  without  it ;  with 
a  number  of  other  particularities  in  his  excuse;  amongst  the 
rest,  allowing  and  commending  in  nis  speech  the  course  they 
haii  taken  with  her  Majesty,  as  the  only  safe  way  of  deliverance 
for  these  afflicted  countries— letting  them  understand  how  much 
the  news  thereof,  specially  since  the  entry  of  our  garnson  into 
this  place  (which  before  they  would  in  no  sort  believe),  hath 
troubled  the  enemy,  who  doth  what  he  may  to  suppress  the 
bruit  thereof,  and  yet  comforteth  himself  with  the  hope  that  be- 
tween the  factions  and  partialities  nourished  by  his  industay,  and 
musters  among  the  towns,  especially  in  Holland  and  Zeeland 
(where  he  is  persuaded  to  find  some  pliable  to  a  reconcilement), 
and  the  disorders  and  misgovemment  of  our  people,  there  will  be 
vet  occasion  offered  him  to  make  his  profit  and  advantage.  I 
find  that  the  gentleman  hath  here  many  friends  indifferently 
persuaded  of  his  innocency,  notwithstanding  the  closing  up  of 
his  apology  doth  make  but  little  for  him.  Howsoever  it  be,  it 
falleth  out  the  better  that  the  treaty  with  herMajesty  is  finished, 
and  the  cautionary  towns  assured  before  his  coming,  which,  if  he 
be  ill  affected,  will  I  hope  either  reform  his  judgment  or  restrain 
his  will.  I  will  not  forget  to  do  the  best  I  can  to  sift  and  de- 
cipher him  vet  more  narrowly  and  particulariy."* 

Thus,  while  the  scales  had  at  length  fallen  from  the  eyes  of 
Mamix,  it  was  not  strange  that  the  confidence  which  he  now 
began  to  entertain  in  the  policy  of  England  should  not  be  met, 
at  the  outset,  with  a  corresponding  sentiment  on  the  part  of  the 
statesman  by  whom  that  policy  was  regulated.  "  Howsoever 
Ste.  Aldegonde  would  seem  to  purge  himself,**  said  Davison, 
"  it  is  suspected  that  his  end  is  dangerous.  I  have  done  wliat 
I  may  to  restrain  him,  so  nevertheless  as  it  may  not  seem  to  come 
frtm  me.***  And  again—"  Ste.  Aldegonde,"  he  wrote,  "^n- 
tinueth  still  our  neighbour  at  his  house  between  this  and  Mid- 
delburg,  yet  unmolested.    He  findeth  many  favourers,  and,  1 

1  ItflnB  to  WalBlngham.  Nov.-,  1685,  S.  P.  Office  MS.       «  Ibid.       "  IWd. 


1585, 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


261 


fear,  doth  no  good  offices.    He  desireth  to  be  reserved  till  the 
TSilv^  "^'^  ^'  ^^"^*-'  »^^^-  -^-  he'^Jetends': 
This  covert  demeanour  on  the  part  of  the  ambassador  was  in 
accordance  with  the  wishes  of  his  government      It  warthonait 
necessary  that  Sainte  Aldegonde  should  be  kep    u?der  am 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Eari,  but  deemed  preferable  that  the 
restraint  should  proceed  from  the  action  of  the^States  rather  than 
irom  the  order  of  the  Queen.     Davison  was  fuSforderstn 
o  hSfe'^  «tf  .?'  r"'  ''  '^^"^^  Marnix^foTf  tie! 

anv  wise ''^^f  ^  •  "?'  ^  P?^  ^''"'  '^"^^^  ^^  good  safety  in 
any  wise,     wrote  Leicester,  who  was  uneasv  at  th^  fK...,  v?^    J 

JO  mfluential.  and,  as  he  thought,  so  Ul-aSt  it.n  fek^^  H 

large,  ont  at  the  same  time  disp^  to  look  disiiSrateW  ufon 

bis  past  conduct,  and  to  do  jusiJce,  according  to^  result nf^^ 

"fhi^vo.:  !;  '%TM  ""»''•  ^^  Wa"sin|h^"to  dIv° 
^'  AM     ^T     ""'^  ^°  y"'"'  ^«t  endeavour  to  procure  5mt 

fi    to  i^lLf  r^  ■^k"^""*'''^' '''"<=''  '■>  mine  opTon  were 
ll^f-'Ltet^irtfanXroursoS^^^ 

t"rrL-drg,it'£{?r«^^^^^^^^^ 

should  make  3rself  riSn  .  ??''^^^  "^^^  ^^^*  >'«« 
may  receive  examination  ■•»        "'™™'"  "  ^nat  time  his  cause 

not  been  ut^Sy  in  v^n  a^Tiw"  *'  '^"'^  "^  '"^^y  had 
spirits  to  svmpath^I^th'.^i^  ""^  """y  magnanimous 
meshes  of  <i^umDyCtthf*n"\"  ""f^'ing  thus  in  the 

shunned  mvestT^Ln?htM"'lSlr"tt Wso^"'"  -'rT 
were  a  detected  felon  noon  the  ^inVT^  u  P.""""'  ^  '"^  he 
heartless  and  superfluorpre^uS  %^}^''^"'S,  seemed  a 
still  feared  the  man  whom  tt^f^i  k.-  f  Davison  and  others 
intriguer.  "  WhingThe^^t^^M  *«  Ilf"'  "1  ^  '»««'» 
Davison  to  Lord  Burghley  'i^&i  hL  '/'^/^'"'^f'"  "■™'« 
tary  to  procure  underhand  I  Tnd  tL\?«  "l^"""  '^™'"  ^'-  ^^«- 
regardofhisman/fSsandfavo,?^^*'"''^"''.'  '"'  ^^^^t  in 
opinion  of  his  innUna  alth^.lw T™'  P-^^^ipied  with  some 

of  them  «nderhanTa?rim  ptm  s^'^L  "''''■''I,"'*.'''™" 
1  find  continual  matte?  ^^  .^-- ,  l^l^^f^;^-!^ 


•  ^°^-  S'  "*'•  ^  P-    ^  ^"  ^^^  ^*^ 


*  Davlsoa  to 
OfflceMS. 

■""""  to  D.vl«i.  Nov."  ,585,  ap.Offloeas. 


■  Mtonte  ofWaUliigh«l,KoT.  JJ,  I5(I5, 


ii 


¥ 


262 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


i 

\m 


m 


I 


as  one  notably  prejudging  our  scope  and  proceeding  in  this  cause, 
doth  lie  in  wait  for  an  occasion  to  set  it  forward,  being,  as  it 
seems,  fed  with  a  hope  of  *  telle  quelle  liberty  de  conscience,'  which 
the  Prince  of  Parma  and  others  of  his  council  have,  as  he  con- 
fesseth,  earnestly  solicited  at  the  King's  hands.  This  appeareth, 
in  truth,  the  only  apt  and  easy  way  for  them  to  prevail  both 
ac'ainst  religion  and  the  liberty  of  these  poor  countnes,  having 
thereby  once  recovered  the  authority  which  must  necessanly 
follow  a  peace,  to  renew  and  alter  the  magistrates  of  the  parti- 
cular towns,  which,  being  at  their  devotion,  may  turn,  as  we  say, 
all  upside  down,  and  so  in  an  instant  being  under  their  servitude, 
if  not  wholly,  at  the  least  in  a  great  part  of  the  country,  leaving  so 
much  the  less  to  do  about  the  rest,  a  thing  confessed  and  looked 
for  of  all  men  of  any  judgment  here,  if  the  drift  of  our  peace- 
makers may  take  effect."^  _  ,T7  1  l 
Sainte  Aldegonde  had  been  cured  of  his  suspicions  of  England, 
and  at  last  the  purity  of  his  own  character  shone  through  the 

mists 

One  mnter's  morning,  two  days  after  Christmas,  1585,  Colonel 
Morcran,  an  ingenuous  Welshman,  whom  we  have  seen  doing 
much  hard  fighting  on  Kowenstyn  Dyke,  and  at  other  places, 
and  who  now  commanded  the  garrison  at  Flushing,  was  taking  a 
walk  outside  the  gates,  and  inhaling  the  salt  breezes  from  the 
ocean.  While  thus  engaged  he  met  a  gentleman  coming  along, 
staff  in  hand,  at  a  brisk  pace  towards  the  town,  who  soon  proved 
to  be  no  other  than  the  distinguished  and  deeply  suspected 
Sainte  Aldegonde.  The  two  got  at  once  into  conversation.  Me 
began,"  said  Morgan,  "  by  cunning  insinuations,  to  wade  into 
matters  of  state,  and  at  the  last  fell  to  touching  the  pnncipal 
points,  to  wit,  her  Majesty's  entrance  into  the  cause  now  m 
•  hand,  which,  quoth  he,  was  an  action  of  high  importance,  con- 
siderinc^  how  much  it  behoved  her  to  go  through  the  same  aa 
well  in  regard  of  the  hope  that  thereby  was  given  to  the  dis- 
tressed people  of  these  parts,  as  also  in  consideration  ot  that 
worthy  personage  whom  she  hath  here  placed,  whose  estate  and 
credit  may  not  be  suffered  to  quail,  but  must  be  upholden  as 
becometh  the  lieutenant  of  such  a  princess  as  her  Majesty. 

"The  opportunity  thus  offered,"  continued  honest  Morgan, 
"  and  the  way  opened  by  himself,  I  thought  good  to  discourse 
with  him  to  the  full,  partly  to  see  the  end  and  drift  ot  his 
induced  talk,  and  consequently  to  touch  his  quick  in  the  sus- 
pected cause  of  Antwerp."*  And  thus,  word  for  word,  taken 
down  faithfully  the  same  day,  proceeded  the  dialogue  that  wintry 
morning,  near  three  centuries  ago.  From  that  simple  record— 
mouldering  unseen  and  unthought  of  for  ages  ^J^eajh  piles  ol 
official  dust— the  forms  of  the  illustrious  Fleming  and  the  bold 

Vow.n  •am  Thomas  Morgan  to  Sir  F.  Walslng- 

aVSTMr  '"^"''  ^"  "'■  >-^  •"»•  .-:..-.aP.o««Ma  .  m^ 


U' 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


263 


Welsh  colonel  seem  to  start,  for  a  brief  moment,  out  of  the 
three  hundred  years  of  sleep  which  have  succeeded  their 
energetic  existence  upon  earth.  And  so,  with  the  bleak  winds 
of  December  whistling  over  the  breakers  of  the  North  Sea,  the 
two  discoursed  together,  as  they  paced  along  the  coast. 

Morgan.—"  I  charge  you  with  your  want  of  confidence  in  her 
Majesty's  promised  aid.  'Twas  a  thing  of  no  small  moment  had 
it  been  embraced  when  it  was  first  most  graciously  ofiered." 

Sainte  Aldegonde.—"  I  left  not  her  princelike  purpose  un- 
known to  the  States,  who  too  coldly  and  carelessly  passed  over 
the  benefit  thereof,  until  it  was  too  late  to  put  the  same  in  prac- 
tice. For  my  own  part,  I  acknowledge  that  indeed  I  thought 
some  future  advice  would  either  alter  or  at  least  detract  from  the 
accomplishment  of  her  determination.  I  thought  this  the  rather 
because  she  had  so  long  been  wedded  to  peace,  and  I  supposed  it 
impossible  to  divorce  her  from  so  sweet  a  spouse.  But  set  it 
down  that  ghe  were  resolute,  yet  the  sickness  of  Antwerp  was 
so  dangerous,  as  it  was  to  be  doubted  the  patient  would  be  dead 
before  the  physician  could  come.  I  protest  that  the  state  of  the 
town  was  much  worse  than  was  known  to  any  but  myself  and 
some  few  private  persons.  The  want  of  victuals  was  far  greater 
than  they  durst  bewray,  fearing  lest  the  common  people,  per- 
ceiving the  plague  of  famine  to  be  at  hand,  would  iSer  g5^w 
desperate  than  patiently  expect  some  happy  event.     For  as  thev 

^fnl'^M''^.-''';'''^^'''  ''l.'^''^  ^^^y  wonderfully  divided  :  som^ 
being  Martmists  some  Papists,  some  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  but  generally  given  to  be  factious,  so  that  the  horror  at 
home  was  equal  to  the  hazard  abroad." 

Morgan.—"  But  you  forget  the  motion  made  by  the  martial 
men  for  putting  out  of  the  town  such  as  were  simple  ardficers 
with  women  and  children,  mouths  that  consumed  meat    but 
stood  m  no  stead  for  defence."  ' 

Sainte  Aldegonde.-"  Alas,  alas  !  would  you  have  had  me 
guilty  of  he  slaughter  of  so  many  innocents,  whose  lives  w^ 
committed  to  my  charge,  as  well  as  the  best  ?  Or  mic^ht  I  W 
answered  my  God  when  those  massacred  creatures  should  have 
stood  up  agamst  me.  that  the  hope  of  Antwerp's  deliverance  wm 
purchased  with  the  blcK>d  of  so  iany  simple^«,uls  ?  No,^o  - 
I  should  have  found  my  conscience  such  a  hell  and  cont^niial 
worm  as  the  gnawing  thereof  would  have  been  more  paS  and 

ple^ant."        ^"^'"''  '^  '^'  ^^"^^  ^''^^  would  We  l^eu 
Morgan  continued  to  press   the   various  points  which  had 
excited  suspicion  as  to  the  character  and  motives  of  Marnlx  ^d 
pomt  by  point  Mamix  answered  his  antagonist  impressing  h^ 
armed  as  he  had  been   in  distrust,  with  an  iS^blf  con' 


li 


264 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS 


Chap.  V, 


Sainte  Aldegonde  (with  vehemence). — "I  do  assnre  yon  in 
coDclusioD,  that  I  have  solemnly  vowed  service  and  duty  to 'her 
Majesty,  which  I  am  ready  to  perform  where  and  when  it  may 
best  like  her  to  use  the  same.  I  will  add  moreover  that  I  have 
oftentimes  determined  to  pass  into  England  to  make  my  own 
purgation,  yet,  fearing  lest  her  Highness  would  mislike  so  bold  a 
resolution,  I  have  checked  that  purpose  with  a  resolution  to 
tarry  the  Lord's  leisure,  until  some  better  opportunity  might 
answer  my  desire.  For  since  I  know  not  how  I  stand  in  her 
grace,  unwilling  I  am  to  attempt  her  presence  without  permis- 
sion  ;  but  might  it  please  her  to  command  my  attendance,  I  should 
not  only  most  joyfully  accomplish  the  same,  but  also  satisfy  her 
of  and  in  all  such  matters  as  I  jstand  charged  with,  and  after- 
wards spend  life,  land,  and  goods  to  witness  my  duty  towards 
her  Highness." 

Morgan.—"  I  tell  you  plainly,  that  if  you  are  in  heart  the 
same  man  that  you  seem  outwardly  to  be,  I  doubt  not  but  her 
Majesty  might  easily  be  persuaded  to  conceive  a  gracious  opinion 
of  you.  For  mine  own  part,  I  will  surely  advertise  Sir  Francis 
Walsingham  of  as  much  matter  as  this  present  conference  hath 
ministered,'* 

"  Hereof,"  said  the  Colonel— when,  according  to  his  promise 
faithfully  recording  the  conversation  in  all  its  details  for  Mr! 
Secretary's  benefit,— "he  seemed  not  only  content  but  most 
glad.  Therefore  I  beseech  your  honour  to  vouchsafe  some  few 
lines  herein,  that  I  may  return  him  some  part  of  your  mind.  I 
have  already  written  thereof  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  lord  governor 
of  Flushing,  with  request  that  his  Excellency  the  Earl  of  Lei- 
cester may  presently  be  made  acquainted  with  the  cause." 

Indeed  the  brave  Welshman  was  thoroughly  converted  from 
his  suspicions  by  the  earnest  language  and  sympathetic  presence 
of  the  fallen  statesman.  This  result  of  the  conference  was  credit- 
able to  the  ingenuous  character  of  both  personages. 

"  Thus  did  he,"  wrote  Morgan  to  Sir  Francis,  "  from  i)oint  to 
point  answer  all  objections  from  the  first  to  the  last,  and  that  in 
such  sound  and  substantial  manner,  with  a  strong  show  of  truth 
as  I  think  his  very  enemies,  having  heard  his  tale,  would  be 
satisfied.  And  truly,  Sir,  as  heretofore  I  have  thought  hardly 
of.  him,  being  led  by  a  superficial  judgment  of  things  as  they 
stood  in  outward  appearance ;  so  now,  having  pierced  deep,  and 
weighed  causes  by  a  sounder  and  more  deliberate  consideration, 
I  find  myself  somewhat  changed  in  conceit ;  not  so  much  carried 
away  by  the  sweetness  of  his  speech,  as  confirmed  by  the  force 
of  his  religious  profession,  wherein  he  remaineth  constant,  with- 
out wavering— an  argument  of  great  strength  to  set  him  free 
from  treacherous  attempts ;  but  as  I  am  herein  least  able  and 
most  unworthy  to  yield  any  censure,  much  less  to  give  advice, 
so  I  leave  the  man  and  the  matter  to  your  honour's  opinion. 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


265 


Only  (your  graver  judgment  reserved)  thus  I  think,  that  it  were 
good  either  to  employ  him  as  a  friend,  or  as  an  enemy  to  remove 
him  farther  from  us,  being  a  man  of  such  action  as  the  world 
knoweth  he  is.  And  to  conclude,"  added  Morgan,  **  this  was  the 
upshot  between  us."* 

Nevertheless,  he  remained  in  this  obscurity  for  a  long  period.* 
When,  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1585,  the  English  govern- 
ment was  established  in  Holland,  he  was  the  object  of  constant 
suspicion. 

*'  Here  is  Aldegonde,"  wrote  Sir  Philip  Sidney  to  Lord  Lei- 
cester from  Flushing,  "  a  man  greatly  susiDCcted,  but  by  no  man 
charged.  He  lives  restrained  to  his  own  house,  and,  for  aught 
I  can  find,  deals  with  nothing,  only  desiring  to  have  his  cause 
wholly  referred  to  your  Lordship,  and  therefore,  with  the  best 
heed  I  can  to  his  proceedings,  I  will  leave  him  to  his  clearing  or 
condemning,  when  your  Lordship  shall  hear  him."» 

In  another  letter  Sir  Philip  again  spoke  of  Sainte  Aldegonde 
as  "  one  of  whom  he  kept  a  good  opinion,  and  yet  a  suspfcious 
eye."* 

Leicester  himself  was  excessively  anxious  on  the  subject, 
deeply  fearing  the  designs  of  a  man  whom  he  deemed  so  mis- 
chievous, and  being  earnestly  desirous  that  he  should  not  elude 
the  chastisement  which  he  seemed  to  deserve. 

"  Touching  Ste.  Aldegonde,"  he  wrote  to  Davison,  "  I  grieve 
that  he  is  at  his  house  without  good  guard.  I  do  earnestly  pray 
you  to  move  such  as  have  power  presently  to  commit  a  guard 
about  him,  for  I  know  he  is  a  dangerous  and  a  bold  man,  and 
presumes  yet  to  carry  all,  for  he  hath  made  many  promises  to 
the  Prince  of  Parma.  I  would  he  were  in  Fort  Rammekyns  or 
else  that  Mr.  Russell  had  charge  of  him,  with  a  recommendation 
from  me  to  Russell  to  look  well  to  him  till  I  shall  arrive.  You 
must  have  been  so  commanded  in  this  from  her  Majesty,  for  she 
thmks  he  is  in  close  and  safe  guard.  If  he  is  not,  look  for  a  turn 
of  all  things,  for  he  hath  friends,  I  know."* 

But  very  soon  after  his  arrival,  the  Earl,  on  examining  into 
ttie  matter,  saw  fit  to  change  his  opinions  and  his  language. 
Persuaded,  in  spite  of  his  previous  convictions,  even  ^  the 
honest  Welsh  colonel  had  been,  of  the  ujjright  character  of  the 
man,  and  feelmg  sure  that  a  change  had  come  over  the  feelirxTs 
of  Mamix  himself  in  regard  to  the  English  alliance,  Leicester  at 
once  mterested  himself  in  removing  the  prejudices  entertained 
towards  him  by  the  Queen. 

"  Now  a  few  words  for  Ste.  Aldegonde,"  said  he  in  his  earliest 

1  Thomw  Mor^  to  Sir  F.  Walsing.  4  sir  P.  Sidney  to  Earl  of  Leicester. 

h«n  MS  JuBt  cited.  19th  Feb.  1686.    Brit  Mus.  Galba.  a  ix^ 

*  Bor,  ii.  610-614.     Hoofd  Vervolgh,  p.  93.                                           »*.  v-  «• 

116,117.    Wagenaar,  vlll.  83, 84.  «t   ,      .          ..                      is 

»  Sir  P.  Sidney  to  Earl  of  Leicester  Leicester  to  Davison  Nov.  ^  1685.  & 

Brit  Mus.  Galbe,  C.  vllL  213  MS.  ?•  Office  MS. 


266 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


^«m*trliM  from  Holland;  "I  will  beseech  her  Majesty  to  stay 
t^ul^en^Ull  I  w^^  iext.  If  the  man  Y^  as  he  now  seeme^, 
it  wire ^tv  to  lose  him,  for  he  is  indeed  marvellously  fnended. 
HpTMaSywil  think  I  know,  that  I  am  easily  pacihed  or  led 
^  LchTmatter  hnt  1  trust  so  to  deal  as  she  shall  give  me 
thank^     On^^f  he  do  offer  service  it  is  sure  enough,  lor  he  .s 

^ir  -St;.-? irLi:  t^'^^  ^^■ 

Sty  for  thi3  work  of  hers  to  heaven  and  confesseth,  till  now 
•n  Ineel  could  not  make  him  believe  It.  .      ,„„„., 

"■S  «rUinly  was  a  noble  tribut^P*  ^  "rr''"ibive  a^^^ 
rm^  irrTn^^t-l^'^oirheTve  it.^^'w^ 

^t  that^U  SdSs  against  England  should  not  have  been 
Xli' uUrtL  U  for  Antwerp  and  [or  Ms  own  use^u^es^ ! 
w-^  hia  aooa  aneel  really  been  present  to  make  him  oeiieve  in 
^  "woTofT  Majlty,"  when  his  ear  was  open  to  the 
^uotirs  of  Parma,  thj  dJstiny  of  Belgium  and^s  own  ^V 
sequent  career   might  have   been  more  fortunate   than  tliey 

""^^^bueen  waa  slow  to  return  from  her  prejudices.    She  be- 

^SS»i^-  LtistrHt-ut^itt^ 

""?dw"luaint  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,"  wrote  Walsingham 
to  Lei^t^  "with  the  letter  which  Ste.  Aldegonde  wrote  to 
^Jf Ship,  which,  carrying  a  true  picture  o  a^  -^f^^^f^ 
Smotbut  move  an  honest  heart,  weighmg  the  rare  P"ta 'be 
'^erZ  is  endowed  withal,  to  pity  his  d.'tressed^tat^  -d 

.    to  procure  bun  relief  and  <»?fort.  «1^"*  *'i; ^  TthoS"ht  EoS 
(Hatton)  hath  promised  on  his  port  to  pe*™-  .Li   nW^ 

SM,  cause  to  acquaint  her  Majesty  with  the  said  letter. 

B?t  to  high  public  career  was  closed.  He  lived  down  calumny 
and  niit  his  fneLies  to  shame,  but  the  fatal  error  which  he  had 
SZitted!  in  taking  the  side  of  S,«in  rather  than  of  England  at 

I  Bruce. '  Leyceat  Corresp.'  pp.  33.  34.  «  Ibl«i  PP-  31, 34. 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


267 


BO  momentous  a  crisis,  could  never  be  repaired.  He  regained 
the  good  opinion  of  the  most  virtuous  and  eminent  personages  in 
Europe,  but  in  the  noon  of  life  he  voluntarily  withdrew  from 
public  affairs.  The  circumstances  just  detailed  had  made  him 
impossible  as  a  political  leader,  and  it  was  equally  impossible  for 
him  to  play  a  secondary  part.  He  occasionally  consented  to  be 
employed  in  special  diplomatic  missions,  but  the  serious  avoca- 
tions of  his  life  now  became  theological  and  literary.  He  sought 
— in  his  own  words — to  penetrate  himself  still  more  deeply  than 
ever  with  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation,  and  to  imbue  the  minus 
of  the  young  with  that  deep  love  for  the  reformed  religion  which 
had  been  the  guiding  thought  of  his  own  career.  He  often  spoke 
with  a  sigh  of  his  compulsory  exile  from  the  field  where  he  had 
been  so  conspicuous  all  his  lifetime ;  he  bitterly  lamented  the 
vanished  dream  of  the  great  national  union  between  Belgium  and 
Holland  which  had  flattered  his  youth  and  his  manhood ;  and 
he  sometimes  alluded  with  bitterness  to  the  calumny  which  had 
crippled  him  of  his  usefulness.  He  might  have  played  a  dis- 
tinguished part  in  that  powerful  commonwealth  which  was  so 
steadily  and  splendidly  arising  out  of  the  lagunes  of  Zeeland  and 
Holland,  but  destiny  and  calumny  and  his  own  error  had  decided 
otherwise. 

"  From  the  depth  of  my  exile,"  he  said,  *'  for  I  am  resolved 
to  retire,  I  know  not  where,  into  Germany,  perhaps  into  Sar- 
matia,  I  shall  look  from  afar  upon  the  calamities  of  my  country. 
That  which  to  me  is  most  mournful  is  no  longer  to  be  able  to 
assist  my  fatherland  by  my  counsels  and  my  actions."^  He  did 
not  go  into  exile,  but  remained  chiefly  at  his  mansion  of  Zoubourg, 
occupied  with  agriculture  and  with  profound  study.  Many  noble 
works^-conspicuous  in  the  literature  of  the  epoch — were  the 
results  of  his  learned  leisure  ;  and  the  name  of  Mamix  of  Sainte 
Aldegonde  will  be  r^lways  as  dear  to  the  lovers  of  science  and 
letters  as  to  the  believers  in  civil  and  religious  liberty.  At  the 
request  of  the  States  of  Holland  he  undertook,  in  1593,  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures  from  the  original,  and  he  was  at  the 
same  time  deeply  engaged  with  a  History  of  Christianity,  which 
he  intended  for  his  literary  masterpiece.  The  man  whose  sword 
had  done  knightly  service  on  many  a  battle-field  for  freedom, 
whose  tongue  had  controlled  mobs  and  senates,  courts  and 
councils,  whose  subtle  spirit  had  metamorphosed  itself  into  a 
thousand  shapes  to  do  battle  with  the  genius  of  tyranny,  now 
quenched  the  feverish  agitation  of  his  youth  and  manhood  in 
Hebrew  and  classical  lore.  A  grand  and  noble  figure  always ; 
most  pathetic  when  thus  redeeming,  by  vigorous  but  solitary  and 
melancholy  hard  labour,  the  political  error  which  had  condemned 
him  to  retirement.  To  work,  ever  to  work,  was  the  primary  law 
of  his  nature.    Repose  in  the  other  world,  "  Repos  ailleurs,"  was 

1  •  Commentaire  but  les  Affaires  d'Anvera.' 


P 


268 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  V. 


the  device  which  he  assmned  in  earliest  youth,  and  to  which  he 

^"l^T.:^  'Sd'Tan,  whose  life  had  heen  brimfuU  of  noble 
de^s^and  who  had  been  led  astray  from  the  path  not  of  virtue, 
b^of  J^und  policy,  by  his  own  prejudices  and  by  the  fascina- 
tion of  ^n^ntellect  even  more  brilliant  than  his  own  he  at  least 
enToyed  m  his  retirement  whatever  go(^  may  come  from  hearty 
S  gSuine  labour,  and  from  the  high  regard  entertamed  for 
him  by  the  noblest  spirits  among  his  contemporaries. 

"Thev  tell  me  "said  La  None,  "that  the  Seigneur  deSte. 
Alde^Kasfeen  suspected  by  the  Hollanders  and  the  Eng- 
Ush      I  am  deeply  grieved,  for  'tis  a  personage  worthy  to  be 
emnloved     1  haVe  a^^^^     known  him  to  be  a  zealous  f^^iend  of 
Ms  reuSon  aud  his  country,  and  I  will  bear  him  this  testimony, 
m  trends  and  his  he7rt  are  clean      Had  it  been  otherw.^ 
I  must  have  known  it.     His  example  has  made  me  regret  the 
leS  the  promise  I  was  obliged  to  make,  never  to  bear  arms  again 
in  the  Netherlands.    For  I  have  thought  that  since  th  s  man 
who  has  80  much  credit  and  authority  among  your  people,  alter 
havin-  d^e  his  duty  well,  has  not  failed  U>  be  calumniated  and 
Sd  from  service,  what'would  they  have  done  with  me,  who 
am  a  stranger,  had  I  continued  in  their  employment?     Ihe 
^sul  Terentius  Varro  lost,  by  his  fault,  the  battle  of  Cann*  ; 
^vertheless,  when  he  returned  to  Rome,  offering  the  remainder 
of  his  life  in  the  cause  of  his  Republic  reduced  to  extremity,  he 
was  not  rejected,  but  well  received,  because  he  hoped  we  1  for  the 
7oZ%.    It  is  not  to  be  imputed  as  blame  to  Ste.  AWegonde 
that  he  lost  Antwerp,  for  he  surrendered  when  it  could  not  be 
saved.     What  I  now  say  is  drawn  from  me  by  the^compassion 
I  feel  when  persons  of  merit  suffer  without  cause  at  the  hands  of 
their  fellow-citizens.    In  these  terrible  tcmi.ests,  as  it  is  a  duty 
ri<rorou8ly  to  punish  the  betrayers  of  their  country,  even  so  is  it 
an  obligation  upon  us  to  honour  good  patriots,  and  to  support 
them  in  venial  errors,  that  we  all  may  encourage  each  other  to 

do  the  right."^  ...  ..      ^e  tv^ 

Strange  too  as  it  may  now  seem  to  us,  a  reconciliation  of  the 

Netherlands  with  Philip  was  not  thought  an  imposaibility  by 

•  other  experienced  and  sagacious  patriots  besides  Marmx.  J^ven 
Olden-Bameveld,  on  taking  office  as  Holland  s  Advocate,  at  this 
period,  made  it  a  condition  that  his  service  was  to  last  only  unUl 
the  reunion  of  the  Provinces  with  Spain.'  .     •      i     ^  ^i,^ 

There  was  another  illustrious  personage  m  a  foreign  land  who 
ever  rendered  homage  to  the  character  of  the  retired  Netherland 
statesman.  Amid  the  desolation  of  France,  ^t^P^^w'^  T!5 
often  solaced  himself  by  distant  communion  with  that  kindred 
and  sympathizing  spirit. 

1  Groen  v.  Prinsterer,  •  Archives,'  4c  i.,  79  SO. 
«  Wlllems,  •  MengeUngen.'  p.  38». 


1585. 


NOTE  ON  SAINTE  ALDEGONDE. 


269 


C( 


Plunged  in  public  annoyances,**  he  wrote  to  Sainte  Alde- 
gonde,  "  I  find  no  consolation,  except  in  conference  with  the 
gooti,  and  among  the  good  I  hold  you  for  one  of  the  best.  With 
such  men  I  had  rather  sigh  profoundly  than  laugh  heartily 
with  others.  In  particular.  Sir,  do  me  the  honour  to  love  me, 
and  btilieve  that  I  honour  you  singularly.  Impart  to  me  some- 
thing from  your  solitude,  for  I  consider  your  deserts  to  be  more 
fruitful  and  fertile  than  our  most  cultivated  habitations.  As  for 
me,  think  of  me  as  of  a  man  drowning  in  the  anxieties  of  the 
time,  but  desirous,  if  possible,  of  swimming  to  solitude.'" 

Thus  solitary,  yet  thus  befriended, — remote  from  public  em- 
ployment, yet  ever  employed,  doing  his  daily  work  with  all  his 
soul  and  strength, — Mamix  passed  the  fifteen  years  yet  remaiuiii]^ 
to  him.  Death  surprised  him  at  last,  at  Leyden,  in  the  year, 
1598,  while  steadily  labouring  upon  his  Flemish  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  upon  the  great  political,  theological, 
controversial,  and  satirical  work  on  the  differences  of  religion, 
which  remains  the  most  stately,  though  unfinished,  monument 
of  his  literary  genius.  At  the  age  of  sixty  he  went  at  last  to 
the  repose  which  he  had  denied  to  himself  on  earth.  "  Repos 
ailleurs."* 


1  *  Memolres  et  Corresp.  de  Daplessis- 
Hornay,'  vl.  35. 

'  I  am  bound  to  state  that  there  is  a 
single  passage  in  one  of  Parma's  letters  to 
Philip  which  contains  a  somewhat  suspi- 
cious allusion  to  Mamix.  Were  it  not  for 
tlie  distinct  assertion  of  Famese,  already 
cited,  to  the  disinterested  character  of 
the  burgomaster,  and  to  his  elevation 
above  mercenary  considerations,  the  ol>- 
aervatlon  now  alloded  to  would  be  still 
more  painful. 

Six  months  after  the  fall  of  Antwerp 
the  Prince  informed  his  sovereign  that 
Sainte  Aldegoude  had  not  yet  gone  to 
Germany,  but  was  still  in  Zeeland,  where 
they  were  treating  him  with  great  atten- 
tion, but  conferring  no  authority  upon 
him.  "  Those  in  power,"  added  Famese, 
"  distrust  him,  because  they  see  him 
Inclined  to  that  party  to  which,  when  he 
can— unless  I  deceive  myself — he  will 
give  bis  support  If  he  bad  not  found  the 


English  already  Introduced,  1  think  they 
would  have  made  less  of  him,  and  that  he 
would  have  accomplished  some  valuable 
piece  of  service.  I  do  not  fail  to  serul 
compliments,  as  well  to  him,  as  to  others 
who  may  prove  useful  agents,  and  to  do 
all  1  can  to  keep  them  in  their  good 
dispositions,  and  in  this  course  I  shall 
ever  persist,  keeping  awake  by  day  and 
night" 

"  Oesconfiando  por  verle  hicllnado  a  la 
parte  a  la  cual  cuando  puede,  sino  me 
engaflo,  creo  i^udari,  y  sino  hallarfi  intro- 
ducidos  los  Ingleses,  creo  hecharen  menos 
de  el.  y  que  hidera  algun  buen  efeto. 
Yo  asi  a  el,  como  a  los  demas  medios  que 
me  parecen  ser  a  prc-posito,  no  dejo  de 
embiar  recaudos,*  ni  de  procurar  tenerlos 
en  8u  buen  proposlto,  y  en  la  dicha  con- 
formldad  lo  hire,  baciendo  siempre,  des- 
velandome  de  dia  y  de  noche,"  &c.  &c 
Parma  to  Philip  IL,  28th  Feb.  1586.  Ar- 
chivo  de  Simancas  MS. 


•  The  word  •  recaudo '  or  •  recado '  means  a  complimentary  message,  which  might, 
or  might  not,  be  accompanied  with  more  solid  arguments. 

It  has  been  seen  that  Philip  authorized  Famese  to  offer  large  rewards  to  Mamix, 
with  the  stipulation  that  they  were  not  to  be  conferred  until  the  service  require 
had  been  rendered.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Prince  privately  assured  the  King  that 
the  man  whom  they  so  much  wished  to  gain  was  not  to  be  won  by  a  bribe.  After 
fcnjpulously  examining  the  evidence,  1  cannot  resist  a  conclusion  favourable  to  the 
purity  of  Mamix. 


!i 


4i» 


^ 


i  ) 


270 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.VI 


1585. 


DIPLOMATIC  COQUETRT. 


271 


CHAPTEB  VI. 

Pollcyof  England-Diplomatic  Co.j.t^-rm^^^^^^^ 
of  Ortel  and  VVal»ingham  -  Interview  wi^  U.o«^er    ^^^^   Despatch  -  Close 
Queen -Lette,™  of  the  Stjt^GeneralJ^l  effe^^^^ 
Bargaining  of  theC^ieenandStote8^-Gtmran^ej.requ^  ^^^^^^  _^,^^ 

con^parative    Weakness -T^eEng^i«b^^^^^^^  described  -  Reception 

Envoys  in  London  -  The*r  O^wactera     u  _Memorial  of  the  Envoys 

7^'^r^^n  -Sir  John  Norris  sent  ^^^  ""^^-^^^^^^^^^ 
Philip  Sidney—  Hi«  Arrival  at  Rushing. 

EKGi^N,>-a8  we  have  seen-had  '^^fi'^y  watched  the 
negotiations    between   France    and    *«    ^.^™^^^ 
Alfhough  Bhe  had-upon  the  who  e,  <^^,*Ynth  mrtief 
fge-teeu  loyal  in  her.beanngtowwds  both  partes 
she  was  perhaps  not  entirely  dmpleased  with  tlie  result 
XrhTcheriBh^d  triumvirate  was  out  of  the  q"e«t.o»  ' 
wM  auite  obvious  that,  now  or  never,  she  must  come 
ToZ^^aZ  prevent  the  Provinces  from  fa  Img back  into 
'Z^i^^i  Spain.   The  futu«  was  pl  jjy --^^  fo^ 
shadowed,  and  it  was  already  probab  e,  "^  «^«e  ot  a 
OTdoneed  resistance  on  the  part  of  Holland  that  Philip 
ll^Sertaie  the  reduction  of  his  reWbo^-u^- 
by  a  preliminary  conquest  of  England      It  was  the  etore 
q^te  certain  that  the  expense  and  danger  of  assisting 
the  Netherlands  must  devolve  upon  herself  bu^»t*6 
•    same  time,  it  was  a  consolation  that  her  powerful  next- 
Z^  neighbour  was  not  to  be  made  still  more  powerful 
t^the^Bexation  to  his  own  dominion  of  those  import- 

ant  territories.  .    -ri^^^..  x^^A 

Accordingly,  so  soon  as  the  deputies  in  rrance  had 

received  their  definite  and  somewhat  g"™°"^ 
repulse  from  Henry  III.  and  his  '"0*«''  ^1\^,  ^^"^'* 
eovemment  lost  no  time  in  intimating  to  the  btates 
tidltXy  were  not  to  be  left  without  an  aUy.  Queen 
EUzabeth  was  however  resolutely  averse  from  assuming 


that  sovereignty  which  she  was  not  unwilling  to  see 
offered  for  her  acceptance ;  and  her  accredited  envoy  at 
the  Hague,  besides  other  more  secret  agents,  were  as 
busily  employed  in  the  spring  of  1585 — as  Des  Pruneaux 

had  been  the  previous  winter  on  the  part  of  France to 

bring  about  an  application,  by  solemn  embassy,  for  her 
assistance. 

There  was,  however,  a  difference  of  view,  from  the 
outset,  between  the  leading  politicians  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  the  English  Queen.     The  Hollanders  were 
extremely  desirous  of  becoming  her  subjects;    for  the 
United  States,  although  they  had  already  formed  them- 
selves into  an  independent  republic,  were  quite  ignorant 
of  their  latent  powens.     The  leading  personages  of  the 
country— those  who  were  soon  to  become  the  foremost 
statesnien  of   the   new   commonwealth— were  already 
shrinking  from  the  anarchy  which  was  deemed  insepa- 
rable from  a  non-regal  form  of  government,  and  were 
seeking  protection  for  and  against  the  people  under  a 
foreign  sceptre.     On  the  other  hand,  they  were  indis- 
posed to  mortgage  large  and  important  fortified  towns, 
such  as  Flushing,  BrUl,  and  others,  for  the  repayment 
of  the   subsidies   which  Elizabeth   might  be    induced 
to  advance.  They  preferred  to  pay  in  sovereignty  rather 
than  m  money,     llie  Queen,  on  the  contrary,  preferred 
money  to  sovereignty,  and  was  not  at  aU  inclined  to 
sacrifice  economy  to  ambition.     Intending  to  drive  a 
hard  bargain  with  the  States,  whose  cause  was  her  own, 
and  whose  demands  for  aid  she  had  secretly  prompted,' 
she  meant  to  grant  a  certain  number  of  soldiers  for  as 
brief  a  period  as  possible,  serving  at  her  expense,  and 
to  take  for  such  outlay  a  most  ample  security  in  the 
shape  of  cautionary  towns. 

Too  intelligent  a  politician  not  to  feel  the  absolute 
necessity  of  at  last  coming  into  the  field  to  help  the 
Netherlanders  to  fight  her  own  battle,  she  was  still 
willing,  for  a  season  longer,  to  wear  the  mask  of  cov- 
ness  and  coquetrj%  which  she  thought  most  adapted  to 
irritate  the  ^etherianders  into  a  full  compliance  with  her 
wishes.  Her  advisers  in  the  Provinces  were  inclined  to 
take  the  same  view.  It  seemed  obvious,  after  the  failure 
in  France  That  those  countries  must  now  become 
either  English  or  Spanish ;  yet  Elizabeth,  knowing  the 


11 

f 


272  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  V. 

^«V  «f  their  falling  back,  from  desperation,  into  the 

\  nf  her  ri^l  ^owed  them  to  remain  for  a  season 

oTdxe   Se   of   de«t™ction-which  would   probably 

?     T>.rS!r  ruin  also-in  the  hope  of  bringing  them 
have  been  her  inin  aiso     i  r  something 

to  her  feet  0"l^«^°?^*f[,7•a^litwI^not  without 
"ifrc::":^h"h'^fter'a^ndf  such  insincere  ma- 
S:urr V  the  -e  time  -  ^^-XH^lt 
-rrSw^  -n^^^Stht  entertain^ 
S^Ubf  of^una^ly^obUin^^^^^^^^^  l^ 

SL^^ToVnoT^eern"  u^stit^ted  for  a  good  deal  of 

T£"'a'"S7inteUigent  agent  of  Ae   English 

Oilpin,   a  ."'S"  J,      ,   .  ^.  gir  Francis  Walsmgham 

^.ernment  m  Zee W,  kept  br^^^^  e>^tertained  by 

thoroughly  ^f°r^^°l.^l  towards  England.  Mixing 
lliCft  witL^h  rStfluential  polfticians  he  was 
^1^  rrJnder  material  assistance  to  the  English  council 
'  !>.»  ainlo^rZie  which  had  been  commenced, 
Lndt wbSno  kss  important  stake  than  the  crown 

•^^L't^rnct'^hrS"  with  i^rticular  persons 
i^^JloT^  rule  or  credit,  I  find  a  great  inclmation 
that  «"^,  ^yj^i^  "  :oi„ed  notwithstanding  with  a 
v'^'i^'oo^^^  &y  auSe  that  matters  of  such  im 
^rt^cei^to'be  maturely  and  thoroughly  pondered 
al^^meof  them  harp  upon  the  old  «tring^-  i^^^ 
Majesty,  for  the  security  of  her  own  estate,  was  to  have 

^TZTJ'l:^'^^-^^  insinuate  the  expediency 

S^i^d.'  For  if  they  lee  it  t«  come  f^^^^iiter 
doVey  persuade  themselves  that  '*  J  ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
security  of  our  own  country  and  her  Higbness  w  lea 

iail»to«oW.l.llWt«»n,^MMd..l585.    S.P.Offl«MS. 


1585. 


DIPLOMATIC  COQUETRl. 


273 


the  King  of  Spain  s  greatness.     But  if  thoy  become  seek- 

I'  Tit  'l^^  *'''J««'y'  «H '^  *^y  ""'^y-  ty  outward  show, 
deem  that  she  accountefh  not  of  the  said  King's  micht 
but  able  and  sufficient  to  defend  her  oxvn  realms    then 
ver,ly  I  ,h,nk  thev  may  be  brought  to  what^ever VH^t" 
her  Majesty  may  desire."  '  F"iJi» 

Certainly  it  was  an  age  of  intrigue,  in  which  nothing' 
seemed  worth  getting  at  all  unless  it  could  be  .^ot  bv 
underhand  means   and  in  which  it  was  thought  fmpos- 
sible  for  two  parties  to  a  bargain  to  meet  together  except 
as  antagonists,  who  believed  that  one  could  not  der^e 
ai.rofitfrom  the  tiunsaction  unless  the  other  had  been 
overreached.    This  was  neither  good  morality  nor  sound 
diplomacy,  and  the  result  of  such  trifling  was   much 
loss  of  time  and  great  disaster.    In  accordance  witMWs 
crafty  system.  ,ho  agent  expressed  the  opinion  tha      t 
would  "be  good  and  requisite  for  the  English  govern 
ment  so.newhat  to  temporise,"  and  to  dallf  for  a  se^Tn 
onger,  in  order  to  see  what  measures  the  States  wS 
take  to  detend  themselves,  and  how  much  abnitT^d 
resources  they  would  show  for  belligerent  purposed     If 

jealou'r''"  XTdinr  ^^%'  '""^  ^'T^^^  wll'd^bt^^' 
jeaioub,       J  leldmg,  as  it  were,  the  r  power    and    vet 

keeping  the  mdder  in  their  own  hands  •'  ^ 

At  the  same  time  Gilpin  was  favourably  imnresKP^ 
with  the  character  both  of  the  country  and^the  natkm 

Enl.d'""fe'   '"/V.\^   ""P^'-*^"*  relations    Wth 
mefnt  .;        ih>s  people,"  he  said,  '•  is  such  as  by  fair 
means  they  «ill  be  won  to  yield  and  gnint  any  reaso^ 
able  motion  or  demand.     ^\  hat  these  inlands  of^ZeeZd 

C      Y  t-'T'^'  .r^  ""  ""y  ^"'^^  «f  ^-^  °o""ca  do 
Jcno^v.     let  tor  their  government  thus  much  I   .n.,«t 

Tan^ow"*   Th  vV'"^  *"'"'''^''  '*  --  --  bTt to 
and%:rrfullv      ^hl^r'esoIudorbr,t•  T  "°^'   ^""^ 

.t-tt::::^""^  -ni^r^  JdVe^r^oiSXm  t: 

.iiau  waj,  Uilpin  Had  it  not  been  as  well  then  fi.r 
tngl,shmen-who  were  themselves  in  that  a^e  =L.  1 
eveiy  other,  apt  to  "perform  to  the  uUe^most^fl^ris " 


»  Gilpin  t«Wul8lnghani.  MS.  Just  cited. 
VOL.    I, 


2  Ibid. 


274  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  VI. 

X  1-       «^^  lYiailp  "  and  to  respect  those  endowed 

ZZs  at  once  in  a  cause  which  was  so  vital  to  both 

''^c""*!^  ««  the  definite  refusal  of  Henry  III.  was 
V  ^°  in  ^da^d  Leicester  and  Walsingham  wrote 
^rCce  "o  thVKetherUnds.     The  Earl  already  saw 

rhseWu^.yettop..eto^^^^^^^^^^ 

S^r^tte™ ^w'thJ  French  Le  dealt  with  these 

S!  ,  „;il  >,Pa.rtilv  and  earnestly  seek  it.  the  Lord  hath 
f  Join  ed  them  a  far  better  defence.  But  you  must  so 
r  thel«er  «.  tm  tkeyn..,  seek  "- -"  ^'^•^l^'^-S^f 
wA  shiU  be  partakers  thereof  also.  They  may  now,  ii 
They  wUl   e^^^^  ^d  liberally  deal,  bring  th^- 

selves  to  a  better  end  than   ever  France  would  ha^e 

^TtfhU  m^melt  there  were  two  diplomatic  agents  from 
the  S^telrs^ent  in  England-Jacques  de  Gryze,  whom 
pll   Bny^^  formerly  described   as  having   thrus 

Welf  head  and  shoulders  into  the  matter  without 
nronerauSity^  Joachim  Ortel,  a  most  experienced 
TdS^man,  speaking  and  wHUng  English  to 
\i\Z  ami  thoroutrhly  conversant  with  English  habits 
Td    hai^^^^  as  the  despatches  fi.m  France 

Svfd   wlngham,  18th  March,  1585,  sent  for  Ortel, 
and  the  two  held  a  long  conference. 


1  Leicester   to  Davison.  -Mar.  1686. 


S.  P.  Office  MS. 

a  Memorie  van  Ortel  &  de  Gryze,  24 
March.  1585.    Hague  Archives  MS. 

It  is  necessary,  once  for  all.  to  state 
that  no  personage  is  ever  made,  m  the 
text,  to  say  or  to  write  anything  except 
what,  upon  the  best  evidence  of  eye  and 
ear  witnesses,  he  is  known  to  have  sa  d 
or  written.     It  is  no  longer  permitted  to 
historlana-as    was    formerly  the    case, 
from    the    times   of  Livy  to  those    of 
Cardinal     Bentivoglio- to     tntwi     ha- 
wnguea,  letters,  and  conferencea.    Where 


my  narrative,  for  the  conven.ence  of  the 
reader,  is  thrown  into  a  dramatic  fom» 
the  wonis-not  the    substance  merely 
but   the    ipsissima    i-erto-have    beer, 
gathered    from     authentic     documents. 
Utt«rs,  speeches,  and  the  Uke,  are  often 
translated   Into   the    text  from  various 
languages -I^tin,      French.     Flem.s^ 
Spanish,   Italian,   German;  and- where 
thT  sources  are  EngUsb-the   spelUng. 
and,  in  a  very  slight  measure,  the  dic- 
tion, have  been  put  Into  modem  garD. 
But  the  reader  may  be  sure  that  he  w 
never  made  to  be  present  at  imaginary 
conversations,  which,  however  agreeable 


1585,        CONFERENCE  OF  ORTEL  AND  WALSINGHAM.       275 

Walsingham.—"  We  have  just  received  letters  from 
Lord  Derby  and  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  dated  the  13th 
March.  They  inform  us  that  your  deputies— contrary 
to  all  expectation  and  to  the  great  hopes  that  had  been 
held  out  to  them— have  received,  last  Sunday,  their 
definite  answer  from  the  King  of  France.  Ho  tells 
them,  that,  considering  the  present  condition  of  his 
kingdom,  ho  is  unable  to  undertake  the  protection  of 
the  Netherlands  ;  but  says  that  if  they  like,  and  if  the 
Queen  of  England  be  willing  to  second  his  motion,  he 
IS  disposed  to  send  a  mission  of  mediation  to  Spain  for 
the  purpose  of  begging  the  King  to  take  the  condition 
of  the  provinces  to  heart,  and  bringing  about  some 
honourable  composition,  and  so  forth,  and  so  forth. 

*'  Moreover  the  King  of  France  has  sent  Monsieur  de 
Bellievre  to  Lord  Derby  and  Mr.  Staflford,  and  Bellievre 
has  made  those  envoys  a  long  oration.  He  explained 
to  thein  all  about  the  original  treaty  between  the  States 
and  Monsieur,  the  King's  brother,  and  what  had  taken 
place  from  that  day  to  this,  concluding,  after  many 
allegations  and  divers  reasons,  that  the  King  could  not 
trouble  himself  with  the  provinces  at  present ;  but  hoped 
her  Majesty  would  make  the  best  of  it,  and  not  be 
oftended  with  him. 

^  *'  The  ambassadors  say  further,  that  they  have  had  an 
mtei-view  with  your  deputies,  who  are  excessively  pro- 
vokcd  at  this  most  unexpected  answer  from  the  Kinff 
and  are  making  loud  complaints,  being  all  determined 
to  take  themselves  off  as  fast  as  possible.  The  ambas- 
satlors  have  recommended  that  some  of  the  number 
should  come  home  by  the  way  of  England." 

Ortel.— -It  seems  necessary  to  take  active  measures 
at  once  and  to  leave  no  duty  undone  in  this  matter, 
it  will  be  advisable  to  confer,  so  soon  as  may  be,  with 
some  of  the  principal  counsellors  of  her  Majesty,  and 
recommend  to  them  most  earnestly  the  present  condition 
of  the  provinces  They  know  the  affectionate  confi- 
dence which  the  States  entertain  towards  England,  and 
must  now,  remembering  the   sentiments  of  goodwill 

and  instructive  in  works  Intentionally  conference  is  derived  from  the  Reoort 

r;;:;rtot^rriir  ^  "^  z:J'  ^-l  rn  I-  ^^  ^^^ 

in  this   instance   thr"J«>unt  of  the  f^^^i^-"*  >"  the  Royal  A^ve. 

T  2 


•    I 


« 


!l 


I 


• 


276 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


which  they  have  expressed  towards  the  Netherlands,  be 
willing  to  employ  their  efforts  with  her  Majesty  in  this 

emergency."  . 

Walsingham  (with  much  show  of  vexation).—"  ihis 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  French  court  has  been  most 
pernicious.  Your  envoys  have  been  delayed,  fed  with 
idle  hopes,  and  then  di^^gracefully  sent  away,  so  that  the 
best  part  of  the  year  has  been  consumed,  and  it  will 
be  most  difficult  now,  in  a  gieat  hurry,  to  get  together  a 
sufficient  force  of  horse  and  foot  folk,  with  other  neces- 
saries in  abundance.  On  the  contrary,  the  enemy,  wAo 
kmwfrom  the  first  what  result  was  to  l>e  expected  in  J^  ranee, 
has  been  doing  his  best  to  be  beforehand  with  you  in 
the  field  :  add,  moreover,  that  this  French  negotiation 
has  given  other  princes  a  bad  taste  in  their  mouths. 
This  is  the  case  with  ner  Majesty.  The  Queen  is,  not 
without  reason,  annoyed  that  the  States  have  not  only 
despised  her  friendly  and  good-hearted  offers,  but  have 
all  along  been  endeavouring  to  embark  her  in  this  war, 
for  the  defence  of  the  Provinces,  which  would  have  cost 
her  several  millions,  without  offering  to  her  the  slight- 
est security.  On  the  contrary,  others,  enemies  of  the 
religion,  who  are  not  to  be  depended  upon— who  had 
never  deserved  well  of  the  States  or  assisted  them  in 
their  need,  as  she  has  done— have  received  this  large 
offer  of  sovereignty  without  any  reserve  whatever." 

Ortel  (not  suffering  himself  to  be  disconcerted  at  this 
unjust  and  somewhat  insidious  attack). — *'  That  which 
has  been  transacted  with  France  was  not  done  except 
with  the  express  approbation  and  full  foreknowledge  of 
her  Majesty,  so  far  back  as  the  lifetime  of  his  Excel- 
lency (William  of  Orange),  of  high  and  laudable 
memory.  Things  had  already  gone  so  far,  and  the 
Pfovinces  had  agreed  so  entirely  together,  as  to  make 
it  inexpedient  to  bring  about  a  separation  in  policy. 
It  was  our  duty  to  hold  together,  and,  once  for  all, 
thoroughly  to  understand  what  the  King  of  France,  after 
such  manifold  presentations  through  Monsieiir  Des 
Pruneaulx  and  others,  and  in  various  letters  of  his  own, 
finally  intended  to  do.  At  the  same  time,  notwithstand- 
ing these  negotiations,  we  had  always  an  especial  e5'e 
upon  her  Majesty.  We  felt  a  hopeful  confidence  that 
she  would  never  desert  us,  leaving  us  without  aid  or 


1585. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  LEICESTER. 


277 


counsel,  but  would  consider  that  these  affairs  do  not 
concern  the  Provinces  alono  or  even  especially  but  are 
just  as  deeply  important  to  her  and  to  all  other  princes 
oi  the  religion.  ^ 

After  this  dialogue,  with  much  more  conversation  of 
a  similar  character,  the  Secretary  and  the  Envoy  set 
themselves  frankly  and  manfully  to  work.  It  was 
agreed  between  them  that  every  effort  should  be  made 
with  the  leading  members  of  the  councH  to  induce  the 
gueen,  -  in  this  terrible  conjuncture,  not  to  fort^ake  the 
Irovmces,  but  to  extend  good  counsel  and  prompt 
assistance  to  them  in  their  present  embaiTassments  " 
^..I\T  ^'f,"v^?7^^^^'  «o  ^^i»ch  business  in  Parliament 
just  then,  that  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  immediately 
the  desired  interviews.  ^ 

•  ^"^  ^^^J^.\^\  ^'^''}  ^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^ad  another  inter- 
view with  Walsmgham  at  the  Palace  of  Greenwich 
Ihe  Secretary  expressed  the  warmest  and  most  March  20th  * 
smcore  affection  for  the  Provinces,  and  advised    Ts^s  '^• 
that  one  of  the  two  envoys  should  set  forth  at  once  for 
home  in  order  to  declare  to  the  States,  without  loss  of 
time,  her  Majesty's  good  inclination  to  assume  the  pro- 
tection of  the  land,  together  with  the  maintenance  of 
the  reformed  religion  and  the  ancient  privileges.     Kot 
that  she  was  seeking  her  otvti  profit,  or  wished  to  obtain 
that  sovereignty  which  had  just  been  offered  to  another 
ot  the  contrary  religion,  but  in  order  to  make  manifest 
her  affectionate   solicitude  to  presci-v-e   the  Protestant 
taith   and   to   support  her  old  allies  and  neighbours. 
JNevertheless,  as  she  could  not  assume  this  protectorate 
wiOiout  embarking  in  a  dangerous  war  with  the  King 
ot  bpain,  in  which  she  woul<l  not  only  be  obliged  to 
spend  the  blood  of  her  subjects,  but  also  at  least  two 
millions  of  gold,  there  was  the  more  reason  that  the 
bUites  should  give  her  certain  cities  as  secuiity.    Those 
cities  would  be  held  by  certain  of  her  gentlemen,  no- 
minated  thereto,  of  quality,  credit,  and  religion,  at  the 
head  of  good,  ti-ue,  and  well-paid  garrisons,  who  should 
make  oath  never  t»  surrender  them  to  ihe  King  of  Spain 
or  to  any  one  else  without  consent  of  the  States,     llie 
1  rovinces  were  also  reciprocally  to  bind  themselves  by 
oath  to  make   no   treaty  with  the   King,  without  the 
advice  and  approval  of  her  Majesty.     It  was  likewise 


278 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


thoroTiglily  to  be  understood  that  such  cautionary  towns 
should  be  restored  to  the  States  so  soon  as  payment 
should  be  made  of  all  moneys  advanced  during  the  war. 
Next  day  the  envoys  had  an  interview  with  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  whom  they  found  as  amicably  disposed 
2i8t  March  towards  their  cause  as  Secretary  \Valsingham 
im.   '  had  been.     *'  Her  Majesty,"  said  the  Earl,  "  is 
excessively  indignant  with  the  King  of  France,  that  he 
should  so  long  have  abused  the  Provinces,  and  at  last 
have  dismissed  their  deputies  so  contemptuously.    Never- 
theless," he  continued,  **  'tis  all  your  own  fault  to  have 
placed  your  hopes  so  entirely  upon  him  as  to  entirely 
forget  other  princes,  and  more  especially  her  Majesty. 
Notwithstanding  all  that  has  passed,  however,  1  find 
her  fully  determined  to  maintain  the  cause  of  the  Pro- 
vinces.   For  my  own  part,  I  am  ready  to  stake  my 
life,  estates,  and   reputation  upon   this   issue,   and   to 
stand  side  by  side  with  other  gentlemen  in  persuading 
her  Majesty  to  do  her  utmost  lor  the  assistance  of  your 

country." 

He  intimated  however,  as  Walsingham  had  done, 
that  the  matter  of  cautionary  towns  would  prove  an 
indispensable  condition,  and  recommended  that  one  of 
the  two  envoys  should  proceed  homeward  at  once,  in 
order  to  procure,  as  speedily  as  possible,  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  embassy  for  that  purpose  to  her  Majesty. 
"  They  must  bring  full  powers,"  said  the  Earl,  ''  to  give 
her  the  necessary  guarantees,  and  make  a  formal  demand 
for  protection  ;  for  it  would  be  unbecoming,  and  against 
her  reputation,  to  be  obliged  to  present  herself,  unsought 
by  the  other  party." 

In  conclusion,  after  many  strong  expressions  of  good- 
will, Leicester  promised  to  meet  them  next  day  at  court, 
where  he  would  address  the  Queen  personally  on  the 
subject,  and  see  that  they  spoke  with  her  as  well. 
Meantime  he  sent  one  of  his  principal  gentlemen  to  keep 
company  with  the  envoys,  and  make  himself  useful  to 
them.  This  personage,  being  "  of  good  quality  and  a 
member  of  Parliament,"  gave  them  much  useful  infor- 
mation, assuring  them  that  there  was  a  strong  feeling 
in  England  in  favour  of  the  Netherlands,  and  that  the 
matter  had  been  very  vigorously  taken  up  in  the 
national  legislature.     That  assembly  had  been  strongly 


1585.  PRIVATE  AUDIENCE  WITH  THE  QUEEN. 


279 


encouraging  her  Majesty  boldly  to  assume  the  protec- 
torate, and  had  manifested  a  willingness  to  assist  her 
with  the  needful.  "And  if,"  said  he,  "one  subsidy 
should  not  be  enough,  she  shall  have  three,  four,  five, 
or  six,  or  as  much  as  may  be  necessary." 

The  same  day  the  envoys  had  an  interview  with 
Lord  Treasurer  Burghley,  who  held  the  same  language 
as  Walsingham  and  Leicester  had  done.  "  The  Queen 
to  his  knowledge,"  he  said,  "  was  quite  ready  to  assume 
the  protectorate  ;  but  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  be 
formally  offered,  with  the  necessary  guarantees,  and  that 
Avithout  further  loss  of  time." 

On  the  22nd  March,  according  to  agreement,  Ortel 
and  De  Gryze  went  to  the  court  at  Greenwich.     While 
waiting  there  for  the  Queen,  who  had  ridden  out  into 
the  country,  they  had  more  conversation  with  W  alsing- 
hani,  whom  they  found  even  more  energetically  disposed 
in  their  favour  than  ever,  and  who  assured  them  that  her 
Majesty  was  quite  ready  to  assume  the  protectorate  so 
soon  as  offered.     "  Witbin  a  month,"  he  said,  "  after  the 
signing  of  a  treaty,  the  troops  would  be  on  the  spot 
under  command   of  such  a  personage   of  quality  atd 
religion  as  would  be  highly  satisfactory."     While  they 
were    talking    the    Queen    rode   into   the   court-yard 
accompanied  by  the  Earl  of  Leicester  and  other  gentle- 
men.    Very  soon  afterwards  the  envoys  were  summoned 
to  her  presence,  and  allowed  to  recommend  the  aftairs 
ot  the  I  rovinces  to  her  consideration.     She  lamented 
the  situation   of  their  country,  and   in  a  few  words 
expressed  her  inclination  to  render  assistance,  provided 
the  states  would  manifest  full  confidence  in  her      They 
replied  by  offering  to  take  instant  measures  to  gratify 
all  her  demands,  so  soon  as  those  demands  should  be 
made  known ;  and  the  Queen,  finding  herself  surrounded 
by  so   many  gentlemen  and   by  a  crowd   of  people 
appointed    them   accordingly  to  come   to   her  private 
apartments  the  same  afterroon. 

At  that  interview  none  were  present  save  W^alsin^ham 
and  Lord  Chamberlain  Howard.  The  Queen  showed 
herself  -  extraordinary  resolute  "  to  take  up  the  affairs 

f;l  !  Tv '''^''''''^;    "  ^^®  ^^^  *l^^y«  be^'i  sure,"  she  said, 

tnat  the  l^ren  h  negotiation  would  have  no  other  issue 

than  the  one  wiiich  they  had  just  seen.     She  was  fully 


280 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


LETTERS  OF  THE  STATES-GENERAL. 


281 


aware  what  a  powerful  enemy  she  was  about  to  make — 
one  who  could  easily  create  mischief  for  her  in  Scotland 
and  Ireland ;  but  sLe  was  nevertheless  resolved,  if  the 
States  chose  to  deal  with  her  frankly  and  generously, 
to  take  them  under  her  protection.  She  assured  the 
envoys  that,  if  a  deputation  with  full  powers  and 
reasonable  conditions  should  be  immediately  sent  to 
her,  she  would  not  delay  and  dally  with  them,  as  had 
been  the  case  in  Franco,  but  would  despatch  them  back 
again  at  the  speediest,  and  would  make  her  good 
inclination  manifest  by  deeds  as  well  as  words.  As  she 
was  hazarding  her  treasure,  together  with  the  blood  and 
repose  of  her  subjects,  she  was  not  at  liberty  to  do  this 
except  on  receipt  of  proper  securities."  ^ 

Accordingly  De  Gryze  went  to  the  Provinces,  pro- 
vided with  complimentary  and  aftectionate  letters  from 
the  Queen,  while  Ortel  remained  in  England.  So  far 
all  was  plain  and  aboveboard;  and  Walsinghara,  who, 
from  the  first,  had  been  warmly  in  favour  of  taking  up 
the  Netherland  caiise,  was  relieved  by  being  able  to 
write  in  straightforward  language.  Stealthy  and  subtle 
where  the  object  was  to  get  within  the  guard  of  an 
enemy  who  menaced  a  mortal  blow,  he  was,  both  by 
nature  and  policy,  disposed  to  deal  frankly  with  those 
he  called  his  friends. 

**  Monsieur  de  Gryze  repaireth  presently,"  he  wrote 
to  Davison,  "  to  try  if  ho  can  induce  the  States  to  send 
their  deputies  hither,  furnished  with  more  ample  in- 
structions than  they  had  to  treat  with  the  French  King, 
considering  that  her  Majesty  carrieth  another  manner 
of  princely  disposition  than  that  sovereign.  Meanwhile, 
for  that  she  doubteth  lest  in  this  hard  estate  of  their 
affairs,  and  the  distrust  they  have  conceived  to  be 
relieved  from  hence,  they  should  from  despair  throw 
themselves  into  the  course  of  Spain,  her  pleasure  there- 
fore is — though  by  Burnbam  i  sent  you  directions  to 
put  them  in  comfort  of  relief,  only  as  of  yourself —ihoX  you 
shall  now,  as  it  were,  in  her  name,  if  you  see  cause 
sufficient,  assure  some  of  the  aptest  instruments  that 
you  shall  make  choice  of  for  that  purpose,  that  her 
Majestjs  rather  thiin  that  they  should  peribh,  will  be 
content  to  take  them  under  her  protection." 

1  Menwrie  van  de  Oiyze  k  OrteL    MS.  before  cited. 


He  added  that  it  was  indispensable  for  the  States, 
upon  their  part,  to  offer  "  such  sufficient  cautions  and 
assurances  as  she  might  in  reason  demand."  * 

Matters  were  so  well  managed  that  by  the  22nd 
April  the  States-General  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Queen,  in  which  they  notified  her  that  the  22nd  Apru, 
desired  deputation  was  on  the  point  of  setting  i^ss. 
forth.  '* Kecognising,"  they  said,  "that  there  is  no 
prince  or  potentate  to  whom  they  are  more  obliged  than 
they  are  to  your  Majesty,  w©  are  about  to  request  you 
very  humbly  to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  these  l^ro- 
vinces,  and  the  people  of  the  same  for  your  very 
himible  vassals  and  subjects."  They  added  that,  as  the 
necessity  of  the  case  was  great,  they  hoped  the  Queen 
would  send,  so  soon  as  might  be,  a  force  of  four  or  five 
thousand  men  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  the  siege  of 
Antwerp.' 

A  similar  letter  was  despatched  by  the  same  courier 
to  the  Earl  of  Leicester.' 

On  the  1st  of  May,  Ortel  had  audience  of  the  Queen,  to 
deliver  the  letters  from  the  States-General.  He  m^  ist. 
found  that  despatches,  veiy  encouraging  and  i^^^- 
agreeable  in  their  tenor,  had  also  just  arrived  from 
Davison.  The  Queen  was  in  good  humour.  She  took 
the  letter  from  Ortel,  read  it  attentively,  and  paused  a 
good  while.  Then  she  assured  him  that  her  good 
affection  towards  the  Provinces  was  not  in  the  least 
changed,  and  that  she  thanked  the  States  for  the  con- 
fidence in  her  that  they  were  manifesting.  '*It  is 
imnecessarj',"  said  the  Queen,  "  for  me  to  repeat  over 
and  over  again  sentiments  which  I  have  so  plainly 
declared.  You  are  to  assure  the  States  that  they  shall 
never  be  disappointed  in  the  trust  that  they  have 
reposed  in  my  good  intentions.  Let  them  deal  with  me 
sincerely,  and  without  holding  open  any  back-door. 
Not  that  I  am  seeking  the  sovereignty  of  the  Provinces, 
for  I  wish  only  to  maintain  their  privileges  and  ancient 
liberties,  and  to  defend  them  in  this  regard  agpinst  all 
the  world.     Let  them  ripely  consider,  then,  with  what 

>  Walsingham  to  Davison.  %  March,  l^:^^^  ^'    ^^^'^   ''"'-     ^^« 

5685.  S.  P.  Office  MS.  3  Lettre   des  Etats   au  Cte.  de  Lel- 

«  licttre     des    Etats    Generanx    des  cester,    21    April,    1585.      Hague    Ar- 

Provinces  Unies  a  la  serenlsslme  Reyne  chives.  MS, 


I 


It' 


282 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI 


1585. 


ILL  EFFECTS  OF  GILPIN'S  DESPATCH. 


283 


fidelity  I  am  espousing  their  cause,  and  how,  without 
fear  of  any  one,  1  am  arousing  most  powerful  enemies."* 

Ortel  had  afterwards  an  interview  with  Leicester,  in 
which  the  Earl  assured  him  that  her  Majesty  had  not  in 
the  least  changed  in  her  sentiments  towards  the  Pro- 
vinces. "For  myself,"  said  he,  "  I  am  ready,  if  her 
Majesty  choose  to  make  use  of  me,  to  go  over  there  in 
person,  and  to  place  life,  property,  and  all  the  assistance 
1  can  gain  from  my  friends,  upon  the  issue.  Yea,  with 
so  good  a  heart,  that  I  pray  the  Lord  may  be  good  to 
me  only  so  far  as  I  serve  faithfully  in  this  cause."  He 
added  a  warning  that  the  deputies  to  be  appointed 
should  come  with  absolute  powers,  in  order  that  her 
Majesty's  bountiful  intentions  might  not  be  retarded  by 
their  own  fault." 

Ortel  then  visited  Walsingham  at  his  house,  Barn- 
Elms,  where  he  was  confined  by  illness.  Sir  Francis 
assured  the  envoy  that  he  would  use  every  effort,  by 
letter  to  her  Majesty  and  by  verbal  instructions  to  his 
son-in-law,  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  to  further  the  success  of 
the  negotiation,  and  that  he  deeply  regretted  his  enforced 
absence  from  the  court  on  so  important  an  occasion. 

Matters  were  proceeding  most  favourably,  and  the 
all-important  point  of  sending  an  auxiliary  force  of 
Englishmen  to  the  relief  of  Antwerp — before  it  should 
be  too  late,  and  in  advance  of  the  final  conclusion  of  the 
treaty  between  the  countries — had  been  nearly  con- 
ceded. Just  at  that  moment,  however,  "  as  ill-luck 
would  have  it,"  said  Ortel,  *'  came  a  letter  from  Gilpin. 
I  don't  think  he  meant  it  in  malice,  but  the  effect  was 
most  pernicious."  He  sent  the  infonnation  that  a  new 
attack  was  to  be  made  by  the  lOth  May  upon  the 
Kowenstyn,  that  it  was  sure  to  be  successful,  and  that 
the  siege  of  Antwerp  was  as  good  as  raised.  So  Lord 
Burghley  informed  me,  in  presence  of  Lord  Leicester, 
that  her  Majesty  was  determined  to  await  the  issue  of 
this  entei-prise.  It  was  quite  too  late  to  get  troops  in 
readiness  to  co-operate  with  the  States'  army  so  soon 
as  the   10th  May,  and,  as  Antwerp  was  so  sure  to  be 


1  Brief  van  Ortel  aan  de  Staaten 
Generaal.  8  Mai,  1585.  Hague  Ar- 
chives, MS. 

«  Ibid. 

»  "  Nu  zynde  in  al  desen  geoccupeert. 


voert  liet  ongelnck  zeker  missive  van  den 
S  netarls  Gilpin,  uyi  Middelbourg, 
daertot',  lioewel  Ick  nyet  pn  dencke  tzelve 
uyt  eenich  malitie  by  hem  gescliiet  te 
zyn."&c.    (Ibid.) 


relieved,  there  was  no  pressing  necessity  for  haste.  I 
uttered  most  bitter  complaints  to  these  lords  and  to 
other  counsellors  of  the  Queen,  that  she  should  thus 
draw  back,  on  account  of  a  letter  f^om  a  single  indi- 
vidual, without  paying  sufficient  heed  to  the  despatches 
from  the  States-General,  who  certainly  knew  their  own 
affairs  and  their  own  necessities  better  than  any  one  else 
could  do,  but  her  Majesty  sticks  firm  to  her  resolution."* " 

Here  were  immense  mistakes  committed  on  all  sides. 
The  premature  shooting  up  of  those  three  rockets  from 
the  cathedral-tower,  on  the  unlucky  10th  Mav,  had  thus 
not  only  ruined  the  first  assault  against  the  KowenstjTi, 
but  also  the  second  and  the  more  promising  adventure! 
Had  the  four  thousand  bold  Englishmen  there  enlisted,' 
and  who  could  have  reached  the  Provinces  in  timo 
to  co-operate  in  that  great  enterprise,  have  stood  side 
by  side  with  the  Hollanders,  the  Zeelanders,  and  the 
Antwerpers,  upon  that  fatal  dyke,  it  is  almost  a  certainty 
that  Antwerp  would  have  been  relieved,  and  the  whole 
of  Flanders  and  Brabant  permanently  annexed  to  the 
independent  commonwealth,  which  would  have  thus 
assumed  at  once  most  imposing  proportions. 

It  was  a  great  blunder  of  Sainte  Aldegonde  to  station 
in  the  cathedral,  on  so  important  an  occasion,  watchmen 
in  whose  judgment  he  could  not  thoroughly  rely.  It 
was  a  blunder  in  Gilpin,  intelligent  as  he  generally 
showed  himself,  to  write  in  such  sanguine  style  before 
the  event.  But  it  was  the  greatest  blunder  of  all  for 
Queen  Elizabeth  to  suspend  her  co-operation  at  the  very 
instant  when,  as  the  result  showed,  it  was  likely  to 
prove  most  successful.  It  was  a  chapter  of  blunders 
from  first  to  last,  but  the  most  fatal  of  all  the  errors  was 
the  one  thus  prompted  by  the  great  Queen's  most 
traitorous  characteristic,  her  obstinate  parsimony. 

And  now  began  a  series  of  sharp  chafferings  on  both 
Bides,  not  very  much  to  the  credit  of  either  party.  The 
kingdom  of  England  and  the  rebellious  Provinces  of 
Spain  were  drawn  to  each  other  by  an  irresistible  law 
of  political  attraction.  Their  absorption  into  each  other 
seemed  natural  and  almost  inevitable  ;  and  the  weight 
of  the  strong  Protestant  organism,  had  it  been  thui 

»  Brief  van  Ortel,  4c,  JuBt  cited. 


i 


' 


f 


i 


284 


I 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


completed,  might  liave  balanced  the  great  Catholic 
League  which  was  clustering  about  Spain.  It  was 
unfortunate  that  the  two  governments  of  England  and 
the  Netherlands  should  now  assume  the  attitude  of 
traders  driving  a  hard  bargain  with  each  other,  lather 
than  that  of  two  important  commonwealths,  upon  whose 
action,  at  that  momentous  epoch,  the  weal  and  wo  of 
'Christendom  was  hanging.  It  is  quite  true  that  the 
danger  to  England  was  great,  but  that  danger  in  any 
event  was  to  be  confronted.  Philip  was  to  be  defied, 
and,  by  assuming  the  cause  of  the  Provinces  to  be  her 
own,  which  it  unquestionably  was,  Elizabeth  was  taking 
the  diadem  from  her  head — as  the  King  of  Sweden  well 
observed — and  adventuring  it  upon  the  doubtful  chance 
of  war.*  Would  it  not  have  been  better  then — her  mind 
being  once  made  up — promptly  to  accept  all  the  benefits, 
as  well  as  all  the  hazards,  of  the  bold  game  to  which 
she  was  of  necessity  a  party  ?  But  she  could  not  yet 
believe  in  the  incredible  meanness  of  Heni-y  III. 
*'I  asked  her  Majesty"  (3rd  May,  1585),  said  Ortel, 
"  whether,  in  view  of  these  vast  preparations  in  France, 
it  did  not  behove  her  to  be  most  circumspect  and  upon 
her  guard.  For,  in  the  opinion  of  many  men,  every- 
thing showed  one  great  scheme  already  laid  down — a 
general  conspiracy  throughout  Christendom  against  the 
reformed  religion.  She  answered  me,  *that  thus  far 
she  could  not  perceive  this  to  be  the  case  ;  nor  could  she 
believe,'  she  said,  '  that  the  King  of  Fi-ance  could  be  so 
faint-hearted  as  to  submit  to  such  injuries  from  the 
Guises.' "  * 

Time  was  very  soon  to  show  the  nature  of  that  un- 
happy monarch  with  regard  to  injuries,  and  to  prove  to 
Elizabeth  the  error  she  had  committed  in  doubting  his 
faint-heartedness.  Meanwhile,  time  was  passing,  and 
the  Netherlands  were  shivering  in  the  storm.  They 
needed  the  open  sunshine  which  her  caution  kept  too 
long  behind  the  clouds.  For  it  was  now  enjoined  upon 
Walsingham  to  manifest  a  coldness  upon  the  part  of  the 
English  government  towards  the  States.  Davison  was 
to  be  allowed  to  return;  "  but,"  said  Sir  Francis,  *' her 
Majesty  would  not  have  you  accompany  the  commis- 
sioners who  are  coming  frum  the  Low  Countries,  but  to 


1  Camden,  321. 


«  MS.  letter  of  Oriel,  8  May,  1585,  before  cited. 


1585.  CLOSE  BARGAINING  OF  THE  QUEEN  AND  STATES.  285 

come  over  either  before  them  or  after  them,  lest  it  be 
thought  they  come  over  by  her  Majesty's  procurement."' 
As  if  they  were  not  coming  over  by  her  Majesty's 
most  especial  procurement,  and  as  if  it  would  matter  to 
Philip — the  union  once  made  between  England  and 
Holland — whether  the  invitation  to  that  union  came 
first  from  the  one  party  or  the  other ! 

**  I  am  retired  for  my  health  from  the  court  to  mine 
o\vn  house,"  said  Walsingham,  "  but  I  find  those  in 
whose  judgment  her  Majesty  reposeth  greatest  trust  so 
coldly  afi'ected  unto  the  cause,  as  I  have  no  great  hope 
of  the  matter ;  and  yet,  for  that  the  hearts  of  princes  are 
in  the  hands  of  God,  who  both  can  and  will  dispose  them 
at  his  pleasure,  I  would  be  loth  to  hinder  the  repair  of 
the  commissioners."  * 

Here  certainly  had  the  sun  gone  most  suddenly  into  a 
cloud.  Sir  Francis  would  be  loth  to  advise  the  commis- 
sioners to  stay  at  home,  but  he  obviously  thought  them 
coming  on  as  bootless  an  errand  as  that  which  had  taken 
their  colleagues  so  recently  into  France. 

The  cause  of  the  trouble  was  Flushing.  Hence  the 
tears,  and  the  coldness,  and  the  scoldings,  on  the  part  of 
the  imperious  and  the  economical  Queen.  Flushing  was 
the  p;itrimony — a  large  portion  of  that  which  was  left  to 
him — of  Count  Maurice.  It  was  deeply  mortgaged  for 
the  payment  of  the  debts  of  William  the  Silent,  but  his 
son  Maurice,  so  long  as  the  elder  brother  Philip  \\  illiam 
remained  a  captive  in  Spain,  wrote  himself  Marquis  of 
Flushing  and  Kampveer,  and  derived  both  revenue  and 
importance  from  his  rights  in  that  important  town.  The 
States  of  Zeeland,  while  desirous  of  a  political  fusion 
of  the  two  countries,  were  averse  from  the  prospect  of 
converting,  by  exception,  their  commercial  capital  into 
an  English  city,  the  remainder  of  the  Provinces  remain- 
ing meanwhile  upon  their  ancient  footing.  The  nego- 
ciations  on  the  subject  caused  a  most  ill-timed  delay. 
The  States,  finding  the  English  government  cooling, 
affected  to  giow  tepid  themselves.  This  was  the  true 
mercantile  system,  j:>erhaps,  for  managing  a  transaction 
most  thriftily,  but  frankness  and  promptness  would  have 
been  more  statesmanlike  at  such  a  juncture. 

"  I    am    sorry   to  understand,"   vrrote    Walsingham, 

1  Walsingham  to  Davibon,  22  April,  1585,  S.  P.  Office  Ma  *  Ibtd. 


II 


286 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


"that  the  States  are  not  yet  grown  to  a  Ml  resolution 
for   the  delivering  of   the  town  of  Flushing  mto  her 
Maiestv's  hands.     The  Queen,  finding   the   pe^ple   of 
S  island   80  wavering  and  inconstant,  ^^esides  that 
they  can  hardly,  after  the  so  long  enjoying  a  popular 
liberty,  bear  a  regal  authority,  would  be  loth  to  em- 
bark herself  into   so   dangerous   a  war  without  some 
sufficient  caution  received  from  them.     It  is  also  greatly 
to  be  doubted  that  if,  by  practice  and  corruption,  that 
town  might  be  recovered  by  tl^^  ^P^^^^/'^^'/*  T jj^^ 
put  all  the  rest  of  the  country  in  peril      I  find  her 
Majesty,  in  case  that  town  may  be  gotten,  fully  resolyed 
to  receive  them  into  her  protection,  so  as  it  may  also 
be  made  probable  unto  her  that  the  promised  three  hun- 
dred thousand  guilders  the  month  will  be  d^^y  P^^^ 

A  day  or  two  after  writing  this  letter,  W  alsingham 
sent,  one  afternoon,  in  a  great  l^^^^y v^^^^"^^^,'  fT 
informed  him  very  secretly,  t^^*' ^^^^^fj^^S.^^^^^Tm 
tion  just  received,  the  deputies  from  the  States  were 
coming  without  sufficient  authority  m  regard  to  this 
very  matter.  Thus  all  the  good  intentions  of  the  English 
coveniment  were  likely  to  be  frustrated,  and  the  1  ro- 
vinces  to  be  reduced  to  direful  extremity.  ^^ 

"  What  can  we  possibly  advise  her  Majesty  to  do  i 
asked  Walsingham,  -  since  you  are  not  willing  to  put 
confidence  in  her  intentions.     You  are  trying  to  bring 
her  into  a  public  war,  in  which  she  is  to  risk  her  trea- 
sure and  the  blood  of  her  subjects  against  the  greatest 
potentates  of  the  world,   and   you   hesitate  meantime 
at  giving  her  such  security  as  is  required  for  the  very 
defence  of  the  Provinces  themselves.     The  depu  les  are 
coming  hither  to  otfer  the  sovereignty  to  l^^^JVlajesty 
as  was  recently  done  in  France,  or,  if  that  should  not 
prove  acceptable,  they  are  to  ask  assistance  in  men  and 
money  upon  a  mere  taliUr  qucdifer  guaranty,     liiats  not 
the  way.     And  there  are  plenty  of  ill-disposed  persons 
here  to'  take  advantage  of  this  position  of  aftaii-s  to  ruin 
the  interest  of  the  Provinces  now  placed  on  so  good  a 
footing.     Moreover,  in  this   perpetual  sending  ot  de- 
spatches back  and  forth,  much  precious  time  is  consumed; 
and  this  is  exactly  what  our  enemies  most  desire. 


1  Minute   to   Gilpin, 
8»  P.  Office  MS. 


17 


«  ftief  Tan  Ortel    aan    de    Staaten 
May,    1585.    Qeneraal.    13    Mai,    1585.     Hague    Ar- 
chives MS. 


1585.  GUARANTEES  REQUIRED  BY  ENGLAND.  287 

In  accordance  with  Walsingham's  urgent  sugges- 
tions, Ortel  wrote  at  once  to  his  constituents,  imploring 
them  to  remedy  this  matter.  "  Do  not  allow,"  he  said 
"  any  more  time  to  bo  waited.  Let  us  not  painfully 
build  a  wall  only  to  knock  our  o\ni  heads  against  it  to 
the  dismay  of  our  friends  and  the  gratification  of  our 
enemies."  * 

It  was  at  last  arranged  that  an  important  blank 
should  be  loft  in  the  articles  to  be  brought  by  the  depu- 
ties, upon  which  vacant  place  the  names  of  certain  cau- 
tionary towns,  afterwards  to  bo  agreed  upon,  were  to  be 
inscribed  by  common  consent.  Meantime  the  English 
ministers  were  busy  in  preparing  to  receive  the  com- 
mi8sioners,  and  to  bring  the  Netherland  matter  hand- 
somely before  the  legislature. 

The  integrity,  the  caution,  the  thrift,  the  hesitation 
which  characterized  Elizabeth's  government,  were  well 
portrayed  m  the  habitual  language  of  the  Lord  Trea- 
surer, chief  minister  of  a  third-rate  kingdom  now  called 
on  to  play  a  first-rate  part,  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  moral  and  intellectual  power  of  the  nation  whose 
policy  he  directed,  and  prophetically  conscious  of  the 
great  destinies  which  were  opening  upon  her  horizon. 
Lord  Burghley  could  hardly, be  censured- least  of  all 
ridiculed-for  the  patient  and  somewhat  timid  attributes 
ot  Ins  nature.  The  ineffable  ponderings,  which  mi^rht 
now  be  ludicrous,  on  the  part  of  a  minister  of  the  British 
Ji^mpire,  with  two  hundred  millions  of  subjects  and  near 
a  hundred  millions  of  revenue,  were  ahnost  inevitable  in 
a  man  guiding  a  realm  of  four  millions  of  people  with 
nail  a  million  of  income. 

It  was,  on  the  whole,  a  strange  negotiation  this  be- 
tween England  and  Holland.  A  commonwealth  had 
arisen,  but  was  unconscious  of  the  streng-th  which  it  was 
to  find  m  the  principle  of  states'  union,  and  of  religious 
equality.  It  sought,  on  the  contrary,  to  exchange  its 
federal  sovereignty  for  provincial  dependence,  and  to 
imitate,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  very  intolerance  by 
which  it  had  been  driven  into  revolt.  It  was  not  un- 
natural that  the  Netherlanders  should  hate  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion,  in  the  name  of  which  they  had  en- 
dured such  infinite   tortures,  but  it  is,  nevertheless. 

1  Brief  van  Ortel,  &C.,  Just  cited. 


288 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


painful   to  observe   that  they  requested  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, whom  they  styled  defender,  not  of  "  the  faith," 
but  of  the   "  reformed  religion,"  to  exclude  from  the 
Provinces,   in  case  she  accepted  the  sovereignty,  the 
exercise  of  all  religious  rites   except  those  belonging 
to   the   reformed  church.     They,   however,  expressly 
provided  against  inquisition  into  conscience.^     Private 
houses  were  to  be  sacred,  the  papists  free  within  their 
own  walls,  but  the  churches  were  to  be  closed  to  those 
of  the  ancient  faith.     This  was  not  so  bad  as  to  hang, 
burn,  drown,  and  bury  alive  nonconformists,   as   had 
been'  done  by  Philip  and  the  holy  inquisition  in  the 
name  of  the  church  of  Home  :  nor  is  it  verj'  surprising 
that  the  horrible  past  should  have  caused  that  church 
to  be   regarded  with   sentiments   of  such   deep-rooted 
hostility  as  to  make  the  Hollander  shudder  at  the  idea 
of  its   re-establishment.     Yet,    no   doubt,   it  was   idle 
for  either  Holland  or  England,  at  that  day,   to  talk 
of  a  reconciliation  with  Rome.     A  step  had  separated 
them,  but  it  was  a  step  from  a  precipice.     No  human 
power  could  bridge  the  chasm.     The  steep  contrast  be- 
tween the  league  and  the  counter-league,  between  the 
systems  of  Philip  and  Mucio,   and   that  of  Elizabeth 
and  Olden-Barneveld,  ran  through  the  whole  world  of 
thought,  action,  and  Jife. 

But  still  the  negotiation  between  Holland  and  Eng- 
land was  a  strange  one.  Holland  wished  to  give  herself 
entirely,  and  England  feared  to  accept.  Elizabeth,  in 
place  of  sovereignty,  wanted  mortgages ;  while  Holland 
was  afrjiid  to  give  a  part,  although  offering  the  whole. 
There  was  no  great  inequality  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. Both  were  instinctively  conscious,  perhaps,  of 
standing  on  the  edge  of  a  vast  expansion.  Both  felt 
that  they  were  about  to  stretch  their  wings  suddenly  for 
a  flight  over  the  whole  earth.  Yet  each  was  a  very  infe- 
rior power,  in  comparison  with  the  great  Empires  of  the 
past  or  those  which  then  existed. 

It  is  difficult,  without  a  strong  effort  of  the  imagi- 
nation, to   reduce   the  English  empire  to  the  slender 

1  Points  et  Articles  concus  et  arres-  Art.  II.    "  Sans  qu'icelle  pourra  estre 

tps  par  le«  etats  generaulx  de  Pay  Bas  change  ou  altre  Religion  es  diets  pays 

pi.nr  traicter  avez  la  Serenlsslrae  Royne  exercee.     Pourveu    toutefols   que   per- 

d'Angleterre  sur  la  souverainete.   Hague  sonne    ne    sera   re<ierche    en    sa   con- 


ArcUives,  MS. 


Bcicnce." 


1585.  ENGLAND'S  COMPARATIVE  WEAKNESS.  289 

proporHons  which  belonged   to    her  in  the  davB  of 
EliEabeth.    That  epoch  wL  full  of  light  and  life^  The 

Tthe  Cf::!,"?'"''  "^1  '"'  ^^•''"^^  been  shining 
n      *-"?'"*  firmament  were  then  human  creatures 

^t  m^erfhf  f  Z''^-  ^^  ^^P*^™-  ^t-tes^en  cor! 
sairs,  merchant-adventurers,  poets,  dramatists,  the  ereat 

Queen  herse  f  the  Cecils,  iJeigh,  Walsingham  I)Ske 

Wr'b^t  hrfir'  !'r"t^'  ^•f-"r'  «hakspeare  and  the 
lesser  but  briUiant  lights  which  surrounded  him  •  such 
were  the  men  who  lifted  England  upon  an  e  Wion  to 

It  W  ^tT  r*/''  ^°'^''«^  ^y  her  material  g^andeu^" 
a\  a^  ^^^ ^^  '^°''®  ^ith  Borne,  and  her  expand™, 
dated  from  that  moment.    Holland  and  England  bvZ 

ThilT"  ^^'^^^l^  stood  excommunicated  of  the  Pope 
J^t  sen?bv  f""^  ^*  '"°''*  '"^•'■'=^  intelligence  w^ 
FrLc.   th{.  ^^  ""^  *^T-**  ^"'  °^  *«  Netherlands  and 

th^r  wkvt^^r'."':  ^''^^  ^y  ^^^'P'  ^«^«  "taking 
ThliT^l    ,  England  to  attempt  the  life  of  the  Queen 
Ji^  f  «*«''^ders  were  rebels  to  the  Spanish  mon^ch' 

Rome  V„  °'^1,°"'  ^^  ^'.^'  ""^^^^  death-sentenrby 
EHzabeth  w««  r*"  ^^  «eyitable  and  wholesome. 
Elizabeth  was,  however,  consistently  opposed  to  the 

S     Tr«f  'r "  «°--f  g°ty.     EnM  was  a  weak 

Ei'on  f  Tf  ^^  *  ^^'.'^^  ■"  *  «"»*«  of  chronic 
lebelhon-a  stepping-stone  for  Spain  in  its  already 
foreshadowed  invasion.  Scotland  was  at  her  back  ^th 
a  strong  party  of  Catholics,  stipendiaries  of  Philip 
encouruged  by  the  Guises  and  periodically  inflamed  to 
enthusiasm  by  the  hope  of  rescuing  Ma  Jstua^T  from 
her  imprisonment,  bringing  her  rival's\ead  to  Z 
block,  and  e  evating  the  long-suffering  martyr  upon  the 

Thf  ,^\  conspiracies  were  weaving  every  day 
The  mortal  duel  between  the  two  queens  was  ^lowfy' 
approaching  its  temination.  In  the  fatal  fo^of  K 
was  embodied  everything  most  perilous  t^lnglS 
&tkm  It  ^g'-d•s  Queen.  %ary  Stuart  tel 
abroad  VA  T^A  ^bj«ction  to  Bome  and  Spain 
abroad.  The  uncle  Guises  were  stipendiaries  of  Philip 
Philip  was  the  slave  of  the  Pope.  Mucio  had  frightened 
the  unlucky  Henry  UI.  into  submission,  and  thire  wt« 

VOL.  1. 

a 


I 


290 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CUAP.  VI. 


no  healtli  nor  hope  in  France.  For  England,  Mary 
Stuart  embodied  the  possible  relapse  into  sloth,  depend- 
ence, barbarism.  For  Elizabeth,  Mary  Stuart  embodied 
sedition,    conspiracy,    rebellion,   battle,    murder,   and 

sudden  death. 

It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Queen  tlius 
situated  should  be  cautious,  when  about  throwing  down 
the  gauntlet  to  the  greatest  powers  of  the  earth.  Yet 
the  commissioners  from  the  United  States  were  now  on 
their  way  to  England  to  propose  the  throwing  of  that 
gauntlet.     What  now  was  that  England  ? 

Its  population  was,  perhaps,  not  greater  than  the 
numbers  which  dwell  to-day  within  its  capital  and 
immediate  suburbs.  Its  revenue  was  perhaps  equal  to 
the  sixtieth  part  of  the  annual  interest  on  the  present 
national  debt.  Single,  highly-favoured  individuals,  not 
only  in  England  but  in  other  countries  cis-  and  trans- 
Atlantic,  enjoy  incomes  equal  to  more  than  half  the 
amount  of  Elizabeth's  annual  budget.  London,  then 
containing  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in- 
habitants, was  hardly  so  imposing  a  town  as  Antwerp, 
and  was  inferior  in  most  material  respects  to  Paris  and 
Lisbon.  Forty-two  hundred  children  were  bom  every 
year  within  its  precincts,  and  the  deaths  were  nearly  as 
many.*  In  plague  years,  which  were  only  too  frequent, 
as  many  as  twenty  and  even  thirty  thousand  people 
had  been  annually  swept  away.*  At  the  present  epoch 
there  are  seventeen  hundred  births  every  week,  and 
about  one  thousand  deaths. 

It  is  instructive  to  throw  a  glance  at  the  character 
of  the  English  people  as  it  appeared  to  intelligent 
foreigners  at  that  day;  for  the  various  parts  of  the 
world  were  not  then  so  closely  blended,  nor  did  national 
colours  and  characteristics  flow  so  liquidly  into  each 
other,  as  is  the  case  in  these  days  of  intimate  juxta- 
position. 

"  The  English  are  a  very  clever,  handsome,  and  well- 
made  people,"  says  a  learned  Antwerp  historian  and 
merchant,  who  had  resided  a  long  time  in  London,  "  but, 
like  all  islanders,  by  nature  weak  and  tender.  They  are 
generally  fair,  particularly  the  women,  who  all— even 

1  Meteren,  xlU.  2-13.    The  historian  was,  for  a  long  period,  resident  in  London  at 
thte  epoch.  ^  ^'''"^ 


1585. 


THE  ENGLISH  CHARACTERIZED. 


291 


to  the  peasant  women— protect  their  complexions  from 
the  sun  with  fans  and  veils,  as  only  the  stately  gentle- 
women do  m  Germany  and  the   Netherlands.     As  a 
people  they  are  stout-hearted,  vehement,  eager  cruel  in 
war,  zealous  in  attack,  little  fearing  death ;  notVeven^e- 
ful,  but  fickle,  presumptuous,  rash,  boastful,  deceitful 
very  suspicious,   especially  of  strangers,    whom  they 
despise.      They  are  full  of  courteous  and  hypocritical 
gestures  and  words,  which  they  consider  to  imply  g-ood 
manners,  civility,  and  wisdom.     They  are  well  spoken 
and  very  hospitable.      They  feed  well,   eating  much 
meat,   which— owing  to   the    rainy  climate   and    the 
ranker  character  of  the  grass— is  not  so  firm  and  suc- 
culent as  the  meat  of  France  and  the  Netherlands.   The 
people  are  not  so  laborious  as  the  French  and  Hollanders 
prefemng  to  lead  an  indolent  life,  like  the  Spaniards! 
J  h^  most  difficult  and  ingenious  of  the  handicrafts  are 
in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  as  is  the  case  with  the  lazy 
inhabitants  of  Spain.     They  feed  many  sheep,  with  fine 
wool,  from  which,  two  hundred  years  ago,  they  learned 
to  make  cloth.     They  keep  many  idle   servants,  and 
many  wild  animals  for  their  pleasure,  instead  of  culti- 
vating the  soil.     They  have  many  ships,  but  they  do  not 
even  catch  fish  enough  for  their  own  consumption  but 
purchase  of  their  neighbours.    They  dress  very  eleealitlv 
-Their  costume  is  light  and  costly,  but  they  are  very 
changeable  and  capricious,  altering  their  fashions  every 
year,  both  the  men  and  the  women.     When  they  go 
away  from  home,  riding  or  traveUing,  they  always  wear 
their  best  clothes,  contrary  to  the  habit  of  other  nations. 
Ihe  English  language   is  broken  Dutch,  mixed  with 
t  rench  and  British  terms  and  words,  but  with  a  lighter 
pronunciation.     They  do  not  speak  from  the  chest;  like 
the  Crermans,  but  prattle  only  with  the  tongue."  * 

Here  are  few  statistical  facts,  but  certainly  it  is  curious 
to  see  how  many  national  traits  thus  photogi-aphed  by  a 
contemporary  have  quite  vanished,  and  have  been  ex- 
changed for  their  very  opposites.  Certainly  the  last 
physiological  criticism  of  all  would  indicate  as  great  a 
national  metamorphosis,  during  the  last  three  centuries, 
as  IS  offered  by  many  other  of  the  writer's  observations. 
*  With  regard  to  the  women,"  continues  the  same 

1  Emanuel  van  Jlcteren,  •  Xederlandsche  Hlstcrien,'  xill.  243 

u  2 


\     i\ 


m^Z 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CHAP.  VI. 


authority,  "  they  are  entirely  in  the  power  of  the  men, 
except  in  matters  of  life  and  death,  yet  they  are  not  kept 
80  closely  and  strictly  as  in  Spain  and  elsewhere.  They 
are  not  locked  up,  but  have  free  management  of  their 
household,  like  the  Netherlanders  and  their  other 
neighbours.  They  are  gay  in  their  clothing,  taking  well 
their  ease,  leaving  house- work  to  the  servant-maids,  and 
are  fond  of  sitting,  finely-dressed,  before  their  doors  to 
see  the  passers-by  and  to  be  seen  of  them.  In  all 
banquets  and  dinner-parties  they  have  the  most  honour, 
sitting  at  the  upper  end  of  the  board,  and  being  served 
first.  Their  time  is  spent  in  riding,  lounging,  card- 
playing,  and  making  merry  with  their  gossips  at  child- 
bearings,  chiistenings,  churchings,  and  buryings  ;  and 
all  this  conduct  the  men  wink  at,  because  such  are  the 
customs  of  the  land.  They  much  commend  however 
the  industry  and  careful  habits  of  the  German  and 
Netherland  women,  who  do  the  work  which  in  England 
devolves  upon  the  men.  Hence,  England  is  called  the 
paradise  of  married  women,  for  the  unmarried  girls  are 
kept  much  more  strictly  than  upon  the  continent.  The 
women  are  handsome,  whit«,  dressy,  modest ;  although 
they  go  freely  about  the  streets  without  bonnet,  hood,  or 
veil ;  but  the  noble  dames  have  lately  learned  to  cover 
their  faces  with  a  silken  mask  or  vizard  with  a  plumage 
of  feathers,  for  they  change  their  fashions  every  year,  to 
the  astonishment  of  many."  * 

Paul  Hentzner,  a  tourist  from  Germany  at  precisely 
the  same  epoch,  touches  with  equal  minuteness  on 
English  characteristics.  It  may  be  observed,  that,  with 
8ome  discrepancies,  there  is  also  much  similarity  in  the 
views  of  the  two  critics. 

**  The  English,"  says  the  whimsical  Paul,  **  are  serious, 
like  the  Germans,  lovers  of  show,  liking  to  be  followed, 
wherever  they  go,  by  troops  of  servants,  who  wear  their 
master's  arms,  in  silver,  fastened  to  their  left  sleeves, 
and  are  justly  ridiculed  for  wearing  tails  hanging  down 
their  backs.  They  excel  in  dancing  and  music,  for  they 
are  active  and  lively,  although  they  are  of  thicker  build 
than  the  Germans.  They  cut  their  hair  close  on  the 
forehead,  letting  it  hang  down  on  either  side.  They 
are  good  sailors,  and  better  pirates,  cunning,  treacherous, 

1  Eroanuel  van  Meteren.  Just  cited. 


1585. 


PAUL  HENTZNER. 


293 


thievish.      Three   hundred   and   upwards    are  han^red 
annually  in  London      Hawking  is  the  favourite  spor?of 
the  nobility.     The  English  are  more  polite  in  eatin- 
than  the  French,  devouring  less  bread,  but  more  meat 
which  they  roast  in  perfection.      Thev  put  a  great  deal 
of  sugar  in  their  drink.     Their  beds' are  covfred  whh 
tapestry,  even  those  of  farmers.      They  are  powerful  in 
the  field,  successful  against  their  enemies,  impatient  of 
anything  like  slavery,  vastly  fond  of  great  ear-fillinc 
noises,  such  as  cannon-firing,  drum-beating,  and   bell- 
ringing ;  so  that  it  is  very  common  for  a  number  of  them 
when  they  have  got  a  cup  too  much  in  their  heads  to 
go  up  to  some  belfry,  and  ring  the  bells  for  an  hour 
together,  for  the  sake  of  the  amusement.      If  they  see  a 
foreigner  very  well  made  or  particularly  handsome,  they 
will  say  »  tis  pity  he  is  not  an  Englishman.'" » 

It  is  also  somewhat  amusing,  at  the  present  day  to 
find  a  German  elaborately  explaining  to  his  countrymen 
the  mysteries  of  tobacco-smoking,  as  they  appeared  to 
his  unsophisticated  eyes  in  England.     -  At  the  theatres 
and  everywhere  else,"  says  the  traveller,  "  the  Eno-lish 
are  constantly  smoking  tobacco  in  the  following  manner 
Ih^y  have  pipes,  made  on  purpose,  of  clay.     At  ih^ 
farther  end  of  these  is  a  bowl.      Into  the  bowl  they  put 
the  herb    and  then  setting  fire  to  it,  they  draw  the 
smoke  into  their  mouths,  which  they  puff  out  again 
through  their  nostrils,  like  funnels,"  ''and  so  on  •  Con- 
scientious explanations  which  a  German  tourist  of  our 
own  times  might  think  it  superfluous  to  offer  to  his 
compatriots. 

It  is  also  instructive  to  read  that  the  light-fincrered 
gentry  of  the  metropolis  were  nearly  as  adroit  in  their 
calling  as  they  are  at  present,  after  three  additional 
centuries  of  development  for  their  delicate  craft ;  for  the 
learned  Tobias  Salander,  the  travelling  companion  of 
I  aul  Hentzner,  finding  himself  at  a  Lord  Mayor's  Show 
was  eased  of  his  purse  containing  nine  crowns,  as  skil^ 
tully  as  the  feat  could  have  been  done  by  the  best  pick- 
pocket  of  the  nineteenth  century,  much  to  that  learned 
person  s  discomfiture.* 


»  Paulus  Hentznerus,  •  Itinerarinm  Ger- 
maniae,  Galliae,  Angliae,  lulia«>,'  Bres- 
lae,  1617. 


'  Paulufl  Hentanerus,  Just  cited. 
»  Ibid. 


li 


m 


294 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VK 


Into  sucli  an  England  and  among  such  English  the 
Netherland  envoys  had  now  been  despatched  on  their 
most  important  errand. 

After  twice  putting  back,  through  stress  of  weather, 
the  commissioners,  early  in  July,  arrived  at  London, 
and  were  *'  lodged  and  very  worshipfully  appointed  at 
charges  of  her  Majesty  in  the  Cloth  workers'  Hall   in 
Pynchon-lane,  near  Tower-street."  *     About  the  Tower 
and  its  faubourgs  the  buildings  were  stated  to  be  as 
elegant  as  they  were  in  the  city  itself,  although  this  was 
hardly   very  extravagant   commendation.      From   this 
district  a  single  street  led  along  the  river's  strand  to 
Westminster,  where  were  the  old  and  new  palaces,  the 
famous  hall  and  abbey,  the  Parliament  chambers,  and 
the  bridge  to  Southwark,  built  of  stone,  with  twenty 
arches,   sixty  feet  high,  and   with  rows  of  shops  and 
dwelling-houses  on  both  its  sides.      Thence,  along  the 
broad  and  beautiful  river,  were  dotted  here  and  there 
many  stately  mansions  and  villas,  residences  of  bishops 
and  nobles,  extending  farther  and  farther  west  as  the 
city  melted  rapidly  into  the  country.     London  itself 
was  a  town  lying  high  upon  a  hill — the  hill  of  Lud — 
and  consisted  of  a  coil  of  narrow,  tortuous,  unseemly 
streets,  each  with  a  black,   noisome   rivulet   running 
through   its   centre,   and   with  rows   of  three  storied, 
leaden-roofed  houses,  built  of  timber-work  filled  in  with 
lime,  with  many  gables,  and  with   the  upper  stories 
overhanging  and  darkening  the  basements.     There  were 
one  hundred  and  twenty-one  churches,  small  and  large, 
the  most  conspicuous  of  which  was  the  Cathedral.     Old 
Saint  Paul's  was  not  a  very  magnificent  edifice,  but  it 
was  an  extremely  large  one,  for  it  was  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  long,  one  hundred  and  thirty  broad,  and 
had  a  massive  quadrangular  tower,  two  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  high.     Upon  this  tower  had  stood  a  timber- 
steeple,  rising  to  a  height  of  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  feet  from  the  ground,  but  it  had  been  stmck  by 
lightning  in  the  year  1561,  and  consumed  to  the  stone- 
work." 

The  Queen's  favourite  residence  was  Greenwich 
Palace,  the  place  of  her  birth,  and  to  this  mansion,  on 
the  9th  of  July,  the  Netherland  envoys  were  conveyed, 

»  Stowe's  •  Chionlcle,'  p.  708.  «  Meteren,  xlli.  243.    Camden,  67. 


1585. 


THE  ENVOYS  IN  LONDON. 


295 


„f '7»!l'^^S"'**'°°  ""^  *  ^'""""S  one.  There  was  Falck 
of  Zeeland,  a  man  of  consummate  adroitness    perhaps 

fine  • 'r  ^^T^  ?'^S.'ty  ;  ''  a  shrewd  felloes 
hrm  TW«  Leicester  soon  afterwards  characterised 
him.  1  here  was  Memn,  pensionary  of  Dort,  an  eloquent 
and  accomplished  orator,  and  employed  on  this  occasbu 
a"nd  1  thrw''""T  °f  t»'«„legatW-.'a  deeper  Z" 
l^i'  -^u'  *°  J^onester,"  said  the  same   personage 

addmg,  with  an  eye  to  business,  "and  he  is  but  3' 
wtich  you  must  consider,  but  with  great  secrecy^' ! 
There  was  Paul  Buys,  whom  we  have  met  with  befo^re  ■ 
keen,  subtle,  somewhat  loose  of  life,  veiy  passionate  a 
most  energetic  and  valuable  friend  to  EnilaTa  deter 

ZtotHolLlrn'  "'^?  l>''<l««g"ed  the  important 
post  ot  Holland  s  Advocate,  when  the  mission  offerins- 

soverei^ty  to  Heniy  III.  had  been  resolved  upon  and 
who  had  since  that  period  been  most  influenti^Mn 
CT"kI*''"  P'"^"°*  '"""^^  «f  <ie  EngHsh  poic 

Wr";r/ •  *='  t  "^^  S— -ent  totUs  ?he M^ 
vinces,  was  doing  his  best  to  frustrate  the  subsequent 

Hn^?,  ^'""'7'*^^°S'''°'^'  "'"'d  whether  or  no  he  has 
Holland  under  his  thumb."  •    The  same  individuaf  had 
conceived  hopes  from  Falck  of  Zeeland.    Thai  Province 
m  which  lay  the  great  bone  of  contention  between  the 
Queen  and  the  States-the  important  town  of  Flushing 

policy.     It  IS  to  be  feared  that  Falck  was  not  the  mo«t 
ingenuous  and  disinterested  politician^hat  couW  be 

puritvTr'Lr  "^r  ^'«.*-g"-ted  for  frankn  ss  or 
puiity ,  for  even  while  setting  forth  upon  the  mission 

to  ^he'wrlwT,'*'-"  ^"T"^'  °^  a^ecting  to   r^ 
to  the  wretched  delusion  of  French  assistlnce.     "I 

^' Bruce'.    -LeyoMt    Comv.-    «9,       •  Groea    v.   Prl„su,rer,    ■  JMhi,^- 
~  Sept  1586.  *c..  1.  U. 


I 


i\ 


296 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


regret  infinitely,"  said  Falck  to  the  French  agent  just 
mentioned,  "  that  I  am  employed  in  this  affair,  and  that 
it  is  necessary  in  our  present  straits  k)  have  recourse  to 
England.  There  is— so  to  speak— not  a  pereon  m  our 
Province  that  is  inclined  that  way,  all  recognising  very 
well  that  France  is  much  more  salutary  for  us,  besides 
that  we  all  bear  her  a  certain  affection.  Indeed,  it  i 
were  assured  that  the  King  still  felt  any  goodwill 
towards  us,  I  would  so  manage  matters  that  neither  the 
Queen  of  England  nor  any  other  prince  whatever  except 
his  most  Christian  Majesty  should  take  a  bite  at  this 
country,  at  least  at  this  Province  ;  and  with  that  view, 
while  waiting  for  news  from  France,  I  will  keep  things 
in  suspense,  and  spin  them  out  as  long  as  it  is  possible 

The  news  from  France  happened  soon  to  be  very 
conclusive,  and  it  then  became  difficult  even  for  Falck 
to  believe— after  intelligence  received  of  the  accord 
between  Henry  III.  and  the  Guises— that  his  Christian 
Majesty  would  be  inclined  for  a  bite  at  the  Netherlands. 
This  duplicity  on  the  part  of  so  leading  a  personage 
furnishes  a  key  to  much  of  the  apparent  dilatoriness  on 
the  part  of  the  English  government.  It  has  been  seen 
that  Elizabeth,  up  to  the  last  moment,  could  not  fairly 
comprehend  the  ineffable  meanness  of  the  French  mo- 
narch. She  told  Ortel  that  she  saw  no  reason  to  believe 
in  that  great  Catholic  conspiracy  against  herself  and 
against  all  Protestantism  which  was  so  soon  to  be  made 
public  by  the  King's  edict  of  July,  promulgated  at  the 
very  instant  of  the  arrival  in  England  of  the  Netherland 
envoys.  When  that  dread  fiat  had  gone  forth,  the  most 
determined  favourer  of  the  French  alliance  could  no 
longer  admit  its  possibility,  and  Falck  became  the  more 
open  to  that  peculiar  line  of  argument  which  Leicester 
had  suggested  with  regard  to  one  of  the  other  deputies. 
*'  I  will  du  my  best,"  wrote  Walsingham,  "  to  procure 
that  Paul  Buys  and  Falck  shall  receive  underhand  some 

reward."* 

Besides  Menin,  Falck,  and  Buys,  were  Noel  de  Caron, 
an  experienced  diplomatist;  the  poet-soldier.  Van  der 
Does,  heroic  defender  of  Leyden  ;  De  Gryze,  Hersolte, 

1  Groen  v.  Prinsterer,  just  dtod. 
2  Wablughamtol-^vls      -TsV'  ^^^^'  ^'  ^'  ^^^  ^*^ 


( 


1585. 


OLDEN-BARNEVELD  DESCRIBED. 


297 


Francis  Maalzoon,  and  three  legal  Frisians  of  pith  and 
substance,   Feitsma,   Aisma,   and  Jongema;^  a  dozen 
Du  chmen  together-as   muscular  champions   as  ever 
little  republic  sent  forth  to  wrestle  with  all  comers  in 
the  slippery  ring  of  diplomacy.    For  it  was  instinctively 
lelt  that  here  were  conclusions  to  be  tried  with  a  nation 
ot  deep,  solid  thinkei-s,  who  were  aware  that  a  great 
cnsis  in  the  world's  history  had  occurred,  and  would 
put  torth  their  most  substantial  men  to  deal  with  it 
Burghley  and  Walsingham,   the  great  Queen   herself* 
were  no  feather-weights  like  the  frivolous  Henry  III' 
and  his  mmions.     It  was  pity,  however,  that  the  disl 
cussions  about  to  ensue  presented  from  the  outset  rather 
the  aspect  of  a  hard-hitting  encounter  of  antagonists 
than  that  of  a  frank  and  friendly  congress  betwein  two 
great  parties  whose  interests  were  identical 

Since  the  death  of  William  the  SUent  there  was  no 
one  individual  m  the  Netherlands  to  impersonate  the 
great  struggle  of  the  Provinces  with  Spain  and  Eome 
and  to  concentrate  upon  his  own  head  a  poetical,  dra' 
matic,   and  yet  most  legitimate  interest.     The  gieat 
purpose  of  the  present  history  must  be   found  in  its 
Uiustration  of  the  creative  power  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom.     Here  was  a  little  republic,  just  bom  into  the 
worid,  suddenly  bereft  of  its  tutelary  saint,  left  to  its 
own  resources,  yet  already  instinct  with  healthy,  vigo- 
roiis  life,  and  playing  its  difficult  part  among  friends 
and  enemies  with   audacity,  self-reliance,  and  success, 
lo  a  certain  extent  its  achievements  were  anonymous 
but  a  great  principle  manifested  itself  through  a  series 
of  noble   deeds.     Statesmen,   soldiers,  patriots,   came 
forward  on  all  sides  to  do  the  work  which  was  to  be 
done,  and  those  who  were  brought  into  closest  contact 
with  the   commonwealth    acknowledged   in   strongest 
language  the  signal  ability  with  which,  self-guided  she 
steered  her  course.     Nevertheless,  there  was  at  this 
moment  one   Netheriander,   the  chief  of  the  present 
mission  to  England,  already  the  foremost  statesman  of 
his  country,  whose  name  will  not  soon  be  effaced  from 
the  record  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 
Ihat  man  was  John  of  Olden-Bameveld 
He  was  now  in  his  thirty-eighth  year,  having  been 

1  Wagenaar,  vlli.  90. 


M    f 


298 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


bom  at  Amersfort  on  the  14tli  of  September,  1647.*  He 
bore  an  imposing  name,  for  the  Olden-Bamevelds  of 
Gelderland  were  a  race  of  unquestionable  and  antique 
nobility.  His  enemies,  however,  questioned  his  right  to 
the  descent  which  he  claimed.  They  did  not  dispute 
that  the  great-grandfather,  Claas  van  Olden-Bameveld, 
was  of  distinguished  lineage  and  allied  to  many  illus- 
trious houses,  but  they  denied  that  Claas  was  really  the 
great-grandfather  of  John.  John's  father,  Geritt,  they 
said,  was  a  nameless  outcast,  a  felon,  a  murderer, 
who  had  escaped  the  punishment  due  to  his  crimes,  but 
had  dragged  out  a  miserable  existence  in  the  downs, 
burrowing  like  a  rabbit  in  the  sand.  They  had  also 
much  to  say  in  disparagement  of  all  John's  connections. 
Not  only  was  his  father  a  murderer,  but  his  wife,  whom 
he  had  married  for  money,  was  the  child  of  a  most 
horrible  incest,  his  sisters  were  prostitutes,  his  sons 
and  brothers  were  debauchees  and  drunkards,  and,  in 
short,  never  had  a  distinguished  man  a  more  uncomfort- 
able and  discreditable  family-circle  than  that  which 
surrounded  Bameveld,  if  the  report  of  his  enemies  was 
to  be  believed.'  Yet  it  is  agreeable  to  reflect  that,  with 
all  the  venom  which  they  had  such  power  of  secreting, 
these  malignant  tongues  had  been  unable  to  destioy  the 
reputation  of  the  man  himself.  John's  character  was 
honourable  and  upright,  his  intellectual  power  not  dis- 
puted even  by  those  who  at  a  later  period  hated  him  the 
most  bitterly.  He  had  been  a  profound  and  indefati- 
gable student  from  his  earliest  youth.  He  had  read  law 
at  Leyden,  in  France,  at  Heidelberg.  Here,  in  the 
head-quarters  of  German  Calvinism,  his  youthful  mind 
had  long  pondered  the  dread  themes  of  foreknowledge, 
judgment  absolute,  free  will,  and  predestination.  To 
believe  it  worth  the  while  of  a  rational  and  intelligent 
Deity  to  create  annually  several  millions  of  thinking 
beings,  who  were  to  struggle  for  a  brief  period  on  earth, 
and  to  consume  in  perpetual  brimstone  afterwards, 
while  otheis  were  predestined  to  endless  enjojTuent, 
seemed  to  him  an  indififerent  exchange  for  a  faith  in  Che 

I  llMranas. '  Hish>rie  ran  het  Leven  wen.'  ii.  247. 

CB.  Sterven    van    Johaus    van   Olden-  «  'Gulden  Legende  van  den  Nieawen 

Bamevelt,'  1648,  p.  3.    •  Levensbeschry-  St.  Jan.'  1618. 
^ing  Nederslondiicher  Mannen  en  Vroa* 


1585. 


OLDEN-BARNEVELD  DESCRIBED. 


299 

purgatory   and  paradise  of  Kome.     Perplexed   in   iha 
extreme,  the  youthful  John   bethought  hf^elf^f  an 
inscription  over  the  gateway  of  his  faLus  Cotstion 
able  great-grandfather's  house  at   Amersfort  ^TIT 
^Urssima  fiUes.^     He   resolved   thencerrtf'^at^^^^ 
s^-stem  of  Ignorance  upon  matters  beyond  the  flam  ns 
walls  of  the  world :  to  do  thp  wnrV  1^4-       i!^-  "^^^^'^s 
fully  and  faithfully  While^he  waT^ed  thf  L'rth'andt 
trust  that  a  benevolent  Creator  would  devote  "nr^hw 
h:m  nor  any  other  man  to  eternal  hell  fire?    For  tils 
most  offensive  doctrine  he  was  howled  at  by  the  sTrictlv 
pious,  while  he  earned  still  deeper  opprobrium  by  darine 
to  advocate  religions  tolenition'.     In'^Le  of  The  end"eJ 
horrors  inflicted  by  the  Spanish  Inquisition  upon  hk 
native  land,  he  had  the  hardihood- although  a  det^^ 
mined  Protestant  himself-to  claim  forSnCatholts 
the  right  to  exercise  their  religion  in  the  fi-P«  \ZtTT 
equal  terms  with  those  of  the  ref^n^ed  fal^^^.'^ff^yrn:  " 
said  his  enemies,  "  could  smell  what  that  meant  who  Ud 

tian,  both  m  theory  and  pratice,  and  he  nobly  confronted 
n  consequence  the  wrath  of  bigote  on  both  sides  At  a 
tt  ^"°\^^  ■"?«*  zealous  Calvinists  called  Hm  Pope 
John  and  the  opinions  to  which  he  was  to  owe  such 
appe  lations  had  already  been  formed  in  his  mSd 

Alter  completing  his  very  thorough  legal  studleo  >.« 

had  practised  as  an  advocate  in  Hollanf  and  Zeeland 

An  early  defender  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  heTd 

been  brought  at  an  early  day  into  contact  with  WUkm 

the  Silent,  who  recognised  his  ability.     He  had  boZ 

a  snap-hance  on  his  shoulder  as  a  volunteer  in  Z 

memorable  attempt  to  relieve  Haarlem,  anrwas  Tne  of 

the  few  survivors  of  that  bloodv  nie-ht      Wa  i,L   7    i 

outside  the  walls  of  Leyden  Hm"! ny  of  Ae  plt tf 

Orange  when  that  magnificent  dest™otion  of  thrdvkes 

had  token  place  by  which  the  city  had  been  saved  from 

the  fate  impending  over  it.      At  a  still  more  rel^ 

period  we  have  seen  him  knding  from  tCLlZTu 

upon  the  Kowenstyn,  on  the  fatS  26th  May^The*^ 

military  adventures  were,  however,  but  brief  and  a.^. 


'  "''Zr  drtalles  so„d,  streckon,    T^    '^'"^" 
konnen  sy  wel  ruycken  die  ^oen  houte 


•Gulden    Legende,' 


300 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chai'.  VI. 


I 


\i 


dental  episodes  in  his  career,  which  was  that  of  a 
statesman  and  diplomatist.  As  pensionary  of  Rotter- 
dam, he  was  constantly  a  member  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  had  already  begun  to  guide  the  policy 
of  the  new  commonwealth.  His  experience  was  consi- 
derable, and  he  was  now  in  the  high  noon  of  his  vigour 
and  his  usefulness.  > 

He  was  a  man  of  noble  and  imposing  presence,  with 
thick  hair  pushed  from  a  broad  forehead  rising  dome-like 
above  a  square  and  massive  face ;  a  strong  deeply-co- 
loured physiognomy,  with  shaggy  brow,  a  chill  blue 
eye,  not  winning  but  commanding,  high  cheek-bones,'  a 
solid,  somewhat  scornful  nose,  a  firm  mouth  and  chin, 
enveloped  in  a  copious  brown  beard ;  the  whole  head 
not  imfitly  framed  in  the  stiflf  formal  ruff  of  the  period  ; 
and  the  tall  stately  figure  well  draped  in  magisterial 
robes  of  velvet  and  sable— such  was  John  of  Olden- 
Bameveld. 

The  Commissioners  thus  described  arrived  at  Green- 
wich Stairs,  and  were  at  once  ushered  into  the  palace,  a 
residence  which  had  been  much  enlarged  and  decorated 
by  Henry  VIII.  They  were  received  with  stately  cere- 
mony. The  presence-chamber  was  himg  with  Gobelin 
tapestry,  its  floor  stre^vn  with  rushes.  Fifty  gentlemen 
pensioners,  with  gilt  battle-axes,  and  a  throng  of  buffe- 
tiors,  or  beef-eaters,  in  that  quaint  old-world  garb 
which  has  survived  so  many  centuries,  were  in  attend- 
ance, while  the  counsellors  of  the  Queen,  in  their  robes 
of  state,  waited  around  the  throne. 

There,  in  close  skull-cap  and  dark  flowing  gown,  was 
the  subtle,  monastic-looking  Walsingham,  with  long, 
grave,  melancholy  face  and  Spanish  eyes.  There  too, 
white  staff  in  hand,  was  Lord  High  Treasurer  Burghley, 
then  sixty-five  years  of  age,  with  serene  blue  eye,  large, 
smooth,  pale,  scarce- wrinkled  face  and  forehead ;  seem- 
ing, with  his  placid  symmetrical  features,  and  great  velvet 
bonnet,  under  which  such  silver  hairs  as  remained  were 
soberly  tucked  away,  and  with  his  long  dark  robes  which 
swept  the  ground,  more  like  a  dignified  gentlewoman 
than  a  statesman,  but  for  the  wintry  beard  which  lay 
like  a  snow-drift  on  his  ancient  breast. 

The  Queen  was  then  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  her 

1  Naeranos,  l-U.    '  Levensbeacbrijving,'  ^c.  ii.  246*241. 


l«.:hlil<tk:.A)«;«i>.j>;»i*a>i*<.aai" 


1585. 


RECEPTION  AT  GREENWICH. 


301 
b!^;t?^  ^^^idered  herself  in  the  full  bloom  of  her 

Sor^'thTte'  l-oo^  her  lips  tht:  he"r'teftS,  IZ 

^nts  presented  petitions  up^n  the'!™ t^^^^; 
she  glanced,  a  1  prostrated  themselves  on  the  ff^ouni 

wonder  of  beauty.     sZ  ^  fS  ^h  pSld' 

and  so  forth,  m  a  style  which  was  ridiculed  bvPk 
rov^rel. '^  ""'^*^"'^^'  *"  '^^  -treme^at^/cT 
Joes  de  Menin,  pensionary  of  Dort,  in  the  name  of  all 
he  envoys,  made  an  elaborate  address.  He  expresid 
the  graftude  which  the  States  entertained  for  her  w 
kindness,  and  particularly  for  the  good  offices  rendered 

Orange  an'^'^r  ^^T  "^''^  '^'  ^'^"^  °f  *e  Prfnce  of 
W^^f '  ^t  ^"'j*''^  '^^'^P  '•^S''*^*  expressed  by  her  Ma- 

ae'^upt'Frir"''"^"'  ^  *^'  hopesVeyfi 

ihl'IlT  l^^  t*'''  "*■  *t®  ^"°'=e  of  Orange,"  he  said 
the  States  have  lost  many  important  cities,  Ind  now  for 
fte  preservation  of  their  existence,  they  hkve  need  of  I 

tCr  adhTrf  nr«"*wl*°"'  °PP'''^^'"°  "^  *t«  SP^^iards  Z 
I^Z^aT^u^"  *''®  '"°'®  "n-^  "ore  determined  ut- 
terly to  destioy  their  countiy,  and  reduce  the  poor  people 

1  Da  Maurier,  'Memoires,'  257. 


JH 


I, 
ill 


■ 


f 


302 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


to  a  perpetual  slavery  worse  than  that  of  Indians,  nnder 
the  insupportable  and  detestable  yoke  of  the  Spanish  In- 
quisition.    We  have  felt  a  confidence  that  your  Majesty 
will  not  choose  to  see  us  perish  at  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  against  whom  we  have  been  obliged  to  sustain 
this  long  and  cniel  war.     That  war  we  have  under- 
taken in  order  to  preserve  for  the  poor  people  their 
liberty,  laws,  and  franchises,  together  with  the  exercise 
of  the  true  Christian  religion,  of  which  your  Majesty 
bears  rightfully  the  title  of  defender,  and  against  which 
the  enemy  and  his  allies  have  made  so  many  leagues 
and  devised  so  many  ambushes  and  stratagems,  besides 
organizing  every  day  so  many  plots  against  the  life  of 
your  Majesty  and  the  safety  of  your  realms— schemes 
which  thus  far  the  good  God  has  averted  for  the  good 
of  Christianity  and  the  maintenance  of  His  churches. 
For  these  reasons.  Madam,  the  States  have  taken  a 
firm  resolution  to  have  recourse  to  your  Majesty,  seeing 
that  it  is  an  ordinary  thing  for  all  oppressed  nations 
to  apply  in  their  calamity  to  neighbouring  princes,  and 
especially  to  such  as  are  endowed  with  piety,  justice, 
magnanimity,  and  other  kingly  virtues.     For  this  rea- 
son we  have.been  deputed  to  offer  to  your  Majesty  the 
sovereignty  over  these  Provinces,  under  certain  good 
and  equitable  conditions,  having  reference  chiefly  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  reformed  religion  and  of  our  an- 
cient liberties  and  customs.    And  although,  in  the  course 
of  these  long  and  continued  wars,  the  enemy  has  ob- 
tained possession  of  many  cities  and  strong  places  within 
our  country,   nevertheless  the  Provinces  of  Holland, 
Zeeland,  Utrecht,  and  Friesland,  are,  thank  God,  still 
entire.     And  in  those  lands  are  many  large  and  stately 
cities,   beautiful  and  deep  rivers,  admirable  seaports, 
from  which  your  Majesty  and  your  successors  can  derive 
much  good  fruit  and  commodity,  of  which  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  make  a  long  recital.     This  point,  however, 
beyond  the  rest,  merits  a  special  consideration,  namely, 
that  the  conjunction  of  those   Provinces  of  Holland, 
Zeeland,   Utrecht,    and  Friesland,   together  with  the 
cities  of  Sluys  and  Ostend,  with  the  kingdoms  of  your 
Majesty,   carries   with  it  the  absolute   empire  of  the 
gieat  ocean,  and  consequently  an  assurance  of  perpe- 
tual felicity  for  your  subjects.     We  therefore  humbly 


303 


1585.        SPEECH  OF  MEXIN-THE  QUEEN'S  REPLY. 

safeguard  of  vour  crown     i^'  i  .^^®   perpetual 

speak  without  Wing,  iany  in  all  ChriSom     '   ° 

invasion  of  the  Span^ia^s  Zfth'llT  **";  >°'\wtous 

great  comn^odity^of  the  sea  t^dr  ^^I'rnri'T/'^ 
commerce  and  manufactures,  for  aU  whinwt  '  1^^"" 
such  natural  advantages-f^om  rnin  ^  *^^  ^^"^ 
slavery  of  body  a«d  soul  iCwIn  bel  fX^'^'t^ 
lent  work  agreeable  to  God,  profitable  to  S-"^?f 
worthy  of  immortal   nvai.^  .  F'umaDie  to  L  linstianity, 

heroic^irtues  of  JL?MaTeWv  jrP""'"'^  T"''  *« 
perity  of  your   coCtrFand  ^opt '°  U^  tb^  ?.'•  P^°" 

;ai  your  enemies  ia^^^XvT^irS:  h^?y\X™ 

French  to  this  effectTi'^Gltlmen    ""h  ^'  ?°'""v'  '" 
sand  tongues  I  should  not  ^"i^i    .    '~^*^  ^  *  *^o^- 

ever  preferred  me  fn  «!]  +v,«       •  certain  that  you  have 
Je  wLd.     EveTwtf  y^'^^sKd  th    ittut  1 

sooner  have  offered  your  couktry  ,o  me^f  I  h^^T/ •'^'f 
that  you  should  do  so.  Certah.Iv  ?Jl  -f  ^"^"'^^ 
thing  that  you  wish  to  be  gov^bv  mf^  ^  w^'"* 
much  obliged  to  you  in  co^nsequenceTat' I  wif/"'^ '° 
abandon  you,   but,  on  the  coLa^:  tlsI/o^tmZ 

»  'Vertoog  door  de  Gpdeputeerden  bv     Tnl,,    iro, 
monde  van  der  Heere  Menln'den  lx<««    Ha^e  iSnv^Vs  ^'""^^^  ^*^'^"'' 


304 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


MEMORIAL  OF  THE  ENVOYS. 


305 


last  sigh  of  my  life.  I  know  very  well  that  your 
princes  have  treated  you  ill,  and  that  the  Spaniards 
are  endeavouring  to  ruin  you  entirely ;  but  I  wQl  come 
to  your  aid,  and  I  will  consider  what  I  can  do,  consist- 
ently with  my  honour,  in  regard  to  the  articles  which 
you  have  brought  me.  They  shall  be  examined  by  the 
members  of  my  council,  and  I  promise  that  I  will  not 
keep  you  three  or  four  months,  for  I  know  very  well 
that  your  affairs  require  haste,  and  that  they  will  be- 
come ruinous  if  you  are  not  assisted.  It  is  not  my 
custom  to  procrastinate,  and  upon  this  occasion  1  shall 
not  dally,  as  others  have  done,  but  let  you  have  my 
answer  very  soon."  ^  ,  .  i    i 

Certainly,  if  the  Provinces  needed  a  king,  which  they 
had  most  nnequivocally  declared  to  be  the  case,  they 
might  have  wandered  the  whole  earth  over,  and,  had  it 
been  possible,  searched  through  the  whole  range  of 
history,  before  finding  a  monarch  with  a  more  kingly 
spirit  than  the  great  Queen  to  whom  they  had  at  last 
had  recourse. 

Unfortunately,  she  was  resolute  in  her  refusal  to 
accept  the  offered  sovereignty.  The  first  interview 
terminated  with  this  exchange  of  addresses,  and  the 
deputies  departed  in  their  barges  for  their  lodgings  in 
Pynchon-lane. 

The  next  two  days  were  passed  in  perpetual  confer- 
ences, generally  at  Lord  Burghley's  house,  between  the 
envoys  and  the  lords  of  the  <Jouncil,  in  which  the  accept- 
ance of  the  sovereignty  was  vehemently  urged  on  the 
part  of  the  Netherlanders,  and  steadily  declined  in  the 
name  of  her  Majesty. 

"  Her  Highness,"  said  Burghley,  *'  cannot  be  induced, 
by  any  writing  or  harangue  that  you  can  make,  to 
accept  the  principality  or  proprietorship  as  sovereign, 
and  it  will  therefore  be  labour  lost  for  you  to  exhibit 
any  writing  for  the  purpose  of  changing  her  intention. 
It  will  be  better  to  content  yourselves  with  her  Majesty's 
consent  to  assist  you,  and  to  take  you  under  her  pro- 
tection." • 

Nevertheless,  two  days  afterwards,  a  writing  was  ex- 

1  Vertoog,  Ac,  MS-  before  cited.  Com-        »  MS.  Report  of  the  Envoys-    Comp. 
pare  Bor,  ii.  636  seq^  Hoofd  Vervolgh.    Bor,  Hoofd,  ubi  tup. 
118. 


hibited,  drawn  up  by  Menin,in  which  another  elaborate 
effort  was  made  to  alter  the   Queen's   determination 
Ihis  anxiety,  on  the  part  of  men  already  the  principal 
personages  in  a  republic,   to   merge  the   independent 
existence   of  their   commonwealth    in   another   and  a 
foreign  political  organism,  proved,  at  any  rate,  that  tliev 
were  influenced  by  patriotic  motives  alone.     It  is  als6 
instructive  to  observe  the  intense  language  with  which 
the  necessity  of  a  central  paramount  sovereignty  for  all 
the  Provinces,  and  the  inconveniences  of  the  separate 
States'  right  prmciple  were  urged  by  a  deputation,  at 
the  head  of  which  stocd  Olden- Barneveld.      "  Although  it  is 
not  becoming  in  us,"  they  said,  "to  inquire  into  your 
Majesty  s  motives  for  refusing  the  soveieignty  of  our 
country,  nevertheless,  we  cannot  help  observino-  that 
your  consent  would  be  most  profitable,  as  well  io  your 
Majesty  and  your  successor,  as  to  the  Provinces  them- 
selves.    By  your  acceptance  of  the  sovereignty  the  two 
peoples  would  be,  as  it  were,  united  in  one  body.    This 
would  cause  a  fraternal  benevolence  between  them   and 
a  single  reverence,  love,  and  obedience  to  your  Majesty 
The  two  peoples  being  thus  under  the  government  of 
the  same  sovereign  prince,  the  intrigues  and  practices 
which  the  enemy  could  attempt  with  persons  under  a 
separate  subjection  would  of  necessity  surcease.     More- 
over, those  Provinces  are  all  distinct  duchies,  counties 
scignories,  governed  by  their  own  magistrates,  laws,  and 
ordinances  ;    each  by  itself,  without  any  authority  or 
command  to  be  exercised  by  one  Province  over  another. 
To  this  end  they  have  need  of  a  supreme  power  and  t.f 
one  sovereign  prince  or  seignor,  who  may  command  all 
equally,  having  a  constant  regard  to  the  public  weal- 
considered  as  a  generality,  and  not  with  regard  to  the 
profit  of  the  one  or  the  other  individual  Province— and 
causing  promptly  and  universally  to  be  executed  such 
ordinances   as   may  be  made  in  XhQ  matter  of  war  or 
police,  according  to  various  emergencies.     Each  Pro- 
vince, on  the  contrary,  retaining  its  sovereignty  over 
its  own  inhabitants,  obedience  will  not  be  so  promptly 
and   completely   rendered    to    the    commands   of    the 
lieutenant-general  of  your  Majesty,  and  many  a  good 
enterprise  and  opportunity  will  be  lost.     Where  there 
IS  not  a  single  authority  it  is  always  found  that  one 

VOL.       I.  y^ 


i 


806 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chaf.  VI. 


1585. 


tmrtv  endeavours  to  usnrp  power  over  another,  or  to 
Escape  doing  bis  duty  so  thoroughly  as  the  others.  And 
this  has  notoriously  been  the  case  in  the  matter  of  con- 
tributions, imposts,  and  similar  matters.'        ^  ,     .    ,, 

Thus  much,  and  more  of  similar  argument,  logically 
urged,  made  it  sufficiently  evident  that  twenty  years  of 
revolt  and  of  hard  fighting  against  one  king,  had  not 
destroyed  in  the  minds  of  the  leading  ^  etherlanders 
their  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  kmgship.     If  the 
new  commonwealth  was  likely  to  remain  a  republic,  it 
was  at  that  moment  at  any  rate,  because  they  could  not 
find  a  king.     Certainly  they  did  their  best  to  annex 
themselves  to  England,  and  to  become  loyal  subjects  of 
England's  Elizabeth.     But  the   Queen,   besides   other 
objections  to  the  course  proposed  by  the  1  rovinces 
thought  that  she  could  do  a  better  thing  in  the  way  of 
mortliges.     In  this,  perhaps,  there  was  something  of 
the  penny-wise  policy  which  sprang  from  one  great 
defect  in  her  character.     At  any  rate  much  mischief  was 
done  by  the  mercantile  spirit  which  dictated  the  hard 
chaffering  on  both  sides  the  Channel  at  this  important 
juncture  ;  for  during  this  tedious  flint-paring,  Antwerp, 
which   might  have   been  saved,  was   falling  into  the 
hands  of  Philip.    It  should  never  be  forgotten,  however 
that  the  Queen  had  no  standing  army,  and  but  a  small 
revenue.     The  men  to  be  sent  from  England  to  the 
Netherland  wars  were  first  to  be  levied  wherever  it  was 
possible  to  find  them.      In  tnith,  many  wei  e  pressed  m 
tiie  various  wards  of  London,  furnished  with  red  coats 
and  matchlocks  at  the  expense  of  the  citizens,  and  so 
despatched,  helterskelter,  in  small  squads  as  opportunity 
offered.'      General  Sir  John  Norris  was  already  super- 
intending those  operations,  by  command  of  the  Queen, 
before  the  present  formal  negotiation  with  thebtates 

had  begun.  ^  ,  i  •  i.   j       *v,« 

Subsequently  to  the   11th  July,  on  which  day  the 

second  address  had  been  made  to  Elizabeth,  the  envoys 

had  many  conferences  with  Leicester,  Burghley,  Wal- 

1  Remonstranae   der    Gedepulc«rden  monarchical  and  centripetal  tendencies, 

aan  H.  M     In  the  MS.  Report  before  thus  expressed  by  men  subsequently  the 

cited.    Compare  Bor.  ubi  sup.,  who.  as  representatives  of  very  different   doc- 

an  historiaTof  the  States'  right  and  trines ;  and  so  omits  these  passages  alto- 

r«publlcan  party,  seems  to  have  been  gether  from  his  abstract  of  the  report, 
ouwilling  to  give  currency  to  the  alrong       2  stowe, '  Chronicle,*  708-709. 


DISCUSSIONS  WITH  THE  MINISTERS. 


307 


VrotZ  %i  '^^''  councillors,  without  making  much 

Se^^ntil'"'  ""  ^^^^*^^^  "^^"^^-S  about^ures 

"  What  terms  will  you  pledge  for  the  repayment  of 

AvLsTngS  ^  '^  ^^^^-^^^"  -^ed   B^^h^r^nd 

^^lotTa^i'^^^^^^  land,and%hr:ifi 

Lord^lVeL^rr*^^^^^^^^^  '^''  again,"  said  the 

acceptLTtr^ovl'^^^^^^^^  Z^  think  of 

bat\o'id7ledge:^^^^ 

Province.'"  ^  *  *°''"  »"   ^^ch 

the  States  for  .t     "^^  respectively  by  the  Queen  and 
me  states  tor  the  common  cause.   The  Provinces  wi^^ 

^hiuT%^  ^^y  °"«-*'''r'i  «f  <te  whX  exTete 
Mjilo  her  Majesty  was  reluctant  to  pay  one-quS' 
The  btates  wwhed  a  permanent  force  to  be  ke^f.nl  ; 
m  the  Netherlands  ^f  thirteen  thousand  in  ^nt^  Ind 
two  thousand  cavalry  for  the  field,  and  twenty  three 
thousand  for  e-arrisnns      Ti,^  ^         -n        ''^«"i>-uiree 

last  item  too  much      Then  i  *=°""«'"'"-«  t'^«"gtt  <ho 
zr    ^"d-      Inen  there  were  queries  as  in  ih^ 

expense  of  maintaining  a  force  in  the  Provinces       The 

envoys  reckoned  one  pound  sterlinir  nr  w  fl    • 

month  torthe  pay  of  eacLootsS,^:udlUrer 
and  for  the  cavalry,  three  times  as  much.     Thfs  seemed 

thrrxpeise^onhe'"  ""^"'=^1  *"  ^^^  inquiries  Whig 
ine  expense  of  the  war-vessels  and  sailors  were  eauall? 

satisfactory.      Nevertheless  it  was  difficult  to  brt^r/^I 

garnsons  for  such  cautionary  to^ns  as  should  be  agreed 
and  loui  bundled  horse,  and  for  deducting  the  garrisons 

I  JMS.  Report. 

X  2 


l.i 


308 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


SECOND  SPEECH  OF  THE  QUEEN. 


even  from  Ihis  slender  force.  As  guarantee  for  the 
expense  thus  to  be  incurred,  she  required  that  Flushing 
and  Brill  should  be  placed  in  her  hands.  Moreover 
the  position  of  Antwerp  complicated  the  negotiation. 
Elizabeth,  fully  sensible  of  the  importance  of  preserving 
that  (^reat  capital,  offered  four  thousand  soldiers  to  serve 
untiUhat  city  should  be  relieved,  requiring  repayment 
within  three  months  after  the  object  should  have  been 
accomplished.  As  special  guarantee  for  such  repay- 
ment she  required  Slujs  and  Ostend.*  This  was  sharp 
bargaining,  but  at  any  rate,  the  envoys  knew  that  the 
Queen,  though  cavilling  to  the  ninth-part  of  a  hair,  was 
no  trifler,  and  that  she  meant  to  perform  whatever  she 

should  promise.  .^1,-0 

There  was  another  exchange  of  speeches  at  the  ra- 
lace  of  Nonesuch,  on  the  5th  August ;  and  the  position 
of  affairs  and  the  respective  attitudes  of  the  Queen  and 
envoys  were  plainly  characterized  by  the  language  then 

employed.  -  ,     o       •  i 

After  an  exordium  about  the  cruelty  of  the  bpanish 
tyranny  and  the  enormous  expense  entailed  by  the  war 
upon  the  Netherlands,  Menin,  who,  as  usual,  was  the 
spokesman,  alluded  to  the  difhculty  which  the  States  at 
last  felt  in  maintaining  themselves.  ^ 

"  Five  thousand  foot  and  one  thousand  horse,*  he  said, 
»'  over  and  above  the  maintenance  of  garrisons  in  the 
towns  to  be  pledged  as  security  to  your  Majesty,  seemed 
the  very  least  amount  of  succour  that  would  be  proba- 
bly obtained  from  your  royal  bounty.  Considering  the 
great  demonstrations  of  affection  and  promises  of  support 
made  as  well  by  your  Majesty's  own  letters  as  by  the 
mouth  of  your  ambassador  Davison,  and  by  our  envoys 
De  Gryze  and  Ortel,  who  have  all  declared  publicly 
that  your  Majesty  would  never  forsake  us,  the  States 
sent  us  their  deputies  to  this  country  in  full  confidence 
that  such  reasonable  demands  as  we  had  been  authorized 
to  make  would  be  satisfied.'* 

The  speaker  then  proceeded  to  declare  that  the  offer 
made  by  the  royal  councillors  of  four  thousand  foot  and 
four  hundred  horse,  to  serve  during  th#  war,  together 
with  a  special  force  of  four  thousand  for  the  relief  of 
Antwerp,  to  be  paid  for  within  three  months  after  the 

1  MS.  Report. 


309 

siege  should  be  raised,  against  a  concession  of  the  cities 
otHushmg  Brill,  Sluys,  and  Ostend,  did  not  come 
within  the  limitations  of  the  States-General.  They 
therefore  begged  the  Queen  to  enlarge  her  offer  to  the 
number  of  five  thousand  foot  and  oL  thousand  horse! 
or  at  least  to  allow  the  envoys  to  conclude  the  treaty 

M.t^fr^  f  il^^'"'''  l?'^^  concluded  his  address,  her 
fZfjorS:^%^^^^^  -^^^  --^  —tness'  and 
"Gentlemen,"  she  said,  - 1  will  answer  you  upon  the 
first  point  because  it  touches  my  honour.  You  Sat 
I  promised  you  both  by  letters  and  through  mngent 
Davison,  and  also  by  my  own  lips,  to  assfst  you  ^^d 
never  to  abandon  you,  and  that  this  had  moved  yoiTS 
come  to  me  at  present.  Veiy  well,  masters ;  do  you  no? 
think  I  am  assisting  you  when  I  am  sending  you  four 

tlTrrV'p  r.^'^"T^  ^.""^^  ^--  'o  «e-e  during 
fwT/  ^^^^^^1^' I  thmk,  yes;  and  I  say  frankly 
that  I  have  never  been  wanting  to  my  word.  No  man 
shall  ever  say,  .nth  truth,  that  the  Queen  of  EngS 
had  at  any  time  and  ever  so  slightly  failed  in  her  pro- 
Zl'LT^"'^''  ""  '^'  mightiest^'monarch,  to  repubfics, 

condition.  Am  I,  then,  m  your  opinion,  forsaking  you 
when   I  send  you  English  blood!  which  I  love^  IZ 

d^lt  9"  T7  ""'^^  ^^"^^'  ^^^  "'^^^^  I  ^^  bound  to 
aetend  /  It  seems  to  mo,  no.  For  my  part,  I  tell  vou 
again  that  I  will  never  forsake  you  *^  ^  '  "^  ^"""^ 
"  ded  de  modo  ?  That  is  matter  for  agreement.  You 
are  aware,  gentlemen,  that  I  have  stems  to  fear  from 
many  quarters-from  France,  Scotland,  Ireland  an^ 
withm  my  own  kingdom.  AVhat  would  be  said  if  I 
looked  only  on  one  side,  and  if  on  that  side  I  employed 
all  my  resources ?  No,  I  will  give  mysubjects  no  ca^ 
for  murmuring.  I  know  that  my  councillors  desire  to 
manage  matters  with  pnidence  ;  sed  cetatem  habeo,  and 
you  are  to  believe,  that,  of  my  own  motion,  I  have 
resolved  not  to  extend  my  offer  of  assistance,  at  present, 

1  Discours  du  Sr  Menin  «u  nora  des    1585.    (Hague  Archives.  MS  ^ 
deputes  des   I'rovinces  unies  prononcd        «  ReDon^^  de  Y*  Sn^    "^    tv 
devant  S.  M.  a  Nonsuch  le  5'd'Aou,'    prJ:::rc^:^:^^^::^^'^ 


d 


310 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


beyond  the  amount  already  stated.  But  I  don't  say  that 
at  another  time  I  may  not  be  able  to  do  more  for  you. 
For  my  intention  is  never  to  abandon  your  cause,  always 
to  assist  you,  and  never  more  to  suffer  any  foreign 
nation  to  have  dominion  over  you. 

*'  It  is  true  that  you  present  me  with  two  places  m 
each  of  your  Provinces.  1  thank  you  for  them  infinitely, 
and  certainly  it  is  a  great  offer.  But  it  will  be  said 
instantly,  the  Queen  of  England  wishes  to  embrace  and 
devour  everything  ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  I  only  wish 
to  render  you  assistance.'  1  believe,  in  truth,  that,  if 
other  monarchs  should  have  this  offer,  they  would  not 
allow  such  an  opportunity  to  escape.  I  do  not  let  it 
Flip  because  of  fears  that  I  entertain  for  any  prince 
whatever.  For  to  think  that  I  am  not  aware— doing 
what  I  am  doing— that  I  am  embarking  in  a  war  against 
the  King  of  Spain  is  a  great  mistake.  1  know  very  well 
that  the  succour  which  I  am  affording  you  will  offend 
him  as  much  as  if  I  should  do  a  great  deal  more.  But 
what  care  I  ?  *  Let  him  begin,  I  will  answer  him.  For 
my  part,  I  say  again,  that  never  did  fear  enter  my  heart. 
\Ve  must  all  die  once.  I  know  very  well  that  many 
princes  are  mv  enemies,  and  are  seeking  my  ruin  ;  and 
that,  where  malice  is  joined  with  force,  malice  often 
arrives  at  its  ends.  But  I  am  not  so  feeble  a  princess 
that  I  have  not  the  means  and  the  will  to  defend  myself 
against  them  all.  They  are  seeking  to  take  my  life,  but 
it  troubles  me  not.  He  who  is  on  high  has  defended  me 
until  this  hour,  and  will  keep  me  still,  for  in  Him  do  I 

trust. 

"  As  to  the  other  point,  yon  say  that  your  powers  are 
not  extensive  enough  to  allow  your  acceptance  of  the 
offer  I  make  you.  Nevertheless,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
I  have  remarked  in  passing-for  princes  look  very  close 
to  words— that  you  would  be  content  if  I  would  give 
you  money  in  place  of  men,  and  that  your  powers  speak 
only  of  demanding  a  certain  proportion  of  infantry  and 
another  of  cavalry.  I  believe  this  would  be,  as  you  say, 
an  e(iuivalent,   secundum  quod.      But   I   say   this  only 

1  •• mals  on  diroit  incontinent  que  (Discours  de  la  Royne,  &c.,  MS.  uW 

la  Uoyne  dAngleterre  rouldroit  embraii-  supra.) 

ser  et  gourmander  tout,  et  moy  je  ne       -  " mais  II  ne  m'en  chauU." 

veulx  qae  voiw  assister  et  ayder,"  Ac. 


1585. 


SECOND  SPEECH  OF  THE  QUEEN. 


311 


because  you  govern  yourselves  so  precisely  by  the  mea- 
sure of  your  instructions.  Nevertheless  I  don't  wish 
to  contest  these  points  with  you.  For  very  of  ten  dum 
Homes  disputatur  Saguntum  pent.  Nevertheless,  it  would 
be  well  for  you  to  decide ;  and,  in  any  event,  I  do  not 
think  it  good  that  you  should  all  take  your  departure, 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  you  should  leave  some  of  your 
number  here.  Otherwise  it  would  at  once  be  said'that 
all  was  broken  off,  and  that  I  had  chosen  to  do  nothing 
for  you ;  and  with  this  the  bad  would  comfort  them- 
selves, and  the  good  would  be  much  discourao*ed. 

"  Touching  the  last  point  of  your  demand— according 
to  which  you  desire  a  personage  of  quality— I  know, 
gentlemen,  that  you  do  not  always  agree  very  well 
among  yourselves,  and  that  it  would  be  good  for  you 
to  have  some  one  to  effect  such  agieement.  For  this 
reason  I  have  always  intended,  so  soon  as  we  should 
have  made  our  treaty,  to  send  a  lord  of  name  and 
authonty  to  reside  with  you,  to  assist  yuu  in  governing, 
and  to  aid,  with  his  advice,  in  the  better  direction  of 
your  affairs. 

"  Would  to  God  that  Antwerp  were  relieved !  Cer- 
tainly I  should  be  veiy  glad,  and  veiy  well  content  to 
lose  all  that  I  am  now  expending  if  that  city  could  be 
saved.  I  hope,  nevertheless,  if  it  can  hold  out  six  weeks 
longer,  that  we  shall  see  something  good.  Already  the 
two  thousand  men  of  General  N orris  have  crossed,  or 
are  crossing,  every  day  by  companies.  I  will  hasten  the 
rest  as  much  as  possible  ;  and  I  assure  you,  gentlemen, 
that  I  will  spare  no  diligence.  Nevertheless  you  may] 
if  you  choose,  retire  with  my  council,  and  see  if  together 
you  can  come  to  some  good  conclusion."* 

Thus  spoke  Elizabeth,  like  the  wise,  courageous,  and 
very  parsimonious  princess  that  she  was.  Alas,  it 
was  too  true,  that  Saguntum  was  perishing  while  the 
higgling  went  on  at  Kome.  Had  those  two  thousand 
under  fciir  John  Norris  and  the  rest  of  the  four  thousand 
but  gone  a  few  weeks  earlier,  how  much  liappier  might 
have  been  the  result ! 

Nevertheless,  it  was  thought  in  England  that  Antwerp 
would  still  hold  out ;  and,  meantime,  a  treaty   12th  Aug. 
for  its  relief,  in  combination  with  another  for      ^^^s- 

'  Discours  de  la  Royne,  &c.    (Hague  Archives,  MS.) 


312 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


peniianent  assistance  to  (he  Provinces,  was  agreed  upon 
between  the  envoys  and  the  lords  of  council. 

On  the  12th  August  Menin  presented  himself  at 
Nonesuch  at  the  head  of  his  colleagues,  and,  in  a  formal 
speech,  announced  the  arrangement  which  had  thus 
been  entered  into,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  States.* 
Again  Elizabeth,  whose  "  tongue,"  in  the  homely  phrase 
of  tlie  Netherlanders,  "  was  wonderfully  well  hung,"* 
replied  with  energ\'  and  ready  eloquence. 

"  You  see,  gentlemen,"  she  said,  "  tha£  I  have  opened 
the  door ;  that  I  am  embarking  once  for  all  with  you  in 
a  war  against  the  King  of  Spain.  Veiy  well ;  I  am  not 
anxious  about  the  matter.  I  hope  that  God  will  aid 
US,  and  that  we  shall  strike  a  good  blow  in  your  cause. 
Nevertheless,  I  pray  you,  with  all  my  heart,  and  by  the 
aflection  you  bear  me,  to  treat  my  soldiers  well ;  for 
they  are  my  own  Englishmen,  whom  I  love  as  I  do 
myself.  Certainly  it  would  be  a  great  cnielty  if  you 
shV)uld  treat  them  ill,  since  they  are  about  to  hazard 
their  lives  so  freely  in  your  defence,  and  I  am  sure  that 
my  request  in  this  regard  will  be  received  by  you  as  it 
deserves. 

"  In  the  next  place,  as  you  know  that  I  am  sending, 
as  commander  of  these  English  troops,  an  honest  gentle- 
man, who  deserves  most  highly  for  his  experience  in 
arms,  so  1  am  also  informed  that  you  have  on  your  side 
a  gentleman  of  great  valour.  I  pray  you,  therefore,  that 
good  care  be  taken  lest  there  be  misunderstanding 
between  these  two,  which  might  prevent  them  from 
agreeing  well  together,  when  great  exploits  of  war  are 
to  be  taken  in  hand.  For  if  that  should  happen-— which 
God  forbid— my  succour  would  be  rendered  quite  use- 
less to  you.  I  name  Count  Hohenlo,  because  him 
alone  have  I  heard  mentioned.  But  1  pray  you  to  make 
the  same  recommendation  to  all  the  colonels  and  gentle- 
men in  your  army ;  for  1  should  be  infinitely  sad  if 
misadventures  should  arise  from  such  a  cause,  for  your 
interest  and  my  honour  are  lx)th  at  stake. 

•'  In  the  third  place,  I  beg  you,  at  your  return,  to 
make  a  favourable  report  of  me,  and  to  thank  the  States, 
in  my  behalf,  for  their  great  offers,  which  I  esteem 
so  highl}^  as  to  be  unable  to  express  my  thanks.     Tell 

I  Diacoura  du  Sr.  Menin.    (Hague  Archives.  MS.)  •  Iloofd  Venolgb.  ll». 


THIRD  SPEECH  OF  THE  QUEEN. 


313 


them  that  I  shall  remember  them  for  ever.      I  consider 
It  a  great  honour,  that,  from  the  commencement    you 
have  ever  been  so  faithful  to  me,  and  that  with  such 
great   constancy  you   have   preferred  me  to  all   other 
princes    and  have  chosen  me  for  your   Queen.     And 
chiefly  do  I  thank  the  gentlemen  of  Holland  and  Zee- 
land,  who,  as  I  have  been  informed,  were  the  first  who  so 
singularly  loved  me.    And  so  on  my  own  part  I  will  have 
a  special  care  of  them,  and  will  do  my  best  to  uphold 
them  by  every  possible  means,  as  I  will  do  all  the  rest 
who  have  put  their  trust  in  me.     But  I  name  Holland 
and  Zeeland  more  especiaUy,  because  they  have  been  so 
constant  and  faithful  in  their  efibrts  to  assist  the  rest  in 
shaking  oft  the  yoke  of  the  enemy. 

.1  'l?'"^"^'^'^'  Sentlemen,  I  beg  you  to  assure  the  States 
that  1  do  not  decline  the  sovereignty  of  your  country 
from  any  dread  of  the  King  of  Spain.  For  I  t^ike  God 
to  witness  that  I  fear  him  not;  and  I  hope,  with  the 
blessing  of  God,  to  make  such  demonstrations  arrainst 
him,  that  men  shall  say  the  Queen  of  England  does  not 
fear  the  Spaniards." ' 

Elizabeth  then  smote  herself  upon  the  breast,  and 
cned,  with  great  energy,  -  7//a  que  virgo  viri ;  and  is  it 
not  quite  the  same  to  you,  oven  if  I  do  not  assume  the 
sovereignty,  since  I  intend  to  protect  you,  and  since 
therefore  the  eff"ects  will  be  the  same  ?  It  is  true  that 
the  sMDvereignty  would  serve  to  enhance  my  grandeur, 
but  I  am  content  to  do  without  it,  if  you,  upon  your 
own  part,  ^vill  only  do  your  duty.  For  mvsjlf,  I 
promise  you,  in  truth,  that  so  long  as  I  live,  and  even 
to  my  last  sigh,  I  will  never  forsake  you.     Go  home 

hUher''" «  *^  ^  ^^   ^^*®^   "''^'''^   ^^^^   ^'""^ 

Menin  then  replied  with  fresh  expressions  of  thanks 


1  Reponce  de  Sa  M^joste.  (Hague 
Archives,  MS.)  "  Car  je  jure  Pieu  que 
Je  lie  le  crains  pas, et  espere  avecq  layde 
de  Dieu  faire  telle  preuve  centre  luy, 
qu'on  dira  que  la  Koyne  d'  Angleterre  ue 
craint  pas  les  Espagnols.' 

*  Ibid. 

"  Et  frappant  sur  sa  poltrine  diet:  TVa 
qw  Virgo  viri.  Ne  vous  est  ce  pas  tout 
ung,  encoires  que  Je  ne  prenne  pas  la 
Bouverainete,  puisque  Je  vous  veulx  pro- 
tecter,  et  que  par  la  voos  aujrez  les  nies- 


mes  aff'-ctz.  II  est  vray  que  la  souve- 
rainete  ser^•iroit  a  raoy  pour  grandeur. 
Mais  Je  suis  bien  contente  de  ne  I'avoir 
pas,  et  que  seulement  vous  faictes  le 
debvoir  requis  do  voire  port.  Car  de  ma 
part  Je  vous  prometz  en  verite,  que  si 
long  temps  que  vivray,  et  Jusques  a  mon 
dernier  souspir,  que  Je  ne  vous  deslalg- 
seray  pas.  Co  que  pouve'.  hardiment 
a.sseurer  et  rapporter  k  Messrs.  les 
fistatz." 


314 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


and  compliments,  and  requested,  in  conclusion,  that  her 
Majesty  would  be  pleased  to  send,  as  soon  as  possible,  a 
personage  of  quality  to  the  Netherlands. 

"  Gentlemen,"  replied  Elizal>eth,  *'  I  intend  to  do  this 
80  soon  as  our  treaty  shall  be  ratified,  for,  in  contrary 
case,  the  King  of  Spain,  seeing  your  government  continue 
on  its  present  footing,  would  do  nothing  but  laugh  at 
lis.  Certainly  I  do  not  mean  this  year  to  provide  him 
with  so  fine  a  banquet."  * 

The  envoys  were  then  dismissed,  and  soon  afterwards 
a  portion  of  the  deputation  took  their  departure  from 
the  Netherlands  with  the  proposed  treaty.  It  was  how- 
ever, as  we  know,  quite  too  late  for  Saguntum.  Two 
days  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  the  remaining 
envoys  were  at  the  palace  of  Nonesuch,  in  conference 
with  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  when  a  gentleman  rushed 
suddenly  into  the  apartment,  exclaiming  with  great 
manifestations  of  anger  :  ,     •  i 

"  Antwerp  has  fallen  !  A  treaty  has  been  signed  with 
the  Prince  of  Parma.  Aldegonde  is  the  author  of  it  all. 
He  is  the  culprit  who  has  betrayed  us;"  with  many 
more  expressions  of  vehement  denunciation.* 

The  Queen  was  disappointed,  but  stood  firm.  She 
had  been  slow  in  taking  her  resolution,  but  she  was 
unflinching  when  her  mind  was  made  up.  Instead  of 
retreating  from  her  position,  now  that  it  became  doubly 
dangerous,  she  advanced  several  steps  nearer  towards 
her  allies.  For  it  was  obvious,  if  more  precious  time 
should  be  lost,  that  Holland  and  Zeeland  would  share 
the  fate  of  Antwei*p.  Already  the  belief  that,  with  the 
loss  of  that  city,  all  had  been  lost,  was  spreading  both 
in  the  Provinces  and  in  England,  and  Elizabeth  felt  that 
the  time  had  indeed  come  to  confront  the  danger. 


1  "C'est  ce  que  j'entens  anssy  de  faire 
aussy  to?t  que  serons  (I'aicor'l.  Car 
certe»  anltrement  le  Roy  dKiSimignc, 
voiant  la  continuation  de  vostre  gou- 
vernement,  il  ne  ferat  que  rirc  de  nous. 
Et  je  ne  lul  veulx  donner  pour  ceste 
annee  si  bon  bancquet."  (MS.  Report, 
Hague  Archives.) 

a  " is  corts  daemaar  by  r.yne  E.\cc 

nyte  earner  van  haere  Mat.  door  eenen 
idelman  den  ledepuieerden  doen  boot- 


scbappen  vant  verlies  ende  overgaen  der 
Btadt  van  Antwerpen  aen  den  vyand  op 
zelcer  verdrach  ofte  tractaet  metten 
Prince  van  Parma  gemaeckt.  Daeraff 
principal  autheur  ende  culpabel  werde 
gebouden  den  Heere  van  St.  Aldegonde, 
als  de  voom.  edelmann  opentlyck  ende 
baestich  verclaerde,  geggende  dat  de 
voom.  Aldegonde  ons  alien  verraden 
hadde," '  kc.  (MS.  Report  of  the  Envoys, 
Hague  Archives.) 


1585.  SIR  JOHN  NORRIS  SENT  TO  HOLLAND.  315 

Meantime  the  intrigues  of  the  enemy  in  the  inde- 
pendent Provinces  were   rife.     Blunt  Roffer 
Williams   wrote  in   very   plain   language   to  ''^^"^• 

AntwTi    •!-'  ^  ^^""^  ^^"^  ^^^^^  ^^^^"^  *^^  capitulation  of 

.  '1 1^  ^^y  Majesty  means  to  have  Holland  and  Zeeland  " 
said  he,  she  must  resolve  presently.  Aldegonde  hath 
promised  the  enemy  to  bring  them  to  compound  Here 
arrived  already  his  ministers  which  knew  all  his  deal! 
ings  about  Antwerp  from  first  to  last.  Count  Maurice 
IS  governed  altogether  by  ViHiers,  and  Vil  iers  w^ 
never  worse  for  the  English  than  'at  this  horn'  To 
be  short,  the  people  say  in  general,  they  will  accent  a 
peace  unless  her  Majesty  do  sovereign  them  piesent  y 
All  the  men  of  war  will  be  at  her  Hiihness'  devotion  if 

presently,  for  I  do  assure  your  honour  there  is  large 
offers  presented  unto  them  by  the  enemies.  If  her 
Majesty  deals  not  roundly  and  resolutely  with  them 

Her  Majesty  meant  to  deal  roundly  and  resolutely 
Her  troops  had  already  gone  in  considerable  nunibei^' 
bhe  wrote  encouraging  letters  with  her  own  hand  to  the 
States,  imploring  them  not  to  falter  now  even  though 
the  great  city  had  fallen.  She  had  long  since  ,Vo3 
never  to  desert  them,  and  she  was,  i?  possible  more 
determined  than  ever  to  redeem  her  pledge  X 
especially  recommended  to  their  consideration  General 
JSorns,  commander  of  the  forces  that  had  been  de- 
spatched to  the  relief  of  Antweip. 

A  most  accomplished  officer,  sprung  of  a  house  re- 
nowned fo^  its  romantic  valour,  Si^  Joh'^n  was  the  second 
of  the  SIX  sons  of  Lord  Korris  of  Rycot,  all  soldiers  of 
high  reputation.  ;  chickens  of  Mars,"  L  an  old  writer 
expressed  himself.  "  Such  a  bunch  of  brethren  for 
eminent  achievement,"  said  he,  '*was  never  seen  So 
great  their  states  and  stomachs  that  they  often  iostled 
with  others  -  Elizabeth  called  their^mother  'her 
own  crow;  "3  and  the  darkness  of  her  hair  and  visage 
was  thought  not  unbecoming  to  her  martial  issJe    by 

1  Capt.  Roger  Williams  'to  Walsing.       .  -  Martis  pulli."  Fuller's  •  Worthies.' 
awn,  -  August,  1535.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)    *^'  ^^^''  "•  227-229. 

.  ^         3  Ibid. 


316 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


whom  it  had  been  inherited.  Daughter  of  Lord  Wil- 
liams of  Tame,  who  had  been  keeper  of  the  Tower  in 
the  time  of  Elizabeth's  imprisonment,  she  had  been 
affectionate  and  sei-viceable  to  the  Princess  in  the  hour 
of  her  distress,  and  had  been  rewarded  with  her  favour 
in  the  days  of  her  grandeur.  We  shall  often  meet  this 
crow-black  Norris,  and  his  younger  brother  Sir  Edward 
—  the  most  daring  soldiers  of  their  time,  posters  of  sea 
and  land— wherever  the  buffeting  was  closest,  or  ad- 
venture the  wildest,  on  shipboard  or  shore,  fur  they 
were  men  who  combined  much  of  the  knight-errantry 
of  a  vanishing  a^e  with  the  more  practical  and  ex- 
pansive spirit  of  adventure  that  characterized  the  new 

epoch.  X     1       1       1  rm 

Nor  was  he  a  stranger  in  the  Netherlands.  '*  Tlie 
i>etter  13  gentleman  to  whom  we  have  committed  the 
Aug.  1585.  government  of  the  forces  going  to  the  relief  of 
Antwerp,"  said  Elizabeth,  *'has  already  given  you  such 
proofs  of  his  affection  by  the  good  sei-vices  he  has 
rendered  you,  that,  without  recommendation  on  our 
part,  he  should  stand  already  recommended.  Neverthe- 
less,' in  respect  for  his  quality,  the  house  from  which 
he  is  descended,  and  the  valour  which  he  has  manifested 
in  your  o^vn  countr}%  we  desire  to  tell  you  that  we 
hold  him  dear,  and  that  he  deserves  also  to  be  dear  to 


1585. 


PARSIMONY  OF  ELIZABETH. 


317 


»» 1 


you. 

AMien  the  fall  of  Antwerp  was  certain,  the  Queen  sent 
Davison,  who  had  been  for  a  brief  period  in  England, 
back  again  to  his  post.  "  We  have  learned,"  she  sai 
in  the  letter  whicli  she  sent  by  that  envoy,  "  with  very 
great  regret  of  the  surrender  of  Antwerp.  Fearing 
lest  some  apprehension  should  take  possession  of  the 
people's  mind  in  consequence,  and  that  some  dangerous 
change  might  ensue,  we  send  you  our  faithful  and  well- 
beloved  Davison  to  represent  to  you  how  much  we  have 
your  affairs  at  heart,  and  to  say  that  we  are  determined 
to  forget  nothing  that  may  be  necessary  to  your  pre- 
servation. Assure  yourselves  that  we  shall  never  fail 
to  accomplish  all  that  he  may  promise  you  in  our 
behalf."  • 


«  Lettre  de  S.  M.  contenante  credence 

neraulx,  -  Aug.  1685.  (Hague  Archives    pour   le   Sieur   Davison,  -Jse^  ^*®* 

(Hague  Archivea,  MS.) 


I  Lettre  de  la  Royne  aux  Etats  ge- 
erai 
MS.) 


Yet,  notwithstanding  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  tho 
thorough  discussion  that  had  taken  place  of  the  whole 
matter,  and  the  enormous  loss  which  had  resulted  from 
the  money-saving  insanity  upon  both  sides,  even  then 
the  busy  devil  of  petty  economy  was  not  quite  exorcised 
feeyeral  precious  weeks  were  wasted  in  renewed  chaf- 
ferings      The  Queen  was  willing  that  the  permanent 
torce  should  now  be  raised  to  five  thousand  foot  and  one 
thousand   horse— the  additional  sixteen  hundred  men 
being  taken  from  the  Antwerp  relieving  force— but  she 
insisted  that  the   garrisons   for  the  cautionary  towns 
should  be  squeezed  out  of  this  general  contingent     The 
btates,  on  the  contrary,  were  determined  to  screw  these 
garrisons  out  of  her  grip,   as  an   additional  subsidy. 
Lach  party  complained  with  reason  of  the  other's  close- 
ness,    ^o  doubt   the  States  were   shrewd  bargainers, 
but  It  would  have  been  difficult  for  the  sharpest  Hol- 
lander that  ever  sent  a  cargo  of  herrings  to  Cadiz  to 
force  open  Elizabeth's  beautiful  hand  when  she  cho.se  to 
shut  it  close.     Walsingham  and  Leicester  were  alter- 
nately driven  to  despair  by  the  covetousness  of  the  one 
party  or  the  other. 

It  was  still  uncertain  what  "personage  of  quality" 
was  to  go  to  the  Netheriands  in  the  Queen's  name,  to 
help  govern  the,  countiy.     Leicester  had  professed  his 
readiness  to  risk  his  life,  estates,  and  reputation,  in  the 
cause,  and  the  States  particularly  desired  his  appoint- 
ment.    "  The  name  of  your  Excellency  is  so  veiy  agree- 
able to  this  people,"  said  they  in  a  letter  to  the  Eari 
*'  as  to  give  promise  of  a  brief  and  happy  end  to  this 
grievous  and  almost  immortal  war." '     The  Queen  was 
or  affected  to  be,  still  undecided  as  to  the  appointment' 
AN  hile  waiting  week  after  week  for  the  ratifications  of 
the  treaty  from  Holland,  affaire  were  looking  gloomy  at 
home,  and  her  Majesty  was  growing  very  uncertain  in 
her  temper. 

*'I  i^ee  not  her  Majesty  disposed  to  use  the  service 
of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,"  wrote  Walsingham.  '*  I  sui>- 
pose  the  lot  of  goveiTiment  will  light  on  Lord  Gray.  I 
would  to  God  the  ability  of  his  purse  were  answerable 

1  r^ttre  des  etafs  generaux  au  Comte    venir  panie^a  au  gouveniement  du  pays, 
de  I^icester,  afin  qu'il  pleust  a  son  Exce    (Hague  Archives  ilS.^ 
accepter  le  conimandement  de  S.  M.  pour 


318 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


to  his  sufficiency  otherwise."*  This  was  certainly  a 
most  essential  deticiency  on  the  part  of  Lord  Gray,  and 
it  will  soon  be  seen  that  the  personage  of  quality  to  bo 
selected  as  chief  in  the  arduous  and  honourable  enter- 
prise now  on  foot  would  be  obliged  to  rely  quite  as 
much  on  that  same  ability  of  purse  as  upon  the  suffi- 
ciency of  his  brain  or  arm.  The  Queen  did  not  mean 
to  send  her  favourite  forth  to  purchjise  anything  but  ho- 
nour in  the  Netherlands  ;  and  it  was  not  the  Trovinces 
only  that  were  likely  to  straggle  against  her  parsimony. 
Yet  that  parsimony  sprang  from  a  nobler  motive  than 
the  mere  love  of  pelf  Bangers  encompassed  her  on 
every  side ;  and  while  husbanding  her  own  exchequer, 
she  was  saving  her  subjects'  resources.  "  Here  we  are 
but  bookworms,"  said  Walbingham,  **yet  from  sundry 
quarters  we  hear  of  great  practices  against  this  poor 
crown.  The  revolt  of  Scotland  is  greatly  feared,  and 
that  out  of  hand."  * 

Scotland,  France,  Spain,  these  were  dangerous  ene- 
mies and  neighbours  to  a  maiden  Queen,  who  had  a 
rebellious  Ireland  to  deal  with  on  one  sid^the  Channel, 
and  Alexander  of  Parma  on  the  other. 

Davison  experienced  great  inconvenience  and  annoy- 
ance before  the  definite  arrangements  could  be  made. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Spanish  party  had  made 
great  progress  since  the  fall  of  Antwerp.  Roger  Wil- 
liams was  right  in  advising  the  Queen  to  deal  "  roundly 
and  resolutely"  with  the  States,  and  to  »' sovereign 
them  presently." 

lliey  had  need  of  being  sovereigned,  for  it  must  be 
confessed  that  the  self-government  which  prevailed  at 
that  moment  was  very  like  no  government.  The  death 
of  Orange,  the  treachery  of  Henry  III.,  the  triumphs  of 
Parma,  disastrous  facts,  treading  rapidly  upon  each 
other,  had  produced  a  not  very  unnatural  effect.  The 
peace-at-any-price  party  was  straggling  hard  for  the 
ascendency,  and  the  Spanish  partizaus  were  doing  their 
best  to  hold  up  to  suspicion  the  sharp  practice  of  the 
English  Queen.  She  was  even  accused  of  underhand 
dealing  with  Spain,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Provinces ; 
so  much  had  slander,  anarchy,  and  despair  been  able  to 
effect.      The  States  were  reluctant  to  sign  those  articles 

»  Waklngham  to  Davison,  *-  Sept  1585.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  •  IbkL 


1585. 


ENERGY  OF  DAVISON. 


319 


^I'Lt^'r''''^  "^"^  "^^^  ^^^^^"^^^^  necessary  to  their 

poinfr^^^^^^  ui.n  t, 

— elo^ndtor'^^^^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^  thousanV^rn' 
Ihis,  as  Davison  proceeded  to  observe,  was  considered 

interests  and  the  temper  of  both  countries. 
*.,       .  '«Penous   Elizabeth   was    not  fond  of   beino- 
thwarted,  least  of  all  by  anything  savourine  of  th? 
democratic  principle,   and    alread/  there    w£    Lch 

routrlT'"  ^^<^J^ior  spirit  of  absolutism  and  "he 
rough     mechanical     nature  with  which  it  was  to  allv 

w^  notM':  ^^'^f  .-<J-     I'ho  economical  Ehl^be^ 
was  not  pleased  at  being  overreached  in  a  bar-ain  •  and 
at  a  moment  when  she  thought  herself  doing  fmaCi 
mous  act  she  was  vexed  at  the  cavilling  wit\  w^td? !«; 
generosity  was  received.  "  'Tis  a  manner  of  proceed^" 

wen  Zt^^^r'  :  "°'  *°  ^  ''""-^'l  of,  aK^y  vfi^y 
Teketh  .T-1  "'^<^J«!"^<^.  «on«Mering  that  her  jfajes^ 
the  Fr^M  ^.*«"^^  ■»  that  countiy-as  Monsieur  and 
w^^^houHeird"^  ,' V*^'  °"'y  ^^'^'^  g-^od  and  benefi"; 

IwLlf  fnfn  »  ^^^^"^    ^"^^  •   ^««Wes   throwing 

^^ltlri.l^T\^^'  ^"^  «h«'^  «akes  with  the 
greatest  prince  and  potentate  in  Europe.  But  seeino- 
the  government  of  those  countries  reste^tb  in  the  hand! 
of  merchants  and  advocates-the  one  regarding  profiT 

'  ^'■'*"' '»  a^Moy.  24  S«pu  1585.  (S.  p.  Offlce  MS.) 


•320 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


tlie  other  standing  upon  vantage  of  quirks— there  is  no 
better  fruit  to  be  looked  to  from  them,"* 

Yet  it  was,  after  all,  no  quirk  in  those  merchants  and 
advocates  to  urge  that  the  Queen  was  not  going  to  war 
with  the  great  jX)tentato  for  their  sakes  alone.  To 
Elizabeth's  honour,  she  did  thoroughly  comprehend  that 
the  war  of  the  Netherlands  was  the  war  of  England,  of 
Protestantism,  and  of  European  liberty,  and  that  bho 
could  no  longer,  without  courting  her  own  destniction, 
defer  taking  a  part  in  active  military  operations.  It 
was  no  quirk,  then,  but  solid  reasoning,  for  the  States 
to  regard  the  subject  in  the  same  light.  Holland  and 
England  were  embarked  in  one  boat,  and  were  to  sink 
or  swim  together.  It  was  waste  of  time  to  wrangle  so 
fiercely  over  pounds  and  shillings,  but  the  fault  was  not 
to  be  exclusively  imputed  to  the  one  side  or  the  other. 
There  were  bitter  recriminations,  particularly  on  the 
part  of  Elizabeth,  for  it  was  not  safe  to  touch  too  closely 
either  the  pride  or  the  pocket  of  that  frugal  and  despotic 
heroine.  "  The  two  thousand  pounds  promised  by  the 
States  to  Norris  upon  the  muster  of  the  two  thousand 
volunteers,'*  said  Walsingham,  "  were  not  paid.  Her 
Majesty  is  not  a  little  otlended  therewith,  seeing  how 
little  care  they  have  to  yield  her  satisfaction,  which  she 
imputeth  to  proceed  rather  from  contempt  than  from 
necessity.  If  it  should  fall  out,  however,  to  be  such 
as  by  them  is  pretended,  then  doth  she  conceive  her 
bargain  to  be  very  ill  made,  to  join  her  fortune  with  so 
weak  and  broken  an  estate."*  Already  there  were 
indications  that  the  innocent  might  be  made  to  suffer 
for  the  shortcomings  of  the  real  culprits  ;  nor  would  it 
be  the  first  time,  or  by  any  means  the  last,  for  Davison 
to  appear  in  the  character  of  a  scapegoat. 

"  Surely,  sir,"  continued  Mr.  Secretary,  "  it  is  a  thing 
greatly  to  be  feared  that  the  contributions  they  will 
yield  will  fall  not  more  true  in  paper  than  in  payment ; 
which  if  it  should  so  happen,  it  would  turn  some  to 
blame,  whereof  you  among  others  are  to  bear  your  part."^ 

And  thus  the  months  of  September  and  of  October 
wore  away,  and  the  ratifications  of  the  treaty  had  not 
arrived  from  the  Netherlands.  Elizabeth  became  furious, 
and  those  of  the  Netherland  deputation  who  had  remained 

1  Walaiiigham  to  Davidon,  23  Oct.  1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)       "  IWd.       '  ibtd. 


1585. 


PROTRACTED  NEGOTIATIONS. 


321 


in  England  were  at  their  wits'  end  to  appease  her  cholen 
No  news  arrived  for  many  weeks.  Those  were  not  the 
days  of  steam  and  magnetic  telegraphs— inventions  by 
which  the  nature  of  man  and  the  aspect  of  history  seem 
altered— and  the  Queen  had  nothing  for  it  but  to  fret, 
and  the  envoys  to  concert  with  her  ministers  expedients 
to  mitigate  her  spleen.  Towards  the  end  of  the  month 
the  commissioners  chartered  a  vessel  which  they  des- 
patched for  news  to  Holland.  On  his  way  across  the 
sea  the  captain  was  hailed  on  the  28th  October  by  a  boat, 
in  which  one  Hans  ^^'yghans  was  leisurely  proceeding 
to  England  with  Netherland  despatches  dated  on  the  5th 
of  the  same  month.  Tliis  was  the  freshest  intelligence 
that  had  yet  been  received. 

So  soon  as  the  envoys  were  put  in  possession  of  the 
documents,  they  obtained  an  audience  of  the  Queen. 
This  was  the  last  day  of  October.  Elizabeth  31st  oct.  ' 
read  her  letters,  and  listened  to  the  apologies  ^•'*«^5. 
made  by  the  deputies  for  the  delay  with  an^i;hing  but  a 
benignant  countenance.  Then,  with  much  vehemence  of 
language,  and  manifestations  of  ill-temper,  she  expressed 
her  displeasure  at  the  dilatoriness  of  the  States.  Having 
sent  so  many  troops,  and  so  many  gentlemen  of  quality, 
she  had  considered  the  whole  affair  concluded. 

*'  I  have  been  unhandsomely  treated,"  she  said,  '*  and 
not  as  comports  with  a  prince  of  my  quality.  My 
inclination  for  your  support — because  you  show  your- 
selves unworthy  of  so  gieat  benefits— will  be  entirely 
destroyed,  unless  you  deal  with  me  and  mine  more 
worthily  for  the  future  than  you  have  done  in  the  past. 
Through  my  great  and  especial  affection  for  your 
welfare,  I  had  ordered  the  Earl  of  Leicester  to  proceed 
to  the  Netherlands,  and  conduct  your  affairs  ;  a  man  of 
such  quality  as  all  the  world  knows,  and  one  whom  I 
love  as  if  he  were  my  own  brother.  He  was  getting 
himself  ready  in  all  diligence,  putting  himself  in  many 
perils  through  the  practices  of  the  enemy ;  and  if  I  should 
have  reason  to  believe  that  he  would  not  be  respected 
there  according  to  his  due,  I  should  be  indeed  offended. 
He  and  many  others  are  not  going  thither  to  advance 
their  own  affaire,  to  make  themselves  rich,  or  because 
they  have  not  means  enough  to  live  magnificently  at 
home.     They  proceed   to   the  Netherlands  from  pui-e 

VOL.  I.  "  Y 


322 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


i\^ 


affection  for  your  cause.  This  is  the  case,  too,  with 
many  other  of  my  subjects,  all  dear  to  me,  and  of  much 
worth.  For  I  have  sent  a  fine  heap  of  folk  thither — in 
all,  with  those  his  Excellency  is  taking  with  him,  not 
under  ten  thousand  soldiers  of  the  English  nation.  This 
is  no  small  succour,  and  no  little  unbaring  of  this  realm 
of  mine,  threatened  as  it  is  with  war  from  many  quarters. 
Yet  I  am  seeking  no  sovereignty,  nor  anything  else 
prejudicial  to  the  freedom  of  your  country.  I  wish  only, 
in  your  utmost  need,  to  help  you  out  of  this  lamentable 
war,  to  maintain  for  you  liberty  of  ccmscience,  and  to 
see  that  law  and  justice  are  preserved."  ' 

All  this,  and  more,  with  great  eagerness  of  expression 
and  gesture,  was  urged  by  the  Queen,  much  to  the  dis- 
comfiture of  the  envoys.  In  vain  they  attempted  to 
modify  and  to  explain.  Their  faltering  excuses  were 
swept  rapidly  away  upon  the  current  of  royal  wrath ; 
until  at  last  Elizabeth  stormed  herself  into  exhaustion 
and  comparative  tranquillity.  She  then  dismissed  them 
with  an  assurance  that  her  good-will  towards  the  States 
was  not  diminished,  as  would  be  found  to  be  the  case, 
did  they  not  continue  to  prove  themselves  unworthy  of 
her  favour.* 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  whole  matter 
was  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties.  It  was 
agreed  that  a  permanent  force  of  five  thousand  foot  and 
one  thousand  horse  should  serve  in  the  Provinces  at  the 
Queen's  expense ;  and  that  the  cities  of  Flushing  and 
Brill  should  be  placed  in  her  Majesty's  hands  imtil  the 
entire  reimbursement  of  the  debt  thus  incurred  by  the 
States.  Elizabeth  also — at  last  overcoming  her  reluc- 
tance—agreed that  the  force  necessary  to  garrison  these 
towns  should  form  an  additional  contingent,  instead  of 
being  deducted  from  the  general  auxiliary  force." 

Count  Maurice  of  Nassau  had  been  confirmed  by  the 
States  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  as  permanent  stadholder 
of  those  provinces.  This  measure  excited  some  sus- 
picion on  the  part  of  Leicester,  who,  as  it  was  now 
understood,  was  the  "  personage  of  quality  "  to  be  sent 

1  Brief  der  Gedepateerden  in  England  '  Report  of  the  Envoys,  MS. ;  Articles 

aan  de  Staaten  General,  1  Nov.  1585,  of  Treaty,  kc.  MS.  (Hague  Archives). 

(Hague  Archives.  MS.)  Compare  Dor,  11.  664 ;  Hoofd  Vervolgh, 

«  Ibid,  123. 


1585.     FRIENDLY  SENTIMENTS  OF  COUNT  MAURICE.        323 

to  the  Netherlands  as  representative  of  the  Queen's 
authority.  "  Touching  the  election  of  Count  Maurice  " 
said  the  Earl,  "  I  hope  it  will  be  no  impairing  of  the 
authoiity  heretofore  allotted  to  me,  for,  if  it  wHl  be  I 
shall  tarry  but  awhile."  *  ' 

Nothing,  however,  could  be  more  frank  or  chival- 
rously devoted  than  the  language  of  Maurice  to  the 
Queen. 

"  Madam,  if  I  have  ever  had  occasion,"  he  wrote  "to 
thank  God  for  his  benefits,  I  confess  that  it  was  When 
receiving  in   all   humility   the   letters   with  which  it 
pleased  your  Majesty  to  honour  me,  I  learned  that  the 
great  disaster  of  my  lord  and  father's  death  had  not 
diminished  the  debonaire   aff'ection  and  favour  which 
It  has^  always  pleased  your  Majesty  to  manifest  to  my 
father  s  house.      It  has  been  likewise  grateful  to  me  to 
learn  that  your  Majesty,  surrounded  by  so  many  OTeat 
and  important  affairs,  had  been  pleased  to  approve  the 
command  which  the  States-General  have  conferred  upon 
me.     I   am  indeed    grieved  that  my    actions    cannot 
correspond  with  the  ardent  desire  which  I  feel  to  servo 
your  Majesty  and  these  Provinces,  for  which  I  hope  that 
my  extreme  youth  will  be  accepted  as  an  excuse.     And 
although  I  find  myself  feeble  enough  for  the  charge  thus 
imposed  upon   me,  yet  God   will   assist  my  efforts  to 
supply  by  diligence  and  sincere  intention  the  defect  of 
the  other  qualities  requisite  for  my  thorough  discharge 
of  my  duty  to  the  contentment  of  your  Majesty.     To 
fulfil  these  obligations,  which  are  growing  greater  day 
by  day,  I  trust  to  prove  by  my  actions  that  I  will  never 
spare  either  my  labour  or  life."  * 

When  it  was  foimd  that  the  important  town  of 
Flushing  was  required  as  part  of  the  guaranty  to  the 
Queen,  Maurice,  as  hereditary  seignor  and  proprietor  of 
the  place— during  the  captivity  of  his  elder  brother  in 
Spain— signified  his  concurrence  in  the  transfer,  to- 
gether with  the  most  friendly  feelings  towards  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  and  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  appointed  English 
governor  of  the  town.  He  wrote  to  Davison,  whom  he 
called  '*  one  of  the  best  and  most  certain  friends  that  the 


>•  Leicester  to  Davison,  Nov.  18,  1585. 
(S.  F.  Office  MS.) 

*  Count  Maurice  to  the  Qnecn,  —    Oct. 


I5ft6.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)    The  letter  ia 
in  French. 


Y    9 


ii 


S24 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


House  of  Nassau  possessed  in  England,"  begging  that  he 
would  recommend  the  interests  of  the  family  to  the 
Queen,  "  whose  favour  could  do  more  than  anything 
else  in  the  world  towards  maintaining  what  remained 
of  the  dignity  of  their  house."  *  After  solemn  delibera- 
tion with  his  step-mother,  Louisa  de  Coligny,  and  the 
other  members  of  his  family,  he  made  a  formal  announce- 
ment of  adhesion  on  the  part  of  the  House  of  Nassau  to 
the  arrangements  concluded  with  the  English  govern- 
ment, and  asked  the  benediction  of  God  upon  the  treaty. 
While  renouncing,  for  the  moment,  any  compensation 
for  his  consent  to  the  pledging  of  Flushing—*'  his  patri- 
monial property,  and  a  place  of  such  great  importance  " 

he  expressed  a  confidence  that  the  long  services  of 

his  father,  as  well  as  those  which  he  himself  hoped  to 
render,  would  meet  in  time  with  '*  condign  recognition." 
He  requested  the  Earl  of  Leicester  to  consider  the 
friendship  which  had  existed  between  himself  and  the 
late  Prince  of  Orange,  as  an  hereditary  affection  to  be 
continued  to  the  children,  and  he  entreated  the  Earl  to 
do  him  the  honour  in  future  to  hold  him  as  a  son,  and 
to  extend  to  him  counsel  and  authority ;  declaring,  on 
his  part,  that  he  should  ever  deem  it  an  honour  to  be 
allowed  to  call  him  father.  And  in  order  still  more 
strongly  to  confirm  his  friendship,  he  begged  Sir  Philip 
Sidney  to  consider  him  as  his  brother,  and  as  his  com- 
panion in  arms,  promising  upon  his  own  part  the  most 
faithful  friendship.  In  the  name  of  Louisa  de  Coligny, 
and  of  his  whole  family,  he  also  particularly  recom- 
mended to  the  Queen  the  interests  of  the  eldest  brother 
of  the  house,  Philip  William,  *'  who  had  been  so  long 
and  so  iniquitously  detained  captive  in  Spain;"  and 
begged  that,  in  case  prisoners  of  war  of  high  rank  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  English  commanders,  they 
might  be  employed  as  a  means  of  effecting  the  liberation 
of  that  much-injured  Prince.  He  likewise  desired  the 
friendly  offices  of  the  Queen  to  protect  the  principality 
of  Orange  against  the  possible  designs  of  the  French 
monarch,  and  intimated  that  occasions  might  arise  in 
which  the  confiscated  estates  of  the  family  in  Burgundy 

»  Maurice  de  Naaaau  to  Daviion,  12    176".  MS.;  same  to  same,  25  Oct.  15»'5j 
Oct.  1685,  Brit.  Mus.,  Galba,   C.    viiL    Galba,  C.  vilL  189  \  MS. 


1585.     LETTERS  FROM  HIM  AND  LOUISA  DE  COLIGNY.     325 

might  be  recovered  through  the  influence  of  the  Swiss 
cantons,  particularly  those  of  the  Grisons  and  of  Berne. 

And,  in  conclusion,  in  case  the  Queen  should  please 
— as  both  Count  Maurice  and  the  Princess  of  Orange 
desired  with  all  their  hearts — to  assume  the  sovereignty 
of  these  Provinces,  she  was  especially  entreated  gra- 
ciously to  observe  those  suggestions  regarding  the  in- 
terests of  the  House  of  Nassau  which  had  been  made  in 
the  articles  of  the  treaty.* 

Thus  the  path  had  been  smoothed,  mainly  through 
the  indefatigable  energy  of  Davison.  Yet  that  envoy 
was  not  able  to  give  satisfaction  to  his  imperious  and 
somewhat  whimsical  mistress,  whose  zeal  seemed  to  cool 
in  proportion  to  the  readiness  with  which  the  obstacles 
to  her  wishes  were  removed.  Davison  was,  with  rea- 
son, discontented.  He  had  done  more  than  Rnj  other 
man,  either  in  England  or  the  Provinces,  to  bring  about 
a  hearty  co-operation  in  the  common  cause,  and  to  allay 
mutual  heartburnings  and  suspicions.  He  had  also, 
owing  to  the  negligence  of  the  English  treasurer  for  the 
Netherlands,  and  the  niggardliness  of  Elizabeth,  been 
placed  in  a  position  of  great  financial  embarrassment. 
His  situation  was  very  irksome. 

**  I  mused  at  the  sentence  you  sent  me,"  he  wrote, 
"  for  I  know  no  cause  her  Majesty  hath  to  shrink  at  her 
charges  hitherto.  The  treasure  she  hath  yet  disbursed 
here  is  not  above  five  or  six  thousand  pounds,  besides 
that  which  I  have  been  obliged  to  take  up  for  the 
saving  of  her  honour,  and  necessity  of  her  service,  in 
danger  otherwise  of  some  notable  disgrace.  I  will  not, 
for  shame,  say  how  I  have  been  left  here  to  myself."  * 

The  delay  in  the  formal  appointment  of  Leicester, 
and  more  particularly  of  the  govemora  for  the  cautionary 
towns,  was  the  cause  of  gieat  confusion  and  anarchy  in 
the  transitional  condition  of  the  country.  "  The  burden 
I  am  driven  to  sustain,"  said  Davison,  "  doth  utterly 
weary  me.  If  Sir  Philip  Sidney  were  here,  and  if  my 
Lord  of  Leicester  follow  not  all  the  sooner,  I  would  use 
her  Majesty's  liberty  to  return  home.  If  her  ]\Iajesty 
think  me  worthy  the  reputation  of  a  poor,  honest,  and 


I 


I  Ijouisa  de  Coligny  and  Maurice  de        «  Davison   to  - 
Nassau  U>  Earl    cf   Leicester,   19  Oct.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
1685.  (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  C.  viii.  180,  MS.) 


11   Nov.   1585. 


326 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CThap.  VI. 


1585. 


DlSSATISFACnON  OF  LEICESTER. 


327 


loyal  servant,  I  have  that  contents  me.  For  the  rest,  I 
wish 

"  Vivere  sine  invtdia,  mollesqiie  InRlorios  anDOS 
Exlgere,  amicitiati  et  mihi  Juni;ere  pares." 

There  was  something  almost  prophetic  in  the  tone 
which  this  faithful  public  servant — to  whom,  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  stich  hard  measure  was  to  be  dealt — 
habitually  adopted  in  his  private  letters  and  conver- 
sation. He  did  his  work,  but  he  had  not  his  reward ; 
and  he  was  already  weary  of  place  without  power,  and 
industry  without  recognition. 

"  For  mine  own  particular,"  he  said,  "  I  will  say  with 
the  poet, 

"  Crede  mlhi,  bene  qui  Intuit  hme  vixit." 
Et  intra  fortonum  debet  qulsque  manere  saam  * 

For,  notwithstanding  the  avidity  with  which  Elizabeth 
liad  sought  the  cautionary  towns,  and  the  fierceness 
with  which  she  had  censured  the  tardiness  of  the  States, 
she  seemed  now  half  inclined  to  drop  the  prize  which 
she  had  so  much  coveted,  and  to  imitate  the  very 
languor  which  she  had  so  lately  rebuked.  *'  She  hath 
what  she  desired,"  said  Davison,  '*and  might  yet  have 
more,  if  this  content  her  not.  Howsoever  you  value  the 
])lacos  at  home,  they  are  esteemed  here,  by  such  as  know 
them  best,  no  little  increase  to  her  Majesty's  honour, 
surety,  and  greatness,  if  she  be  as  careful  to  keep  them 
as  happy  in  getting  them.  Of  this  our  cold  beginning 
doth  already  make  me  jealous."  ' 

Sagacious  and  resolute  princess  as  she  was,  she 
showed  something  of  feminine  caprice  upon  this  grave 
occasion.  Not  Davison  alone,  but  her  most  confidential 
ministers  and  favourites  at  home,  were  perplexed  and 
provoked  by  her  misplaced  political  coquetries.  But 
while  the  alternation  of  her  hot  and  cold  fits  drove  her 
most  devoted  coi'irtiers  out  of  patience,  there  was  one 
symptom  that  remained  invariable  throughout  all  her 
paroxysms,  the  rigidity  with  which  her  hand  was 
locked.  W'alsingham,  stealthy  enough  when  an  ad- 
vantage was  to  be  gained  by  subtlety,  was  manful  and 
determined  in  his  dealings  with  his  friends ;  and  he  had 


1  Davison  to 


-,  U  Nov.  1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


•  lUd. 


more  than  once  been  offended  with  Elizabeth's  want  of 
frankness  in  these  transactions. 

"  I  find  you  grieved,  and  not  without  cause,"  he  wrote 
to  Davison,  "  in  respect  to  the  over  thwart  proceedings 
as  well  there  as  here.  The  disorders  in  those  countries 
would  be  easily  redressed  if  we  could  take  a  thoroughly 
resolute  course  here — a  matter  that  men  may  rather  pray 
for  than  hope  for.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the 
action  now  in  hand  will  be  accompanied  by  very  hard 
success,  unless  they  of  the  country  there  may  be  drawn 
to  bear  the  greatest  part  of  the  burden  of  the  wars."  ' 

And  now  the  great  favourite  of  all  had  received  the 
appointment  which  he  coveted.  The  Earl  of  Leicester 
was  to  be  Commander-in-Chief  of  her  Majesty's  forces  in 
the  Netherlands,  and  representative  of  her  authority  in 
those  countries,  whatever  that  office  might  prove  to  be. 
The  nature  of  his  post  was  anomalous  from  the  be- 
ginning. It  was  environed  with  difficulties,  not  the 
least  irritating  of  which  proceeded  from  the  captious 
spirit  of  the  Queen.  The  Earl  was  to  proceed  in  great 
pomp  to  Holland,  but  the  pomp  was  to  be  prepared 
mainly  at  his  own  expense.  Besides  the  auxiliary  forces 
that  had  been  shipped  during  the  latter  period  of  the 
year,  Leicester  was  raising  a  force  of  lancers,  from  four 
to  eight  hundred  in  number ;  but  to  pay  for  that  levy 
he  w{is  forced  to  mortgage  his  o^vn  property,  while  the 
Queen  not  only  refused  to  advance  ready  money,  but 
declined  endorsing  his  bills. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  Earl's  courtship  of 
Elizabeth  was  anything  at  that  moment  but  a  gentle 
dalliance.  In  those  thorny  regions  of  finance  were  no 
beds  of  asphodel  or  amaranthine  bowers.  There  was  no 
talk  but  of  troopers,  saltpetre,  and  sulphur,  of  books  of 
assurance,  and  bills  of  exchange;  and  the  aspect  of 
Elizabeth,  when  the  budget  was  under  discussion,  must 
effectually  have  neutralized  for  the  time  any  verj^  tender 
sentiment.  The  sharpness  with  which  she  clipped 
Leicester's  authority,  when  authority  was  indispensable 
to  his  dignity,  and  the  heavy  demands  upon  his  resources 
that  were  the  result  of  her  avarice,  were  obstacles  more 
than  enough  to  the  calm  fruition  of  his  triumphs.  He 
had  succeeded,  in  appearance  at  least,  in  the  gi-eat  object 

1  Minute  to  Davison,  19  Nov.  1586.  (S.  F.  OlBce  MS.) 


M 


ii 


328 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


HIS  VEHEMENT  COMPLAINTS. 


329 


of  his  ambition,  this  appointment  to  the  Netherlands  ; 
but  the  appointment  was  no  sinecure,  and  least  of  all  a 
promising  pecuniary  speculation.  Elizabeth  had  told 
the  envoys,  with  reason,  that  she  was  not  sending  forth 
that  man— whom  she  loved  as  a  brother — in  order  that 
he  might  make  himself  rich.  On  the  contrary,  the  Earl 
seemed  likely  to  make  himself  comparatively  poor  before 
he  got  to  the  Provinces,  while  his  political  powxr,  at 
the  nioment,  did  not  seem  of  more  hopeful  growth. 

Leicester  had  been  determined  and  consistent  in  this 
great  enterprise  from  the  beginning.  He  felt  intensely 
the  importance  of  the  crisis.  He  saw  that  the  time  had 
come  for  swift  and  uncompromising  action ;  and  the  im- 
patience with  which  he  bore  the  fetters  imposed  upon 
him  may  be  easily  conceived.  • 

'*  The  cause  is  such,"  he  wrote  to  "Walsingham,  "  that 
I  had  as  lief  be  dead  as  be  in  the  case  I  shall  be  in  if 
this  restraint  hold  for  taking  the  oath  there,  or  if  some 
more  authority  be  not  granted  than  I  see  her  Majesty 
would  I  should  have.  I  trust  you  all  will  hold  hard 
for  this,  or  else  banish  me  England  withal.  I  have  sent 
you  the  books  to  be  signed  by  her  Majesty.  I  beseech 
you  return  them  with  all  haste,  for  I  get  no  money  till 
they  be  under  seal."  * 

But  her  Majesty  would  not  put  them  under  her  seal 
much  to  the  favourite's  discomfiture.  * 

''  Your  letter  yioldeth  but  cold  answer,"  he  wrote 
two  days  afterwards.  '*  Above  all  things  yet  that  her 
Majesty  doth  stick  at,  I  marvel  most  at  her  refusal  to 
sign  my  book  of  assurance ;  for  there  passeth  nothing 
m  the  earth  against  her  profit  by  that  act,  nor  any  eood 
to  me  but  to  satisfy  the  creditors,  who  were  more  scru- 
pulous than  needs.  I  did  complain  to  her  of  those  who 
did  refuse  to  lend  me  money,  and  she  was  greatly 
offended  with  them.  But  if  her  Majesty  were  to  stay 
this  If  I  were  half  seas  over,  I  must  of  necessity  come 
tack  again  for  I  may  not  go  without  money.  I  beseech, 
^  the  matter  be  refused  by  her,  bestow  a  post  on  me  to 

V""?^  A     ul  tI  *?^f  "^^^^  **  S^^  J^^^  I'et^^s''  an^  but 
for  this  doubt  I  had  been  to-morrow  at  Harwich.     I  pray 

God  make  you  all  that  be  counsellors  plain  and  direct 
to  the  furtherance  of  all  good  service  for  her  Majesty 

1  Leicester  to  Walsingham.  3  Dec.  1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.^ 


and  the  realm ;  and  if  it  be  the  will  of  God  to  piague  us 
that  go,  and  you  that  tarry,  for  our  sins,  yet  let  us  not 
be  negligent  to  seek  to  please  the  Lord."  ' 

The  Earl  was  not  negligent  at  any  rate  in  seeking  to 
l^lease  the  Queen,  but  she  was  singularly  hard  to  please. 
She  had  never  been  so  uncei'tain  in  her  humours  as  at 
this  important  crisis.  She  knew,  and  had  publicly 
stated  as  much,  that  she  was  "  embarking  in  a  war  with 
the  greatest  potentate  in  Europe ;"  yet  now  that  the 
voyage  had  fairly  commenced,  and  the  waves  were  rolling 
around  her,  she  seemed  anxious  to  put  back  to  the  shore. 
For  there  was  even  a  whisper  of  peace-negotiations, 
than  which  nothing  could  have  been  more  ill-timed. 
*'  I  perceive  by  your  message,"  said  Leicester  to  \\  al- 
singham,  "that  your  peace  with  Spain  will  go  fast  on, 
but  this  is  not  the  way."*  Unquestionably  it  was  not 
the  way,  and  the  whisper  was,  for  the  moment  at  least, 
suppressed.  Meanwhile  Leicester  had  reached  Harwich, 
but  the  post  "bestowed  on  him,"  contained,  as  usual, 
but  cold  comfort.  He  was  resolved,  however,  to  go 
manfully  forward,  and  do  the  work  before  him,  until 
the  enterprise  should  prove  wholly  impracticable.  It  is 
by  the  light  afforded  by  the  secret  never-published 
correspondence  of  the  period  with  which  we  are  now 
occupied,  that  the  true  characteristics  of  Elizabeth,  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  and  other  prominent  personages,  must 
be  scanned ;  and  the  study  is  most  important,  for  it 
was  by  those  characteristics,  in  combination  with  other 
human  elements  embodied  in  distant  parts  of  Christen- 
dom, that  the  destiny  of  the  world  Avas  determined.  In 
that  age,  more  than  in  our  own  perhaps,  the  influence 
of  the  individual  was  widely  and  intensely  felt.  His- 
torical chemistry  is  only  rendered  possible  by  a  detec- 
tion of  the  subtle  emanations,  which  it  was  supposed 
would  for  ever  elude  analysis,  but  which  survive  in 
those  secret,  frequently  ciphered  intercommunications. 
Philip  II.,  William  of  Orange,  Queen  Elizabeth,  Alex- 
ander Famese,  Kobert  Dudley,  never  dreamed — when 
disclosing  their  inmost  thoughts  to  their  tnisted  friends 
at  momentous  epochs — that  the  day  would  come  on 
earth  when  those  secrets  would  be  no  longer  hid  from 


I  ■ 


ill 


I  Leicester    to    Walsingham,  5  Dec. 
1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS-X 


«  Same  to  same,  3  Dec.  1585.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 


330 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


THE  QUEEN'S  AVARICE. 


331 


tlie  patient  inquirer  after  truth.  Well  for  those  whose 
reputations  before  the  judgment-seat  of  history-  appear 
even  comparatively  pure,  after  impartial  comparison  of 
their  motives  with  their  deeds. 

"  For  mine  own  part,  Mr.  Secretary,"  wrote  Leicester, 
"  I  am  resolved  to  do  that  which  shall  be  fit  for  a  poor 
man's  honour,  and  honestly  to  obey  her  Majesty's  com- 
mandment. Let  the  rest  Ml  out  to  others,  it  shall  not 
concern  me.  I  mean  to  assemble  myself  to  the  camp, 
where  my  authority  must  wholly  lie,  and  will  there  do 
that  which  in  good  reason  and  duty  I  shall  be  bound  to 
do.  /  am  sorry  that  her  Majesty  doth  deal  in  this  sort,  and, 
is  content  to  overthrow  so  willingly  her  own  cause.  If  there 
can  be  means  to  salve  this  sore,  I  will.  If  not, — I  tell 
you  what  shall  become  of  me,  as  truly  as  God  lives."  * 

Yet  it  is  remarkable  that,  in  spite  of  this  dark  inti- 
mation, the  Earl,  after  all,  did  not  state  what  was  to 
become  of  him  if  the  sore  was  not  salved.  He  was,  how- 
ever, explicit  enough  as  to  the  causes  of  his  grief,  and 
very  vehement  in  its  manifestations.  "  Another  matter 
which  shall  concern  me  deeply,"  he  said,  "  and  all  the 
subjects  there,  is  now  by  you  to  be  carefully  considered, 
which  is— money.  I  find  that  the  money  is  already 
gone,  and  this  now  given  to  the  treasuier  will  do  no 
more  than  pay  to  the  end  of  the  month.  I  beseech  you 
look  to  it,  for,  by  the  Lord !  1  will  bear  no  more  so 
miserable  burdens ;  for  if  I  have  no  mouc}-  to  pay  them, 
let  them  come  home,  or  what  else.  I  will  not  starve 
them,  nor  stay  them.  There  was  never  gentleman  nor 
general  so  sent  out  as  I  am ;  and  if  neither  Queen  nor 
council  care  to  help  it,  but  leave  men  desperate,  as  I  see 
men  shall  be,  that  inconvenience  will  follow  which  I 
trust  in  the  Lord  I  shall  be  free  of."  * 

He  then  used  language  about  himself  singularly 
resembling  the  phraseology  employed  by  Elizabeth 
concerning  him,  when  she  was  scolding  the  Netherland 
commissioners  for  the  dilatoriness  and  parsimony  of  the 
States. 

**For  mine  own  part,"  he  said,  "I  have  taken  upon 
me  this  voyage,  not  as  a  desperate  nor  forlorn  man,  but 
as  one  as  well  contented  with  his  place  and  calling  at 
home  as  any  subject  was  ever.     My  cause  was  not,  nor 

1  Ulcester  to  Walaingham,  5  Dec.  1685.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  «  Ibid. 


18,  any  other  than  the  Lord's  and  the  Queen's.  If  the 
Queen  fail,  yet  must  I  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  on  Him,  I 
see,  I  am.  wholly  to  depend.  I  can  say  no  more,  but  pray  to 
God  that  her  Majesty  never  send  general  again  as  1  am 
sent.  And  yet  I  will  do  what  I  can  for  her  and  my 
country."  * 

The  Earl  had  raised  a  choice  body  of  lancers  to 
accompany  him  to  the  Netherlands,  but  the  expense  of 
the  levy  had  come  mainly  upon  his  own  purse.  The 
Queen  had  advanced  five  thousand  pounds,  which  was 
much  less  than  the  requisite  amount,  while  for  the 
balance  required,  as  well  as  for  other  necessary  exj^enses, 
she  obstinately  declined  to  furnish  Leicester  with 
funds,  even  refusing  him,  at  last,  a  temporary  loan.  She 
violently  accused  him  of  cheating  her,  reclaimed  money 
which  he  had  wrung  from  her  on  good  security,  and, 
when  he  had  repaid  the  sum,  objected  to  give  him  a 
discharge.  As  for  receiving  anything  by  way  of  salary, 
that  was  quite  out  of  the  question.  At  that  moment  he 
would  have  been  only  too  happy  to  be  reimbursed  for 
what  he  was  already  out  of  pocket.  W  hether  Elizabeth 
loved  Leicester  as  a  brother,  or  better  than  a  brother, 
may  be  a  historical  question,  but  it  is  no  question  at  all 
that  she  loved  money  better  than  she  did  Leicester. 
Unhappy  the  man,  whether  foe  or  favourite,  who  had 
pecuniary  transactions  with  her  Highness. 

*♦  I  am  sorry,"  said  the  Earl,  "  that  her  Majesty  hath* 
so  hard  a  conceit  of  me,  that  I  should  go  about  to  cozen 
her,  as  though  I  hjid  got  a  fee  simple  from  her,  and  had 
it  not  before,  or  that  I  had  not  had  her  full  release  for 
payment  of  the  money  I  borrowed.  I  pray  God,  any 
that  did  put  such  scruple  in  her  have  not  deceived  her 
more  than  I  have  done.  I  thank  God  I  have  a  clear 
conscience  for  deceiving  her,  and  for  money  matters. 
I  think  I  may  justly  say  I  have  been  the  only  cause  of 
more  gain  to  her  coffers  than  all  her  chequer-men  have 
been.  But  so  is  the  hap  of  some,  that  all  they  do  is 
nothing,  and  others  that  do  nothing,  do  all,  and  have  all 
the  thanks.  But  I  would  this  were  all  the  grief  I  carry 
with  me  ;  but  God  is  my  comfort,  and  on  Him  I  cast  all, 
for  there  is  no  surety  in  this  world  beside.  What  hope 
of  help  can  I  have,  finding  her  Majesty  so  strait  with 

1  Same  to  tame,  5  L»ec.  1585.    (S.  P.  Office,  MS.) 


'li; 


i 


332 


THE  UxMTED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


1585. 


PERPLEXITY  OF  DAVISON. 


333 


myself  as  she  is  ?  I  did  trust  that— the  cause  being 
hers  and  this  reahn's— if  I  could  have  gotten  no  money 
of  her  merchants,  she  would  not  have  refused  to  have 
lent  money  on  so  easy  prized  land  as  mine,  to  have  been 
gainer  and  no  loser  by  it.  Her  Majesty,  I  see,  will  make 
trial  of  me  how  I  love  her,  and  what  wiU  discourage 
me  from  her  service.  But  resolved  am  I  that  no 
worldly  respect  shall  draw  me  back  from  my  faithful 
discharge  of  my  duty  towards  her,  though  she  shall 
show  to  hate  me,  as  it  goeth  very  near ;  for  1  find  no 
luve  or  favour  at  all.  And  I  pray  you  to  remember  that 
1  have  not  had  one  penny  of  her  Majesty  towards  all 
these  charges  of  mine— not  one  penny — and,  by  all  tnith 
I  have  already  laid  out  above  five  thousand  pounds. 
Her  Majesty  appointed  eight  thousand  pounds  for  the 
levy,  which  was  after  the  rate  of  four  hundred  horse, 
and,  upon  my  fidelity,  there  is  shipped,  of  horse  of 
service,  eight  hundred,  so  that  there  ought  eight 
thousand  more  to  have  been  paid  me.  No  general  that 
ever  went  that  was  not  paid  to  the  uttermost  of  these 
things  before  he  went,  but  had  cash  for  his  provision, 
which  her  Majesty  would  not  allow  me— not  one  groat. 
Well,  let  all  this  go :  it  is  like  I  shall  be  the  last  shall 
bear  this,  and  some  must  sujffer  for  the  people.  Good 
Mr.  Secretary,  let  her  Majesty  know  this,  for  I  deserve 
God-a-mercy,  at  the  lea^t." » 

Leicester,  to  do  him  justice,  was  thoroughly  alive  to 
the  importance  of  the  crisis.  On  political  principle,  at 
any  rate,  he  was  a  firm  supporter  of  Protestantism,  and 
even  of  Puritanism ;  a  form  of  religion  which  Elizabeth 
detested,  and  in  which,  with  keen  instinct,  she  detected 
a  mutinous  element  against  the  divine  right  of  kings. 
The  Earl  was  quite  convinced  of  the  absolute  necessity 
that  England  should  take  up  the  Netherland  matter 
most  vigorously,  on  pain  of  being  herself  destroyed. 
All  the  most  sagacious  counsellors  of  Elizabeth  were 
day  by  day  more  and  more  confirmed  in  this  opinion, 
and  were  inclined  heartily  to  support  the  new  Lieu- 
tenant-General.  As  for  Leicester  himself,  while  fully 
conscious  of  his  own  merits,  and  of  his  firm  intent  to  do 
his  duty,  he  was  also  gi-ateful  to  those  who  were 
willing  to  befriend  him  in  his  arduous  enterprise. 

1  Leicester  to  Wnbingham,  7  Dec.  1586.  (S.  P.  OflJoe  MS.) 


"  T  have  received  a  letter  from  my  Lord  Willougliby," 
he  said,  *'  to  my  seeming,  as  wise  a  letter  as  1  have  read 
a  great  while,  and  not  unfit  for  her  Majesty's  sight.  I 
pray  God  open  her  eyes,  that  they  may  behold  her 
present  estate  indeed,  and  the  wonderful  means  that  God 
doth  ojfer  unto  her.  If  she  lose  these  opportunities^  icho  can. 
look  for  other  hut  dishonour  and  destruction  ?  My  Loid 
Treasurer  hath  also  written  me  a  most  hearty  and 
comfortable  letter  touching  this  voyage,  not  only  in 
showing  the  importance  of  it,  both  for  her  Majesty's  own 
safety  and  the  realm's,  but  that  the  wlide  state  of  religion 
doth  depend  thereon,  and  therefore  doth  faithfully  promise 
his  whole  and  best  assistance  for  the  supply  of  all  wants. 
I  was  not  a  little  glad  to  receive  such  a  letter  from  him 
at  this  time." ' 

And  from  on  board  the  *'  Amity,"  ready  to  set  sail,  he 
expressed  his  thanks  to  Burghley,  at  finding  him  "  so 
earnestly  bent  for  the  good  supply  and  maintenance  of 
us  poor  men  sent  in  her  Majesty's  service  and  our 
country's."  * 

As  for  Walsingham,  eaniestly  a  defender  of  the  Nether- 
land cause  from  the  beginning,  he  was  wearied  and 
disgusted  with  fighting  against  the  Queen's  parsimony 
and  caprice.  *'  He  is  utterly  discouraged,"  said  Leices- 
ter io  Burghley,  '*  to  deal  any  more  in  these  causes.  I 
pray  God  your  Lordship  grow  net  so  too ;  for  then  all 
will  to  the  ground  on  my  poor  side  especially."' 

And  to  Sir  Francis  himself,  he  wrote,  even  as  his 
vessel  was  casting  off  her  moorings  : — "  I  am  sorry,  Mr. 
Secretary,"  he  said,  "  to  find  you  so  discouraged,  and 
that  her  Majesty  doth  deem  you  so  partial.  And  yet 
my  suits  to  her  Majesty  have  not  of  late  been  so  many 
nor  great,  while  the  greatest,  I  am  sure,  are  for  her 
Majesty's  own  service.  For  my  part,  1  will  discharge 
my  duty  as  far  as  my  poor  ability  and  capacity  shall 
serve ;  and  if  I  shall  not  have  her  gracious  and  princely 
support  and  supply,  the  lack  will  be  to  us  for  the 
present,  but  the  shame  and  dishonour  will  be  hers."  * 

And  with  these  parting  woids  the  Earl  committed 
himself  to  the  December  seas. 

1  I^iccster    to   Walsingham,  7    Dec.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  »  Ibid 

1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  *  Leicester    i<.    Walsinghaui.    9    Dec 

»  Leicester  to  Burghley,  9  Dec.  1585.     1586.    (S.  P.  Office  Mg.) 


H 


334 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


Davison  had  been  meantime  doing  his  best  to  prepare 
the  way  in  the  Netherlands  for  the  reception  of  the 
English  administration.  What  man  could  do,  without 
money  and  without  authority,  he  had  done.  The  go- 
vernors for  Flushing  and  the  Brill,  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
and  Sir  Thomas  Cecil,  eldest  son  of  Lord  Burghley,  had 
been  appointed,  but  had  not  arrived.  Their  coming  was 
anxiously  looked  for,  as  during  the  interval  tJbe  condi- 
tion of  the  garrisons  was  deplorable.  The  English 
treasurer  —  by  some  unaccountable  and  unpardonable 
negligence,  for  which  it  is  to  be  feared  the  Queen  was 
herself  to  blame — wtis  not  upon  the  spot,  and  Davison 
M'as  driven  out  of  his  wits  to  devise  expedients  to  save 
the  soldiers  from  starving. 

"  Your  Lordship  has  seen  by  my  former  letters,"  wrote 

the  Ambassador  to  Burghley  from  Flushing,  *'  what  shift 

iith  Nov.  I  have  been  driven  to  for  the  relief  of  this  gar- 

1585.  rison  here,  left  a  Vabandon ;  without  which 
mean  they  had  all  fallen  into  wild  and  shameful  dis- 
order, to  her  Majesty's  great  disgi-ace  and  overthrow  of 
her  service.  I  am  compelled,  unless  1  would  see  the  poor 
men  famish,  and  her  Majesty  dishonoured,  to  try  my 
poor  credit  for  them."  * 

General  Sir  John  Norris  was  in  the  Betuwe  threaten- 
ing Xymegen,  a  town  which  he  found  "  not  so  flexible  as 
he  had  hoped  ;'*  *  and,  as  he  had  but  two  thousand  men, 
while  Alexander  Fameso  was  thought  to  be  marching 
upon  him  with  ten  thousand,  his  position  caused  great 
anxiety.  Meantime  his  brother.  Sir  Edward,  a  hot- 
headed and  somewhat  wilful  young  man,  who  "  thought 
that  all  was  too  little  for  him,"  was  giving  the  sober  Davi- 
son a  good  deal  of  trouble."  He  had  got  himself  into  a 
quarrel  both  with  that  envoy  and  with  Koger  Williams, 
by  claiming  the  right  to  control  military'  matters  in 
Flushing  until  the  arrival  of  Sidney.  "  If  Sir  Thomas 
and  Sir  Philip,"  said  Davison,  **do  not  make  choice  of 
more  discreet,  staid,  and  expert  commanders  than  those 
thrust  into  these  places  by  Mr.  Norris,  they  will  do 
themselves  a  great  deal  of  worry,  and  her  Majesty  a 
great  deal  of  hurt."  * 

As  might  naturally  be  expected,  the  lamentable  con- 

i  Davison  to  Burghley,  11  Nov.  1585.    Brit  Mus.  (Galba,  C.  viii.  p.  217,  MS.) 
*  IbkL  *  Ibid.  *  ibid. 


r   , 
I.'' 


1585. 


MANIFESTO  OF  ELIZABETH. 


335 


dition  of  the  English  soldiers,  unpaid  and  starv'ing— 
according  to  the  report  of  the  Queen's  envoy  himself— 
exercised  anything  but  a  salutary  influence  upon  the 
minds  of  the  Netherlanders,  and  perpetually  fed  the 
hopes  of  the  Spanish  partizans  that  a  composition  with 
Philip  and  Parma  would  yet  take  place.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  States  had  been  far  more  liberal  in  raising 
funds  than  the  Queen  had  shown  herself  to  be,  and 
were  somewhat  indignant  at  being  perpetually  taunted 
with  parsimony  by  her  agents.  Davison  was  ofifended 
by  the  injustice  of  Norris  in  this  regard.  "The  com- 
plaints which  the  General  hath  made  of  the  States  to 
her  Majesty,"  said  he,  "  are  without  cause,  and  I  think, 
when  your  Lordship  shall  examine  it  well,  you  will 
find  it  no  little  sum  they  have  already  disbursed  unto 
him  for  their  part.  Wherein,  nevertheless,  if  they  had 
been  looked  into,  they  were  somewhat  the  more  ex- 
cusable, considering  how  ill  our  people  at  her  Majesty's 
entertainment  were  satisfied  hitherto— a  thing  that  doth 
much  prejudice  her  reputation,  and  hurt  her  service."  * 
At  last,  however,  the  die  had  been  cast.  The  Queen, 
although  rejecting  the  proposed  sovereignty  of  the  Ne- 
therlands, had  espoused  their  cause,  by  solemn  treaty  of 
alliance,  and  thereby  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet  to 
Spain.  She  deemed  it  necessary,  therefore,  out  of 
respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind,  to  issue  a  manifesto 
of  her  motives  to  the  world.  The  document  was  pub- 
lished simultaneously  in  Dutch,  French,  English,  and 
Italian."  * 

In  this  solemn  state-paper  she  spoke  of  the  responsibi- 
lity of  princes  to  the  Almighty,  of  the  ancient  friendship 
between  England  and  the  Netherlands,  of  the  cruelty 
and  tyranny  of  the  Spaniards,  of  their  violation  of  the 
liberties  of  the  Provinces,  of  their  hanging,  beheading, 
banishing  without  law  and  against  justice,  in  the  space 
of  a  few  months,  so  many  of  the  highest  nobles  in  the 
land.  Although,  in  the  beginning  of  the  cruel  per- 
secution, the  pretext  had  been  the  maintenance  of  the 
Catholic  religion,  yet  it  was  affirmed  they  had  not 
failed  to  exercise  their  barbarity  upon  Catholics  also, 
and  even  upon  ecclesiastics.     Of  the  principal  persons 

1  Davison  to  Burglilpy,  MS.  last  cited. 
«  The  Declaratloa  is  given  in  Bor,  ii,  607*671. 


li 


N! 


336 


•  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XI. 


1585. 


MANIFESTO  OF  ELIZABETH. 


337 


put  to  death,  no  one,  it  was  asserted,  had  been  more 
devoted  to  the  ancient  church  than  was  the  brave  Count 
Egmont,  who,  for  his  famous  victories  in  the  service  of 
Spain,  could  never  be  forgotten  in  veracious  history  any- 
more than  could  be  the  cruelty  of  his  execution. 

The  land  had  been  made  desolate,  continued  the 
Queen,  with  fire,  sword,  famine,  and  murder.  These 
misfortunes  had  ever  been  bitterly  deplored  by  friendly 
nations,  and  none  could  more  truly  regret  such  suflfer- 
ings  than  did  the  English,  the  oldest  allies  and  familiar 
neighbours  of  the  Provinces,  who  had  been  as  close  to 
them  in  the  olden  time  by  community  of  connexion  and 
of  language,  as  man  and  wife.  She  declared  that  she 
had  frequently,  by  amicable  embassies,  warned  her  bro- 
ther of  Spain— speaking  to  him  like  a  good,  dear  sister 
and  neighbour — that,  unless  he  restrained  the  cruelty  of 
his  governors  and  their  soldiers,  he  was  sure  to  force 
his  Provinces  into  allegiance  to  some  other  power.  She 
expressed  the  danger  in  which  she  should  be  placed  if 
the  Spaniards  succeeded  in  establishing  their  absolute 
government  in  the  Netherlands,  from  which  position 
their  attacks  upon  England  would  be  incessant.  She 
spoke  of  the  enterprise  favoured  and  set  on  foot  by  the 
Pope  and  by  Spain  against  the  kingdom  of  Ireland. 
She  alluded  to  the  dismissal  of  the  Spanish  envoy,  Don 
Bernardino  de  Mendoza,  who  had  been  treated  by  her 
with  great  regard  for  a  long  time,  but  who  had  been 
afterwards  discovered  in  league  with  certain  ill-disposed 
and  seditious  subjects  of  hers,  and  with  publicly  con- 
demned traitors.  That  envoy  had  an-anged  a  plot, 
according  to  which,  as  appeared  by  his  secret  de- 
spatches, an  invasion  of  England  by  a  force  of  men, 
coming  partly  from  Spain  and  partly  from  the  Nether- 
lands, might  be  successfully  managed,  and  he  had  even 
noted  down  the  necessary  number  of  ships  and  men, 
with  various  other  details.  Some  of  the  conspiratore 
had  fled,  she  observed,  and  were  now  consortiug  with 
Mendoza,  who,  after  his  expulsion  from  England,  had 
been  appointed  ambassador  in  Paris ;  while  some  had 
been  arrested,  and  had  confessed  the  plot.  So  soon  as  this 
envoy  had  been  discovered  to  b©  the  chief  of  a  rebellion 
and  projected  invasion,  the  Queen  had  requested  him,  she 
said,  to  leave  the  kingdom  within  a  reasonable  time,  as 


one  who  was  the  object  of  deadly  hatred  to  the  English 
people.  She  had  then  sent  an  agent  to  Spain,  in  order 
to  explain  the  whole  transaction.  That  agent  had  not 
been  allowed  even  to  deliver  despatches  to  the  King. 

When  the  French  had  sought,  at  a  previous  period,  to 
establish  their  authority  in  Scotland,  even  as  the  Spaniards 
had  attempted  to  do  in  the  Netherlands,  and  through 
the  enormous  ambition  of  the  House  of  Guise,  to  under- 
take the  invasion  of  her  kingdom,  she  had  frustrated 
their  plots,  even  as  she  meant  to  suppress  these  Spanish 
conspiracies.  She  spoke  of  the  Prince  of  Parma  as 
more  disposed  by  nature  to  mercy  and  humanity  than 
preceding  governors  had  been,  but  as  unable  to  restrain 
the  bloodthirstiness  of  Spaniards,  increased  by  lon«- 
indulgence.  She  avowed,  in  assuming  the  protection 
of  the  Netherlands,  and  in  sending  her  troops  to  those 
countries,  but  three  objects:  peace,  founded  upon  the 
recognition  of  religious  freedom  in  the  Provinces,  re- 
storation of  their  ancient  political  liberties,  and  secunty 
for  England.  Never  could  there  be  tranquillity  for  her 
own  realm  until  these  neighbouring  countries  were 
tranquil.  These  were  her  ends  and  aims,  dfespite  all 
that  slanderous  tongues  might  invent.  The  world,  she 
observed,  was  overflowing  with  blasphemous  libels,  ca- 
lumnies, scandalous  pamphlets ;  for  never  had  the  Devil 
been  so  busy  in  supplying  evil  tongues  with  venom 
against  the  professors  of  the  Christian  religion. 

She  added,  that  in  a  pamphlet,  ascribed  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Milan,  just  published,  she  had  been  accused 
of  ingratitude  to  the  King  of  Spain,  and  of  plots  to  take 
the  life  of  Alexander  Famese.  In  answer  to  the  first 
charge,  she  willingly  acknowledged  her  obligations  to 
tlie  King  of  Spain  during  the  reign  of  her  sister.  She 
pronounced  it,  however,  an  absolute  falsehood  that  ho 
hud  ever  saved  her  life,  as  if  she  had  ever  been  con- 
demned to  death.  She  likewise  denied  earnestly  the 
charge  regarding  the  Prince  of  Parma.  She  protested 
herself  incapable  of  such  a  crime,  besides  declaring  that 
he  had  never  given  her  offence.  On  the  contrary,  he 
was  a  man  whom  she  had  ever  honoured  for  the  rare 
qualities  that  she  had  noted  in  him,  and  for  which  he 
had  deservedly  acquired  a  high  reputation.' 

,  1  Declaration,  ubi  suj). 

VOL.  I.  .  5: 


338 


THE  UNIltD  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


Sucli,  in  brief  analysis,  was  the  memorable  Declaration 
of  Elizabeth  iu  favour  of  the  Netherlands— a  document 
which  was  a  hardly  disguised  proclamation  of  war 
against  Philip.  In  no  age  of  the  world  could  an  un- 
equivocal agreement  to  assist  rebellious  subjects,  vsdth 
men  and  money,  against  their  sovereign,  be  considered 
otherwise  than  tis  a  hostile  demonstration.  The  King  of 
Spain  so  regarded  the  movement,  and  forthwith  issued  a 
decree,  ordering  the  seizure  of  all  English  as  well  as 
all  Netherland  vessels  within  his  ports,  together  with 
the  arrest  of  persons,  and  contiscation  of  property. 

Subsequently  to  the  publication  of  the  Queen's 
memorial,  and  before  the  departure  of  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  Sir  Philip  Sidney  having  received  his  appoint- 
ment, together  with  the  rank  of  general  of  cavalry, 
arrived  in  the  Isle  of  Walcheren,  as  governor  of  Flushing, 
at  the  head  of  a  portion  of  the  English  contingent. 

It  is  imt)ossible  not  to  contemplate  with  affection  so 
radiant  a  figure,  shining  through  the  cold  mists  of  that 
Zeeland  winter,  and  that  distant  and  disastrous  epoch. 
There  is  hardly  a  character  in  history  upon  which  the 
imagination  can  dwell  with  more  unalloyed  delight. 
Not  in  romantic  fiction  was  there  ever  created  a  more 
attractive  incarnation  of  martial  valour,  poetic  genius, 
and  purity  of  heart.  If  the  mocking  spirit  of  the 
soldier  of  Lepanto  could  *'  smile  chivalry  away,"  the 
name  alone  of  his  English  contempomry  is  potent  enough 
to  conjure  it  back  again,  so  long  as  humanity  is  alive  to 
the  nobler  impulses. 

**  I  cannot  pass  him  over  in  silence,"  says  a  dusty 
chronicler,  "that  glorious  star,  that  lively  pattern  of 
virtue,  and  the  lovely  joy  of  all  the  learned  sort.  It 
was  God's  will  that  he  should  be  bom  into  the  world, 
even  to  show  unto  our  age  a  sample  of  ancient  virtue."  ' 
The  descendant  of  an  ancient  Norman  race,  and  allied 
to  many  of  the  proudest  nobles  in  England,  Sidney  him- 
self was  but  a  commoner,  a  private  individual,  a  soldier 
of  fortune.  He  was  now  in  his  thirty-second  year,  and 
should  have  been  foremost  among  the  statesmen  of 
Elizabeth,  had  it  not  been,  according  to  Lord  Bacon,  a 
maxim  of  the  Cecils,  that  "able  men  should  be  by 
design  and  of  purpose  suppressed."     Whatever  of  truth 

1  Camden'B '  Britannia'  (1637).  p.  329. 


1585. 


SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY. 


339 


there  may  have  been  in  the  bitter  remark,  it  is  certainly 
strange  that  a  man  so  gifted  as  Sidney— of  whom  his 
father-in-law  Walsingham  ha»l  declared,  that  "  although 
he  had  influence  in  all  countries,  and  a  hand  upon  all 
affairs,  his  Philip  did  far  overshoot  him  with  his  own 
bow"  ' — should  have  passed  so  much  of  his  life  in  retire- 
ment, or  in  comparatively   insignificant  employments. 
The  Queen,  as  he  himself  observed,  was  most  apt  to 
interpret  everj^thing  to  his  disadvantage.     Among  those 
who  knew  him  well,  there  seems  never  to  have  been  a 
dissenting  voice.      His  father.  Sir  Henry  Sidney,  lord- 
deputy  of  Ireland  and  president  of  Wales,  a  statesman 
of  accomplishments  and  experience,  called  him  ''lumen 
familicB  sua!,''  and  said  of  him,  with  pardonable  pride, 
J*  that  he  had  the  most  virtues  which  he  had  ever  found 
in  any  man ;  that  he  was  the  very  formular  that  all 
well-disposed  young  gentlemen  do  form  their  manners 
and  life  by."  *    The  learned  Hubert  Languet,  companion 
of  Melancthon,  tried  friend  of  William  the  Silent,  was 
his    fervent   admirer   and   correspondent.      The   gi-eat 
Prince  of  Orange  held  him  in  high  esteem,  and  sent 
word  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  that  having  himself  been  an 
actor  in   the   most   important   affairs   of  Europe,   and 
acquainted  with  her  foremost  men,  he  could  "  pledge 
his  credit  "  that  her  Majesty  had  one  of  the  ripest  and 
greatest  counsellors  of  state  in  Sir  Philip  Sidney  that 
lived  in  Europe."  * 

The  incidents  of  his  brief  and  brilliant  life,  up  to  his 
arrival  upon  the  fatal  soil  of  the  Netherlands,  are  too 
well  kno^vn  to  need  recalling.  Adorned  with  the  best 
culture  that,  in  a  learaed  age,  could  be  obtained  in  the 
best  seminaries  of  his  native  country,  where,  during 
childhood  and  youth,  he  had  been  distinguished  for  a 
"  lovely  and  familiar  giavity  beyond  his  years,"  he 
i-apidly  acquired  the  admiration  of  his  comrades  and  the 
esteem  of  all  his  teachers. 

Travelling  for  three  years,  he  made  the  acquaintance 
and  gained  the  personal  regard  of  such  opposite  cha- 
racters as  Charles  IX.  of  France,  Heniy  of  Navarre,  Don 
John  of  Austria,  and  W^illiam  of  Orange,  and  perfected 
his  accomplishments  by  residence  and  study,  alternately, 

1  Life  of  Sidney  by  Fulke  Greville.  Lord  Brooke,  edited  by  Sir  E.  Brydges.  p.  23. 
•  Sydney  Papers,  edited  by  Collins.  I.  246.  .  Brooke/p  lb^  Je^. 

z  2 


l!^ 


340 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


in  courts,  camps,  and  learned  universities.  lie  was  in 
Paris  during  the  memorable  days  of  August,  1572,  and 
narrowly  escaped  perishing  in  the  St.  Bartholomew 
Massacre.  On  his  return,  he  was,  for  a  brief  period,  the 
idol  of  the  English  court,  which,  it  was  said,  '*  was 
maimed  without  his  company."  *  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  was  appointed  special  envoy  to  Vienna,  ostensibly 
for  the  purpose  of  congratulating  the  Emperor  lUidolph 
upon  his  accession,  but  in  reality  that  he  might  take  the 
opportunity  of  sounding  the  secret  purposes  of  tho 
protestant  princes  of  Germany,  in  regard  to  tho  great 
contest  of  the  age.  In  this  mission,  young  as  he  was,  he 
acquitted  himself,  not  only  to  tho  satisfaction,  but  to 
the  admiration  of  Walsingham,  certainly  a  master  him- 
self in  that  occult  science,  the  diplomacy  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  *'  There  hath  not  been,"  said  he,  •*  any  gentle- 
man, I  am  sure,  that  hath  gone  through  so  honourable  a 
charge  with  as  great  commendations  as  he."  * 

When  the  memorable  marriage-project  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  with  Anjou  seemed  about  to  take  effect,  ho 
denounced  the  scheme  in  a  most  spirited  and  candid 
letter,  addressed  to  her  Majesty ;  nor  is  it  recorded  that 
the  QvLQQn  was  offended  with  his  frankness.  Indeed  we 
are  informed  that  *'  although  he  found  a  sweet  stream  of 
sovereign  humours  in  that  well-tempered  lady  to  run 
against  him,  yet  found  ho  safety  in  herself  against  that 
selfness  which  appeared  to  threaten  him  in  her."* 
Whatever  this  might  mean,  translated  out  of  euphuism 
into  English,  it  is  certain  that  his  conduct  was  regarded 
with  small  favour  by  the  court-grandees,  by  whom 
"  worth,  duty,  and  justice,  were  looked  upon  with  no 
other  eyes  than  Lamia's."  * 

The  difficulty  of  swimming  against  that  sweet  stream 
of  sovereign  humours  in  the  well-tempered  Elizabeth, 
was  aggravated  by  his  quarrel,  at  this  period,  with  tlio 
niagniticent  Oxford.  A  dispute  at  a  tennis-court,  where 
many  courtiers  and  foreigners  were  looking  on,  pro- 
ceeded rapidly  from  one  extremity  to  another.  Tho 
Earl  commanded  Sir  Philip  to  leave  the  place.  Sir 
Philip  responded,  that  if  he  were  of  a  mind  that 
he  should    go,  ho  was  himself   of   a  mind  that  he 


»  Fnller'B  •  Worthies.'  i.  499.  ed.  1811. 
^  Brooke,  p.  51i 


S  Naanton,  Regalia,'  p.  63. 
«  Ibid. 


1585. 


SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY. 


341 


should  remain  ;  adding  that  if  he  had  entreated,  where 
he  had  no  right  to  command,  he  might  have  done  more 
than  "  with  the  scourge  of  fury."  *'  ITiis  answer,"  says 
Fulke  Greville,  in  a  style  worthy  of  Don  Adriano  de 
Armado,  *'  did,  like  a  bellows,  blowing  up  the  sparks  of 
excess  already  kindled,  make  my  lord  scornfully  call 
Sir  Philip  by  the  name  of  puppy.  In  which  progress  of 
heat,  as  the  tempest  grew  more  and  more  vehement 
within,  so  did  their  hearts  breathe  out  their  pertur- 
bations in  a  more  loud  and  shrill  accent ;"  *  and  so  on  ; 
but  the  impending  duel  was  the  next  day  forbidden  by 
express  command  of  her  Majesty.  Sidney,  not  feeling 
the  full  force  of  the  royal  homily  upon  the  necessity  of 
great  deference  from  gentlemen  to  their  superiors  in 
rank,  in  order  to  protect  all  orders  from  the  insults  of 
plebeians,  soon  afterwards  retired  from  the  court.  To 
his  sylvan  seclusion  the  world  owes  the  pastoral  and 
chivalrous  romance  of  the  *  Arcadia,'  and  to  the  pompous 
Earl,  in  consequence,  an  emotion  of  gratitude.  Never- 
theless, it  was  in  him  to  do,  rather  than  to  write,  and 
humanity  seems  defrauded,  when  forced  to  accept  tho 
*  Arcadia,'  the  *  Defence  of  Poesy,'  and  the  *  Astrophel 
and  Stella,'  in  discharge  of  its  claims  upon  so  great  and 
pure  a  soul. 

Notwithstanding  this  disagreeable  affair,  and  despite 
the  memorable  letter  against  Anjou,  Sir  Philip  sud- 
denly flashes  upon  us  again,  as  one  of  the  four  chal- 
lengers in  a  tournament  to  honour  the  duke's  presence 
in  England.  A  vision  of  him  in  blue  gilded  aimour — 
with  horses  caparisoned  in  cloth  of  gold,  pearl-em- 
broidered, attended  by  pages  in  cloth  of  silver,  Venetian 
liose,  laced  hats,  and  by  gentlemen,  yeomen,  and  trum- 
peters, in  yellow  velvet  cassocks,  buskins,  and  feathers 
— as  one  of  "  the  four  fostered  children  of  virtuous 
Desire"  (to  wit,  Anjou)  storming  *'  the  castle  of  perfect 
Beauty  "  *  (to  wit.  Queen  Elizabeth,  setatis  47)  rises  out 
of  the  cloud-dusts  of  ancient  chionicle  for  a  moment, 
and  then  vanishes  into  air  again. 

•*  Having  that  day  his  hand,  his  horse,  his  lance. 
Guided  so  well  thai  they  attained  the  prize 
Both  in  the  Judgment  of  our  English  eyes. 
But  of  some  sent  by  that  sweet  enemy,  France," 


>  Brooke,  p.  63. 


■  Stowe's  Continuation  of  Holinsbed,  iv.  436  seq 


•    I 


U 


W 


*  ,. 


342 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI 


ii 


as  lie  chivalrously  sings,  lie  soon  afterwards  felt  in- 
clined for  wider  fields  of  honourable  adventure.  It 
was  impossible  that  knight-errant  so  true  should  not 
feel  keenest  sympathy  with  an  oppressed  people  strug- 
gling against  such  odds,  as  the  Netherlanders  were 
doing  in  their  contest  with  Spain.  So  soon  as  the 
treaty  with  England  was  aiTanged,  it  was  his  ambition 
to  take  part  in  the  dark  and  dangerous  enterprise,  and, 
being  son-in-law  to  Walsingham  and  nephew  to  Lei- 
cester, he  had  a  right  to  believe  that  his  talents  and 
character  would,  on  this  occasion,  be  recognized.  But, 
like  his  "  very  friend,"  Lord  Willoughby,  he  was  *'  not 
of  the  genus  Eeptilia,  and  could  neither  creep  nor 
crouch,"  *  and  he  failed,  as  usual,  to  win  his  way  to  the 
Queen's  favour.  The  governorship  of  Flushing  was 
denied  him,  and,  stung  to  the  heart  by  such  neglect,  he 
determined  to  seek  his  fortune  beyond  the  seas. 

"Sir  Philip  hath  taken  a  very  hard  resolution," 
wrote  Walsingham  to  Davison,  "to  accompany  Sir 
Francis  Drake  in  this  voyage,  moved  thereto  for  that  he 
saw  her  Majesty  disposed  to  commit  the  charge  of 
Flushing  unto  some  other ;  which  he  reputed  would  fall 
out  greatly  to  his  disgrace,  to  see  another  preferred  be- 
fore him,  both  for  birth  and  judgment  inferior  unto 
him.  The  despair  thereof  and  the  disgrace  that  he 
doubted  he  should  receive  have  carried  him  into  a  dif- 
ferent course."  * 

The  Queen,  however,  relenting  at  last,  interfered  to 
frustrate  his  design.  Having  thus  balked  his  ambition 
in  the  Indian  seas,  she  felt  pledged  to  offer  him  the 
employment  which  he  had  originally  solicited,  and  she 
accordingly  conferred  upon  him  the  governorship  of 
Flushing,  with  the  rank  of  general  of  horse,  under  tho 
Earl  of  Leicest^er.  In  the  latter  part  of  November  he 
cast  anchor,  in  the  midst  of  a  violent  storm,  at  Ram- 
mekins,  and  thence  came  to  the  city  of  his  government. 
Young,  and  looking  even  younger  than  his  years—*'  not 
only  of  an  excellent  wit,  but  extremely  beautiful  of 
face"*— with  delicately  chiselled  Anglo-Norman  fea- 
tures, smooth  fair  cheek,  a  faint  moustache,  blue  eyes, 

1  Nanuton.  •  Regalia,'  p.  68.  »  Expression  of  Aubrey,  cited  by  Gray, 

«  Walsingham   to  Davison,  13  Sept     Life  of  Sidney,  61. 
1585.    CS.  P.  CMHce  MS.) 


1585. 


HIS  ARRIVAL  AT  FLUSHING. 


343 


and  a  mass  of  amber-coloured  hair ;  such  was  tho 
author  of  Arcadia'  and  the  governor  of  Flushing. 

And  thus  an  Anglo-Norman  representative  of  ancient 
race  had  come  back  to  the  home  of  his  ancestors. 
Scholar,  poet,  knight-errant,  finished  gentleman,  he 
aptly  typified  the  result  of  seven  centuries  of  civiliza- 
tion upon  the  wild  Danish  pirate.  For  among  these 
very  quicksands  of  storm-beaten  Walachria  that  won- 
drous Normandy  first  cairie  into  existence  whose  wings 
were  to  sweep  over  all  the  high  places  of  Christendom. 
Out  of  these  creeks,  lagunes,  and  almost  inaccessible 
sand-banks,  those  bold  freebooters  sailed  forth  on  their 
forays  against  England,  Fmnce,  and  other  adjacent 
coimtries,  and  here  they  brought  and  buried  the  booty 
of  many  a  wild  adventure.  Here,  at  a  later  day,  Kollo 
the  Dane  had  that  memorable  dream  of  leprosy,*  the 
cure  of  which  was  the  conversion  of  North  Gaul  into 
Normandy,  of  Pagans  into  Christians,  and  the  subse- 
quent conquest  of  every  throne  in  Christendom  from 
Ultima  Thule  to  Byzantium.  And  now  the  descendant 
of  those  early  freebooters  had  come  back  to  the  spot,  at 
a  moment  when  a  wider  and  even  more  imperial  swoop 
was  to  be  made  by  their  modem  representatives.  For 
the  sea-kings  of  the  sixteenth  century — the  Drakes, 
Hawkinses,  Frobishers,  Kaleighs,  Cavendishes— the  De 
Moors,  Heemskirks,  Barendts — all  sprung  of  the  old 
pirate-lineage,  whether  called  Englanders  or  Hol- 
landers, and  instinct  with  the  same  hereditary  love  of 
adventure,  were  about  to  wrestle  with  ancient  tyran- 
nies, to  explore  the  most  inaccessible  regions,  and  to 
establish  new  commonwealths  in  worlds  undreamed  of 
by  their  ancestors — to  accomplish,  in  short,  more  woun- 
drous  feats  than  had  been  attempted  by  the  Knuts,  and 
Kollos,  Rurics,  Rogers,  and  Tancreds  of  an  earlier  age. 

The  place  which  Sidney  was  appointed  to  govern  was 
one  of  great  military  and  commercial  importance. 
Flushing  was  the  key  to  the  navigation  of  the  North 
Seas,  ever  since  the  disastrous  storm  of  a  century  before, 
in  which  a  great  trading  city  on  the  outermost  verge 
of  the  island  had  been  swallowed  bodily  by  the  ocean.* 
The  Emperor  had  so  thoroughly  recognized  its  value,  as 

1  Guicdardlni, '  Description  de  tous  les  Pays  Bas,  p.  354. 
*  GuicclATdiui,  in  voce. 


it 


Hi 


II 


344 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VI. 


'I 


t 

[ill 

w 

)     lit 


to  make  special  mention  of  the  necessity  for  its  preser- 
vation, in  his  private  instinictions  to  Philip,  and  now 
the  Queen  of  England  had  confided  it  to  one  who  was 
competent  to  appreciate  and  to  defend  the  prize.  **  How 
great  a  jewel  this  place  (Flushing)  is  to  the  crown  of 
England,"  wrote  Sidney  to  his  uncle  Leicester,  "  and  to 
the  Queen's  safet}^  I  need  not  now  write  it  to  your 
lordship,  who  knows  it  so  well.  Yet  I  must  needs  say, 
the  better  I  know  it,  the  more  I  find  the  preciousness  of 
it"» 

He  did  not  enter  into  his  government,  however,  with 
much  pomp  and  circumstance,  but  came  afoot  into 
Flushing  in  the  midst  of  winter  and  foul  weatlier. 
**  Driven  to  land  at  Rammekins,"  said  he,  **  because  the 
wind  began  to  rise  in  such  soii;  as  our  mariners  durst 
not  enter  the  town,  I  came  from  thence  with  as  diiiy  a 
walk  as  ever  poor  governor  entered  his  charge  withal."* 
But  he  was  cordially  welcomed,  nor  did  he  arrive  by 
any  means  too  soon. 

*'  I  find  the  people  very  glad  of  our  coming,"  he  said, 
"and  promise  myself  as  much  surety  in  keeping  this 
town,  as  popular  good-will,  gotten  by  light  hojies,  and 
by  as  slight  conceits,  may  breed ;  for  indeed  the  garrison 
is  far  too  weak  to  command  by  authority,  which  is 
pity.  ...  I  think,  truly,  that  if  my  coming  had  been 
longer  delayed,  some  alteration  would  have  followed ; 
for  the  truth  is,  this  people  is  weary  of  war,  and  if  they 
do  not  see  such  a  course  taken  as  may  be  likely  to  defend 
them,  they  will  in  a  sudden  give  over  the  cause.  .  .  . 
All  will  be  lost  if  government  be  not  presently  used." " 

He  expressed  much  anxiety  for  the  arrival  of  his  uncle, 
with  which  sentiments  he  assured  the  Earl  that  the 
Netherlanders  fully  sjTnpathized.  "Your  Lordship's 
coming,"  he  said,  "  is  as  much  longed  for  as  Messias  is 
of  the  Jews.  It  is  indeed  most  necessary  that  your 
Lordship  make  great  speed  to  reform  both  the  Dutch 
and  English  abuses."  * 

»  Sir  p.  Sydney  to  Earl  of  Uicestcr,  22  Nov.  1585.    Brit.  Mas.    «alb«.  C.  vilU 
pk  213,  MS.  *  Ibitl.  >  Lbid.  «  Ibid. 


1585. 


THE  EARL  OF  LEICESTER. 


345 


CHAPTER  VIL 


rhe  Earl  of  Leicester  —  Hia  Triumphal  Entrance  Into  Holland  —  English  Spies 
about  him  —  Importance  of  Holland  to  England  —  Spanish  Schemes  for  invading 
England  —  Letter  of  the  Grand  Commander  —  Periloua  Position  of  England  — 
True  Nature  of  the  Contest  —  Wealth  and  Strength  of  the  Provinces  —  Power  of 
tlie  Dutch  and  English  People  —  Affection  of  the  Hollanders  for  the  Queen  — 
Secrel  purposes  of  Leicester  —  Wretched  Condition  of  English  Troops  —  The 
Nassaus  and  Hohenlo  —  The  Earl's  Opinion  of  them  —  Clerk  and  Killigrew  — 
Interview  with  the  States  —  Government  General  oCTered  to  the  Earl  —  Dis- 
cussions on  the  Subject  —  The  Earl  accepts  the  OflBce  —  His  Ambition  and  Mis- 
taltes  —  His  Installation  at  the  Hague  —  Intimations  of  the  Queen's  Displeasure 
—  Deprecatory  Letters  of  Leicester  —  Davison's  Mission  to  England  —  Queen's 
Anger  and  Jealousy  —  Her  angry  Letters  to  the  Earl  and  the  States  —  Arrival 
of  Davison  —  Stormy  Interview  with  the  Queen  —  The  second  one  Is  calmer  — 
Queens  Wrath  somewhat  mitigated  —  Mission  of  Heneage  to  the  States  — 
Sliirley  sent  to  England  by  the  Earl  —  His  Interview  with  Elizabeth  —  I^eicester's 
letters  to  his  Friends  —  Paltry  Conduct  of  the  Earl  to  Davison  —  He  excuses 
himself  at  Davison's  Expense  —  His  Letter  to  Burghley  —  Eifect  of  the  Queen's 
Letters  to  the  States  —  Suspicion  and  Discontent  in  Holland  —  States  excuse 
their  Conduct  to  the  Queen  —  Leicester  discredited  in  Holland  —  Evil  Con- 
sequences to  Holland  and  England  —  Magic  Effect  of  a  I^etter  from  L»ict>ster  — 
The  Qticen  appeased  —  Her  Letters  to  the  States  and  the  Earl  —  She  permits  the 
granted  Authority  —  Unhappy  Results  of  the  Queen's  Course  —  Her  variable 
Moods  —  She  attempts  to  deceive  Walsingham  —  Her  Ityustice  to  Heneage  — 
His  Perplexity  and  Distress  —  Humiliating  Position  of  Leicester  —  His  melan« 
choly  Letters  to  the  Queen  —  He  receives  a  little  Consolation  —  And  writes 
more  cheerfully  —  The  Queen  is  more  benignant  —  The  States  less  contented 
than  the  Earl  —  His  Quarrels  with  them  begin. 


)'( 


4 


At  last  the  Earl  of  Leicester  came.  Embarking  at 
Harwich,  with  a  fleet  of  fifty  ships,  and  at-  Dec.  9, 19, 
tended  "  by  the  flower  and  chief  gallants  of  ^^^^• 
England "  »--the  Lords  Sheffield,  Willoughby,  Korth, 
Burroughs,  Sir  Gervase  Clifton,  Sir  William  Russell, 
Sir  Robert  Sidney,  and  others  among  the  number — the 
new  lieutenant-general  of  the  English  forces  in  the 
Netherlands  arrived  on  the  19th  December,  1585,  at 
Flushing.  His  nephew.  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  Count 
Maurice  of  Nassau,  with  a  body  of  troops  and  a  great 
procession  of  civil  functionaries,  were  in  readiness  to 
receive  him,  and  to  escort  him  to  the  lodgings  prepared 
for  him.* 

»Stowe,711.  133,    134;  Waj?enaar,    vili.    112    $eq.: 

*  Bor,  a  684,  685;  Hoofd  Vervolgh,    Siowe,  711;  Strada,  il.  408,  4C9. 


u 


VIvi 


i  if 


346 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


t/ 


Kobert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  was  then  fifty-four 
years  of  age.  There  are  few  personages  in  English 
history  whose  adventures,  real  or  fictitious,  have  been 
made  more  familiar  to  the  world  than  his  have  been,  or 
whose  individuality  has  been  presented  in  more  pic- 
turesque fashion,  by  chronicle,  tragedy,  or  romance. 
Bom  in  the  same  day  of  the  month  and  hour  of  the  day 
with  the  Queen,  but  two  years  before  her  birth,  the  sup- 
posed synastry  of  their  destinies  *  might  partly  account, 
in  that  age  of  astrological  superstition,  for  the  influence 
which  he  perpetually  exerted.  They  had,  moreover, 
been  fellow-prisoners  together,  in  the  commencement  of 
the  reign  of  Mary,  and  it  is  possible  that  he  may  have 
been  the  medium  through  which  the  indulgent  ex- 
pressions of  Philip  II,  were  conveyed  to  the  Princess 
Elizabeth. 

His  grandfather,  John  Dudley,  that  '*  caterpillar  of  the 
commonwealth,"  who  lost  his  head  in  the  first  year  of 
Henry  VIII.  as  a  reward  for  the  *'  grist  which  he  brought 
to  the  mill"*  of  Henry  VII.;  his  father,  the  mighty 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  rose  out  of  the  wreck  of 
an  obscure  and  ruined  family  to  almost  regal  power, 
only  to  perish,  like  his  predecessor,  upon  the  scaffold, 
had  bequeathed  him  nothing  save  rapacity,  ambition, 
and  the  genius  to  succeed.     But  Elizabeth  seemed  to 
ascend  the  throne  only  to  bestow  gifts  upon  her  favourite. 
Baronies  and  earldoms,  stars  and  garters,  manors  and 
monopolies,   castles    and  forests,   church    livings    and 
college  chancellorships,  advowsons  and  sinecures,  emolu- 
ments  and  dignities,  the   most  copious  and  the  most 
exalted,  were  conferred  upon  him  in  breathless  suc^ces- 
sion.   Wine,  oil,  currants,  velvets,  ecclesiastical  benefices, 
university  headships,  licenses  to  preach,  to   teach,  to 
ride,  to  sail,  to  pick  and  to  steal,  all  brought  *'  grist  to 
his  mill."      His   grandfather,    »'the   horse    leach   and 
shearer,"  never  filled  his  coffers  more  mpidly  than  did 
Lord   Robert,   the   fortunate   courtier.      Of   his  early 
wedlock  with  the  ill-starred  Amy  Robsart,  of  his  nuptial 
projects  with  the  Queen,  of  his  subsequent  marriages 
and  mock-marriages  with  Douglas  Sheffield  and  Lettice 
of  Essex,   of  his  plottings,   poisonings,    imaginary   or 
otherwise,  of  his  countless  intrigues,  amatory  and  polit- 

»  Naunton,  34.  and  note,  «  Expreaslon  of  Loid  Bacon, 


1585. 


THE  EAIIL  OF  LEICESTER. 


347 


ical— of  that  luxuriant,  creeping,  flaunting,  all-pervading 
existence  which  struck  its  fibres  into  the  mould,  and 
coiled  itself  through  the  whole  fabric,  of  Elizabeth's 
life  and  reign — of  all  this  the  world  has  long  known  too 
much  to  render  a  repetition  needful  here.  The  inmost 
nature  and  the  secret  deeds  of  a  man  placed  so  high  by 
wealth  and  station,  can  be  seen  but  darkly  through  the 
glass  of  contemporary  record.  There  was  no  tribunal 
to  sit  upon  his  guilt.  A  grandee  could  be  judged  only 
when  no  longer  a  favourite,  and  the  infatuation  of 
Elizabeth  for  Leicester  terminated  only  with  his  life. 
He  stood  now  upon  the  soil  of  the  Netherlands  in  the 
character  of  a  "  Messiah,"  yet  he  had  been  charged  with 
crimes  sufficient  to  send  twenty  humbler  malefactors  to 
the  gibbet.  **  I  think,"  said  a  most  malignant  arraigner 
of  the  man,  in  a  published  pamphlet,  *'  that  the  Earl  of 
Leicester  hath  more  blood  lying  upon  his  head  at  this 
day,  crjung  for  vengeance,  than  ever  had  piivate  man 
before,  were  he  never  so  wicked."  ^ 

Certainly  the  mass  of  misdemeanonrs  and  infamies 
hurled  at  the  head  of  the  favourite  by  that  '*  green-coated 
Jesuit,"  father  Parsons,  under  the  title  of  *  Leycester's 
Commonwealth,*  were  never  accepted  as  literal  verities  ; 
yet  the  value  of  the  precept,  to  calumniate  boldly,  with 
the  certainty  that  much  of  the  calumny  would  last  for 
ever,  was  never  better  illustrated  than  in  the  case  of 
Kobert  Dudley.  Besides  the  lesser  delinquencies  of 
tilling  his  purse  by  the  sale  of  honours  and  dignities,  by 
violent  ejectments  from  land,  fraudulent  titles,  rapacious 
enclosures  of  commons,  by  taking  bribes  for  matters  of 
justice,  grace,  and  supplication  to  the  royal  authority, 
he  was  accused  of  forging  various  letters  to  the  Queen, 
often  to  ruin  his  political  adversaries,  and  of  plottings 
to  entrap  them  into  conspiracies,  playing  first  the 
comrade  and  then  the  informer.  The  list  of  his  murders 
and  attempts  to  murder  was  almost  endless.  "  His 
lordship  hath  a  special  fortune,"  said  the  Jesuit,  "  that 
when  he  desireth  any  woman's  favour,  whatsoever 
person  standeth  in  his  way  hath  the  luck  to  die  quickly."* 


1  '  LeycesUr's   Commonwealth :    con-  whose  good  only  It  Is  made  common  to 

ceived,  spoken,  and  published  with  moat  many  (by  Robt.  Parsons),'  4to.  London, 

earnest  protestation  of  all  dutiful  good-  1641. 

will  and  affection  towards  the  realm,  for  «  Leycester's  'Ccanmonwealth/  ut  tup. 


I 


''"! 


348 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


h 


'I 


IIo  was  said  to  have  poisoned  Alice  Drayton,  Lady 
Lennox,  Lord  Sussex,  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton,  Lord 
Sheffield,  whose  widow  he  married  and  then  poisoned, 
Lord  Essex,  whose  widow  he  also  married  and  intended 
to  poison,  but  who  was  said  to  have  subsequently 
poisoned  him — besides  murders  or  schemes  for  murder 
of  various  other  individuals,  both  French  and  English.^ 
"He  was  a  rare  artist  in  poison,"  said  Sir  l^obert 
Naunton,*  and  ceiiainly  not  Caesar  Borgia,  nor  his 
father  or  sister,  was  more  accomplished  in  that  difficult 
profession  than  was  Dudley,  if  half  the  charges  against 
him  could  be  believed.  Fortunately  for  his  fame,  many 
of  them  were  proved  to  be  false.  Sir  Henr)^  Sidney, 
lord  deputy  of  Ireland,  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Lord 
Essex,  having  caused  a  diligent  inquiiy  to  be  made  into 
that  dark  affair,  wrote  to  the  council  that  it  was  usual 
for  the  Earl  to  fall  into  a  bloody  flux  when  disturbed  in 
his  mind,  and  that  his  body  when  opened  showed  no 
signs  of  poison."  It  is  true  that  Sir  Henry,  although  an 
honourable  man,  was  Leicester's  brother-in-law,  and  that 
perhaps  an  autopsy  was  not  conducted  at  that  day  in 
Ireland  on  very  scientific  principles. 

His  participation  in  the  strange  death  of  his  firet  wife 
was  a  matter  of  current  belief  among  his  contemporaries. 
*'  He  is  infamed  by  the  death  of  his  wife,"  said  Burghley,* 
and  the  tale   has  since   become   so  interwoven  with 
classic  and   legendary  fiction,  as   well  as  with  more 
authentic  history,  that  the  phantom  of  the  murdered 
Amy  Robsart  is  sure  to  arise  at  every  mention  of  the 
Earl's  name.     Yet  a  coroner's  inquest— as  appears  from 
his  own  secret  correspondence  with  his  relative  and 
agent  at  Cumnor — was  immediately   and   persistently 
demanded  by  Dudley.     A  jury  was  impannelled— every 
man  of  them  a  stranger  to  him,  and  some  of  them  ene- 
mies.    Antony  Forster,  Appleyard,  and  Arthur  Eobsaii, 
brother-in  law  and  brother  of  the  lady,  were  present, 
according  to  Dudley's  special  request ;  "  and  if  more  of 
her  friends  could  have  been  sent,"  said  he,  *'  I  would 
have   sent  them;"  but   with  all   their  minuteness   of 
inquiry,  "  they  could  find,"  wrote  Blount,  "  no   pre- 
sumptions of  evil,"  although  he  expressed  a  suspicion 


•  Tioycester's  '  Common we:ilth,'  ut  tup. 
>  Naootun,  'Ilegalk,'  43.  44. 


»  Sydney  Papers,  by  CoUinfl,  i.  48. 
*  Lodge,  il.  202. 


1585. 


THE  EARL  OF  LEICESTER. 


349 


that  "  some  of  the  jurymen  were  sorry  that  they  could 
not.'*  That  the  unfortunate  lady  was  killed  by  a  fall 
down  stairs  was  all  that  could  be  made  of  it  by  a 
coroner's  inquest,  rather  hostile  than  otherwise,  and 
urged  to  rigorous  investigation  by  the  supposed  culprit 
himself.*  Nevertheless,  the  calumny  has  endured  for 
three  centuries,  and  is  like  to  survive  as  many  more. 

AVhatever  crimes  Dudley  may  have  committed  in  the 
courfcse  of  his  career,  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  he 
was  the  most  abused  man  in  Europe.  He  had  been 
deeply  wounded  by  the  Jesuit's  artful  publication,  in 
which  all  the  misdeeds  with  which  he  was  falsely  or 
justly  charged  were  drawn  up  in  awful  array,  in  a  form 
half  colloquial,  half  judicial.  "  You  had  better  give 
some  contentment  to  my  Lord  Leicester,"  wrote  the 
Frerch  envoy  from  London  to  his  government,  "  on 
accoimt  of  the  bitter  feelings  excited  in  him  by  these 
villanous  books  lately  written  against  him."* 

The  Earl  himself  ascribed  these  calumnies  to  the 
Jesuits,  to  the  Guise  faction,  and  particularly  to  the 
Queen  of  Scots.  He  was  said,  in  consequence,  to  have 
vowed  an  eternal  hatred  to  that  most  unfortunate  and 
most  intriguing  Princess.  •'  Leicester  has  lately  told  a 
friend,"  wrote  Charles  Paget,  *'  that  he  will  persecute 
you  to  the  uttermost,  for  that  he  supposeth  your  Majesty 
to  be  privy  to  the  setting  forth  of  the  book  against 
him." '  Nevertheless,  calumniated  or  innocent,  he  was 
at  least  triumphant  over  calumny.  Nothing  could 
shake  his  hold  upon  Elizabeth's  affections.  The  Queen 
scorned  but  resented  the  malignant  attacks  upon  the 
reputation  of  her  favourite.  She  declared  "  before  God 
and  in  her  conscience,  that  she  knew  the  libels  against 
him  to  be  most  scandalous,  and  such  as  none  but  an 
incarnate  devil  himself  could  dream  to  be  true."  His 
power,  founded  not  upon  genius  nor  virtue,  but  upon 
woman's  caprice,  shone  serenely  above  the  gulf  where 
there  had   been   so   many  shipwrecks.      "  I  am   now 


1  Abstract  of  the  Correspondence  pre- 
serveil  in  the  Pepysian  Library  at  Cam- 
bridge, between  Lonl  Robert  Dudley  and 
Thomas  Blount,  an  agent  of  his  at  Cum- 
nor, during  the  inquest  held  on  Amy 
Robsart,  published  in  Craik,  '  Romance 
of  the  Peerage.' 

* "  il  sera  bqp  de  donner  quel- 


am 

que  amtentement  au  diet  sieur  Conte  de 
Lestre  pour  ce  qu'il  a  sy  affection  de 
ces  vilains  livres  fetz  contre  luy,"  kc. 
('  Castelnau-Mauvisslere  k  M.  de  Brulart,' 
Brienne,  MS.) 

'  Charles  Paget  to  Queen  of  Scota,  14 
Jan.  1585,  in  Murdin,  ii.  437. 


'  i 


11 


1^ 


350 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


passing  into  another  world,"  said  Sussex,  upon  his 
death-bed,  to  his  friends,  "and  I  must  leave  you  to 
your  fortunes ;  but  beware  of  the  gipsy,  or  he  will  bo 
too  hard  for  you.  You  know  not  the  beeist  so  well  as  I 
do." ' 

The  '*  gipsy,"  as  he  had  been  called  from  his  dark 
complexion,  had  been  renowned  in  youth  for  the  beauty 
of  his  person,  being  "  tall  and  singularly  well-featured, 
of  a  sweet  aspect,  but  high  foreheaded,  which  was  of  no 
discommendation,"  according  to  Naunton.  The  Queen, 
who  had  the  passion  of  her  father  for  tall  and  proper 
men,  was  easier  won  by  externals,  from  her  youth  even 
to  the  days  of  her  dotage,  than  befitted  so  very  sagacious 
a  personage.  Chamberlains,  squires  of  the  body,  carvers, 
cup-bearers,  gentlemen-ushers,  porters,  could  obtain 
neither  place  nor  favour  at  court,  unless  distinguished 
for  stature,  strength,  or  extraordinary  activity.  To  lose 
a  tooth  had  been  known  to  cause  the  loss  of  a  place,  and 
the  excellent  constitution  of  leg  which  helped  Sir 
Christopher  Ilatton  into  the  chancellorship,  was  not 
more  remarkable  perhaps  than  the  success  of  similar  en- 
dowments in  other  contemporaries.  Leicester,  although 
stately  and  imposing,  had  passed  his  summer  solstice.  A 
big  bulky  man,  with  a  long  red  face,  a  bald  head,  a  de- 
fiant somewhat  sinister  eye,  a  high  nose,  and  a  little  tor- 
rent of  foam-white  curly  beard,  he  was  still  magnificent 
in  costume.  Rustling  in  satin  and  feathers,  with  jewels 
in  his  ears,  and  his  velvet  toque  stuck  as  airily  as  ever 
upon  the  side  of  his  head,  he  amazed  the  honest  Hol- 
landers, who  had  been  used  to  less  gorgeous  chieftains. 
"  Every  body  is  wondering  at  the  great  magnificence 
and  splendour  of  his  clothes,"* said  the  plain  chronicler 
of  Utrecht.  For,  not  much  more  than  a  year  before, 
Fulke  Greville  had  met  at  Delft  a  man  whose  external 
adornments  were  simpler ;  a  somewhat  slip-shod  per- 
sonage, whom  he  thus  portrayed  : — "  His  uppermost 
garment  was  a  gown,"  said  the  euphuistic  Fulke,  "  yet 
such  as,  I  confidently  affirm,  a  mean-bom  student  of  our 
Inns  of  Court  would  not  have  been  well  disposed  to 
walk  the  streets  in.  Unbuttoned  his  doublet  was,  and 
of  like  precious  matter  and  form  to  the  other.  His 
waistcoat,  which  showed  itself  under  it,  not  unlike  the 

1  Naunton,  p.  49.  2  Bor,  ii.  686. 


1585.      HIS  TRIUMPHAL  ENTRANCE  INTO  HOLLAND.        351 

best  sort  of  those  woollen  knit  ones  which  our  ordinarj^ 
barge-watermen  row  us  in.  His  company  about  him, 
the  burgesses  of  that  beer-brewing  town,  ^q  external 
sign  of  degree  could  have  discovered  the  inequality  of  his  worth 
or  estate  from  that  multitude.  Nevertheless,  upon  con- 
versing with  him,  there  vcas  an  outward  passage  of  inward 
greatness.^'  * 

Of  a  cei-tainty  there  must  have  been  an  outward 
passage  of  inward  greatness  about  him;  for  the  in- 
tlividual  in  unbuttoned  doublet,  and  bargeman's  waist- 
coast,  was  no  other  than  William  the  Silent.  A  different 
kind  of  leader  had  now  descended  among  those  rebels, 
yet  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  deny  the  capacity  or 
vigorous  intentions  of  the  magnificent  Earl,  who  cer- 
tainly was  like  to  find  himself  in  a  more  difficult  and 
responsible  situation  than  any  he  had  yet  occupied. 

And  now  began  a  triumphal  progress  through   the 
land,  with  a  series  of  mighty  banquets  and  festivities,  in 
which  no  man  could  play  a  better  part  than  Leicester. 
From  Flushing  he  came  to  Middelburg,  where,  upon 
Christmas  eve  (according  to  the  new  reckoning),  there 
was  an  entertainment,  every  dish  of  which  has  been 
duly  chronicled.      Pigs  served  on  their  feet,  pheasants 
in  their  feathers,  and  baked  swans  with  their  necks 
thrust  through  gigantic  piecrust;    crystal    castles   of 
confectionery  with  silver  streams  flowing  at  their  base, 
and  fair  virgins  leaning  from  the  battlements,  looking 
for  their  new  English  champion,  "  wine  in  abundance, 
variety  of  all  sorts,  and  wonderful  welcomes"* — such 
was  the  bill  of  fare.     The  next  day  the   Lieutenant- 
General  returned  the  compliment  to  the  magistrates  of 
Middelburg  with  a  tremendous  feast.     Then  came  an 
interlude  of  unexpected  famine;  for  as  the  Earl  sailed 
with  his  suite  in  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  vessels  for 
Dort— a  voyage  of  not  many  hours'  usual  duration — 
there  descended  a  mighty  frozen  fog  upon  the  waters, 
and  they  lay  five  whole  days  and  nights  in  their  ships,' 
almost  starved  with  hunger  and  cold— offering  in  vain 
a  "  pound  of  silver  for  a  pound  of  bread."  •      Emerging 
at  last  from  this  dismal  predicament,  he  landed  at  Dort, 
and  so  went    to    Eotterdam    and    Delft,   everywhere 


»  Brooke's  Sidney,  16  teq. 
*  Stowe's  Holinsbed.  iv.  $41. 


"  Sir  John  Conway  to  ,  27  Dec 

1686.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


I   > 


■1/ 
ill 

11 


>i 


•ii'( 


it! 


:it 


352 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII, 


making  his  way  through  lines  of  musketeers  and  civic 
functionaries,  amid  roaring  cannon,  pealing  bells,  burn- 
ing cressets,  blazing  tar-barrels,  fiery  winged  diagons, 
wreaths  of  flowers,  and  Latin  orations.* 

The  farther  he  went  the  braver  seemed  the  country, 
and  the  better  beloved  his  Lordship.  Nothing  was  left 
undone,  in  the  language  of  ancient  chronicle,  to  fill  the 
bellies  and  the  heads,  of  the  whole  company.  At  the 
close  of  the  year  he  came  to  the  Hague,  where  the 
festivities  were  unusually  magnificent.  A  fleet  of  barges 
was  sent  to  escort  him.  Peter,  James,  and  John,  met 
him  upon  the  shore,  while  the  Saviour  appeared 
walking  upon  the  waves,  and  ordered  his  disciples  to 
cast  their  nets,  and  to  present  the  fish  to  his  Excellency. 
Farther  on,  he  was  confronted  by  Mars  and  Bellona, 
who  recited  Latin  odes  in  his  honour.  Seven  beautiful 
damsels  upon  a  stage,  representing  the  United  States, 
offered  him  golden  keys  ;  seven  others  equally  beautiful, 
embodying  the  seven  sciences,  presented  him  with 
garlands,  while  an  enthusiastic  barber  adorned  his  shop 
with  seven  score  of  copper  baains,  with  a  wax-light  in 
each,  together  with  a  rose,  and  a  Latin  posy  in  praise  of 
Qiieen  Elizabeth.'  Then  there  were  tiltings  in  the 
water  between  champions  mounted  upon  whales,  and 
other  monsters  of  the  deep— representatives  of  siege, 
famine,  pestilence,  and  murder— the  whole  interspersed 
with  fireworks,  poetry,  charades,  and  harangues.  Not 
Matthias,  nor  Anjou,  nor  King  Philip,  nor  the  Emperor 
Charles*  in  their  triumphal  progresses,  had  been  re- 
ceived with  more  spontaneous  or  more  magnificent 
demonstrations.  Never  had  the  living  pictures  been 
more  startling,  the  allegories  more  incomprehensible, 
the  banquets  more  elaborate,  the  orations  more  tedious. 
Beside  himself  with  rapture,  Leicester  almost  assumed 
the  God.  In  Delft,  a  city  which  he  described  as 
"  another  London  almost  for  beauty  and  fairness,"  *  ho 


1  sir  John  Conway  to ,  27  Dec 

1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Stowe.  ubi  sup. 

«  Stowe's  Holinsbed.  iv.  641  seq. 

»  "  It  to  thought  that  when  Charles  V. 
made  his  entries  here  in  these  towns, 
there  was  not  greater  ceremonies;  the 
people  so  joyful,  and  thnniging  so  great, 
to  see  his  Lordship, as  it  was  wonder," 


&c    Edward  Bumham  to  Sir  F.  Walslng- 
ham,  Dec.  27,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  lieicester  to  ^Val8lngha^l,  26  Dec. 
1585,  in  Brace,  p.  31 ;  and  writing  to 
Burghley  the  next  day,  he  says,  "the 
other  towns  I  have  passed  by  are  very 
goo<lly  towns,  but  this  is  the  fairest  of 
them  all."  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1585. 


ENGLISH  SPIES  ABOUT  HIM. 


353 


is  said  so  far  to  have  forgotten  himself  as  to  declare  that 
his  family  had — in  the  person  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  his 
father,  and  brother — been  unjustly  "deprived  of  the 
crown  of  England;  an  indiscretion  which  caused  a 
shudder  in  all  who  heard  him.^  It  was  also  veiy 
dangerous  for  the  Lieutenant-General  to  exceed  the 
bounds  of  becoming  modesty  at  that  momentous  ejioch. 
His  power,  as  we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  observe, 
was  anomalous,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  enemies.  He 
was  not  only  to  grapple  with  a  rapidly  developing 
opposition  in  the  States,  but  he  was  surrounded  with 
masked  enemies,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him  from 
England.  Every  act  and  word  of  his  were  liable  to 
closest  scrutiny,  and  likely  to  be  turned  against  him. 
For  it  was  most  characteristic  of  that  intriguing  age, 
that  even  the  astute  W'alsingham,  who  had  an  eye 
and  an  ear  at  every  keyhole  in  Europe,  was  himself 
under  closest  domestic  inspection.  There  was  one 
Foley,  a  trusted  servant  of  Lady  Sidney,  then  living  in 
the  house  of  her  father  Walsingham,  during  Sir  Philip's 
absence,  who  was  in  close  communication  w4th  Lord 
Montjoy's  brother,  *  Blount,  then  high  in  favour  of 
Queen  Elizabeth — "  whose  grandmother  she  might  be 
for  his  age  and  hers " — and  with  another  brother, 
Christopher  Blount,  at  that  moment  in  confidential 
attendance  upon  Lord  Leicester  in  Holland.  Now 
Foley,  and  both  the  Blounts,  were,  in  reality,  Papists, 
and  in  intimate  correspondence  with  the  agents  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  although 
**  forced  to  fawn  upon  Leicester,  to  see  if  they  might 
thereby  live  quiet."  They  had  a  secret  "  alphabet,"  or 
cipher,  among  them,  and  protested  waimly,  that  they 
*'  honoured  the  ground  whereon  Queen  Mary  trod 
better  than  Leicester  with  all  his  generation ;  and  that 
they  felt  bound  to  serve  her  who  was  the  only  saint 
living  on  the  earth."  * 

It  may  be  well  understood  then  that  the  Earl's  posi- 
tion was  a  slippery  one,  and  that  great  assumption  might 
be  unsafe.  *'  He  taketh  the  matter  upon  him,"  wrote 
Morgan  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  *'  as  though  he  were  an 
absolute  king  ;  but  he  hath  many  personages  about  him 
of  good  place  out  of  England,  the  best  number  whereof 

1  HcK)fd  Vervulgb.  131.         »  Morgan  io  Ciueen  of  Scots,  in  Murdin.  ii.  495-501. 
VOL.    1.  '  2   A 


>ll 


854 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


desire  nothing  more  than  his  confusion.  Some  of  them 
be  gone  with  him  to  avoid  the  persecution  for  religion 
in  England.  My  poor  advice  and  labour  shall  not  be 
wanting  to  give  Leicester  all  dishonour,  which  will  fall 
upon  him  in  the  end  with  shame  enough ;  though  for 
the  present  he  be  very  strong."  ^  Many  of  these  person- 
ages of  good  place,  and  enjoying  **  charge  and  credit " 
with  the  Earl  had  very  serious  plans  in  their  heads. 
Some  of  them  meant  "  for  the  service  of  God,  and  the 
advantage  of  the  King  of  Spain,  to  further  the  delivery 
of  some  notable  towns  in  Holland  and  Zeeland  to  the 
said  King  and  his  ministers,"  *  and  we  are  like  to  hear 
of  these  individuals  again. 

Meantime,  the  Earl  of  Leicester  was  at  the  Hague. 
Why  was  he  there  ?  What  was  his  work  ?  Why  had 
Elizabeth  done  such  violence  to  her  affection  as  to  part 
with  her  favourite-in-chief;  and  so  far  overcome  her 
thrift,  as  to  furnish  forth,  rather  meagrely  to  be  sure, 
that  little  army  of  Englishmen?  AVhy  had  the  flower 
of  England's  chivalry  set  foot  upon  that  dark  and 
bloody  ground  where  there  seemed  so  much  disaster  to 
encounter,  and  so  little  glory  to  reap  ?  Why  had  Eng- 
land thrown  herself  so  heroically  into  the  breach,  just  as 
the  last  bulwarks  were  falling  which  protected  Holland 
from  the  overwhelming  onslaught  of  Spain?  It  was 
because  Holland  was  the  threshold  of  England  ;  because 
the  two  countries  were  one  by  danger  and  by  destiny ; 
because  the  naval  expedition  from  Spain  against  Eng- 
land was  already  secretly  preparing ;  because  the 
deposed  tyrant  of  Spain  intended  the  Provinces,  when 
again  subjugated,  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  conquest  of 
England ;  because  the  naval  and  military  forces  of 
Holland — her  numerous  ships,  her  hardy  mariners,  her 
vast  wealth,  her  commodious  sea-poi-ts,  close  to  the 
English  coast — if  made  Spanish  property  would  render 
Philip  invincible  by  sea  and  land;  and  because  the 
downfall  of  Holland  and  of  Protestantism  would  be  death 
to  Elizabeth,  and  annihilation  to  England. 

There  was  little  doubt  on  the  subject  in  the  minds  of 
those  engaged  in  this  expedition.  All  felt  most  keenly 
the  importance  of  the  game,  in  which  the  Queen  was 
staking  her  crown,  and  England  its  national  existence. 

1  Morgan  to  Queen  of  Scots,  In  Murdln,  11. 495-501.  ^  Ibid. 


1585.         IMPORTANCE  OF  HOLLAND  TO  ENGLAND. 


355 


^  **1  pray  God,"  said  Wilford,  an  officer  much  in  ^^'al- 
singhain's  confidence,  "  that  I  live  not  to  see  this  enter- 
prise quail,  and  with  it  the  utter  subversion  of  religion 
throughout  all  Christendom.  It  may  be  I  may  bo 
judged  to  be  afraid  of  my  own  shadow.  God  grant  it 
be  so.  But  if  her  Majesty  had  not  taken  the  helm  in 
hand,  and  my  Lord  of  Leicester  sent  over,  this  country 

had   been  gone   ere   this This  war   doth 

defend  England.  Who  is  he  that  will  refuse  to  spend 
his  life  and  living  in  it  ?  If  her  Majesty  consume  twenty 
thousand  men  in  the  cause,  the  experimented  men  that 
will  remain  will  double  that  strength  to  the  realm."  * 

This  same  Wilford  commanded  a  company  in  Ostend, 
and  was  employed  by  Leicester  in  examining  the  de- 
fences of  that  important  place.  'He  often  sent  informa- 
tion to  the  Secretary,  "troubling  him  with  the  rude 
style  of  a  poor  soldier,  being  driven  to  scribble  in  haste." 
He  reiterated,  in  more  than  one  letter,  the  opinion,  that 
twenty  thousand  men  consumed  in  the  war  would  be  a 
saving  in  the  end,  and  his  own  determination — although 
he  had  intended  retiring  from  the  military  profession— 
to  spend  not  only  his  life  in  the  cause,  but  also  the  poor 
living  that  God  had  given  him.     "  Her  Highness  hath 
now  entered  into  it,"  he  said ;   *'  the  fire  is  kindled ; 
whosoever  suffers  it  to  go  out,  it  will  grow  dangerous  to 
that  side.     The  whole  state  of  religion  is  in  question, 
and  the  realm  of  England  also,  if  this  action  quail.    God 
grant  we  never  live  to  see  that  doleful  day.     Her  Majesty  hath 
such  footing  now  in  these  parts,  as  I  judge  it  impossible 
for  the  King  to  weary  her  out,  if  every  man  will  put  to 
the  work  his  helping  hand,  whereby  it  may  be  lustily 
followed,  and  the  war  not  su fibred  to  cool.     The  freehold 
of  England  will  be  worth  hut  little,  if  this  action  quail,  and 
therefore  I  wish  no  subject  to  spare  his  purse  towards 
it.'** 

Spain  moved  slowly.  Philip  the  Prudent  was  not 
sudden  or  rash,  but  his  whole  life  had  proved,  and  was 
to  prove,  him  inflexible  in  his  purposes,  and  patient  in 
his  attempts  to  carry  them  into  effect,  even  when  the 
purposes  had  become  chimerical,  and  the  execution 
impossible.     Before  the  fall  of  Antwerp  he  had  matured 


1  ThomaB  Willbrd  to  Walsingham,  ^  Dec.  1685.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)       a  Ibid. 

2  A  2 


356 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII 


his  scheme  for  the  invasion  of  England,  in  most  of  its 
details— a  necessary  part  of  which  was  of  course  the 
reduction  of  Holland  and  Zeeland.  "  Surely  no  ^danger 
nor  fear  of  any  attempt  can  grow  to  England/'  wrote 
\Vilford,  "  so  long  as  we  can  hold  this  country  good." 
But  never  was  honest  soldier  more  mistaken  than  he, 
when  he  added :— "  The  Papists  will  make  her  Highness 
afraid  of  a  great  fleet  now  preparing  in  Spain.  We 
hear  it  also,  but  it  is  only  a  scarecrow  to  cool  the 
enterprise  here."  * 

It  was  no  scarecrow.      On   the  very  day  on  which 
Wilford  was  thus  writing  to  Walsingham,  Philip  the 
Second   was  writing   to    Alexander    Farnese.      '*  The 
English,"  he  said,  **  with  their  troops  having  gained  a 
footing  in  the  Islands  (Holland  and  Zeeland),  give  me 
much  anxiety.     The  English  Catholics  are  imploring 
me  with  much  importunity  to  relieve  them  from  the 
persecution  they  are  suffering.     When  you  sent  me  a 
plan,  with  the  coasts,  soundings,  quicksands,  and  poiis 
of  England,  you  said  that  the  enterprise  of  invading  that 
country  should  be  deferred  till  we  had  reduced  the  Isles ; 
that,  having  them,  we  could  much  more  conveniently 
attack  England ;  or  that  at  least  we  should  wait  till  we 
had  got  Antwerp.     As  the  city  is  now  taken,  I  want 
your  advice  now  about  the  invasion  of  England.     To  cut 
the  root  of  the  evils  constantly  growing  up  there,  both 
for  God's  service  and  mine,  is  desirable.     So  many  evils 
will  thus  be  remedied,   which  would  not  be  by  only 
warring  with  the  Islands.     It  would  be  an  uncertain 
and  expensive  war  to  go  to  sea  for  the  purpose  of  chas- 
tising the  insolent  English  corsairs,  however  much  they 
deserve  chastisement.     I  charge  you  to  be  secret,  to 
give  the  matter  your  deepest  attention,  and  to  let  me 
have  your   opinions  at  once."     Philip  then   added   a 
postscript,  in  his  own  hand,  concerning  the  importance 
of  acquiring  a  sea-port  in  Holland,  as  a  basis  of  opera- 
tions against  England.      "  Without  a  port,'*  he  said, 
**  we  can  do  nothing  whatever." " 

A  few  weeks  later,  the  Grand  Commander  of  Castile, 
by  Philip's   orders,  and  upon  subsequent  information 


1  wilford  to  Burghley.  „  Dec.  1585.    ^^^^  ^^^^„    ^p^^^^p  ^j    ^  p^rma.  29 
(S.P.  Offlce  MS.) 


«  "Porque  sin  puerto  no   se   puede 
acer  nada."    (Philip  II.  to  Panna, 
Dec.  1585.  Archivo  de  Simancas  MS.) 


J585.      SPANISH  SCHEMES  FOR  INVADING  ENGLAND.       357 

received  from  the  Prince  of  Parma,  drew  up  an  elaborate 
scheme  for  the  invasion  of  England,  and  for  the  govern- 
ment of  that  country  afterwards ;  a  program  according 
to  which  the  King  was  to  shape  his  course  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  The  plot  was  an  excellent  plot.  Nothing 
could  be  more  artistic,  more  satisfactory  to  the  prudent 
monarch;  but  time  was  to  show  whether  there  might 
not  be  some  difficulty  in  the  way  of  its  satisfactory 
development. 

'*  The  entei-prise,"  said  the  Commander,  "  ought  cer- 
tainly to  be  undertaken  as  serving  the  cause  of  the 
Lord.  From  the  Pope  we  must  endeavour  to  extract  a 
promise  of  the  largest  aid  we  can  get  for  the  time  when 
the  enterprise  can  be  undertaken.  We  must  not  declare 
that  time  however,  in  order  to  keep  the  thing  a  secret, 
and  because  perhaps  thus  more  will  be  promised,  under 
the  impression  that  it  will  never  take  effect." '  Ho 
added  that  the  work  could  not  well  be  attempted  before 
August  or  September  of  the  following  year ;  the  only 
fear  of  such  delay  being  that  the  French  could  hardly  be 
kept  during  all  that  time  in  a  state  of  revolt."*  For 
this  was  a  uniform  portion  of  the  great  scheme.  France 
was  to  be  kept,  at  Philip's  expense,  in  a  state  of  pei-pe- 
tual  civil  war;  its  every  city  and  village  to  be  the 
scene  of  unceasing  conflict  and  bloodshed — subjects  in 
arms  against  king,  and  family  against  family  ; — and 
the  Netherlands  were  to  be  ravaged  with  fire  and 
sword;  all  this  in  order  that  the  path  might  be  pre- 
pared for  Spanish  soldiers  into  the  homes  of  England. 
So  much  of  misery  to  the  whole  human  race  was  it  in 
the  power  of  one  painstaking  elderly  valetudinarian  to 
inflict,  by  never  for  an  instant  neglecting  the  business 
of  his  life. 

Troops  and  vessels  for  the  English  invasion  ought,  in 
the  Commander's  opinion,  to  be  collected  in  Flanders, 
under  colour  of  an  enterprise  against  Holland  and  Zee- 
land,  while  the  armada  to  be  assembled  in  Spain,  of 


1  Parecer  del  Comendador  Mayor  dado  sin  declararle  el  tietnpo,  por  rospeto  del 

a  S.  M.  Bobre  la  empn;sa  de  InRlaterra,  secrete,  y  porque  quiza  asi  prometera 

anno  15»6.  (Archivo  de  Simancas  MS.)  mas, fiensando  que  no  hade  haberefecto." 

"  Y  al  papa  se  procure  sacar  promesa  •  "  No  se  pueden  tener  tauto  tienapo 

de  la  mas  gruesa  ayuda  que  se  pudiese  rebueltos."  (Ibid.) 
para  cuando  se  poedo  hacer  la  empresa, 


358 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


1585. 


LETTER  OF  THE  GRAND  COMMANDER. 


359 


galleons,  galeazzas,  and  galleys  should  be  ostensibly  for 
an  expedition  to  the  Indies. 

Then,  after  the  conquest,  came  arrangements  for  the 
government  of  England.  Should  Philip  administer  his 
new  kingdom  by  a  viceroy,  or  should  he  appoint  a  king 
out  of  his  own  family?  On  the  whole  the  chances 
for  the  Prince  of  Parma  seemed  the  best  of  any.  **  We 
must  liberate  the  Queen  of  Scotland,"  said  the  Grand 
Commander, "  and  marry  her  to  some  one  or  another,  both 
in  order  to  put  her  out  of  love  with  her  son,  and  to  con- 
ciliate her  devoted  adherents.  Of  course  the  husband 
should  be  one  of  your  Majesty's  'nephews,  and  none 
could  be  so  appropriate  as  the  Prince  of  Parma,  that 
great  captain,  whom  his  talents,  and  the  part  he  has 
to  bear  in  the  business,  especially  indicate  for  that 
honour."  * 

Then  there  was  a  difficulty  about  the  possible  issue 
of  such  a  marriage.  The  Fanieses  claimed  Poi-tugal ; 
80  that  children  sprung  from  the  blood-royal  of  England 
blended  with  that  of  Parma  might  choose  to  make  those 
pretensions  valid.  But  the  objection  was  promptly 
solved  by  the  Commander  : — **  The  Queen  of  Scotland  is 
sure  to  have  no  children,"  he  said.* 

That  matter  being  adjusted,  Parma's  probable  attitude 
as  King  of  England  was  examined.  It  was  true  his 
ambition  might  cause  occasional  uneasiness,  but  then 
he  might  make  himself  more  unpleasant  in  the  Nether- 
lands. **  If  your  Majesty  suspects  him,"  said  the  Com- 
mander, *'  which,  after  all,  is  unfair,  seeing  the  way  in 
which  he  has  been  conducting  himself— it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  in  Flanders  are  similar  circumstances 
and  opportunities,  and  that  he  is  well  armed,  much 
beloved  in  the  country,  and  that  the  natives  are  of 
various  humours.  The  English  plan  will  furnish  an 
honourable  departure  for  him  out  of  the  Provinces  ;  and 
the  principle  of  loyal  obligation  will  have  much  influ- 
ence over  so  chivalrous  a  knight  as  he,  when  he  is  once 
placed  on  the  English  throne.  Moreover,  as  he  will  be 
new  there,  he  will  liave  need  of  your  Majesty's  favour 
to  maintain  himself,  and  there  will  accordingly  be  good 
correspondence  with  Holland  and  the  Islands.      Thus 

>  MS.  just  died.  no  ha  de  tener  hyos  la  Reyoa  de  Escoda. 

s ••  aesbace  esta  tombra.  qoe  como     (iWd.) 


your  Majesty  can  put  the  Infanta  and  her  husband  into 
full  possession  of  all  the  Netherlands ;  having  provided 
them  with  so  excellent  a  neighbour  in  England,  and  one 
so  closely  bound  and  allied  to  them.  Then,  as  he  is  to 
have  no  English  children  "  (we  have  seen  that  the  Com- 
mander "had  settled  that  point),  *'  he  will  be  a  very  good 
mediator  to  arrange  adoptions,*  especially  if  yon  make 
good  provision  for  his  son  Rainuccio  in  Italy.  The  lea- 
sons  in  favour  of  this  plan  being  so  much  stronger  than 
those  against  it,  it  would  be  well  that  your  Majesty 
should  write  clearly  to  the  Prince  of  Parma,  directing 
him  to  conduct  the  entei-prise  "  (the  English  invasion), 
"  and  to  give  him  the  first  offer  for  this  maiTiage  (with 
Queen  Mary)  if  he  likes  the  scheme.  If  not,  he  had 
better  mention  which  of  the  Archdukes  should  be  sub- 
stituted in  his  place."  ■ 

There  happened  to  be  no  lack  of  archdukes  at  that 
period  for  anything  comfortable  that  might  offer— such 
as  a  throne  in  England,  Holland,  or  France— and  the 
Austrian  House  was  not  remarkable  for  refusing  conve- 
nient marriages ;  but  the  immediate  future  only  could 
show  whether  Alexander. I.  of  the  House  of  Faraese  was 
to  reign  in  England,  or  whether  the  next  king  of  that 
country  was  to  be  called  Matthias,  Maximilian,  or  Ernest 
of  Hapsburg. 

Meantime  the  Grand  Commander  was  of  opinion  that 
the  invasion-project  was  to  be  pushed  forward  as  rapidly 
and  as  secretly  as  possible  ;  because,  before  any  one  of 
Philip's  nephews  could  place  himself  upon  the  English 
throne,  it  was  first  necessary  to  remove  Elizabeth  from 
that  position.  Before  disposing  of  the  kingdom,  the 
preliminar}^  step  of  conquering  it  was  necessary.  After- 
wards it  would  be  desirable,  without  wasting  more  time 
than  was  requisite,  to  return  with  a  large  portion  of  the 
invading  force  out  of  England,  in  order  to  complete  the* 
conquest  of  Holland.    For  after  all,  England  was  to  bo 


»  **  Y  esta  PS  honrada  saUda  y  qae  a  el 
le  obligaria  mucbo  en  ley  de  tan  gran 
caballero;  de  mas,  como  nuevo,  para 
mantenerse  en  Inglaterra  babia  menesier 
el  favor  de  V.  M.  Y  en  entronizandose 
el  alii,  no  faltaria  concierto  en  Hullanda 
y  las  Islas,  y  podria  V.  M.  meter  en  llena 
posMSbion  de  todtw  los  estados  b^jos  a  la 


Senora  Infanta  y  su  marido,  dandoles  tan 
buen  vicino  y  tan  obligado;  y  el  no  Im- 
biendode  tener  iiiji.s  en  Inglaterra,  podria 
ser  buen  medianero  para  adopciones," 
&C.  Parecer  del  Coniondador  Mayor,  &c. 
(MS.  before  cited.) 

»  Parecer  del  Comendador  Mayor.  &c 
CMS.  before  cited.) 


360 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


1585. 


PERILOUS  POSITION  OF  ENGLAND. 


361 


subjugated  only  as  a  portion  of  one  general  scheme ; 
the  main  features  of  which  were  the  reannexation  of  Hol- 
land and  *'  the  Islands,"  and  the  acquisition  of  unlimited 
control  upon  the  seas.  ^ 

Thus  the  invasion  of  England  was  no  "  scarecrow,  as 
Wilford  imagined,  but  a  scheme  already  thoroughly  ma- 
tured. If  Holland  and  Zeeland  should  meantime  fall 
into  the  hands  of  Philip,  it  was  no  exaggeration  on  that 
soldier's  part  to  observe  that  the  "  freehold  of  England 
would  be  worth  but  little."  * 

To  oppose  this  formidable  array  against  the  liberties 
of  Europe  stood  Elizabeth  Tudor  and  the  Dutch  Ke- 
public.  For  the  Queen,  however  arbitrary  her  nature, 
fitly  embodied  much  of  the  nobler  elements  in  the 
expanding  English  national  character.  She  felt  instinct- 
ively that  her  reliance  in  the  impending  death-grapple 
was  upon  the  popular  principle,  the  national  sentiment, 
both  in  her  own  country  and  in  Holland.  That  prin- 
ciple and  that  sentiment  were  symbolised  in  the 
Netherland  revolt  ;  and  England,  although  under  a 
somewhat  despotic  rule,  was  already  fully  pei-^^aded 
with  the  instinct  of  self-government.     The  people  held 


1  Upon  that  point  there  was  no  dif- 
ference of  opinion.  The  statesmen  and 
soldiers  of  England  were  unanimous. 
♦•  If  I  should  not,"  said  Burghley,  '•  with 
all  the  powers  of  my  heart,  continually 
both  wish  and  work  advantrment  unto 
this  action,  I  were  an  accursed  person  in 
the  sight  of  God ;  considering  the  ends 
thereof  tend  to  the  glory  of  God,  to  the 
safety  of  the  Queen's  person,  to  ihe  pre- 
serration  of  this  realm  in  a  perpetual 
quietness,  wherein,  for  my  particular  in- 
terest, both  for  myself  and  my  posterity, 
I  have  as  much  interest  as  any  of  my 
'degree.'*  (Bruce,  •  l^yc.  Corresp."  p.  24.) 
Walsingham  had  been  straightforward 
from  the  first  in  his  advocacy  of  the 
Netherland  cause,  which  he  knew  to  lie 
identical  with  that  of  England,  and,  as 
we  have  seen,  had  l)een  often  indignant 
at  the  shufflings  practised  by  the  Queen's 
government  in  the  matter.  He  was  sin- 
cerely glad  that  Ixicester  had  gone  to 
the  Provinces  before  It  was  quite  too 
late.  "  All  honest  and  well-affected  sub- 
jects." said  he  to  the  Earl,  "  have  cause 
to  thank  God  that  you  arrived  there  so 


seasonably  as  you  did ;  for,  howsoever  we 
mislike  of  the  enterprise  here,  all  Eng- 
land thoxild  have  smarted  if  the  same 
had  not  been  taken  in  hand."  (Ibid.  p. 
36.) 

As  for  I^icester  himself,  he  was  always 
vehement  upon  the  f^ubjcct.  After  his 
arrival  in  the  country  he  was  more  in- 
tensely alive  than  ever  to  the  dangers 
impending  over  England,  in  case  the 
rebel  Provinces  should  be  re-annex«Hi  to 
Spain.  "  He  is  senseless,"  sjud  he,  "  that 
conceiveth  not  that  if  the  King  of  Spain 
had  these  countries  at  his  commandment 
—let  her  Maj  sty  have  the  best  peace 
that  ever  was,  or  can  be  made — and  we 
shall  find,  as  the  world  now  standeth, 
that  he  will  force  the  Queen  of  England 
and  England  to  be  at  his  disposition. 
What  with  Spain  for  the  west,  and  what 
with  these  coimtries  for  the  east,  Eng- 
land shall  traffic  no  farther  any  of  these 
ways,  than  he  shall  give  leave,  without 
every  voyag**  shall  ask  the  charge  of  a 
whole  navy  to  pass  withal."  (Ibid.  p. 
82.) 


the  purse  and  the  sword.  No  tyranny  could  be  per- 
manently established  so  long  as  the  sovereign  was 
obliged  to  come  every  year  before  Parliament  to  ask  for 
subsidies ;  so  long  as  all  the  citizens  and  yeomen  of 
England  had  weapons  in  their  possession,  and  were 
carefully  trained  to  use  them ;  so  long,  in  short,  as  the 
militia  was  the  only  army,  and  private  adventurers  or 
trading  companies  created  and  controlled  the  only 
navy.  \yar,  colonization,  conquest,  traffic,  formed  a 
joint  business  and  a  private  speculation.  If  there  were 
danger  that  England,  yielding  to  purely  mercantile 
habits  of  thought  and  action,  plight  degenerate  from  the 
more  martial  standard  to  which  she  had  been  accus- 
tomed, there  might  be  virtue  in  that  Ketherland  enter- 
prise, which  was  now  to  call  forth  all  her  energies. 
The  Provinces  would  be  a  seminary-  for  English  soldiers. 
"  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  our  driving  the  enemy 
out  of  the  country  through  famine  and  excessive 
charges,"  said  the  plain-spoken  English  soldier  already 
quoted,  who  came  out  with  Leicester,  *'  if  every  one  of 
us  will  put  our  minds  to  go  forw^ard  vnthout  making  a 
miserable  gain  hy  the  wars.  A  man  may  see,  by  this  little 
progress-journey,  what  this  long  peace  hath  wrought  in 
us.  We  are  weary  of  the  war  before  we  come  where  it 
groweth,  such  a  danger  hath  this  long  peace  brought  us 
into.  This  is,  and  will  be,  in  my  opinion,  a  most  fit 
school  and  nursery  to  nourish  soldiers  to  be  able  to  keep 
and  defend  our  country  hereafter,  if  men  will  follow 
it." » 

Wilford  was  vehement  in  denouncing  the  mercantile 
tendencies  of  his  countrjmen,  and  returned  frequently 
to  that  point  in  his  communications  with  W^alsingham 
and  other  statesmen.  ''God  hath  stirred  up  this  action,''  he 
repeated  again,  "  to  be  a  school  to  breed  up  soldiers  to 
defend  the  freedom  of  England,  which  through  these 
long  times  of  peace  and  quietness  is  brought  into  a  most 
dangerous  estate,  if  it  should  be  attempted.  Our  de- 
licacy is  such  that  we  are  already  weary,  yet  this  jour- 
ney is  naught  in  respect  to  the  misery  and  hardship 
that  soldiers  must  and  do  endure."* 

»  Thomas  Wilford  to  Walsingham.  ^       «  Wflford  to  Burghley,  ^  Dec.,  1585. 


1 


Dec.  1586.  (8.  P.  Office  MS.) 


(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


362 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


1585. 


TRUE  NATURE  OF  THE  CONTEST. 


363 


He  was  right  in  his  estimate  of  the  effect  likely  to 
be  produced    by  the  war  upon  the  military  habits  of* 
Englishmen ;  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  organ- 
ization and  discipline  of  English  troops  was  in  any  tiling 
but  a  satisfactory  state   at  that  period.      There   was 
certainly  vast  room  for  improvement.     Nevertheless  he 
was   wrong   in  his  views  of  the   leading  tendencies 
of  his  age.     Holland  and  England,  self-helping,  self- 
moving,   were    already   inaugurating   a   new   era    in 
the  history-  of  the  world.     The  spirit  of   commercial 
maritime  enterprize — then  expanding  rapidly  into  large 
proportions — was  to  be  matched  against  the  religious 
and  knightly  enthusiasm  which  had  accomplished  such 
wonders  in  an  age  that  was  passing  away.     Spain  still 
personified,  and  had  ever  personified,  chivalry,  loyalty, 
piety :  but  its  chivalry,  loyalty,  and  piety,  were  now  in 
a  corrupted  condition.     The  form  was  hollow,  and  the 
sacred  spark  had  fled.     In  Holland  and  England  intelli- 
gent enterj)rise  had  not  yet  degenerated  into  mere  greed 
for  material  prosperity.     The  love  of  danger,  the  thirst 
for  adventure,  the  thrilling  sense  of  personal  responsi- 
bility and  human  dignity — not  the  base  love  for  land 
and  lucre — were  the  governing  sentiments  which  led 
those  bold  Dutch  and  English  rovers  to  circumnavigate 
the  world  in  cockle-shells,  and  to  beard  the  most  potent 
monarch  on  the  earth,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  with  a 
handful  of  volunteers. 

This  then  was  the  contest,  and  this  the  machinery 
by  which  it  was  to  be  maintained.  A  struggle  for 
national  independence,  liberty  of  conscience,  freedom  of 
the  seas,  against  sacerdotal  and  world-absorbing  t^  ranny ; 
a  mortal  combat  of  the  splendid  infantry  of  Spain  and 
Italy,  the  professional  reiters  of  Germany,  the  floating 
castles  of  a  world-empire,  with  the  militiamen  and 
mercantile  marine  of  England  and  Holland  united. 
Holland  had  been  engaged  twenty  years  long  in  the 
conflict.  England  had  thus  far  escaped  it;  but  there 
was  no  doubt,  and  could  be  none,  that  her  time  had 
come.  She  must  fight  the  battle  of  Protestantism  on  sea 
and  shore,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  with  the  Netherlanders, 
or  await  the  conqueror's  foot  on  her  own  soil. 

What  now  was  the  disposition  and  what  the  means  of 
the  Provinces  to  do  their  pait  in  the  contest  ?    If  the 


twain,  as  Holland  wished,  had  become  of  one  flesh, 
would  England  have  been  the  loser  ?  Was  it  quite  sure 
that  Elizabeth— had  she  even  accepted  ihe  less  compro- 
mising title  which  she  refused— would  not  have  been 
quite  as  much  the  protected  as  the  "  protectress  ?" 

It  is  very  certain  that  the  English,  on  their  aniv?fl  in 
the  Provinces,  were  singularly  impressed  by  the  opu- 
lent and  stately  appearance  of  the  country  and  its  in- 
habitants. Notwithstanding  the  tremendous  war  which 
the  Hollanders  had  been  waging  against  Spain  for 
twenty  years,  their  commerce  had  continued  to  thrive, 
and  their  resources  to  increase.  Leicester  was  in  a 
state  of  constant  rapture  at  the  magnificence  which 
surrounded  him,  from  his  first  entrance  into  the  country. 
Notwithstanding  the  admiration  expressed  by  the  Hol- 
landers for  the  individual  sumptuousness  of  the  Lieu- 
tenant -  General,  his  followers,  on  their  part,  were 
startled  by  the  general  luxury  of  their  new  allies.  "  The 
realm  is  rich  and  full  of  men,"  said  AN'ilford,  ''  the  sums 
men  exceed  in  apparel  would  bear  the  brunt  of  this 
war;"^  and  again,  "if  the  excess  used  in  sumptuous 
apparel  were  only  abated,  and  that  we  could  convert 
the  same  to  these  wars,  it  would  stop  a  great  gap."  * 

The  favourable  view  taken  by  the  English  as  to  the 
resources  and  inclination  of  the  Netherland  common- 
wealth was  universal.  "  The  general  wish  and  desire 
of  these  countrymen,"  wrote  Sir  Thomas  Shirley,  "  is 
that  the  amity  begun  between  England  and  this  nation 
may  be  everlasting,  and  there  is  not  any  of  our  company 
of  judgment  but  wish  the  same.  For  all  they  that  see 
the  goodliness  and  stateliness  of  these  towns,  strength- 
ened both  with  fortification  and  natural  situation,  all 
able  to  defend  themselves  with  their  own  abilities, 
must  needs  think  it  too  fair  a  prey  to  be  let  pass,  and  a 
thing  most  worthy  to  be  embraced."* 

Leicester,  whose  enthusiasm  continued  to  increase  as 
rapidly  as  the  Queen's  zeal  seemed  to  be  cooling,  was 
most  anxious  lest  the  short-comings  of  his  own  Govern- 
ment should  work  irreparable  evil.     "  I  pray  you,  my 

H,l?T"^°"*  ^  Walsingham.  (MS.  before       •  Sir  Thomas  Shirley  to  Earl  of  UL 

Clt6d<^  ^  t)ec    1384 

«  Wilford  to  Barghley.    (MS.  befor*    ^*^^'  yjm'uag'  ^^  ^-  ^^*  ^^0 
cited.) 


364 


THE  UNITED  NE'raERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


lord,"  he  wrote  to  Burghley,  "  forget  not  us  poor  exiles  ; 
if  you  do,  God  must  and  will  forget  you.  And  great 
pity  it  were  that  so  noble  provinces  and  goodly  havens, 
with  such  infinite  ships  and  mariners,  should  not  be 
always  as  they  may  now  easily  be,  at  the  assured  devo- 
tion of  England.  In  my  opinion  he  can  neither  love 
Queen  nor  coimtry  that  would  not  wish  and  further  it 
should  be  so.  And  seeing  her  Majesty  is  thus  far 
entered  into  the  cause,  and  that  these  people  comfort 
themselves  in  full  hope  of  her  favour,  it  were  a  sin  and 
a  shame  it  should  not  be  handled  accordingly,  both  for 
honour  and  surety."  * 

Sir  John  Conway,  who  accompanied  the  Earl  through 
the  whole  of  his  *'  progress-journey,"  was  quite  as  much 
struck  as  he  by  the  flourishing  aspect  and  English  pro- 
clivities of  the  Provinces.  "The  countries  which  we 
have  passed,"  he  said,  "  are  fertile  in  their  nature ;  the 
towns,  cities,  buildings,  of  more  state  and  beauty,  to  such 
as  have  travelled  other  countries,  than  any  they  have 
ever  seen.  The  people  the  most  industrious  by  all 
means  to  live  that  be  in  the  world,  and,  no  doubt, 
passing  rich.  They  outwardly  show  themselves  of  good 
heart,  zeal,  and  loyalty,  towards  the  Queen  our  mistress. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  general  number  of  them  had 
rather  come  under  her  Majesty's  regiment,  than  to 
continue  under  the  States  and  burgomasters  of  their 
coimtry.  The  impositions  which  they  lay  in  defence  of 
their  State  is  wonderful.  If  her  Highness  proceed  in 
this  beginning,  she  may  retain  these  parts  hers,  with 
their  good  love,  and  her  great  glory  and  gain.  I  would 
she  might  as  perfectly  see  the  whole  country,  towns, 
profits,  and  pleasures  thereof,  in  a  glass,  as  she  may  her 
own  face;  I  do  then  assure  myself  she  would  with 
careful  consideration  receive  them,  and  not  allow  of  any 
man's  reason  to  the  contrary.  .  .  .  The  country  is 
worthy  any  prince  in  the  world,  the  people  do  reverence 
the  Queen,  and  in  love  of  her  do  so  believe  that  the 
Grave  of  Leicester  is  by  God  and  her  sent  among  them 
for  her  good.  And  they  believe  in  him  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  their  bodies,  as  they  do  in  God  for  their  souls. 
I  dare  pawn  my  soul,  that  if  her  Majesty,  will  allow 
him  the  just  and  rightful  mean  to  manage  this  cause, 

1  Leicester  to  Burghley,  27  Dec  1685.   (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


.1585.     WEALTH  AND  STRENGTH  OF  THE  PROVINCES.      365 

that  he  will  so  handle  the  manner  and  matter  as  shall 
highly  both  please  and  profit  her  Majesty,  and  increase 
her  countiy,  and  his  own  honour."  * 

Lord  Korth,  who  held  a  high  command  in  the  auxi- 
liary force,  spoke  also  with  great  enthusiasm.  "  Had 
your  Lordship  seen,"  he  wrote  to  Burghley,  "with 
what  thankful  hearts  these  countries  receive  all  her 
Majesty's  subjects,  what  multitudes  of  people  they  be, 
what  stately  cities  and  buildings  they  have,  how  notably 
fortified  by  art,  how  strong  by  nature,  how  fertile  the 
whole  country,  and  how  wealthy  it  is,  you  would,  I 
know,  praise  the  Lord  that  opened  your  lips  to  under- 
take this  enterprise,  the  continuance  and  good  success 
whereof  will  eternise  her  Majesty,  beautify  her  crown, 
with  the  most  shipping,  with  the  most  populous  and 
wealthy  countries,  that  ever  prince  added  to  his  kingdom, 
or  that  is  or  can  be  found  in  Europe.  I  lack  wit,  good 
my  Lord,  to  dilate  this  matter."  * 

Leicester,  better  informed  than  some  of  those  in  his 
employment,  entertained  strong  suspicions  concerning 
l*hilip'8  intentions  with  regard  to  England  ;  but  he  felt 
sure  that  the  only  way  to  laugh  at  a  Spanish  invasion 
was  to  make  Holland  and  England  as  nearly  one  as  it 
was  possible  to  do. 

"  No  doubt  that  the  King  of  Spain's  preparations  by 
sea  be  great,"  he  said ;  *'  but  I  know  that  all  that  he 
and  his  friends  can  make  are  not  able  to  match  with  her 
Majesty's  forces,  if  it  please  her  to  use  the  means  that 
God  hath  given  her.  But  besides  her  own,  if  she  need, 
I  will  undertake  to  furnish  her  from  hence,  upon  two 
months'  warning,  a  navy  for  strong  and  tall  ships,  with 
their  furniture  and  mariners,  that  the  King  of  Spain, 
and  all  that  he  can  make,  shall  not  be  able  to  encounter 
with  them.  I  think  the  bmit  of  his  preparations  is 
made  the  greater  to  terrify  her  Majesty  and  this  country 
people.  But,  thanked  be  God,  her  Majesty  hath  little 
cause  to  fear  him.  And  in  this  country  they  esteem  no  more 
of  hispomr  by  sea  than  I  do  of  six  Jisher-boats  of  Bye"  ' 

Thus  suggestive  is  it  to  peep  occasionally  behind  the 
curtain.     In  the  calm  cabinet  of  the  Escorial,  Philip 

»  Sir  John  Conway  to  ,  27  Dec    Dec  1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  »  Leicester  to  Burghley,  29  Jan.  1586 

•Lord  North  to -Lord  Bui^hley,  27    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


366 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


and  his  comendador  majpr  are  laying  their  Leads  together, 
preparing  the  invasion  of  England;  making  arrange- 
ments for  King  Alexander's  coronation  in  that  island, 
and — like  sensible,  far-sighted  persons  as  they  are — 
even  settling  the  succession  to  the  throne  after  Alex- 
ander's death,  instead  of  carelessly  leaving  such  distant 
details  to  chance,  or  subsequent  consideration.     On  the 
other  hand,  plain  Dutch  sea-captains,  grim  beggars  of 
the  sea,  and  the  like,  denizens  of  a  free  commonwealth 
and  of  the  boundless  ocean — men  who  are  at  home  on 
blue  water,  and  who  have  burned  gunpowder  against 
those  prodigious  slave-rowed  galleys  of  Spain — together 
with  their  new  allies,  the  dauntless  mariners  of  England 
— ^who  at  this  very  moment  are  "  singeing  the  King  of 
Spain's  beard,"  as  it  had  never  been  singed  before— are 
not  so  much  awe-struck  with  the  famous  preparations 
for  invasion  as  was  perhaps  to  be   expected.      There 
may  be   a  delay,  after  all,   before   Parma  can  be  got 
safely  established  in  London,  and  Elizabeth  in  Orcus, 
and  before  the  blood-tribunal  of  the  Inquisition   can 
substitute  its  sway  for  that  of  the  "  most  noble,  wise, 
and   learned   United   States."     Certainly,   Philip    the 
Prudent  would  have  been  startled,  diflBcult  as  he  was  to 
astonish,  could  he  have  known  that  those  rebel  Hol- 
landers of  his  made  no  more  account  of  his  slowly- 
preparing  invincible  armada  than  of  six  fisher-boats  off 
Eye.     Time   alone  could  show  where  confidence  had 
been  best  placed.     Meantime  it  was  certain,  that  it  well 
"behoved  Holland  and  England  to  hold  hard  together, 
nor  let  "  that  enterprise  quail." 

The  famous  expedition  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  was  the 
commencement  of  a  revelation.  "  That  is  the  string," 
said  Leicester,  "  that  touches  the  King  indeed." '  It 
was  soon  to  be  made  known  to  the  world  that  the  ocean 
was  not  a  Spanish  lake,  nor  both  the  Indies  the  private 
property  of  Philip.  "  While  the  riches  of  the  Indies 
continue,"  said  Leicester,  "  he  thinketh  he  will  be  able 
to  weary  out  all  other  princes :  and  I  know,  by  good 
means,  that  he  more  feareth  this  action  of  Sir  Francis 
than  he  ever  did  anj-thing  that  has  been  attempted 
against  him."  *  With  these  continued  assaults  upon  the 
golden  treasure-houses  of  Spain,  and  by  a  determined 

1  Leicester  to  Barghlcy.  29  Jaa.  1686.   (a  P  OfDoe  li&)  i  i^M 


1585.  AFFECTION  OF  THE  HOLLANDERS  FOR  THE  QUEEN.  367 

effort  to  maintain  the  still  more  important  stronghold 
which  had  been  wrested  from  her  in  the  Netherlands, 
England  might  still  be  safe.  "  This  country  is  so  full 
of  ships  and  mariners,"  said  Leicester,  "  so  abundant  in 
wealth,  and  in  the  means  to  make  money,  that,  had  it 
but  stood  neutral,  what  an  aid  had  her  Majesty  been 
deprived  of !  But  if  it  had  been  the  enemy's  also,  I 
leave  it  to  your  consideration  what  had  been  likely  to 
ensue.  These  people  do  now  honour  and  love  ^her 
Majesty  in  marvellous  sort."  * 

There  was  but  one  feeling  on  this  most  important 
subject  among  the  English  who  went  to  the  Nether- 
lands. All  held  the  same  language.  The  question  was 
plainly  presented  to  England  whether  she  would  secure 
to  herself  the  great  bulwark  of  her  defence,  or  place  it 
in  the  hands  of  her  moi-tal  foe  ?  How  could  there  be 
doubt  or  supineness  on  such  a  momentous  subject  ? 
"  Surely,  my^  Lord,"  wrote  Richard  Cavendish  to 
Burghley,  "  if  you  saw  the  wealth,  the  strength,  the 
shipping,  and  abundance  of  mariners,  whereof  these 
countries  stand  furnished,  your  heart  would  quake  to 
think  that  so  hateful  an  enemy  as  Spain  should  again 
be  furnished  with  such  instruments ;  and  the  Spaniards 
themselves  do  nothing  doubt  upon  the  hope  of  the 
consequence  hereof,  to  assure  themselves  of  the  certain 
ruin  of  her  Majesty  and  the  whole  estate."  * 

And  yet  at  the  very  outset  of  Leicester's  administra- 
tion, there  was  a  whisper  of  peace-overtures  to  Spain, 
secretly  made  by  Elizabeth  in  her  own  behalf,  and  in 
that  of  the  Provinces.  We  shall  have  soon  occasion 
to  examine  into  the  truth  of  these  rumours,  which, 
whether  originating  in  truth  or  falsehood,  were  most 
pernicious  in  their  effects.  The  Hollanders  were  deter- 
mined never  to  return  to  slaveiy  again,  so  long  as  they 
could  fire  a  shot  in  their  own  defence.  They  earnestly 
wished  English  cooperation,  but  it  was  the  cooperation 
of  English  matchlocks  and  English  cutlasses,  not  Eng- 
lish protocols  and  apostilles.  It  was  military,  not 
diplomatic  machinery  that  they  required.  If  they  could 
make  up  their  minds  to  submit  to  Philip  and  the 
Inquisition  again,  Philip  and  the  Holy  Office  were  but 

»  Leicester  to  Borghley  (MS.  before       «  Richard  Cavendish  to  Lord  Burghley, 
«lted-)  .  18  March,  1585.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


868 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIL 


ir.85. 


V) 


f\ 


too    ready  to  receive   the   erring  penitents   to   their 
embrace  without  a  go-between. 

It  waa  war,  not  peace,  therefore,  that  Holland  meant 
by  the  English  alliance.  It  was  war,  not  peace,  that 
Philip  intended.  It  was  wac,  not  peace,  that  Elizabeth's 
most  trusty  counsellors  knew  to  be  inevitable.  There 
was  also,  as  we  have  shown,  no  doubt  whatever  as  to 
the  good  disposition,  and  the  great  power  of  the  republic 
to  boar  its  share  in  the  common  cause.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  Hollanders  was  excessive.  "  There  was  such  a 
noise,  both  in  Delft,  Rotterdam,  and  Dort,"  said  Lei- 
cester, "  in  crying  '  God  save  the  Queen !'  as  if  she  had 
been  in  Cheapside."  '  Her  own  subjects  could  not  be 
more  loyal  than  were  the  citizens  and  yeomen  of  Hol- 
land. *'  The  members  of  the  States  dare  not  but  be 
Queen  Elizabeth's,"  continued  the  Earl,  "  for  by  the 
living  God !  if  there  should  fall  but  the  least  unkindness 
through  their  default,  the  people  would  ^ill  them.  All 
sorts  of  people,  from  highest  to  lowest,  assure  them- 
selves, now  that  they  have  her  Majesty's  good  counte- 
nance, to  beat  all  the  Spaniards  out  of  their  country. 
Never  was  there  people  in  such  jollity  as  these  be. 
I  could  be  content  to  lose  a  limb,  could  her  Majesty  see 
these  countries  and  towns  as  I  have  done."  *  He  was  in 
truth  excessively  elated,  and  had  already,  in  imagination, 
vanquished  Alexander  Fameso,  and  eclipsed  the  fame 
of  VVilliam  the  Silent.  *'  They  will  serve  under  me," 
ho  observed,  **  with  a  better  will  than  ever  they  served 
under  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Yet  they  loved  him  well, 
but  they  never  hoped  of  the  liberty  of  this  coimtry  till 


SECRET  PLT.POSES  OF  LEICESTER. 


'» s 


now. 

Thus  the  English  government  had  every  reason  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  aspect  of  its  affairs  in  the  Netherlands. 
But  the  nature  of  the  Earl's  authority  was  indefinite. 
The  Queen  had  refused  the  sovereignty  and  the  pro- 
tectorate. She  had  also  distinctly  and  peremptorily 
forbidden  Leicester  to  assume  any  office  or  title  that 
might  seem  at  variance  with  such  a  refusal  on  her  part. 
Yet  it  is  certain,  that,  from  the  verj"  first,  he  liad  con- 
templated some  slight  disobedience  to  these  prohibitions. 


^  Brace,  'Leyc  Corresp.'  p.  30,  31,  32, 

KDec.  1585. 
5  Jan.  1566. 


«  Itid. 


17 


»  Ibid.  p.  61,  ^  Jan.  1686. 


369 

"  ^^'hat  government  is  requisite  "-wrote  he  in  a  secret 
meinorandum  of  "things  most  necessary  to  understand  '' 
~     o  be  appointed  to  him  that  shall  be  their  governor  ^ 
±  irst,  that  he  have  as  much  authority  as  the  l^rince  of 
Orange,  or  any  other  governor  or  captain -general   hath 
had  heretofore."  '     Now  the  Prince  of  Orafge  had  been 
stadholder  of  each  of  the  United  Provinces,  govemor- 
general,  commander-in-chief,  count  of  Holland  in  pros- 
pect and  sovereign,  if  he  had  so  willed  it.     It  vv^uld 
doubtless  have  been  most  desirable  for  the  coimtrv  in 
Its  confused  condition,  had  there  been  a  person  com 
potent  to  wield,  and  willing  to  accept,  the  aThorT; 
once  exercised  by  William  I.      But  it  was  also  ceii  ^ 
that  this  wa^  exactly  the  authority  which  Elizabeth  had 
lorbidden  Leicester  to  assume.     Yet   it  is  difficult  to 
unders^nd  what  position  the  Queen  intended  that  her 
favourite  should  ma  ni^in,  nor  how  he  was  to  cany  out 

He  wa^  directed  to  cause  the  confused  government  of 

polity  to  be  established.  He  was  ordered,  in  particular 
to  procure  a  radical  change  in  the  coWitS  on  by 
causing  the  deputies  to  the  General  Assembly  to  he 
empowered  to  decide  upon  important  matters,  without! 
as  had  always  been  the  custom,  making  direct  reference 
to  the  assemblies  of  the  sepamte  Provinces  He  was 
instructed   to   bring   about,  in   some  indefinite  wnv  a 

,^"•1  l^o^y.^^  this  radical  change  in  the  institutions 

of  the  Provinces  to  be  made  by  an  English  earl,  ^vhose 

only  author,  y  was  that  of  commander-in-chief  o;er  five 

^?  ""*•  "°^'*^'*'  "tterfy-forlom  English 

The  Netherland  envoys  in  England,  in  their  parting 

goueral    of  the  whole  country,»_for  it  was  a  political 

15^5°™"''  '^^'^  ^'"'^■'  "•  '"•  "■•'■    "-15.  necemtcr.  15«5. 

2  li 


370 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


head  that  was  wanted  in  order  to  restore  unity  of  action 
— not  an  additional  general,  where  there  were  already 
generals  in  plenty.   Sir  John  Norris,  valiant,  courageous, 
experienced — even  if  not,  as  Walsingham  observed,  ti 
"  religious   soldier,"  nor  learned  in  anything  "  but  a 
kind  of  licentious  and  corrupt  government"  ^— was  not 
likely  to  require  the  assistance  of  the  new  lieutenant- 
general   in   field   operations,   nor   could  the   army   bo 
biought  into  a  state  of  thorough  discipline  and  efficiency 
by  the  magic  of  Leicester's  name.     The  rank  and  file 
of  the   English  army — not  the    commanders — needed 
strengthening.      The  soldiers  required  shoes  and  stock- 
ings, bread  and  meat,  and  for  these  articles  there  were 
not  the  necessary  funds,  nor  would  the  title  of  Lieii- 
tenant-General  supply  the  deficiency.     The  little  auxi- 
liary force  was,  in  truth,  in  a  condition  most  pitiable  to 
behold  :  it  was  difficult  to  say  whether  the  soldiers  who 
had  been  already    for  a    considerable   period  in   the 
Netherlands,  or  those  who  had  been  recently  levied  in 
the  purlieus  of  London,  were  in  the  most  unpromising 
plight.     The   beggarly   state   in  which  Elizabeth  had 
been  willing  that  her  troops  should  go  foiih  to  the  wars 
was  a  sin  and  a  disgrace.     Well  might  her  Lieutenant- 
General  say  that  her  *'  poor  subjects  were  no  better  than 
abjects." "     There  were  few  etiective  companies  remain- 
ing of  the  old  force.     "  There  is  Imt  a  small  number  of 
the  first  bands  left,"  said  Sir  John  Conway,  "  and  those  s»> 
pitiful  and  unable  ever  to  servo  again,  as  I  leave  lo 
speak  further  of  them,  to  avoid  grief  to  your  heart.     A 
monstrous  fault  there  hath  been  somewhere."  * 

Leicester  took  a  manful  and  sagacious  course  at 
starting.  Those  who  had  no  stomach  for  the  fight  wei  e 
ordered  to  depart.  The  chaplain  gave  them  sermons  ; 
the  Lieutenant-General,  on  St.  Stephen's  day,  made 
them  a  "  pithy  and  honourable  "  oration,  and  those  who 
had  the  wish  or  the  means  to  buy  themselves  out  of  the 
adventure,  were  allowed  to  do  so :  for  the  Earl  was 
much  disgusted  with  the  raw  material  out  of  which 
ho  was  expected  to  manufacture  serviceable  troops. 
Swaggering  ruffians  from  the  disreputable  haunts  ot 
London,  cockney  apprentices,  broken-down  tapsters,  dis- 


J  Bruces  •  I^yc.  Conrwp.'  222,  -  April,  1586. 


«  Ibid.  23,  -  Dec.  1686. 

Id 


5  Sir  .John  Couway  to  27  Lee.  1685,    (S  P.  Office  MS.) 


1585.       WRETCHED  CONDITION  OF  ENGLISH  TROOPS.      371 

carded  serving  men  ;  the  Bardolphs  and  Pistols,  Mould  vs 
Warts  and  the  like— more  at  home  in  tavern- brawls' or 
in  dark  lanes  than  on  the  battle-field— were  not  the  men 
to  be  entrusted  with  the  honour  of  England  at  a  mo- 
menti)us  crisis.     He  spoke  with  grief  and  shame  of  the 
worthless  character  and  condition  of  the  Eno-lish  youths 
sent  over  to  the  Netherlands.     -  Believe  me  "  said  he 
*'  you  will  all  repent  the  cockney  kind  of  brinj^inc.  un 
at  this  day  of  young  men.     They  be  gone  hence  with 
sliaiiie  enough,  and  too  many,  that  I  will  warrant  will 
luake  as  many  frays  with  bludgeons  and  bucklers  aL  any 
in  London  shall  do  ;  but  such  shall  never  have  credit 
with  me  again.      Our  simplest  men  in  show  have  been 
our  best  men,  and  your  gaUant  blood  and  ruffiaa  men  t/ie 
worst  of  all  others.  ^ 

Much  winnowed,  as  it  was,  the  small  force  might  in 
time  become  more  eifective ;  and  the  Earl  spent  freely 
of  his  own  substance  to  supply  the  wants  of  his  followers 
and  to   atone  for   the   avarice  of  his   sovereic-n      TJiJ 
picture  painted  however  by  muster-master  iJiffffcs  of 
the  plumed  troops  that  had  thus  come  forth  to  maintain 
the  honour  ot  England  and  the  cause  of  liberty,  was 
anything  but  imposing.     None  knew  better  than  Diao-es 
their  squalid   and    slovenly   condition,    or  was    mure 
anxious  to  etfect  a  reformation  therein.     **  A  very  wis.^ 
stout  fellow  he  is,"  said  the  Eari,  -  and  very  careful  to 
serve  thoroughly  her  Majesty.""   Leicester  relied  much 
upon   his   etiorts.     "There    is  good   hope,"   said   the 
muster- master,    -that  his  excellency  will  shortly  es- 
tablish such  good  order  for  tlie  government  and  trainiinr 
ot  our  nation,  that  these  weak,  bad-furnished,  ill-armed 
and  worse  trained  bands,  thus  rawly  fbft  unto  him  ^hali 
within   a   few   months   prove   as    well  armed,  trained 
coinplete,  gallant  companies  as  shall  be  found  elsewherj 
m  Europe.         J  he  damage  they  were  likely  to  inflict 
upon  the  enemy  seemed  very  problematical,\mtil  they 
sJiould  bave  been  improved  by  some  wholesome  ball- 
^fwl    *^\  "Iheyareso  unskilful,"  said  Digges,  -  that 
1     they  should  be  carried  to  the  field  no  betttr  iraiued 
than    yet    they   are,   |hey   would   prove    much    more 

I  Brace's  •  L,>j  c.  Corresp.'  228.   'I  April.  1586.  2  itid.  135.  ^*J^^ ,  i5«5.6. 

*  Dlgges  to  WalsingUam,  j^  Jan.  1585.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  B  2 


o-i> 

Oi  it 


THE  UNITED  NETHEHLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


dangerous  to  their  own  leaders  and  companies  than  any 
ways  serviceable  on  their  enemies.  The  hard  and 
miserable  estate  of  the  soldiers  generally,  excepting 
officers,  hath  been  such,  as  by  the  confessions  of  the 
captains  themselves,  they  have  been  offered  by  many  of 
their  soldiers  thirty  and  forty  pounds  a-piece  to  be 
dismissed  and  sent  away ;  whereby  I  doubt  not  the 
flower  of  the  pressed  English  bands  are  gone,  and  the 
remnant  supplied  with  such  paddy  persons  as  com- 
monly, in  voluntary  procurements,  men  are  glad  to 
accept.'*  * 

Even  after  the  expiration  of  four  months  the  condi- 
tion of  the  paddy  persons   continued    most   destitute. 
The  English  soldiers  became   mere  barefoot  starving 
Ix^ggars  in  the  streets,  as  had  never  been  the  case  in  the 
worst  of  times,  when  the  States  were  their  paymasters.* 
The  little  money  brought  from  the  treasuiy  by  the  Earl, 
and  the  large  sums  which  he  had  contributed  out  of  his 
own  pocket,  had  been  spent  in  settling,  and  not  fully 
settling,  old  scores.     "  Let  me  entreat  yuu,"  wrote  Lei- 
cester to  Walsingham,  "  to  be  a  mean  to  her  Majesty,  that 
the  poor  soldiers  be  not  beaten  for  my  sake.     There  came 
no  penny  of  treasure  over  since  my  coming  hither.     I'hat 
which  then  came  was  most  part  due  before   it   came. 
There  is  much  still  due.      They  cannot  get  a  penny, 
their  credit  is  spent,  tfiey  perish  for  want  of  victuals  and 
dothing  in  gi'eat  numbers.     The  whole  are  ready  to  mu- 
tiny.    They  cannot  be  gotten  ont  to  service,  because 
they  cannot  discharge  the  debts  they  owe  in  the  places 
where  they  are.    I  have  let  of  my  own  more  than  T  may 
spare.""     **  There  was  no  soldier  yet  able  to  buy  himself 
a  pair  of  hose,''  saicf  the  Earl  again,  "  and  it  is  too,  too 
great  shame  to  see  how  they  go,  and  it  kills  their  hearts  to 
s/i&w  themselves  among  men  J'  * 


>  IMggea  to  Wabiiigliam,  MS.  before 
ritpd- 

-  "  My  piHid  T/jrd,"  wrote  Cavendish  to 
Burghlty,"  what  i-jiglish  heart  can  with- 
wit  shjune  or  grief  hear  the  Flushinpere 
mpnijichfully  say,  that  even  in  their 
hartiest  estate  the  soldiers  of  that  town 
were  alw;jy8  paid  at  eveiy  15  days*  end, 
whereas  the  same  being  now  in  H.  Ma- 
j»*»iy'8  hands,  her  people  there  can  get 
u<i  pay  iD  ihrfc  months,  so  that  they  be 


almost  driven  either  to  starve  or  bep  In 
the  streets.  Tht.'se  be  heavy  spwtat  It-s 
In  the  eyes  of  such  as  look  for  relitf  at 
H.  Majesty's  hands.  My  good  Lord,  the 
storm  of  my  careful  and  grieved  mind 
dotli  carry  me  I  know  not  whither,"  &c. 
18  Manh,  1586.    (S.  P.  Oiliip  MS.) 

'  Lftcester  to  Burghl-y  and  Walsing- 
ham. March  15,  ISett.    (S.  F.  Office  MS.) 

*  Bruce,  1C7,  —  March,  1586. 

|9 


1585. 


THE  NASSAUS  AND  HOHENLO. 


373 

There  wa,s  no  one  to  dispute  the  Earl's  claims.     The 
>assau  family  was  desperately  poor,  and  its  chief,  youncr 
Maurice,  although  he  had  been  elected  stadholder  (rf 
Itolland  and  /eeland,    had   every   disposition- as  Sir 
I  hihp   upon   his  arrival  in  Flushing  immediately  in- 
formed his  uncle— to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  new 
governor       Louisa    de    Coligny,    widow    of    A\  ilHam 
.0  bi lent,  was  most  anxious  for  the  English  alliance, 
tiirough  which  alone  she  believed  that  the  tallen  fur- 
tunes  of  the  family  could  be  raised.     It  was  thus  only 
she  thought,  that  the  vengeance  for  which  she  thirstexl 
upon  the  murderers  of  her  father  and  her  husband  could 
be  obtained.    -  We  see  now,"  she  wrote  to  Walsingham 
m  a  fiercer  strain  than  would  seem  to  comport  wfth  so 
gentle  a  nature -deeply  wronged  as  the  <laughter  of 
Cohgny  and  the  wife  of  Orange  had  been  by  Papists-^ 
-  we  see  now  the  effects  of  our  God's  promises.     He 
knows  when  it  pleases  Him  to  avenge  the  blood  of  His 
own    and  I  confess  that  I   feel   most  keenly  the    ioy 
which  IS  shared  in  by  the  whole  Church  of  God.    There 
IS  none  that  has  received  more  wrong  from  these  mur- 
derers than  I  have  done,  and  I  esteem  myself  happy   n 
the  midst  of  my  miseries  that  God  has  peimitted  me   o 
Zi'ZUr^"'"'"":-     ^^^^«?  .^tgi"«i^g«  make  me  hope 
to   he  good,  both  m  your  country  and  in  these  isles  "> 

Iheie  was  no  disguise  as  to  the  impoverished  condi- 
ton  to  which  the  Isassau  family  had  been  reduced  by 
the  self  devotion  of  its  chief  They  were  oblio-ed  to  isk 
a  ms  of  England,^  .ntil  the  ^' saplig  should  teeonif  a 
ree  -  bmce  it  is  the  will  of  God,"  wrote  the  Princess 
to  Davison,  -  I  am  not  ashamed  to  declare  the  necessity 
ot  our  house,  for  it  is  m  His  cause  that  it  has  fallen  I 
pray  you,  Sir,  therefore,  to  do  me  and  these  children 'the 
tavour  to  employ  your  thoughts  in  this  regard""^     If 


•  "Nous  voyons.  Monsieur,  les  cffets 
des  promesses  do  notre  Dieu  qui  scait 
quand  il  luy  plait  vonger  le  sang  des 
siens,  y  laut  qiie  je  confesse  que  je 
rf>«ens  fort  particuliirement  ceste  Joye 
comnmne  a  tout  I'eglise  de  Dieu ;  comme 
ny  ayant  personne  qui  eust  receu  plus 
d'offence  de  ccs  nmssacreurs,  et  m'esiirae 
hfunuse  piirnii  !uus  mes  malheurs  de  c« 
que  Ijieu  a  penuiii  que^J'en  aye  veu  la 


vengeance.  Ces  commencomens  me  font 
esperer  que  j'cn  verrai  encores  d  auties 
qui  ne  seront  moins  utiles  aux  gens  de 
bien,  et  en  partlcuUer  en  votre  ro,  aume 
et  en  ces  Isles."  I>rlncess  of  Orange  to 
Sir  F.  Walsiqgham,  1  Jan.  1586.  (S.  I*. 
Office  MS.) 

2  Princess  of  Orange  to  Davison.  7  Jan. 
1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


'f  i  4- 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII, 


1585. 


THE  EAKL'S  OPINION  OF  THEM. 


there  had  been  any  strong  French  proclivities  on  their 
part — {18  had  been  »o  warmly  asserted — they  were  likely 
to  disappear.  Villiere,  who  had  been  a  confidential 
ii iend  of  William  the  Silent,  and  a  strong  favourer  of 
France,  in  vain  endeavoured  to  keep  alive  the  ancient 
sentiments  towards  that  country,  although  he  was 
thought  to  be  really  endeavouring  to  bring  about  a 
submission  of  the  Nassaus  to  Spain.  *'  This  Villiers," 
said  Leicester,  "  is  a  most  vile  traitorous  knave,  and 
doth  abuse  a  young  nobleman  here  extremely,  the  Count 
Maurice.  For  all  his  religion,  he  is  a  more  earnest 
persuader  secretly  to  have  him  yield  to  a  reconciliation 
tlian  Sainte  Aldegonde  was.  He  shall  not  tarry  ten 
days  neither  in  Holland  nor  Zeeland.  He  is  greatly 
hated  here  of  all  sorts,  and  it  shall  go  hard  but  1  will 
win  the  young  Count."  * 

As  for  Hohenlo,  wliatever  his  opinions  might  once 
have  been  regarding  the  comparative  merits  of  French- 
men and  Englishmen,  he  was  now  warmly  in  favour  of 
England,  and  expressed  an  intention  of  putting  an  end 
to  tlie  Villiers  influence  by  simply  drowning  Villiers. 
The  announcement  of  tJiis  summary  process  towards  the 
(•uunsellor  was  not  untinged  with  rudeness  towards  the 
pupil.     "  The  young  Count,"  said  Leicester,  "  by  Vil- 
liers' means,  was  not  willing  to  have  Flushing  rendered, 
which  the  Count  IloUock  .perceiving,  told  the  Count 
INIaurice,  in  a  great  rage,  that  if  he  took  any  course 
than  that  of  the  Queen  of  England,  and  swore  by  no 
beggars,  he  would  drown  his  priest  in  the  haven  before 
his  face,  and  turn  himself  and  his  mother-in-law  out  of 
their  house  there,  and  thereupon  went  with  Mr.  Da- 
vison to  the  deliveiy  of  it."  *      Certainly,  if  Hohenlo 
permitted  himself  such  startling  demonstrations  towards 
the  son  and  widow  of  William  the  Silent,  it  must  have 
been  after  his  habitual  potations  had  been  of  the  deej)- 
est.     Nevertheless  it  was  satifactory  for  the  new  chief- 
tain to  know  that  the  influence  of  so  vehement  a  partisan 
was  secured  for  England.     The  Count's  zeal  deserved 
gratitude  upon  Leicester's  part,  and  Leicester  was  grate- 
ful.     "This  man  must  be  cherished,"  said  the  Earl; 
"  he  is  sound  and  faithful,  and  hath  indeed  all  the  chief 


375 


1  Bruce,  73,  ^^l?-.1685.e. 


holds  m  his  hands,  and  at  liis  commandment.     Ye  shall 
do  well  to  procure  him  a  letter  of  thanks,  taking  know- 
ledge in  general  of  his  good-will  to  her  Majesty.     He  is 
a  right  Alraayn  in  manner  and  fashion,  free  of  his  purse 
and  of  his  drink,  yet  do  I  wish  him  her  Majesty's  pen- 
sioner before  any  prince  in  Germany,  for  he  loves  her 
and  IS  able  to  serve  her,  and  doth  desire  to  be  known 
her  servant      He  hath  been  laboured   by  his   nearest 
kinstolk  and  friends  in  Germany  to  have  left  the  States 
and  to  have  the  King  of  Spain's  pension  and  very  great 
reward ;  but  he  would  not.      I  trust  her  Majesty  will 
accept  of  his  offer  to  be  her  servant  during  his  life 
lieing   indeed  a  very  noble  soldier."  •     The  Earl  was 
indeed  inclined  to  take  so  cheerful  view  of  matters  as  to 
beiieve  that  he  should  even  eff-ect  a  reform  in  the  noble 
Koldiers  most  unpleasant  characteristic.     "Hollock  is 
a  wise  gallant  gentleman,"  he   said,    "and  very  well 
esteemed.     He  hath  only  one  fault,  which  is  drinking  • 
but  good  hope  that  he  will  amend  it.     Some  make  me 
believe  that  1  shall  be  able  to  do  much  with  him,  and  I 
inean  to  do  my  best,  for  I  see  no  man  that  knows  all 
these  countnes,  and  the  people  of  all  sorts,  like  him 
and  this  fault  overthrows  all."* 

Accordingly,  so  long  as  Maurice  continued  under  the 
tutelage  of  this  uproarious  cavalier— who,  at  a  later  day, 
was  to  become  his  brother-in-law— he   was  not  likely 
to  interfere  with  Leicester's  authority.     I'he  character 
of  the  young  Count  was  developing  slowly.     More  than 
his  father  had  ever  done,  he  desei-ved  the  character  of 
the  taciturn.     A  quiet  keen  obsei^er  of  men  and  things, 
not   demonstrative  nor  talkative,  nor  much  given  'to 
writing— a  modest,  calm,  deeply  reflecting  student  of 
military  and  mathematical  science— he  was  not  at  that 
moment  deeply  inspired  by  political  ambition.     He  was 
perhaps  more  desirous  of  raising  the  fallen  fortunes  of 
his   house  than  of  securing  the  independence  of  his 
country.     Even  at  that  early  age,  however,  his  mind 
was  not  easy  to  read,  and  his  character  was  somewhat 
ot  a  puzzle  to  those  who  studied  it.     "  I  see  him  much 
discontented  with  the  States,"  said  Leicester;  "he  hath 
a  sullen  deep  vjrit.    The  young  gentleman  is  yet  to  be  won 


Feb. 


«  Brace,  74,  75,  date  jost  quoted. 


»  Brace,  74,  75,  iUte  just  quoted 


*  Brace,  61,  -  Jdu.  1586. 


376 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


only  to  her  Majesty,  I  perceive,  of  his  own  inclination. 
The  house  is  mai-vellous  poor  and  little  regarded  by  the 
Stfites,  and  if  they  get  anything  it  is  like  to  be  by  her 
Majesty,  which  should  be  altogether,  and  she  may 
easily  do  for  him  to  win  him  sure.  I  will  undertake 
it."  *  Yet  the  Earl  was  ever  anxious  about  some  of  the 
influences  which  surrounded  Maurice,  for  he  thought 
him  more  easily  guided  than  he  wished  him  to  be  by 
any  others  but  himself.  *'  He  stands  upon  making  and 
marring,"  he  said,  "  as  he  meets  with  good  counsel."  * 
And  at  another  time  he  observed,  *'  The  young  gentle- 
man hath  a  soJemn  sly  wit ;  but,  in  troth,  if  any  be  to 
be  doubted  toward  the  King  of  Spain,  it  is  he  and  his 
counsellors,  for  they  have  been  altogether,  so  far, 
French,  and  so  far  in  mislike  with  England  as  they 
cannot  almost  hide  it."  *  , 

And  there  was  still  another  member  of  the  house  of 
Nassau  who  was  already  an  honour  to  his  illustrious 
race.     Count  William  Lewis,  hardly  more  than  a  boy  in 
years,  had  already  served  many  campaigns,  and   had 
been  desperately  wounded  in  the  cause  for  which  su 
much  of  the  heroic  blood  of  his  race  had  been  shed. 
Of  the  five  Nassau  brethren,  his  father  Count  John 
was  the  sole  survivor,  and  as  devoted  as  ever  to  the 
cause    of    Netherland    liberty.      The   other  four  had 
already  laid  down  their   lives   in   its   defence.     And 
William  Lewis  was  worthy  to  be  the  nephew  of  Wil- 
liam and  Lewis,  Henry  and  Adolphus,  and  the  son  of 
John.    Not  at  all  a  beautiful  or  romantic  hero  in  appear- 
ance, but   an   odd-looking  little   man,   with  a   round 
bullet-head,    close-clipped    hair,   a    small,    twinklin*»-, 
sagacious  eye,  rugged,  somewhat  putfy  features  screwed 
whimsically  awry,  with  several  prominent  warts  dot- 
ting without  ornamenting  all   that  was  visible   of  a 
face  which  was  buried  up  to  the  ears  in  a  furzy  thicket 
of  yellow  brown  beard,  the  tough  young  stadholder  of 
Friesland,   in   his  iron  corslet,  and  halting  upon   his 
maimed  leg,  had  come  forth  with  other  notable  person- 
ages to  the  Hague.     He  wished  to  do  honour  heartily 
and  freely  to  Queen  Elizabeth  and  her  representative. 


»  Brace's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.,'  61,  62,  — 
Jul.  15s3-t>. 


U 


«  Ibid.  374.  f/;;^  1586. 
'  ibid.  74.  ""Jf,  1586. 


1585. 


CLERK  AND  KILLJGKEVV. 


377 


And  Leicester  was  favourably  impressed  with  his  new 
acquain  ance.     "  Here  is  another  little  fellow,"  he  said 

as  little  as  may  be,  but  one  of  the  gravest  and  wisest 
young  men  that  ever  I  spake  withal ;  it  is  the  Count 
uruilliam  of  Nassau.  He  governs  Friedand;  I  would 
every  Province  had  such  another."  » 

Thus  upon  the  great  question  which  presented  it- 
self  upon  the  veiy  threshold-the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  authority  to  be  exercised  by  Leicester  th. 
most  influential  Netherlanders  were  in'^fat^oTrff  ^^^^^^^^ 
and  hbeml  interpretation  of  his  powers.  The  envovs 
in  England  the  Nassau  family,  Hohenlo,  the  p^om^nent 
members  of  the  States,  such  as  the  shrewd,^pl3e 
i'of  ^2T'*r^  painful "  Falk,«  and'tL  chan 
J  eoninul  Gelderland-''  that  very  great,  wise,  old  man 
iiZTl:  u  '  ^^^^c«ter  called,  him-were  all  desirous 
that  he  should  assume  an  absolute  governor-ffeneralshrD 

delav      R?,f  h      f'^i^^  ^"  .'"^""^^^  «^^^^d'  without 
delay.     Hut  besides  the  natives,  there  were  two  En<- 

hshmen -together  with  ambassador  Davison-who  we?e 

his  official  advisers.     Bartholomew  Clerk,  LL.D.,  and 

Sir  Henry  Kilhgrew  had  been  appointed  by  the  Oueen 

to   be   members  of  the  council  of  the  UnUed  Stltes 

according  to  the  provisions  of  the  August  treaty      The 

rZ'''\l^"''^"l"°^""    ^""'^^y    «^^"^^d    equa/to     his 
responsible   position  among  those  Ions-headed   Dutch 

Chirac?'"  '^'^''^-  ^^^r t^he  only  fiemish  in  w W 
character  was  an  intolerable  tendency  to  puns-ob- 
served that  "Doctor  Cierk  was  of  those  clerL  that 
are  not  always  the  wisest,  and  so  my  lord  too  late  was 
hndinghim."*  The  Earl  himself,  who  never  under 
valued  the  intellect  of  the  Netherlanders  whom  he  cat  e 

Fno^T""'  .f."*^^^P^V^d.  H"*  '°^^"  assistance  from  the 
English  civilian.  -I  find  no  great  stufl"  in  my  little 
colleague,"  he  said,  "  nothing  that  I  looked  fon^  It  i« 
a  pity  you  have  no  more  of  his  profession,  able  men  to 
serve.     This  man  hath  good  will,  and  a  pretty  schoTai's 


>  Bruce  61,  -  Jan.  1586. 


«  Ibid.  33, 


WDec.JS85 
&  Feb.  I5M 


*   Gray'g    Sidney,     p.     313.      Thus: 
Turner,   I   hope,   will  serve  my  turn 
well ;  •  and  again,  "  Mr.  Paul  Bus  hath 


'Leicester    to    BiirRhley,   isth    Fi-b.    ^'."^'"y  busses  in  his  head,"  and  so  on. 


1*86.    CS.r.  Office  MSJ 


(Ibid.  313,  327.) 


378 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


1586. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  STATES. 


f/ 


wit ;  but  he  is  too  little  for  these  big  fellovcs,  as  heavy  as  her 
Majesty  thinks  them  to  be.  I  would  she  had  but  one  or  two, 
such  as  the  worst  of  half  a  score  be  here." '  The  other 
English  state-counsellor  seemed  more  promising.  *'  I 
have  one  here,"  stiid  the  Earl,  '*  in  whom  I  take  no 
small  comfort ;  that  is  little  Hal  Killigrew.  I  assure 
yon,  my  lord,  he  is  a  notable  servant,  and  more  in  him 
tnan  ever  I  heretofore  thought  of  him,  tliough  I  always 
knew  him  to  be  an  honest  man  and  an  able.'  * 

But  of  all  the  men  that  stood  by  Leicester's  side,  the 
most  faithful,  devoted,  sagacious,  exf)erienced,  and  sin- 
cere of  his  counsellore,  English  or  Flemish,  was  envoy 
Davison.  It  is  important  to  note  exactly  the  opinion 
that  had  been  formed  of  him  l)y  those  most  competent 
to  judge,  before  events  in  which  he  was  called  on  to 
l>lay  a  prominent  and  responsible  though  secondary 
part,  had  placed  him  in  a  somewhat  false  position. 

"  Mr.  Davison,"  wrote  Sidney,  "is  here  very  careful 
in  her  Majesty's  causes,  and  in  your  Lordship's.     He 
takes  great  pains  and  goes  to  great  charges  for  it."^ 
The  Eiirl  himself  was  always  vehement  in  his  praise. 
*'  3Ir.  Davison,"  said  he  at  another  time,    "  has  dealt 
most  painfully  and   chargeably  in   her  Majesty's  ser- 
vice   here,    and    you    shall   find    him    a«   "sufficiently 
able  to  deliver  the  whole  state  of  this  country  as  anv 
man  that  ever  was  in  it,  acquainted  with  all  sorts  here 
that  are  men  of  dealing.     Surely,  my  Lord,  vou  shall 
do  a  good   deed  that  he   may   be   remembered   with 
her  Majesty's    gracious    consideraticm,   for    his    being 
hero  has  been  very  chargeable,   having   kept   a   veiv 
good  countenance,  and  a  very  good  table,  all  his  abode 
here,  and  of  such   credit  with  all  the  chief  sort,  as  I 
know  no  stranger  in  any  place  hath  the  like.     As  I  am 
a  suitor  to  you  to  be  his  good  friend  to  her  Majesty,  so 
I  must  heartily  pray  you,  good  my  Lord,  to  procure' his 
coming  hither  shortly  to  me  again,' for  I  know  not  almost 
how  to  do  without  him.     I  confess  it  is  a  wrong  to  the 
gentlemen,  and  I  protest  before   God,  if  it  were   for 
mine  own  particular  respect,  1  would  not  re((uire  it  for 
oOOO/.       But    your    Lordship    doth   little   think   how 

:  £"^^;^^X^"r*.  u„.  "'"■  ''-i  «»«>*•  <=•  ""• '"'  "^  ^- 

(S.  F.  (Iffice  MS.)  *o  «»m«.  jj  Feb.  15S6.  (;i  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  Siduey  to  Leicester,  22  Nov.  1585. 


379 


greatly  I  h'ave  to  do,  as  also  how  needful  for  her 
]\Iajesty's  sers'ice  his  being  here  will  be.  A\  herefore, 
good  my  Lord,  if  it  may  not  offend  her  Majesty,  be  a 
mean  for  this  my  request,  for  her  own  service'  sake 
wholly."  ^ 

Such  were  the  personages  who  surrounded  the  Earl 
on  his  ariival  in  the  Netherlands,  and  such  their 
sentiments  respecting  the  position  that  it  was  desirable 
for  him  to  assume.  But  there  was  one  very  impoi-tant 
fact.  He  had  studiously  concealed  from  Davison  that 
the  Queen  had  peremptorily  and  distinctly  forbidden  his 
accepting  the  office  of  governor-general.  It  seemed 
reasonable,  if  he  came  thither  at  all,  that  he  shoidd 
come  in  that  elevated  capacity.  The  States  wished  it. 
The  Earl  ardently  longed  for  it.  The  ambassador,  who 
knew  more  of  Ketherland  politics  and  Netherland 
humours  than  any  man  did,  approved  of  it.  The 
interests  ^  of  both  England  and  Holland  seemed  to 
require  it.  No  one  but  Leicester  knew  that  her 
Majesty  had  forbidden  it. 

Accordingly,  no  sooner  had  the  bell-ringing,  cannon- 
explosions,  bonfires,  and  charades,  come  to  an  end,  and 
the  Earl  got  fairly  housed  in  the  Hague,  than  the 
States  took  the  aftair  of  government  seriously  in  hand. 

On  the  Dth  January,  Chancellor  Leoninus  and  Paul 
Buys  waited  upon  Davison,  and   requested  a  copy  of 
the  commission  granted  by  the  Queen  to  the  Earl.     The 
copy  v^as  refused,  but  the  commission  was  read  ;  *  by 
which  it  appeared  that  he  had  received  absolute  command 
over  her  Majesty's  forces  in  the  Netherlands  by  land 
and  sea,  together  with  authority  to  send  for  all  gentle- 
men and  other  personages  out  of  England  that  he  might 
think  useful  to  him.     On  the  10th  the  States  passed  a 
resolution  to  offer  him  the  governor-generalship  overall 
the  Provinces.     On  the   same  day  another  committee 
waited  upon  his  "  Excellency  "—as  the  States  chose  to 
denominate  the  Earl,  much  to  the  subsequent  wrath  of 
the  Queen— and  made  an  appointment  for  the  whole 
body  to  wait  upon  him  the  following  moniing.'* 

Upon  that  day  accordingly— New  Year's  Day,  by  the 

.^'nl!^'*''«*C^"'^*''*'y'2'^-^^^5-    16«6-    (Hague  Archives.  MS..  A  Jan. 
(S,  p.  Office  MS.)  •  ,,   "•  '• 

»  IleM)luLicn  van  dcStatcn  General,  ao    ^^f^,?..     «  t»      i.  ^  . 

'  Ibid.    Compare  Bor  il.  6cS6  teq. 


380  THE  UXITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  Vlf. 

English  reckoning,  11th  January  by  the  New  Style— 
-^  Jan.  1686  ^*^  deputies  of  all  the  States  at  an  early  hour 
"  came  to  his  lodgings,  with  much  pomp,  pre- 

ceded   by   a   herald   and   trumpeters.      Leicester    not 
expecting  them  quite  so  soon,  was  in  his  dressing-room 
getting  ready  for  the  solemn  audience,  when,  somewhat 
to  his  dismay,  a   flourish  of  trumpets  announced   the 
arrival  of  the  whole  body  in  his  principal  hall  of  audi- 
ence.     Hastening  his  preparations  as  much  as  possible 
he  descended   to   that   apartment,   and   was   instantly 
saluted  by  a  flourish  of  rhetoric  still  more  formidable  • 
lor  that  -very  great,  and  wise  old  Leoninus,"  forthwith 
began  an  oratiun,  which  promised  to  be  of  portentous 
length   and  serious  meaning.     The  Earl  was  slightlv 
flustered,  when,  fortunately,  some  one  whispered  in  his 
ear  that  they  had  come  to  offer  him  the  much-coveted 
prize  of  the  stadholderate-general.     Thereupon  he  made 
bold  to  interrupt  the  flow  of  the  chancellor's  eloquence 
in  Its  first  outpourings.     "As  this  is  a  ver>^  private 
matter,    said  he,  "it  will  be  better  to  treat  of  it  in  a 
more  private  place.     I  pray  you  therefore  to  come  into 
my  chamber,  where  these  things   may   be   more   con- 
veniently discussed." » 

"  You  hear  what  my  Lord  says,"  cried  Leoninus, 
turning  to  his  companions;  "  we  are  to  withdraw  into 
nis  chamber."  * 

Accordingly  they  withdrew,  accompanied  by  the 
J^.arl,  and  by  five  or  six  select  counsellors,  among  Whom 
were  Davison  and  Dr.  Clerk.  Then  the  chancellor  once 
more  commenced  his  harangue,  and  went  handsomely 
tiirough  the  usual  forms  of  compliment,  first  to  the 
gueon,  and  then  to  her  representative,  concluding  with 
an  earnest  request  that  the  Earl— although  her  Maiesty 
had  declined  the  sovereignty-"  would  take  the  name 
and  place  of  absolute  governor  and  general  of  all  their 
forces  and  soldiers,  with  the  disposition  of  their  whole 
revenues  and  taxes."  ^ 

So  soon  as  the  oration  was  concluded,  Leicester,  who 
did  not  speak  Irench,  directed  Davison  to  reply  in  that 
language.       .  ^  "^ 


>  Brace's    'Leyc.  Corresp.*  p.  58. 
Jan.  15S6. 


14 


•  Il)id. 


u 


»  Brace.  58,  -  Jan.  1586. 


158G.     GOVERNMENT-GENERAL  OFFERED  TO  THE  EARL.     38 1 

The  envoy  accordingly,  in  name  of  the  Earl,  expressed 
the  deepest  gratitude  for  this  mark  of  the  affection  and 
confidence  of  the  States-General  towards  the  Queen. 
He  assured  them  that  the  step  thus  taken  by  them 
would  be  the  cause  of  still  more  favour  and  affection  on 
the  part  of  her  Majesty,  who  would  unquestionably, 
from  day  to  day,  augment  the  succour  that  she  was  ex- 
tending to  the  Provinces  in  order  to  relieve  men  from 
their  misery.  For  himself,  the  Earl  protested  that  ho 
could  never  sufficiently  recompense  the  States  for  tlio 
honour  which  had  thus  been  conferred  upon  him,  even 
if  he  should  live  one  hundred  lives.  Although  he  felt 
himself  quite  unable  to  sustain  the  weight  of  so  great  an 
office,  yet  he  declared  that  they  might  repose  with  full 
confidence  on  his  integrity  and  good  intentions.  Never- 
theless, as  the  authority  thus  offered  to  him  was  very 
arduous,  and  as  the  subject  required  deep  deliberation, 
he  requested  that  the  proposition  should  be  reduced  ro 
writing,  and  delivered  into  his  hands.  He  might  then 
come  to  a  conclusion  thereupon,  most  conducive  to  tho 
glory  of  God  and  the  welfare  of  the  land.' 

Three  days  afterwards,  14th  January,  the  offer,  dra^sTi 
up  formally  in  writing,  was  presented  to  envoy  Davison, 
according  to  the  request  of  Leicester.  Three  ±j^^  jj^g 
days  later,  17th  January,  his  Excellency  having  y 
deliberated  upon  the  proposition,  requested  a  I? '^*""  ^^''*' 
committee  of  conference.*  The  conference  took  place  the 
same  day,  and  there  was  some  discussion  upon  matters 
of  detail,  principally  relating  to  the  matter  of  contri- 
butions. The  Earl,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
committee,  manifested  no  repugnance  to  the  acceptanee 
of  the  office,  provided  these  j^oints  could  be  satisfactorily 
adjusted.  He  seemed,  on  the  contrary,  impatient, 
rather  than  reluctant ;  for,  on  the  day  following  the 
confeience,  he  sent  his  secretary  Gilpin  with  a  some- 
what impoi-tunate  message.     "  llis  Excellency  was  sur- 

1586.  °^  *^®  proposition,  and  upon  its  "  J>piiig 
further  than  hail  past  in  the  contract 
with  her  M;ijosty."  The  account  in  the 
text  is  from  tlie  MS.  journal  of  ihe  Ses- 
sions of  the  Stat<'s-General,  kopt  from  tity 
to  day  by  the  ckrl:  of  tliat  assembly. 


»  Resol.  Stat  General,        Jan. 


(HaKue  Archives,  MS.)  According  to 
the  Earls  own  account  of  his  speech, 
throiiph  the  mouth  of  Davison,  he  had 
much  more  distinctly  expressed  his  re- 
luctance to  accept  the  authority  offered, 
placing  his  refusal,  not  on  the  ground  of 
untiUiess.  but  on  the  unexpect«i  nature 


s  KeeoL  Stat.  Gen. 


4 

ii' 


—  Jan.  1586. 


<>J 


382 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VN. 


1586. 


DISCUSSION  ON  THE  SUBJECT. 


383 


prised,"  said  the  secretary,  *'  that  the  States  were  so 
long  in  coming  to  a  resolution  on  the  matters  suggested 
by  him  in  relation  to  the  ofler  of  the  government- 
general  ;  nor  could  his  Excellency  imagine  the  cause  of 
the  delay."  ^ 

For,  in  truth,  the  delay  was  caused  by  an  excessive, 
rather  than  a  deficient,  appetite  for  power  on  the  part 
of  his  Excellency.  The  JStates,  while  conferring  what 
they  called  the  *' absolute"  government — by  which  it 
afterwards  appeared  that  they  meant  absolute,  in  regard 
to  time,  not  to  function — were  very  properly  desirous 
of  retaining  a  wholesome  control  over  that  government 
by  means  of  the  state-council.  They  wished  not  only 
to  establish  such  a  council,  as  a  check  upon  the  authority 
t)f  the  new  governor,  but  to  sliare  with  him  at  least  in 
the  appointment  of  the  members  who  were  to  compoho 
the  board.  But  the  aristocratic  Earl  was  already  restive 
imder  the  thought  of  any  restraint — most  of  all  the 
restraint  of  individuals  belonging  to  what  he  considered 
the  humbler  classes. 

**  Cousin,  my  lord  ambassador,"  said  he  to  Davison, 
*'  among  your  sober  companions  be  it  always  remem- 
bered, 1  beseech  you,  that  your  cousin  have  no  other 
alliance  but  with  gentle  blood.  By  no  means  consent 
that  he  be  linked  in  fiister  bonds  than  their  absolute 
grant  may  yield  him  a  free  and  honourable  government, 
to  be  able  to  do  such  service  as  shall  be  meet  for  an 
honest  man  to  perform  in  such  a  calling,  which  of  itself 
is  very  noble.  But  yet  it  is  not  more  to  be  embraced, 
if  1  were  to  be  led  in  alliance  by  such  keepers  as  will 
sooner  draw  my  nose  irom  the  light  scent  of  the  chace, 
than  to  lead  my  feet  in  the  true  pace  to  pursue  the  game 
I  desire  to  reach.  Consider,  1  pray  you,  therefore, 
what  is  to  be  done,  and  how  unfit  it  will  be  in  respect 
of  my  poor  self,  and  how  unacceptable  to  her  Majesty, 
and  how  advantageous  to  enemies  that  will  seek  holes 
in  my  coat,  if  1  should  take  so  great  a  name  upon  me, 
and  so  little  power.  They  challenge  acceptation  already, 
and  1  challenge  their  absolute  grant  and  offer  to  me, 
l>efore  they  spoke  of  any  instnictiuns ;  for  so  it  was 
when  Leoninus  fii-st  spoke  to  me  with  them  all  on  ^ew 

»  Resol.  Stat.  G.n.  *  Jau.  1586.    (^SS.) 


YearVDay,  as  you  heard— offering  in  his  spoeoh  all 
manner  of  absolute  authority.  If  it  please  them  to 
confirm  this,  without  restraining  instructions,  I  will 
willingly  serve  the  States,  or  el«e,  with  such  advising 
inKtructions  as  the  Dowager  of  Hungary  had."  ^ 

This  was  explicit  enough,  and  Davison,  who  always 
acted  for  Leicester  in  the  negociations  with  the  States, 
could  certainly  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  desires  of  the 
Earl,  on  the  subject  of  "absolute  "  authority.  He  did 
accordingly  what  he  could  to  bring  the  States  to  his 
Excellency's  way  of  thinking;  nor  was  he  unsuccessful. 

On  the  22nd  January,  a  committee  of  conference  was 
sent  by  the  States  to  Leyden,  in  which  city  Leicester 
w^as  making  a  brief  visit.  They  were  instructed  to 
procure  his  consent,  if  poss<ible,  to  the  appoint ment,  bv 
the  States  themselves,  of  a  council  consisting  of  membei  s 
from  each  Province.  If  they  could  not  obtain  this 
concession,  they  were  directed  to  insist  as  eaniestly  as 
possible  upon  their  right  to  present  a  double  list  of 
candidates,  from  which  he  was  to  make  nominations. 
And  if  the  one,  and  the  other  proposition  should  be 
refused,  the  States  were  then  to  agree  that  his  Excel- 
lency should  freely  choose  and  appoint  a  council  of  state, 
consisting  of  native  lesidents  from  every  Province,  for 
the  period  of  one  year.  The  committee  was  further 
authorised  to  arrange  the  commission  for  the  governor, 
in  accordance  with  these  points ;  and  to  draw  up  a  set 
of  uistructions  for  the  state-council,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  Excellency.  The  committee  was  also  empowered 
to  Conclude  the  matter  at  once,  without  further  reference 
to  the  States.* 

Certainly  a  committee  thus  instructed  was  likely  to 
be  sufiiciently  pliant.  It  had  heed  to  be,  in  order  to 
bend  to  the  humour  of  his  Excellency,  which  was 
already  becoming  imperious.  The  adulation  which  he 
had  received,  the  triumphal  marches,  the  Latin  orations, 

»  Leicester  to  Davison,  -  Jan.  15S6.    ■5"'*^^^  distaste  bim."    Davison  to  Lei- 

Sl  12 

(S  P.  OfiHce  MS.)    Davison  answered  in    coster,  -  Jan.  1586.    Brit.  Mus.  Galba. 

4,  MS.    ^  Jan.  168G.    See 


the  same  strain,  assuring  the  Earl  that  he 

had  taken  the  Estates  well  to  task  for    ^'   ^'"■ 

wishing  to  "  prescribe  instructions  after    Bruce,  p.  69. 

tlioir  grant  of  an  authority  absolute,"  and 

informing   him    that    tiny   were  "very 

Borry  any  ihiug  should  lall  out  might    MS. 


2  Rcsol.  Stat  Gen.  --'^'  Jan.  1586, 

10    ki  ' 


384 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


the  flowers  strewn  in  his  path,  had  produced  their  effect, 
{Old  the  Earl  was  almost  inclined  to  assume  the  airs  of 
royalty.     The  committee  waited  upon  him  at  Leyden. 
He   aft'ected   a  reluctance   to    accept    the   *' absolute " 
government,  but  his  coyness  could  not   deceive  such 
experienced  state^^men  as  the  "  wise  old  Leonmus,    or 
Menin,  Maalzoon,  Floris  Thin,  or  Aitzraa,  who  composed 
the  deputation.     It  was  obvious  enough  to  them  that  it 
was  not  a  King  Log  that  had  descended  among  them ; 
but  it  was  not  a  moment  for  complaining.    The  governor- 
elect  insisted,    of  course,   that  the   two   Englishmen, 
according  to  the  treaty  with  her  Majesty,  should  be 
members  of  the  council.     He  also,  at  once,  nominated 
Leoninus,  Meetkerk,  Brederode,  Falck,  and  Paul  Buys, 
to  the  same  office  ;  thinking  no  doubt,  that  these  were 
five  keepem— if  keepers  he  must  have— who  would  not 
draw  his  nose  off  the  scent,  nor  prevent  his  reaching  the 
game  he  hunted,  whatever  that  game  might  be.     It  was 
reserved  for  the  future,  however,  to  show,  whether  the 
five  were  like  to  hunt  in  company  with  him  as  har- 
moniously as  he  hoped.     As  to  the  other  counsellors,  he 
expressed  a  willingness  that  candidates  should  be  pro- 
posed for  him,  as  to  whose  qualifications  he  would  make 
up  his  mind  at  leisure.' 

This  matter  being  satisfactorily  adjusted— and  cer- 
tainly unless  the  game  pursued  by  the  Earl  was  a  crown 
royal,  he  ought  to  have  been  satisfied  with  his  success 
—the  States  received  a  letter  from  their  committee  at 
Leyden,  informing  them  that  his  Excellency,  after  some 
previous  protestations,  had  accepted  the  government 
(24th  Jannarv,  1586).* 

It  was  agreed  that  he  should  be  inaugurated  Govenior- 
Gencral  of  the  United  Provinces  of  Gehlerland  and 
Zutphen,  Flanders,  Holland, Zeeland,  Utrecht,  Friesland, 
and  all  others  in  confederacy  with  them.  He  was  to 
have  supreme  military  command  by  land  and  sea.  Ho 
was  to  exercise  supreme  authority  in  matters  civil  and 
jxditical,  according  to  the  customs  prevalent  in  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  All  officers,  political, 
civil,  legal,  weie  to  be  appointed  by  him  out  of  a 
douple  or  triple  nomination  made  by  the  States  of  tho 


»  lUaol.  Stat.  Gen.  ^  Jan.  1586,  MS. 


•  Ibid. 


1586. 


THE  EARL  ACCEPTS  THE  OFFICE. 


3S5 


Provinces  in  which  vacancies  might  occur.     The  States- 
General  were  to  assemble  whenever  and  wherever  he 
should  summon  them.     They  were  also — as  were  the 
States  of  each  separate  Province — competent  to  meet 
together  by  their  own  appointment.      The  Governor- 
General  was  to  receive  an  oath  of  fidelity  from  the  States 
and  himself  to  swear  the  maintenance  of  the  ancient 
laws,  customs,  and  privileges  of  the  country.* 
^  The  deed  was  done.     In  vain  had  an  emissary  of  tho 
French  court  been  exerting  his  utmost  to  prevent  the 
consummation  of  this  close  alliance.     For  the  wretched 
government  of  Henry  III.,  while  abasing  itself  before 
Philip  II.,  and  offering  the  fair  cities  and  fertile  plains 
of  France  as  a  sacrifice  to  that  insatiable  ambition  which 
wore  the  mask  of  religious  bigotry,  was  most  anxious 
that  Holland  and  England  should  not  escape  the  meshes 
by  which  it  was  itself  enveloped.     The  agent  at  the 
Hague  came  nominally  upon  some  mercantile  affairs, 
but  in  reality,  according  to  Leicester,  "  to  impeach  the 
States  from  binding  themselves  to  her  Majesty.*   But  he 
was  informed  that  there  was  then  no  leisure  for  his 
affairs,  '*  for  the  States  would  attend  to  the  service  of 
the  Queen  of  England  before  all  princes  in  the  world." 
The  agent  did  not  feel  complimented  by  the  coolness  of 
this  reception ;  yet  it  was  reasoQable  enough,  certainly, 
that  the  Hollanders  should  remember  with  bitterness 
the  contumely  which  they  had  experienced  the  previous 
year  in  France.     The   emissary   was,   however,   much 
disgusted.     «  The  fellow,"  said  Leicester,  '*  took  it  in 
such  snuff,  that  he  came  proudly  to  the  States,  and 
offered  his  letters,  saying,  *'  Now  I  trust  you  have  done 
all  your  sacrifices  to  the  Queen  of  England,  and  may 
peld  me   some   leisure  to  read  my  master's  letters." 
*'  But  they  so  shook  him  up,"  continued  the  Earl,  "for 
naming  her  Majesty  in  scorn— as  they  took   it— that 
they  hurled  him  his  letters,  and  bid  him  content  him- 
self;" and  so   on,  much  to   the  agent's   discomfiture, 
who  retired  in  greater  "  snuff"  than  ever.' 

So  much  for  the  French  influence.    And  now  Leicester 
had  done  exactly  what  the  most  imperious  woman  in 


'  Groot  Plakaatboek.  iv.  81.    Bor,  U.  686.    Wagenaar,  viU.  115-117. 

, WJan.  iMb    -  'lOJan.l.%86 

VOL.  I.  2  c 


386 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


the  world,  whose  favour  was  the  breath  of  his  life,  had 
expressly  forbidden  him  to  do.     The  step  having  been 
taken,  the  prize  so  tempting  to  his  ambition  having  been 
snatched,  and  the  policy  which  had  governed  the  united 
action  of  the  States  and  himself  seeming  so  sound,  what 
ought  he  to  have  done  in  order  to  avert  the  tempest 
which  he  must  have  foreseen?    Surely  a  man  who 
knew  so  much  of  woman's  nature,  and  of  Elizabeth  s 
nature,  as  he  did,  ought  to  have  attempted  to  conciliate 
her  affections,  after  having  so  deeply  wounded  her  pnde. 
He  knew  his  power.     Besides  the  graces  of  his  person 
and   manner— which   few  women,  once  impressed   by 
them,  could  ever  forget— he  possessed  the  most  insidious 
and  flattering  eloquence,  and,  in  absence,  his  pen  was  as 
wily  as  his  tongue.     For  the  Earl  was  imbued  with  the 
very  genius  of  courtship.    None  was  better  skilled  than 
he  in  the  phrases  of  rapturous  devotion,  which  were 
music  to  the  ear  both  of  the  woman  and  the  queen ; 
and  he  knew  his  royal  mistress  too  well  not  to  be  aware 
that   the    language    of   passionate    idolatry,    however 
extravagant,  had  rarely  fallen  unheeded  upon  her  soul. 
It  was  strange,  therefore,  that,  in  this  emergency,  he 
should  not  at  once  throw  himself  upon  her  compassion 
without  any  mediator.     Yet,  on  the  contrary,  he  com- 
mitted the  monstrous  error  of  entrusting  his  defence  to 
envoy  Davison,  whom  he  determined  to  despatch  at  once 
with  instructions  to  the  Queen,  and  towards  whom  he 
committed  the  grave  offence  of  concealing  from  him  her 
previous  prohibitions.     But  how  could  the  Earl  fail  to 
perceive  8iat  it  was  the  woman,  not  the  queen,  whom  ho 
should  have  implored  for  pardon ;  that  it  was  Robert 
Dudley,  not  William  Davison,  who  ought  to  have  sued 
upon  his  knees  ?   This  whole  matter  of  the  Netherland 
sovereignty  and  the  Leicester   stadholderate  forms   a 
strange   psychological    study,  which   deserves  and  re- 
quires some  minuteness  of  attention ;  for  it  was  by  the 
characteristics  of  these   eminent  personages  that  the 
current  history  was  deeply  stamped. 

Certainly,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the 
case,  the  first  letter  conveying  intelligence  so  likely  to 
pique  the  pride  of  Elizabeth  should  have  been  a  letter 
from  Leicester.  On  the  contrary,  it  proved  to  bo  a  dull, 
formal  epistle  fix)m  the  States. 


1586. 


HIS  AMBITION  AND  MISTAKES. 


387 


And  here  again  the  assistance  of  the  indispensable 
Davison  was  considered  necessary.  On  the  3rd  February 
the  ambassador— having  announced  his  inten-  3rd  Feb 
tion  of  going  to  England,  by  command  of  his  ^^^^-  ' 
Excellency,  so  soon  as  the  Earl  should  have  been  inau- 
gurated, for  the  purpose  of  explaining  all  these  important 
transactions  to  her  Majesty— waited  upon  the  States  with 
the  request  that  they  should  prepare  as  speedily  as  might 
be  their  letter  to  the  Queen,  with  other  necessary  docu- 
ments, to  be  entrusted  to  his  care.  He  also  suggested 
that  the  draft  or  minute  of  their  proposed  epistle  should 
be  submitted  to  him  for  advice — "  because  the  humours 
of  her  Majesty  were  best  known  to  him." ' 

Now  the  humours  of  her  Majesty  were  best  known  to 
Leicester  of  all  men  in  the  whole  world,  and  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  he  should  have  allowed  so  many  days  and 
weeks  to  pass  without  taking  these  humours  properly 
into  account.  But  the  Earl's  head  was  slightly  turned 
by  his  sudden  and  unexpected  success.  The  game  that 
he  had  been  pursuing  had  fallen  into  his  grasp,  almost 
at  the  very  start,  and  it  is  not  astonishing  that  he  should 
have  been  somewhat  absorbed  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
victory. 

Three  days  later  (6th  February)  the  minute  of  a  letter 
to  Elizabeth,  drawn  up  by  Menin,  was  submitted  to  the 
ambassador;  eight  days  after  that  (14th  February) 
Mr.  Davison  took  leave  of  the  States,  and  set  forth  for 
the  Brill  on  his  way  to  England;  and  three  or  four 
days  later  yet,  he  was  still  in  that  seaport,  waiting  for 
a  favourable  wind.*  Thus  from  the  1 1th  January,  N.S., 
upon  which  day  the  first  offer  of  the  absolute  govern- 
ment had  been  made  to  Leicester,  nearly  forty  days  had 
elapsed,  during  which  long  period  the  disobedient  Earl 
had  not  sent  one  line,  private  or  official,  to  her  Majesty 
on  this  most  important  subject.  And  when  at  last  the 
Queen  was  to  receive  information  of  her  favourite's  de- 
linquency, it  was  not  to  be  in  his  well-known  hand- 
%vriting  and  accompanied  by  his  penitent  tears  and 
written  caresses,  but  to  be  laid  before  her  with  all  the 
formality  of  parchment  and  sealing-wax,  in  the  stilted 
diplomatic  jargon  of  those  "  highly-mighty,  very  learned, 
wise,  and  very  foreseeing  gentlemen,  my  lords  the  States- 


I 


»  Kesol.  Stat  Geiu.3  Feb.  I5s«,  MS. 


«  Ibid.  6-20  Feb.  1686,  MS. 

2  c  2 


338 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


General."     Notliing  could  have  been  managed  with  less 

adroitness.  ,  ^i     •       i  j 

Meantime,  not  heeding  the  storm  gathering  beyond 

the  narrow  seas,  the  new  governor  was  enjoying  the  full 

,th  Feb    snnshino  of  power.     On  the  4th  February  the 

1586.  '  ceremony  of  his  inauguration  took  place,  with 

ffreat  pomp  and  ceremony,  at  the  Hagiie."^ 

The  beautiful,  placid,  village-capital  of  Holland  wore 
much  the  same  aspect  at  that  day  as  now.  Clean,  quiet, 
spacious  streets,  shaded  with  rows  of  whispenng  poplars 
and  umbrageous  limes,  broad  sleepy  canals— those  liquid 
highways  along  which  glided  in  phantom  silence  the 
bustle,  and  traffic,  and  countless  cares  of  a  stimng  popu- 
lation—quaint toppling  houses,  ^vith  tower  and  gable  ; 
ancient  brick  churches,  with  slender  spire  and  musical 
chimes  ;  thatched  cottages  on  the  outskirts,  \\iih.  stork- 
nests  on  the  roofs— the  whole  without  fortification,  save 
the  watery  defences  which  enclosed  it  with  long-drawn 
lines  on  every  side  ; — such  was  the  Count's  Park, 
or  s'Graven  Haage,  in  English  called  the  Hague. 

It  was  embowered  and  almost  buried  out  of  sight  by 
vast  groves  of  oaks  and  beeches.  Ancient  Badhuaennan 
forests  of  sanguinary  Druids,  the  "  wild  wood  without 
mercy  "  of  Saxon  savages,  where,  at  a  later  period,  sove- 
reign Dirks  and  Florences,  in  long  succession  of  cen- 
tunes,  had  ridden  abroad  with  lance  in  rest,  or  hawk  on 
fist,  or  under  whose  boughs,  in  still  nearer  days,  the 
gentle  Jacqueline  had  pondered  and  wept  over  her 
sorrows,  stretched  out  in  every  direction  between  the 
city  and  the  neighbouring  sea.  In  the  heart  of  the 
place  stood  the  ancient  palace  of  the  counts,  built  in  the 
thirteenth  century  by  William  II.  of  Holland,  King  of 
the  Eomans,  with  massive  brick  walls,  cylindrical 
turrets,  pointed  gable  and  rose-shaped  windows,  and 
with  spacious  courtyard,  enclosed  by  feudal  moat,  draw- 
bridge, and  portcullis. 

In  the  great  banqueting-hall  of  the  ancient  palace, 
whose  cedam-roof  of  magnificent  timber-work,  brought 
by  crusading  counts  from  the  Holy  Land,  had  rung  with 
the  echoes  of  many  a  gigantic  revel  in  the  days  of 
chivalry — an  apartment  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long 
and  forty  feet  high— there  had  been  arranged  an  elevated 

i  BeaoL  Stat  Gen.  4  Feb.  1586,  MS. 


1586. 


HIS  INSTALLATION  AT  THZ  HAGUE. 


389 


platform,  with  a  splendid  chair  of  state  for  the  "  abso- 
lute" governor,  and  with  a  great  profusion  of  gilding 
and  velvet  tapestry,  hangings,  gilt  emblems,  complimen- 
tarj^  devices,  lions,  unicorns,  and  other  imposing  appur- 
tenances. Prince  Maurice,  and  all  the  members  of  his 
house,  the  States-General  in  full  costume,  and  all  the 
great  functionaries,  civil  and  military,  Vere  assembled. 
There  was  an  elaborate  harangue  by  orator  Menin,  in 
which  it  was  proved,  by  copious  citations  from  Holy 
Writ  and  from  ancient  chronicle,  that  the  Lord  never 
forsakes  his  own ;  so  that  now,  when  the  Provinces  were 
at  their  last  gasp  by  the  death  of  Orange  and  the  loss  of 
Antwerp,  the  Queen  of  England  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
had  suddenly  descended,  as  if  from  heaven,  to  their 
rescue.  Then  the  oaths  of  mutual  fidelity  were  ex- 
changed between  the  governor  and  the  States,  and,  in 
conclusion,  Dr.  Bartholomew  Clerk  ventured  to  measure 
himself  with  the  "  big  fellows,"  by  pronouncing  an  ora- 
tion which  seemed  to  command  universal  approbation. 
And  thus  the  Earl  was  duly  installed  Governor-General 
of  the  United  States  of  the  Netherlands.^ 

But  already  the  first  mutterings  of  the  storm  were 
audible.  A  bird  in  the  air  had  whispered  to  the  Queen 
that  her  favourite  was  inclined  to  disobedience.  "  Some 
flying  tale  hath  been  told  me  here,"  wrote  Leicester  to 
Walsingham,  *'  that  her  Majesty  should  mislike  my  name 
of  Excellency.  But  if  I  had  delighted,  or  would  have 
received  titles,  I  refused  a  title  higher  than  Excellency, 
as  Mr.  Davison,  if  you  ask  him,  will  tell  you ;  and  that 
I,  my  own  self,  refused  most  earnestly  that,  and,  if  I 
might  have  done  it,  this  also."  *  Certainly,  if  the  Queen 
objected  to  this  common  form  of  address,  which  had 
always  been  bestowed  upon  Leicester,  as  he  himself  ob- 
served, ever  since  she  had  made  him  an  earl,'  it  might 
be  supposed  that  her  wrath  would  mount  high  when  she 
should  hear  of  him  as  absolute  governor-general.  It  is 
also  difficult  to  say  what  higher  title  he  had  refused,  for 
certainly  the  records  show  that  he  had  refused  nothing. 


»  Resol.  Stat  Gen.  4  Feb.  1586.  MS. 
Bor,  li.  688,  689.  Wagenaar,  viii.  115 
teq.    Holinshed,  Iv.  647  seg.    Stowe,  715 

•  Brace's  'Leyc.  Corresp.'  84,  —  Feb. 


1586. 

3  Compare  Camden,  liL  399,  "being 
derided  by  those  that  envied  him,  and 
the  title  of  Excellency,  which,  of  all  En- 
glishmen, he  was  the  first  that  over  used, 
exploded  and  trippod  off  the  stage." 


,     I 


* 


390 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


in  the  way  of  power  and  dignity,  that  it  was  possible  for 

him  to  obtain.  ,  xi.     x-     •  ..  it 

But  very  soon  afterwards  arrived  authentic  intelli- 
gence that  the  Queen  had  been  informed  of  the  proposi- 
tion made  on  New  Year's  Day  (O.S.),  and  that,  although 
she  could  not  imagine  the  possibility  of  his  accepting, 
she  was  indignMit  that  he  had  not  peremptorily  rejected 

the  offer.  „        ^    t>      vi 

'*  As  to  the  proposal  made  to  you,  wrote  Burghley, 
♦*  by  the  mouth  of  Leoninus,  her  Majesty  hath  been  in- 
formed that  you  had  thanked  them  in  her  name,  and  al- 
leged that  there  was  no  such  thing  in  the  contract,  and 
that  therefore  you  could  not  accept  nor  knew  how  to 

answer  the  same."*  .      ,     -     i.  * 

Now  this  information  was  obviously  far  from  correct, 
although  it  had  been  furnished  by  the  Earl  himself  to 
Burghley.     We  have  seen  that  Leicester  had   by  no 
means  rejected,  but  very  gratefully  entertained,  the  pro- 
position as  soon  as  made.     Nevertheless  the  Queen  was 
dissatisfied,  even  without  suspecting  that  she  had  been 
directly  disobeyed.  '*  Her  Majesty,"  continued  the  Lord- 
Treasurer,   "  is  much  offended  with  this  proceeding. 
She  allows  not  that  you  should  give  them  thanks,  but 
findeth  it  very  strange  that  you  did  not  plainly  declare 
to  them  that  they  did  well  know  how  often  her  Majesty 
had  refused  to  have  any  one  for  her  take  any  such  go- 
vernment there,  and  that  she  had  always  so  answered 
peremptorily.     Therefore  there  might  be  some  suspicion 
conceived  that  by  offering  on  their  part,  and  refusal  on 
hers,  some  further  mischief  might  be  secretly  hidden  by 
some  odd  person's  device  to  the  hurt  of  the  cause.     But 
in  that  your  Lordship  did  not  flatly  say  to  them  that 
yourself  did  know  her  Majesty's  mind  therein,  that  she 
never  meant,  in  this  sort,  to  take  the  absolute  govern- 
ment, she  is  offended ;  considering,  as  she  saith,  that 
none  knew  her  determination  therein  better  than  your- 
self.    For  at  your  going  hence,  she  did  peremptorily 
charge  you  not  to  accept  any  such  title  and  office  ;  and 
therefore  her  straight  commandment  now  is  that  you 
shall   not  accept  the  same,  for  she  will  never  assent 
thereto,  nor  avow  you  with  any  such  title."  * 

J  BargWey  (In  hia  own  hand)  to  Leicester.  "^^  1686.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
t  Burghley  to  Leicester,  MS.  Just  cited. 


1586.      INTIMATIONS  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  DISPLEASURE.      391 


i 


If  Elizabeth  was  so  wrathful,  even  while  supposing 
that  the  offer  had  been  gratefully  declined,  what  were 
likely  to  be  her  emotions  when  she  should  be  informed 
that  it  had  been  gratefully  accepted  !  The  Earl  already 
began  to  tremble  at  the  probable  consequences  of  his 
mal-adroitness.  Grave  was  the  error  he  had  committed 
in  getting  himself  made  governor-general  against  or- 
ders; graver  still,  perhaps  fatal,  the  blunder  of  not 
being  swift  to  confess  his  fault,  and  cry  for  pardon, 
before  other  tongues  should  have  time  to  aggravate  his 
offence.  Yet  even  now  he  shrank  from  addressing  the 
Queen  in  person,  but  hoped  to  conjure  the  rising  storm 
by  means  of  the  magic  wand  of  the  Lord-Treasurer. 
He  implored  his  friend's  interposition  to  shield  him  in 
the  emergency,  and  begged  that  at  least  her  Majesty 
and  the  lords  of  council  would  suspend  their  judgment 
until  Mr.  Davison  should  deliver  those  messages  and 
eicplanations  with  which,  fully  freighted,  he  was  about 
to  set  sail  from  the  Brill. 

**  If  my  reasons  seem  to  your  wisdoms,'*  said  he, 
*'  other  than  such  as  might  well  move  a  true  and  u 
faithful,  careful  man  to  her  Majesty  to  do  as  I  have 
done,  I  do  desire,  for  my  mistaking  offence,  to  bear  the 
burden  of  it ;  to  be  disavowed  with  all  displeasure  and 
disgrace :  a  matter  of  as  great  reproach  and  grief  as 
ever  can  happen  to  any  man."  He  begged  that  another 
person  might  be  sent  as  soon  as  possible  in  his  place — 
protesting,  however,  by  his  faith  in  Christ,  that  he  had 
done  only  what  he  was  bound  to  do  by  his  regard  for 
her  Majesty's  service — and  that  when  he  set  foot  in  the 
country  he  had  no  more  expected  to  be  made  Governor 
of  the  Netherlands  than  to  be  made  King  of  Spain.' 
Certainly  he  had  been  paying  dear  for  the  honour,  if 
honour  it  wtis,  and  he  had  not  intended  on  setting  forth 
for  the  Provinces  to  ruin  himself,  for  the  sake  of  an 
empty  title.  His  motives — and  he  was  honest  when  he 
so  avowed  them — were  motives  of  state  at  least  as  much 
as  of  self-advancement.*  "  I  have  no  cause,"  he  said, 
'*to  have  played  the  fool  thus  far  for  myself;  first,  to 
have  her.  Majesty's  displeasure,  which  no  kingdom  in 
the  world  could  make  me  willingly  deserve ;  next,  to 
undo  myself  in  my  later  days;   to  consume  all  that 

»  Bmce'8  'Leyc.  Corresp.'  96.  97,  -  Feb.  1588.  *  Ibid. 


392 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


1580. 


DEPRECATORY  LETTERS  OF  LEICESTER. 


should  have  kept  me  all  my  life  in  one  half-year.  But 
I  must  thank  God  for  all,  and  am  most  heartily  giieved  at 
her  Majesty's  heavy  displeasure.  I  neither  desire  to  live, 
nor  to  see  my  countrj^  with  it."  * 

And  at  this  bitter  thought,  he  began  to  sigh  like  a 
furnace,  and  to  shed  the  big  tears  of  penitence. 

"  For  if  I  have  not  done  her  Majesty  good  service  at 
this  time,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  never  hope  to  do  her  any, 
but  will  withdraw  me  into  some  out-comer  of  the  world, 
where  I  will  languish  out  the  rest  of  my  few — too  many 
— days,  praying  ever  for  her  Majesty's  long  and  prosper- 
ous life,  and  with  this  only  comfort  to  live  an  exile,  that 
this  disgrace  hath  happened  for  no  other  cause  but  for 
my  mere  regard  for  her  Majesty's  estate."  * 

Having  painted  this  dismal  picture  of  the  probable 
termination  to  his  career — not  in  the  hope  of  melting 
Burghley,  but  of  touching  the  heart  of  Elizabeth — he 
proceeded  to  argue  the  point  in  question  with  much  logic 
and  sagacity.  He  had  satisfied  himself  on  his  arrival  in 
the  Provinces,  that,  if  he  did  not  take  the  governor-gene- 
ralship, some  other  pei-son  would  ;  and  that  it  certainly 
was  for  the  interest  of  her  Majesty  that  her  devoted 
servant,  rather  than  an  indifferent  person,  should  be 
placed  in  that  important  position.  He  maintained  that 
the  Queen  had  intimated  to  him  in  private  her  wil- 
lingness that  he  should  accept  the  office  in  question, 
provided  the  proposition  should  come  from  the  States, 
and  not  from  her ;  he  reasoned  that  the  double  nature 
of  his  functions — being  general  and  counsellor  for  her, 
as  well  as  general  and  counsellor  for  the  Provinces — 
made  his  acceptance  of  the  authority  conferred  on  him 
almost  indispensable ;  that  for  him  to  bo  merely  com- 
mander over  five  thousand  English  troops,  when  an  abler 
soldier  than  himself,  Sir  John  Norris,  was  at  their  head, 
was  hardly  worthy  her  Majesty's  service  or  himself,  and 
that  in  reality  the  Queen  had  lost  nothing  by  his 
appointment,  but  had  gained  much  benefit  and  honour 
by  thus  having  "  the  whole  command  of  the  Provinces,  of 
their  forces  by  land  and  sea,  of  their  towns  and  treasures, 
with  knowledge  of  all  their  secrets  of  state."  * 


393 


1  Brace,  M,  97,  ^^  Feb.  168«. 


»  Ibid.,  98,  ^  Feb.  1686. 


•  Ibid.  100-102,  -  Feb.  1686. 

■8 


Then,  relapsing  into  a  vein  of  tender  but  reproach- 
ful melancholy,  he  observed  that  if  it  had  been  anv 
man  but  himself  that  had  done  as  he  had  done,  lie 
would  have  been  thanked,  not  censured.  *'  But  such  is 
now  my  wretched  case,"  he  said,  ''as  for  my  faithful, 
true,  and  loving  heart  to  her  Majesty  and  my  country^' 
I  have  utterly  undone  myself.  For  favour,  I  have 
disgrace  ;  for  reward,  utter  spoil  and  ruin.  But  if  this 
taking  upon  me  the  name  of  governor  is  so  evil  taken 
as  it  hath  deserved  dishonour,  discredit,  disfavor,  \yith 
all  giiefs  that  may  be  laid  upon  a  man,  I  must  receive 
it  as  deserved  of  God  and  not  of  my  Queen,  whom  I 
have  reverenced  with  all  humility,  and  whom  I  have 
loved  with  all  fidelity."  ' 

This  was  the  true  way,  no  doubt,  to  reach  the  heart 
of  Elizabeth,  and  Leicester  had  always  plenty  of  such 
shafts  in  his  quiver.  Unfortunately  he  had  delayed  too 
long,  and  even  now  he  dared  not  take  a  direct  aim.  He 
feared  to  write  to  the  Queen  herself,  thinking  that  his 
so  doing,  "  while  she  had  such  conceipts  of  him,  would 
only  trouble  her,"  and  he  therefore  continued  to  employ 
the  Lord-Treasurer  and  Mr.  Secretarj^  as  his  mediators. 
Thus  he  committed  error  upon  error. 

Meantime,  as  if  there  had  not  been  procrastination 
enough,  Davison  was  loitering  at  the  Brill,  detained  by 
wind  and  weather.  Two  days  after  the  letter  just  cited 
liad  been  despatched  to  Walsingham,  Leicester  sent  an 
impatient  message  to  the  envoy.  "  I  am  lo 
heartily  sorry,  with  all  my  heart,"  ho  said,  ^  ^^^'  "^*' 
•*  to  hear  of  your  long  stay  at  Brill,  the  wind  serving 
so  fair  as  it  hath  done  these  two  days.  I  would  have 
laid  any  wager  that  you  had  been  in  England  ere  this. 
I  pray  you  make  haste,  lest  our  cause  take  too  great  a 
prejudice  there  ere  you  come,  although  I  cannot  fear  it, 
because  it  is  so  good  and  honest.  I  pray  you  imagine 
in  what  care  I  dwell  till  I  shall  hear  from  you,  albeit 
some  way  very  resolute."* 

Thus  it  was  obvious  that  he  had  no  secret  despair  of 
his  cause  when  it  should  be  thoroughly  laid  before  the 
the  Queen*     The  wonder  was  that  he  had  added   the 

1  Brnoe,  100-102,  Just  cited. 

»  Lelcestor  to  Davison,  ij  Feb.  1585.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


394 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


1586. 


DAVISON'S  MISSION  TO  ENGLAND. 


395 


i 


r 


offence   of  long  silence   to  the   sin  of   disobedience. 
Davison  had  sailed,  however^  before  the  receipt  of  the 
EarFs  letter.     He  had   been   furnished   with   careful 
instructions  upon  the  subject  of  his  mission.     He  was 
to  show  how  eager  the  States  had  been  to  have  Leices- 
ter for  their  absolute  governor— which  was  perfectly 
true— and  how  anxious  the  Earl  had  been  to   decline 
the  proffered  honour— which   was   certainly   false,   if 
contemporary  record  and  the  minutes  of   the   States- 
General  are  to  be  believed.     He  was  to   sketch   the 
general  confusion  which  had  descended  upon  the  coun- 
try the  quarrelling  of  politicians,  and  the  discontent  of 
officera  and  soldiers,  from  out  of  all  which  chaos  one  of 
two  results  was  sure  to  arise  :  the  election  of  a  single 
chieftain,  or  a  reconciliation   of   the   Provinc^   with 
Spain.     That  it  would  be  impossible  for  the   Earl  to 
execute  the  double  functions  with  which  he  was  charged 
—of    general   of  her    Majesty*s   forces,    and    general 
and  chief  counsellor  of  the  States— if  any  other   man 
than  himself  should  be  appointed  governor,  was  obvious. 
It  was  equally  plain  that  the  Provinces  could  only  be 
kept  at  her  Majesty's  disposition  by  choosing  the  course 
which,   at  their  own   suggestion,   had   been   adopted. 
The  offer  of  the   government  by  the   States,  and  its 
acceptance  by  the  Earl,  were  the  logical  consequence  of 
the  step  which  the  Queen  had  already  taken.    It  was  thus 
only  that  England  could  retain  her  hold  upon  the  coun- 
try, and  even  upon  the  cautionary  towns.     As  to  a  re- 
conciliation of  the  Provinces  with  Spain— which  would 
have  been  the  probable  result  of  Leicester's  rejection  of 
the  proposition  made  by  the  States— it  was  unnecessary 
to  do  more  than  allude  to  such  a  catastrophe.   No  one  but 
a  madman  could  doubt  that,   in   such  an  event,  the 
subjugation  of  England  was  almost  certain.* 

But,  before  the  arrival  of  the  ambassador,  the  Queen 
had  been  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  whole  extent  of 
the  Earl's  delinquency.  Dire  was  the  result,  llie 
wintry  gales  which  had  been  lashing  the  North  Sea,  and 
preventing  the  unfortunate  Davison  from  setting  forth 
on  his  disastrous  mission,  were  nothing  to  the  tempest 
of  royal  wrath  which  had  been  shaking  the  court-world 
to  its  centre.      The  Queen   had  been  swearing  most 

I  Rememl>rancefl  for  Mr.  Daviwii,  in  Bruce,  80-82,  Feb.  1686. 


fearfully  ever  since  she  read  the  news,  which  Leicester 
had  not  dared  to  communicate  directly  to  herself.  No 
one  was  allowed  to  speak  a  word  in  extenuation  of  the 
favourite's  offence.  Burghley,  who  lifted  up  his  voice 
somewhat  feebly  to  appease  her  wrath,  was  bid,  with  a 
curse,  to  hold  his  peace.  So  he  took  to  his  bed— partly 
from  prudence,  partly  from  gout— and  thus  sheltered 
himself  for  a  season  from  the  peltings  of  the  storm. 
Walsmgham,  more  manful,  stood  to  his  post,  but  could 
not  gam  a  hearing.  It  was  the  culprit  that  should  have 
spoken,  and  spoken  in  time.  "  Why,  why  did  you  not 
write  yourself?  "  was  the  plaintive  cry  of  all  the  Earl's 
friends,  from  highest  to  humblest.  "  But  write  to  her 
now,"  they  exclaimed,  "at  any  rate;  and,  above  all 
send  her  a  present,  a  love-gift."  "  Lay  out  two  or  three 
hundred  crowns  in  some  rare  thing,  for  a  token  to  her 
Majesty,"  said  Christopher  Hatton.* 

Strange  that  his  colleagues  and  his  rivals  should  have 
been  obliged  to  advise  Leicester  upon  the  proper  course 
to  pursue ;  that  they— not  himself— should  have  been 
first  to  perceive  that  it  was  the  enraged  woman,  oven 
more  than  the  offended  sovereign,  who  was  to  be  pro- 
pitiated and  soothed.     In  truth,  all  the  woman  had 
been  aroused  in  Elizabeth's  bosom.     She  was  displeased 
that  her  favourite  should  derive  power  and  splendour 
from  any  source  but  her  own  bounty.     She  was  furious 
that  his  wife,  whom  she  hated,  was  about  to  share  in 
his  honours.     For  the  mischievous  tongues  of  court- 
ladies  had  been   collecting  or  fabricating  many   un- 
pleasant rumours.     A  swarm  of  idle  but  piquant  stories 
had  been  buzzing  about  the  Queen's  ears,  and  stinging 
her  into  a  frenzy  of  jealousy.     The  Countess— it  was 
said— was  on  the  point  of  setting  forth  for  the  Nether- 
lands, to  join   the  Earl,  with  a  train  of  courtiers  and 
ladies,  coaches,  and  side-saddles,  such  as  were  never 
seen   before— where  the  two  were   about  to  establish 
themselves  in  conjugal  felicity,  as  well  as  almost  royal 
state.     What  a  prospect  for  the  jealous  and  imperious 
sovereign  I      "Coaches  and   side-saddles!     She   would 
show  the  upstarts  that  there  was  one  Queen,  and  that  * 
her  name  was  Elizabeth,  and  that  there  was  no  court  but 

»  Brute's  'Leyc  Corresp,*  113,  114,  ^  Feb.  1586. 


396 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


l! 


i 


hers."  And  so  slie  contimied  to  storm,  and  swear,  and 
threaten  unutterable  vengeance,  till  all  her  courtiers 
quaked  in  their  shoes.* 

Thomas  Dudley,  however,  warmly  contradicted  the 
report,  declaring,  of  his  own  knowledge,  that  the 
Countess  had  no  wish  to  go  to  the  Provinces,  nor  the 
Earl  any  intention  of  receiving  her  there.  JThis  infor- 
mation was  at  once  conveyed  to  the  Queen,  "  and,  said 
Dudley,  *'  it  did  greatly  pacify  her  stomach. '  His 
friends  did  what  they  could  to  maintain  the  governor  s 
cause;  but  Burghley,  Walsingham,  Hatton,  and  the 
rest  of  them,  were  all  *'  at  their  wits'  end,"  *  and  were 
nearly  distraught  at  the  delay  in  Davison's  arrival- 
Meantime  the  Queen's  stomach  was  not  so  much  pacified 
but  that  she  was  determined  to  humiliate  the  Earl  with 
the  least  possible  delay.  Having  waited  sufficiently 
long  for  his  explanations,  she  now  appointed  Sir  Thomas 
Heneage  as  special  commissioner  to  the  States,  withont 
waiting  any  longer.  Her  wrath  vented  itself  at  once  in 
the  preamble  to  the  instructions  for  this  agent. 

"  Whereas,"  she  said,  "  we  have  been  given  to  under- 
stand that  the  Earl  of  Leicester  hath  in  a  very  con- 
temptuous sort— contrary  to  our  express  commandment 
given  unto  him  by  ourself,  accepted  of  an  offer  of  a  more 
absolute  government  made  by  the  States  imto  him,  than 
was  agreed  on  between  us  and  their  commissioners— 
which  kind  of  contemptible  manner  of  proceeding  giveth 
the  world  just  cause  to  think  that  there  is  not  that 
reverent  respect  carried  towards  us  by  our  subjects  as  m 
duty  appertaineth ;  especially  seeing  so  notorious  a  con- 
tempt committed  by  one  whom  we  have  raised  up  and 
yielded  in  the  eye  of  the  world,  even  from  the  beginning 
of  our  reign,  as  great  portion  of  our  favour  as  ever 
subject  enjoyed  at  any  prince's  hands ;  we   therefore, 


»  "  It  was  told  her  Majesty,"  wrote 
Thomas  Dudley, "  that  my  lady  was  pre- 
pared presently  to  come  over  to  your 
Excellency,  with  such  a  train  of  ladies 
and  gentlewomen,  and  such  rich  coaches. 
Utters,  and  side-saddles,  as  her  Ms^Jesty 
had  none  such ;  and  that  there  should  be 
such  a  court  of  ladies  as  should  far  pass 
her  Msijesty's  court  here.  This  informa- 
tion (though  most  false)  did  not  a  little 
stir  her  Mf^esty  to  extreme  cbolcr  and 


dislike  of  all  your  doings  there ;  saying, 
with  great  oaths,  she  would  have  no 
more  courts  under  her  obeisance  than 
her  own,  and  would  revoke  you  from 
thence  with  all  speed.  This  Mr.  Vice- 
Chamberlain  (Hatton)  told  me  In  great 
secret,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Secretary,  and 
last  of  all  my  Lord-Treasurer."    Bruce'i 

•Leyc.Corresp.'  112,  -  Feb.  1686. 


81 


*Ibid. 


9  Ibid. 


J586. 


QUEEN'S  ANGER  AXD  JEALOUSY. 


397 


holding  nothing  dearer  than  our  honour,  and  considerin"" 
that  no  one  thing  could  more  touch  our  reputation  than 
to  mduoe  so  open  and  public  a  faction  of  a  prince  and 
work  a  greater  reproach  than  contempt  at  a  subject's 
hand,  without  reparation  of  our  honour,  have  found  it 
necessary  to  send  you  unto  him,  as  well  to  charge  him 
with  the  said  contempt,  as  also  to  execute  such  other 
things  as  we  think  meet  to  be  done,  for  the  justifying  of 
ourselves  to  the  world,  as  the  repairing  of  the  indiff^ity 
cast  upon  us  by  his  undutiful  manner  of  proceedino- 

towards  us And  for  that  we  find  ourselves  alsS 

not  well  dealt  withal  by  the  States,  in  that  they  have 
pressed  the  said  Earl,  without  our  assent  or  privity,  to 
accept  of  a  more  absolute  government  than  was  agreed 
on  between  us  and  their  commissioners,  we  have  also 
thought  meet  that  you  shall  charge  them  therewith 
according  to  the  directions  hereafter  ensuing.  And  to 
the  end  there  may  be  no  delay  used  in  the  execution  of 
that  which  we  think  meet  to  be  presently  done,  you  shall 
charge  the  said  States,  even  as  they  tender  the  continu- 
ance of  our  good-will  towards  them,  to  proceed  to  the 
speedy  execution  of  our  request."  ^ 

After  this  trumpet-like  preamble  it  may  be  supposed 
that  the  blast  which  followed  would  be  piercing  and 
shrill.  The  instructions,  in  truth,  consisted  in  wild 
scornful  flourishes  upon  one  theme.  The  word  contempt 
had  occurred  five  times  in  the  brief  preamble.  It  was 
repeated  in  almost  every  line  of  the  instnictions. 

"You  shall  let  the  Eari"  (our  cousin  no  lono-er) 
"understand,"  said  the  Queen,  "how  highly  and  justly 
we  are  offended  with  his  acceptation  of  the  government, 
which  we  do  repute  to  be  a  very  great  and  strange  contempt 
least  looked  for  at  our  hands,  being,  as  he  is,  a  creature 
of  our  ovm."  His  omission  to  acquaint  her  by  letter 
with  the  causes  moving  him  "  so  contemptumsly  to  break  " 
her  commandment,  his  delay  in  sending  Davison  "  to 
answer  the  said  contempt :' ha^di  much  "aggravated  the 
tault,  although  the  Queen  protested  herself  unable  to 
imagine  any  "  excuse  for  so  manifest  a  cmtempt."  The 
btates  were  to  be  informed  that  she  "  held  it  strange  '* 

^^»  The  Queen  to  Sir  Thomas  Heneage,    rest  of  the  document  is  given  in  Bruce. 
55  Feb.  1586.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.)    The    ^^'^  **«• 


i 


398 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Cujlp.  VII. 


that  "tliis   creature   of  her  own"   should  have  been 
pressed  by  them  to  "  commit  so  notorious  a  contempt " 
against  her,  both  on  account  of  this  very  exhibition  of 
contempt  on  Leicester's  part,  and  because  they  thereby 
"  showed  themselves  to  have  a  very  slender  and  weak 
conceit  of  her  judgment,  by  pressing  a  minister  of  hers 
to  accept  that  which  she  had  refused,  aj3  though  her  long 
experience  in  government  had  not  taught  her  to  discover 
what  was  fit  to  do  in  matters  of  state."     As  the  result  of 
such  a  proceeding  would  be  to  disgrace  her  in  the  eyes 
of  mankind,  by  inducing  an  opinion  that  her  published 
solemn  declaration  on  this  great  subject  had  been  in- 
tended to  abuse  the  world,  he  was  directed — in  order  to 
remove  the  hard  conceit  justly  to  be  taken  by  the  world, 
"  in  consideration  of  the  said  contempt"— to  make  a  public 
and  open  resignation  of  the  government  in  the  place 
where  he  had  accepted  the  same.* 

Thus  it  had  been  made  obvious  to  the  unlucky  "  crea- 
ture of  her  own,"  that  the  Queen  did  not  easily  digest 
**  contempt."  Nevertheless  these  instructions  to  Heneage 
were  gentle,  compared  with  the  fierce  billet  which  she 
addressed  directly  to  the  Earl.     It  was  brief,  too,  as  the 
posy  of  a  ring ;  and  thus  it  ran  :— "  To  my  Lord  of  Lei- 
cester, from  the  Queen,  by  Sir  Thomas  Heneage.     How 
contemptuoudy  we  conceive  ourself  to  have  been  used 
by  you,  you  shall  by  this  bearer  understand,  whom  we 
have  expressly  sent  imto  you  to  charge  you  withal.   We 
could  never  have  imagined,  had  we  not  seen  it  fall  out 
in  experience,  that  a  man  raised  up  by  ourself,  and  ex- 
traordinarily favoured  by  us  above  any  other  subject  of 
tills  land,  would  have,  in  so  contemptible  a  sort,  broken 
our  commandment,  in  a  cause  that  so  greatly  toucheth 
us  in  honour  ;  whereof,  although  you  have  showed  your- 
self to  make  but  little  account,  in  most  imdutiful  a  sort, 
you  may  not  therefore  think  that  we  have  so  little  care 
of  the  reparation  thereof  as  we  mind  to  pass  so  great  a 
wrong  in  silence  imredressed.  And  therefore  our  express 
pleasure  and  commandment  is,  that — all  delays  and  ex- 
cuses laid  apart — you  do  presently,  upon  the  duty  of  your 
allegiance,  obey  and  fulfil  whatsoever  the  bearer  hereof 
shall  direct  you  to  do  in  our  name.     Whereof  fail  not, 


I  The  Queen  to  Sir  ThomM  Heneage,  Jnit  dted. 


1586.  HER  ANGRY  LETTERS  TO  THE  EARL  AND  STATES.  399 

as  you  will  answer  the    contrary  at  your  uttermost 
peril.'*  * 

Here  waa  no  billing  and  cooing,  certainly,  but  a  terse, 
biting  phraseology,  about  which  Uiere  could  be  no  mis- 
conception. 

By  the  same  messenger  the  Queen  also  sent  a  formal 
letter  to  the  States-General ;  the  epistle — mutatis  mutandis 
— being  also  addressed  to  the  state-council. 

In  this  document  her  Majesty  expressed  her  great  sur- 
prise that  Leicester  should  have  accepted  their  offer  of 
the  absolute  government,  "  both  for  police  and  war," 
when  she  had  so  expressly  rejected  it  herself.     »'  To  tell 
the  truth,"  she  observed,  "you  seem  to  have  treated  us 
with  very  little  respect,  and  put  a  too  manifest  insult 
upon  us,  in  presenting  anew  to  one  of  our  subjects  the 
same  proposition  which  we  had  already  declined,  without 
at  least  waiting  for  our  answer  whether  we  should  like 
it  or  no ;  as  if  we  had  not  sense  enough  to  be  able  to 
decide  upon  what  we  ought  to  accept  or  refuse."  *    She 
proceeded  to  express  her  dissatisfaction  with  the  course 
pursued,  because  so  repugnant  to  her  published  declara- 
tion, in  which  she  had  stated  to  the  world  her  intention 
of  aiding  the  Provinces,  without  meddling  in  the  least 
with  the  sovereignty  of  the  country.      *'  The  contrary 
would  now  be  believed,"  she  said,  "  at  least  by  those 
who  take  the  liberty  of  censuring,  accoiding  to  their 
pleasure,  the  actions  of  princes."     Thus  her  honour  was 
at  stake.     She  signified  her  will,  therefore,  that,  in  order 
to  convince  the  world  of  her  sincerity,  the   authority 
conferred  should  be  revoked,  and  that  "  the  Earl,"  whom 
she  had  decided  to  recall  very  soon,"  should,  during  his 
brief  residence  there,  only  exercise  the  power  agreed 
upon  by  the  original  contract.     She  warmly  reiterated 
her   intention,   however,    of  observing  inviolably    the 
promise  of  assistance  which  she  had  given  to  the  States. 
**  And  if,"  she  said,  "  any  malicious  or  turbulent  spirits 
should   endeavour,  perchance,  to  persuade  the  people 
that  this  our  refusal  proceeds  from  lack  of  affection  or 

>  Brace's  'Leyc  Corresp.'  110,  -  Feb.    *«  ^^  Council  of  State— mutoiumutafuitfc 


1M6.    a  P.  Office,  i  «Ki  ^  Feb.  16M. 

Ma 

*  Minute  to  the  State»^eneral :  the  'Ike 


(S.  P.  Office  MS..  Feb.  ^.  1586.) 

88 

'  "  Lequel  sommes  deliberee  de  rap- 
peUer  bientet,"  4c    HS.ubi$up. 


400 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CirAP.  VH. 


I 


11  r 


!tlf 


honest  disposition  to  assist  you— instead  of  being  founded 
only  on  respect  for  our  honour,  which  is  dearer  to  us 
than  life— we  beg  you,  by  every  possible  means,  to  shut 
their  mouths,  and  prevent  their  pernicious  designs."  i 

Thus,  heavily  laden  with  the  royal  wrath,  Heneago 
was  on  the  point  of  leaving  London  for  the  Netherlands, 
on  the  very  day  upon  which  Davison  arrived,  charged 
with  deprecatory  missives  from  that  country-.  After  his 
long  detention  he  had  a  short  passage,  crossing  from  the 
Brill  to  Margate  in  a  single  night.  Coming  immediately 
to  London,  he  sent  to  Walsingham  to  inquire  which  way 
the  wind  was  blowing  at  court,  but  received  a  somewhat 
discouraging  reply.  "  Your  long  detention  by  his  Lord- 
ship," said  the  Secretarj%  "  has  wounded  the  whole 
cause  ;"  adding,  that  he  thought  her  Majesty  would  not 
speak  with  him.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seemed  indis- 
pensable for  him  to  go  to  the  court,  because  if  the  Queen 
should  hear  of  his  ai-rival  before  he  had  presented  him- 
self, she  was  likely  to  be  more  angry  than  ever.* 

So,  the  same  afternoon,  Davison  waited  upon  Walsing- 
ham, and  found  him  in  a  state  of  despondency.  "  She 
takes  his  Lordship's  acceptance  of  the  government  most 
haynously,"  said  Sir  Fmncis,  "  and  has  resolved  to  send 
Sir  Thomas  Heneage  at  once,  with  orders  for  him  to  re- 
sign the  office.  She  has  been  threatening  you  and  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  whom  she  considers  the  chief  actors  and 
persuaders  in  the  matter,  according  to  information  re- 
ceived from  some  persons  about  my  Lord  of  Leicester."^' 

Davison  protested  himself  amazed  at  the  Secretary's 
discourse,  and  at  once  took  great  pains  to  show  the 
reasons  by  which  all  parties  had  been  influenced  m  the 
matter  of  the  government.  He  declared  roundly  that  if 
the  Queen  should  carry  out  her  present  intentions,  the 
Earl  would  be  most  unworthily  disgraced,  the  cause 
utterly  overthrown,  the  Queen's  honour  perpetually 
Stained,  and  that  her  kingdom  would  incur  great  disaster. 

Directly  after  this  brief  conversation,  Walsingham 
went  up-stairs  to  the  Queen,  while  Davison  proceeded 
to  the  apartments  of  Sir  Christopher  Hatton.  Thence 
he  was  soon  summoned  to  the  royal  presence,  and  found 


I  ••  Voua  tascbiez  par  tons  moyens  de 
clolre  la  bouche  et  emp«cher  lea  perni- 
cieux  desselns  de  tela  dangereux  iustra- 
aientV  kc.    MS.  tibi  tup. 


17 

«  Brace's  'Leyc.  Corresp.'  117,  118,^ 

Feb.  1586. 
»  Ibid. 


158G. 


ARRIVAL  OF  DAVISOX. 


401 

that  he  had  not  been  misinformod  o«  +/^  +t,«  * 
her  Majesty,  lie  Queen  ^y^iMin^'t^Tl:! 
began  swearing  at  Davison  so  soon  as  he  Kto  th« 
chamber;  abusing  Leicester  for  haTinira«t,$!LT  ^^ 
of  the  States,  agaiist  her  many  timis  reS^  .  ^  °^T 
ment,  and  the  ambassador  for  not  hS  in '^'^- " 

f  if  .h  ^    »"■-  "''°'^"*  '""*  ^""^  °f  no  consequence^ 
as  if  the  matter  in  no  way  concerned  her        ''"1""^°'=*''  »' 

So  soon  as  she  paused   to  take  breatl,    tt,„ 

jes^  s  cold  beginning,"  the  general  unpopul^ty  of  the 

S  •?  wCw"  *''•'. ".^?"-P«-.  Aialityand  con! 

:  ndUion^oS  Sr  l!  ataThfit  nS- 
of  some  immediate  reform  ^^i^soiuie  necessity- 

pe2  rwir3'iKcid''tK  tiTher 

Among  the  Netherlanders  none  ^^Med  for  sucL^ 
charge.     Lord  Maurice  is  a  child,  por  and  of  but  ?^f  |* 

E'  ZXr  ^'^'T'  '^^""^'''-•'  Co-t  HoUn  o 
hZ2     Th„  •:.  **'?°^"'?  ^'^  incapable  of  the 

Durden.    These  considerations  influenced  the  States  tn 

rest  of  her  benevolence  was  to  little  purpose  "  Although 
the  contract  between  the  commissionWand  the  Quef  n 
had  not  literally  provided  for  sueh  an  arrangement  It^ 
t  had  always  been  contemplated  by  the  StTtfs  who  had 
g^themselves  without  a  head  until  the  airiVal  of  the 

"  mv^l'frJi  Ti  P™*?*  f  ?r*«'"'"  continued  the  envoy, 
-T^d  fn  ^t"?'*®'.^'*^  '°°g  ^""^^y^^  to  satisfy  them/' 
fen^nf  V  "",***!'??  I'?  r°t  somewhat  further  in  il 
tence  of  his  absent  fnend  than  the  facts  would  warrant), 

accent  It  "*^-,'  ^"^  ^/"^^^  "•  "°^  ^««  ^^^^  ^ 
accept  ^it,  untiL  your   Majesty's  pleasure   should  b^ 


I 


^Q2  THE  XJOTTED  NETHERLANDS.  Ch*p  VH. 

Vnown  "  >  Certaflnly  the  records  show  no  reservation  of 
toTceptanc:  nntif the  Queen  had  been  oonsvdted^bn^ 
the  defence  by  Davison  of  the  offending  Earl  was  so 

'"'iflt  W^rS'^y  their  in.portunity,n.oved 
with  their%e;«ons,  and  compelled  by  necessUy^he 
thoueht  it  better  to  take  the  course  he  did.  proceeded 
Hplomatist,  "for  otherwise  he  must  have  been  an 
eve-wito^  of  the  dismemberment  of  the  whole  country, 
XcTS  not  be  kent  together  but  by  a  re^e^  hope 
in  her  Majesty's  founl^  fevour  which  had  }f f°  "tto^^y 
despaired  of  by  his  refusal.  He  thought  it  better,  by 
SiS.  to  increase  the  honour,  pn,fit,  and  surety  of 
W  Etv  and  the  good  of  the  cause,  than,  by  refiis- 
S.  to   utt^rTy  haaSd  the  one.  and  overthrow  the 

°*To' 111  this  and  more,  well  and  wmly  urged  by 
Davison  the  Queen  listened  by  fits  and  starts,  oitenin- 
ter^tinrWs  discourse  by  violent  abuse  .of  Leicester^ 
Incusing  him  of  contempt  for  her,  chaining  him  with 
Si^  more  of  his  own  particular  greatness  than  of  her 
Coi^and  service,   and  then   "  digre^^^g  '"^  °1^ 
^efs,"  said  the  envoy,  "too  long  «^d  odious  to  ^te^ 
ihe  vehemently  denounced  Davison  also  fo-;  f«'«lic*'°^ 
of  duty  in  not  opposing  the  measure ;  but  he  msmful^ 
deci^d  that  he  ilver  deemed  so  mean  y  of  her  Majesty 
or  of  his  Lordship  as  to  suppose  that  she  would  send 
him!  or  that  he  would  go  to  the  Provinces,  merely  ''^ 
X  command  of  the  relics  of  Mr.  Norns's  worn  and  d^ 
Tayed  troops."    Such  a  chai|e  prot^ted  D?'^^""'/^? 
ntterly  unworthy  a  person  of  the  Earl's  quahty,  and  ut- 
?eriy  unsuited  to^  the  necessity  of  the  time  and  state.' 

But  Davison  went  farther  in  defence  of  Leicester.  He 
had  been  present  at  many  of  the  conferences  with  the 
Netherland  envoys  during  the  precedmg  summer  m 
England,  and  he  now  told  the  Queen  stoutly  to  her  face 
that  she  herself,  or  at  any  rate  one  of  her  chief  coun- 
seUors.  in  her  hearing  and  his,  had  expressed  her  royal 
determination  not  to  prevent  the  accepbmce  of  whatever 
authority  the  States  might  choose  to  confer,  by  any  one 
whom  she  might  choose  to  send.  She  had  declined  to 
accept  it  in  person,  but  she  had  been  willing  that  it 

*■  .  ««.<..  1  TMA   101    a«me  date 


1  Bruoe.  120,  aame  date. 


tlMd. 


*  Ibid.  121.  aame  date 


ai 


1586. 


STORMY  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  QUEEN. 


403 


sione™  since   their  return,  ^t*  fcl*^5?S 

Z'^^r     V  °i  'rr*  «'"K'«  ^^^  living  any  W 
ing  onthe  subject.  Under  such  circumstancesT  "  I  mi^t 

expedient  for  your  ^^^^IS^tZ^TP^^t 
ness.      If  ,t  were  to  do  over  again,  he  aVowed^d 
"  were  hw  opinion  demanded,  he  coid  gCno  oa.i 
advice  than  that  which  he  had  given,  ha^g  receS 
no  contrary  commandment  from  her  HiehneS  "■ 
And  so  ended  the  first  evening's  Inno-  o«.i '     i 
debate,  and  Davison  depar^d  -MfalinT  W  "  J^''^"'^^* 
"much  qualified,  though  in  manr^fes^^is^'ed '^J 
She  had,  however,  absolutely  refuie5  to  rec^™  ,  1 1 
from  Leicester,  with  which'^ho  S  been  c  Wd  ^^J 

:Ssbefore°^""°"''^'^"^'^-»---^ntwo' 

to?e%^:s?aSd:*"rSaf»  t^*  ^r^^  -" 

Davison  ac'cordingly  requTsLd^Nmrdlaterdrce"- 
So  soon  as  admitted  to  the  presence  he  Wt-  *""'*'"*. 
^d  implored  the  Queen  to  ^ZZf^l  ^^Luld  inflT; 
the  contemplated  disgmce  on  one  whom  she  Ki.^f^f 

furious  Ln  ever  that  moi^^ng^eliS^vI^^-- 

im^^rtiStoL r-'  '°  r"^  *  d«oiion  without  a?  e^a^ 
imparting  it  to  me  ?  —and  so  on,  as  so  many  times  beforr 

And  again  Davison,  with  all  the  eloquencT^d  wftvi 
every  soothing  art  he  had  at  commanns^vedto  Zt 

tSA:T-  ''r'^  ""'  ^"*'-^^  uSi  „Tfo 
t..!!j    ^     ®  ^^^^^  became  so  calm  again  that  he  vZ 

Sh^b^Zth  *"■'  *?  P'T°*  *^«  --ejeotedttter  of  he  C" 
^tW^t^"^"^'  ""1^*  «igbtof  the  well-known  W 

h^^AjTrft^K'^"''  S""*J«-  ""d  so  soraTshe 
f  Iv^,  !^  *r^*  "^  ^^^  favourite's  honeyed  phrases  «),« 
S t^ft  P>-ecio«s  document  into  her  poffi„  ^^der  to 
read  it  afterwards,  as  Davison  observed,  at  her  leisured 

'B™*la.,«m.d.!..        •IWlm-m.d.te.       ■  Ibid.  m.  L' Feb.  .«.. 

2  D  2 


* 


404  THE  UNITED  NETHERtANDS.  Chap  VII. 

The  opening  thus  BuccessWly  made,  and  the  envoy 
V,av;T,t  thus  "by  many  insinuations,"  prepared  her  to 
W  him  a  •'•  more  patient  and  willing  ear  than  she  had 
iTuSed  before/  he  again  ^'^^^.y^^^:^^'^,''^ 
impassioned  argument  to  show  the  entire  wisdom 

TtlsCrisL'r^t^Sat  the  conversation.    Suffice 
to  Lv  aaTno^Tn  could  have  more  eloquently  and 
MtK  supported  an  absent  friend  ^^^^.^^^^^ 
than  Davison  now  defended  the  Earl.     ^"^  ""®.  "'  Jjj^ 
ment  is  already  familiar  to  the  reader,  and,  m  truth, 
Zoueen  had  nothing  to  reply,  save  to  insist  upon  the 
tovemor^s  delinquency  in  maintaining  so  ong  and  inex- 
^^So  a  silence.     And  at  this  thought,  in  spite  of  the 
^nvov's  eCuence,  she  went  o«F  again  in  a  paroxysm  oi 
ZlZ£^T^^o  Earl,  and  deeply  censuring  Davison 
for  his  "  peremptory  and  partial  dealing.         ^_ 

"I  had'^conceived  a  better  opinion  of  J  on     she^d 
"  and  I  had  intended  more  good  to  you  than  I  now  tnd 

^°"rwbry  "thank  your  Highness,"  replied  the  am- 
Wdo"  tat^"  I  takeVouTself  to  witness  that  I  have 
n^^r  affected  or  sought  any  such  grace  at  your  hands 

Ind  if  your  Majesty  Uj^t^  in  tl^e  d-gei^^Xv:  n 
which  vou  are  now  entering,  I  only  pray  >our  leave,  in 
^Tcompense  for  all  my  travails,  to  ret^-e  myself  home 
where  I  may  spend  the  rest  of  my  life  m  prajing 'o^ 
;^  whom  Salvation  itself  is  not  aWe  tojve,  if  the  e 
purposes  are  continued.  Henceforth,  Madam,  he  is  to 
Cdoemed  happiest  who  is  least  interested  in  the  public 

"" lid 'si  ended  the  second  day's  debate.  The  next 
mo^ng  the  Lord-Treasurer,  who,  ^ecordmg  to  Davison^ 
Tmrloyed  himself  diligently-as  did  aj^  ^\?^^'^g,^^7t 
and  Hatton--in  dissuading  the  Queen  fjom Jhe  violen^ 
measures  which  she  had  resolved  upon,  effected  so  much 


I  Bmce,  122,  same  date.  "The  begin- 
ning of  our  comedy  was  uncommon 
sharp,"  said  Davison,  "but  tl.is  much  I 
do  be  bold  to  assure  you.  that,  if  I  had 
not  arrived  as  I  did,  t^th  his  Lordship 
had  been  utterly  disowned  and  the  cause 
overthrown."  Pavison  to  Her'.e.  17  Feb. 
1586.   (Brit.  Mu8.  Galba.  C  viu.  33.  MS.) 

»  Bruce,  123,  same  date. 


a  Ibid.  124,  same  date. 

4  1bJd.l43.^-JJ^1586;buttoWal. 

sincham  Leicester  "owed  more."  accord- 
ing to  Davison.  "  for  his  constant  fnend- 
ship  and  sufferance  for  his  sake,  than  to 
all  others  at  court."  Davison  to  Herle. 
(Brit  Mus.  Galba,  C.  viiL  MS.) 


1686.  QUEEN'S  WRATH  SOMEWHAT  MITIGATED.  405 

of  a  change  as  to  produce  the  insertion  of  those  analifxr 

rrL-^'^l".?^  Heneage's  instructions  whLh  LTbe^^^^ 
previously  disallowed.     The  odpti  s^t^a  ^..\.^'     j- 

of  the  Eak  which  was  to  haTw'pP^^^^   ri^Te' 
manded,  was  now  to  be  deferred    if  J^iT^        ^ 
seemed  detrimental  to  the  putSr^L^'^L^r  mS" 
however,  protested  herself  as  deeply  offended  as -^bvE' 
although  she  had  consented  to  address  Tbrief  some 

Soon  after  this  Davison  retired  for  a  few  davs  frnm 
^theTetv'^fS^  ^r.^^"«^^  ^^**-  to  the  eT/S 

disposed  both  to  ?ear  a^nd  r^t^^no^t  tetp^^^^^^^^^^ 

^mm,y^  ^    ^^  ^^^'l^^ation  thereunto,  he  could  not 

his^mLlrto^th'  ^^;r  F'""^'^'  ^^«  despatched  on 
eipSaf^nlVn^^  ?^  "''  i^'P^*"  ^^^  *^^  argUents  and 
Zison  An  fl  n^^''^?^^^'  ^^rghley^  Hatton,  and 
-uavison.    All  the  Queen's  counsellors  were  unequivo- 

was  not  a  little  embarrassed  as  to  the  proper  method  of 

'  -Monsieur  Davison  nous  a  bien  au 
long  discouru  et  reprpsente."  said  the 
<^een.  "de  quel  rele  vous  avez  6t6  pous- 
SI'S  a  faire  loffre du  gouvemement  absolu 
de  ct>8  pays  la  au  Comte  de  Leycestre 
*vec  les  plus  grandes  signcs  et  demon- 
Btrationsd-une  vehemente  et  devotionnee 
affection    envera   nous,   qu'on   scauroit 
fli'slrer  dont  on  nous  pourroit  a  bon  droit 
taxer  d  ingratitude,  si  eussions  oubUe  de 
vous  en  remercier  bien  expressement.  et 
ue  vous  rendre  certains  des  effects  reci- 
proques  que  cela  cause  en  nous  d'une 
entlere  affection  envers  vous.  comblen 
que  pour  plusieurs   grandes  et  impor- 
tantes  considerations  ne  puLssona  uom 


accorder  a  I'acceptatlon  du  dlt  offre 
Nous  asseurant  que  si  scaviez  de  quelle 
consequence  sont  les  ralsons  et  consldera- 
tlons  que  ne  nous  pouvons  communiqtur 
pour  plusieurs  respects  dimportance,  et 
sur  les  queues  notre  repos  m  fonde,  vous 
memes  seriez  cU  notre  advis,  et  demeure- 
nez  contents  du  diet  refus.  lequel  sera 
cause  d'augraenter  encores  de  tant  plus 
le  soln  qu'avons  promls  d'avoir  du  bien 
et  conservation  de  ces  pays  la.'    Minute 
of  H.    Mejesty's  Letter  to  the  Stateg 
General.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.  Feb.  1681.) 
«  Bruce.  124.  i?  Feb.  1686. 
•  Ibid.  125,  same  date.  *  Ibid. 


I 


* 


tf 


406 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


II 


conducting  the  affair.     Everything,  in  truth,  was  in  a 
most  confused   condition.      He   hardly   understood   to 
what  power  he  was  accredited.     *'  Heneage  writes  even 
now  unto  me,"  said  Walsingham  to  Davison,  "  that  he 
cannot  yet  receive  any  information  who  be  the  States, 
which  he  thinketh  will  be  a  great  maimer  unto  him  in 
his  negotiation.     I  have  told  hun  that  it  is  an  assembly 
much   like   that  of  our  burgesses  that  represent  the 
State,  and  that  my  Lord  of  Leicester  may  cause  some  of 
them  to  meet  together,  unto  whom  he  may  deliver  his 
letters  and  messages." »     Thus  the  new  envoy  was  to 
request  the  culprit  to  summon  the  very  assembly  by 
which  his  downfall  and  disgrace  were  to  be  solemnized 
as  formally  as  had  been  so  recently  his  elevation  to  the 
height  of  power.     The  prospect  was  not  an  agreeable 
one,  and  the  less  so  because  of  his  general  want  of  fami- 
liarity with  the  constitutional  forms  of  the  country  he 
was  about  to  visit.     Davison  accordingly,  at  the  request 
of  Sir  Francis,  furnished  Heneage  with  much  valuable 
infoi-mation  and  advice  upon  the  subject.* 


>  Walsini^m   to   Davlaon,  35   Feb, 
1586.    (S.  P.  OfBce  MS.) 
«  •*  The  govenjmcnt  aa  It  is  now,"  said 

lie,  ••you  shall  find  altered  from  the  form 
whereof  I  delivered  you  »ome  notes  the 
last  year.    The  general  commandment 
rests  presently  In  the  hands  of  my  Lord 
of  Leicester,  as  governor  of  the  countries 
tor  them,  over  and  besides  his  lieutenancy 
from  the  Queen.    The  nature  of  his  au- 
thority reaches  to  an  absolute  command 
In  matters  belonging  to  the  wars,  though 
in  dvll  things  Ihnlled  to  the  lawful  power 
of  other  governors-general  In  times  past, 
as  you  shall  better  perceive  by  the  com- 
mission and  acts  themselves,  which  I 
know  my  lx>rd  will  not  conceal  fh>m 
you.    The  contributions  towards  the  war 
of  200,000  florins,  or  20,0001.  the  month, 
agreed  to  by  the  four  provinces  of  Hol- 
land, Zeeland,  Frlesland,  and   Utrecht, 
•re  to  be  levied  chiefly  on  the  ordinary 
means  of  consumption,  or  things  spent 
and  consumed  in  the  country,  which,  in 
Holland   alone,   doth   now   amount   to 
M.OOO  flodns  monthly,  besides  the  quoU 
of  the  other  provinces,  and  over    and 
above  their  customs  upon  all  mercbandlxe 
going  out  and  coming  In,  and,  besides,  all 
this  may  be  levied  in  the  other  provinces 


of  Gelderland,  Overyssel,  Brabant,  and 
Flanders.    They  are    to   put    into  my 
Lord's  hands  the  letting  and  farming  of 
thttie  impositions  yet  in  force  till  April 
next,  which,  coming  short  of  the  general 
Biun,  they  have  promised  to  supply  by 
a   contribution   extraordinary,  such   as 
tax  on  land  and  other  things,  whereof 
my  Lord  can  and  will  thoroughly  Inform 
you.    The  sovereignty,  notwithstanding, 
remains  penet  ordines,  which  we  call  the 
Estates,    lliese  consist  of  the  whole  pro- 
vinces united,  to  the  number  ordinarily 
of  some  eighteen  or  twenty  persons,  each 
province  deputing  some  four  or  five,  as 
the  occasion  and  time  require.    These 
are  chosen  out  by  their  provinces,  and 
are  sent  to  the  general  assembly  upon 
extraordinary  occasions— as  when  there 
is  occasion  for  making  some  new  ordi- 
nance, either  for  contributions  or  other 
occurrences,  concerning  the  whole  gener- 
ality.   The  place  of  their  ordinary  meet- 
ing Is  the  Hague.    The  time  of  their 
continuance  together  Is  not  longer  than 
till  the  matter  in  question  be  resolved, 
or  remitted  to  a  new  report,  which  often 
happcneth.    These,  having  remained  to- 
gether upon  my  Lord's  coming  till  he 
had  agreed  to   the   acceptance   of  the 


1586.  MISSION  OF  HENEAGE  TO  THE  STATES.  407 

Thus  provided  with  information,  forewarned  of  danger 
furnished  with  a  double  set  of  letters  from  the  Queen  tj 
the  States— the  first  expressed  in  language  of  extreme 
exasperation  the  others  couched  in  almost  affectionate 
torms-aiid  laden  with  messages  brimfuU  of  wrathful 
denunciation  from  her  Majesty  to  one  who  was  note- 
nously  ^er  Majesty's  dearly-beloved,  Sir  Thomas 
Heneage  set  forth  on  his  mission.  These  were  perilous 
times  for  the  Davisons  and  the  Heneages,  when  even 
Leicesters  and  Burghleys  were  scarcely  secure 

Meantime  the  fair  weather  at  court  could  not  be 
depended  upon  from  one  day  to  another,  and  the  clouds 
were  perpetually  returning  after  the  rain 

-  Since  my  second  and  third  da/s  audience,"  said 
Davison,  the  storms  I  met  with  at  my  arrival  have 
overblown  and  abated  daily.  On  Saturday  again  she 
feU  mto  some  new  heat,  which  lasted  not  loni  This 
day  I  was  myself  at  the  court,  and  found  her  m 'reason- 
able good  terms,  though  she  will  not  yet  seem  satisfied 


government,   were   to   depart  home— 
about  the  time  of  my  coming  thence— 
to  return  within  some  few  days  after  for 
the  determining  of  a  new  proposiUon  for 
the  Increase  of  their  ordinary  contrlbu- 
ti<M»,  and  are  by  this  time,  I  think,  dis- 
solved again.    In  this  case,  your  letters 
to  them— ^  you  have  any— most  tarry 
a  new  convocation,  for  to  them  only  it 
appertains  to  answer  the  matter  of  my 
Lord's  election,  forasmuch  as  concemeth 
the  country.    The  councU  of  estate,  re- 
sident with  my  Lord,  hath  been  chosen 
since   his  elecUpn  to  the  government, 
composed  of  some  ten  or  twelve  persons, 
at  the  denomination  of  the  provinces, 
»nd    my    Lord's   election.    These    you 
shaU  find  attending  upon  my  Lord  as 
his  ordinary  assistanta  in  aU  matters  con- 
cerning the  public  government,  but  to 
tbem  it  belongeth  not  to  deliver  any- 
thing  touching  this  case  of  my  Lord's, 
without   special   direction.     And    thus 
much  touching  the  form  of  that  govern- 
ment, as  far  forth  as  the  time  will  suffer 
me  to  discourse  unto  you,  or  may  belong 
to  your  present  charge,  leaving  you  for 
other   things    to    be    more  particularly 
satisfied  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  Mr.  KllU- 
gtew,  and  others  of  your  friends,  at  your 
Mrtval  then." 


Having  given  this  correct  and  graphic 
outUne  of  the  government  to  which 
Heneage  had  thus  been  despatched,  upon 
such  delicate  and  perilous  business,  Djfc. 
vlson  proceeded  to  whbper  a  woixi  of 
timely  caution  in  his  ear. 

"  I  cannot  but  let  you  know,"  he  said, 
"how  heartily  sorry  I  am  that  it  is  not 
more  plausible  to  my  Lord,  and  profiuble 
to  that  poor  country.    What  may  move 
her  Majesty  to  take  this  course  I  know 
not;  but  this  I  protest  unto  you  before 
God,  that  I  know  not  what  other  course 
the  Estates  or  my  Lord  might  have  taken 
than  they  have  done,  nor  how  the  coun- 
try may  be  saved.  If  this  act  be  dis- 
countenanced  and  overthrown.  To  advise 
yon  how  to  carry  yourself  I  will  not  take 
upon  me,  and  yet  dare  be  bold  to  affirm 
this  much,  that  your  message,  if  it  be 
not  all  the  better  handled  in  your  wis- 
dom,  cannot  but  breed  utter  dishonour 
to  my  Lord,  ruin  to  the  cause,  and  n- 
pentance  ere  long  to  her  M^esty's  self 
which  will  better  appear  unto  you  when 
you  shall  be  there  to  look  into  their 
estate.    But,  seeing  God  hath  so  disposed 
thereof,  I  will  cast  my  care  upon  his 
providence,  and  recommend  the  cause  to 
Him  that  governs  all."  Davison  to  Hene> 
age,  26  Feb.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


408 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


W 


to  me  either  with  the  matter  or  manner  of  your  proceed- 
ing notwithstanding  all  the  labour  I  have  taken  in  that 
behalf.  Yet  I  find  not  her  Majesty  altogether  so  sharp 
as  some  men  look,  though  her  favour  has  outwardly 
cooled  in  respect  both  of  fhis  action  and  of  ourplam  pro- 
ceeding with  her  here  in  defence  thereof."  * 

The  poor  Countess— whose  imaginary  exodus,  with 
the  long  procession  of  coaches  and  side-saddles,  had 
excited  so  much  ire— found  herself  in  a  most  distressing 
position.  "I  have  not  seen  my  Lady  these  ten  or 
twelve  days,"  said  Davison.  "  To-morrow  I  hope  to  do 
my  duty  towards  her.  I  found  her  greatly  troubled 
with  tempestuous  news  she  received  from  court,  but 
somewhat  comforted  when  she  understood  how  I  had 
proceeded  with  her  Majesty.  .  .  .  But,  these  pas- 
sions overblown,  I  hope  her  Majesty  will  have  a 
gracious  regard  both  towards  myself  and  the  cause."  * 

But  the  passions  seemed  not  likely  to  blow  oyer  so 
soon  as  was  desirable.  Leicester's  brother,  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  took  a  most  gloomy  view  of  the  whole  trans- 
action, and  hoarser  than  the  raven's  was  his  boding 

tone. 

"  Well,  our  mistress's  extreme  rage  doth  increase 
rather  than  diminish,"  he  wrote,  "  and  she  giveth  out 
great  threatening  words  against  you.  Therefore  make 
the  best  assurance  you  can  for  yourself,  and  tnist  not 
her  oath,  for  that  her  malice  is  great  and  unquenchable 
in  the  wisest  of  their  opinions  here,  and  as  for  other 
friendships,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  it  is  as  doubtful  as  the 
other.  Wherefore,  my  good  brother,  repose  your  whole 
trust  in  God,  and  He\vill  defend  you  in  despite  of  all 
your  enemies.  And  let  this  be  a  great  comfort  to  you, 
and  so  it  is  likewise  to  myself  and  all  your  assured 
friends,  and  that  is,  that  you  were  never  so  honoured 
and  loved  in  your  life  amongst  all  good  people  as  you 
are  at  this  day,  only  for  dealing  so  nobly  and  wisely  in 
this  action  as  you  have  done;  so  that,  whatsoever 
cometh  of  it,  you  have  done  your  part.  I  praise  God 
from  my  heart  for  it.  Once  again,  have  great  care  of 
youi-self,  (I  mean  for  your  safety),  and  if  she  will  needs 


fS  Feb 
1  Brace's  'Leyc  Corresp.'  142,  ^^  ^^  1586. 

t  Ibid.  144.    MS.  Just  cited. 


1586.       SHIRLEY  SENT  TO  ENGLAND  BY  THE  EARL.        409 

revoke  you,  to  the  overthroAving  of  the  cause,  if  I  were 
as  you,  if  I  could  not  be  assured  there,  I  would  go  to  the 
jtarthest  part  of  Christendom  rather  than  ever  come  into 
England  again.  Take  heed  whom  you  trust,  for  that 
you  have  some  false  hoys  about  t/mi."  * 

Ajid  the  false  boys  were  busy  enough,  and  seemed 
likely  to  triumph  m  the  result  of  their  schemes.  For  a 
glance  into  the  secret  correspondence  of  Mary  of  Scotland 
has  already  revealed  the  Earl  to  us  constantly  sur- 
rounded by  men  in  masks.  Many  of  those  nearest  his 
person,  and  of  highest  credit  out  of  England,  were  his 
deadly  foes,  sworn  to  compass  his  dishonour,  his  con- 
fiision,  and  eventually  his  death,  and  in  correspondence 
with  Ins  most  powerful  adversaries  at  home  and  abroad 
Certainly  his  path  was  slippery  and  perilous  along  those 
icy  summits  of  power,  and  he  had  need  to  look  well  to 
his  footsteps. 

Before  Heneage  had  arrived  in  the  Netherlands,  Sir 
Ihomas  Shirley,  despatched  by  Leicester  to  England 
with  a  commission  to  procure  supplies  for  the  famishing 
soldiers,  and,  if  possible,  to  mitigate  the  Queen's  wrath, 
had  been  admitted  more  than  once  to  her  Majesty's 
presence.  He  had  fought  the  Earl's  battle  as  m^fully 
as  l)avison  had  done,  and,  like  that  envoy,  had  received 
nothing  in  exchange  for  his  plausible  arguments  but 
bitter  words  and  big  oaths.  Eight  days  after  his  arrival 
he  was  introduced  by  Hatton  into  the  privy  chamber, 
and  at  the  moment  of  his  entrance  was  received  with  a 
volley  of  execrations.* 

"  I  did  expressly  and  peremptorily  forbid  his  accept- 
ance of  the  absolute  government,  in  the  hearing  of 
divers  of  my  council,"  said  the  Queen. 

Shirley.—"  The  necessity  of  the  case  was  imminent, 
your  Highness.  It  was  his  Lordship's  intent  to  do  all 
for  your  Majesty's  service.  Those  countries  did  expect 
him  as  a  governor  at  his  first  landing,  and  the  States 
durst  do  no  other  than  satisfy  the  people  also  with  that 
opinion.  The  people's  mislike  of  their  present  govern- 
ment IS  such  and  so  great  as  that  the  name  of  States  is 
grown  odious  amongst  them.  Therefore  the  States, 
doubting  the  furious  rage  of  the  people,  conferred  the 

»  Bruce'g  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  150. 151,  ^  March.  1586.      »  Ibid.  1 72.  ^  March.  1686. 


I 


410 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


\h 


authority  upon  his  Lordship  with  incessant  suit  to  him 
to  receive  it.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  he  did 
deny  it  until  he  saw  plainly  both  confusion  and  ruin  of 
that  country  if  he  should  refuse.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  he  had  seen  into  their  estates,  his  Lordship  found 
great  profit  and  commodity  like  to  come  unto  your 
Majesty  by  your  acceptance  of  it.  Your  Highness  may 
now  have  garrisons  of  English  in  as  many  towns  as 
pleaseth  you,  without  any  more  charge  than  you  are  now 
at.  Nor  can  any  peace  be  made  with  Spain  at  any  time 
hereafter,  but  through  you  and  by  you.  Your  Majesty 
should  remember,  likewise,  that  if  a  man  of  another 
nation  had  been  chosen  governor  it  might  have  wought 
great  danger.  Moreover  it  would  have  been  an  indig- 
nity that  your  lieutenant-general  should  of  necessity  be 
under  him  that  so  should  have  been  elected.  Finally, 
this  is  a  stop  to  any  other  that  may  affect  the  place  of 
government  there." 

Queen  (who  has  manifested  many  signs  of  impatience 
during  this  discourse).—"  Your  speech  is  all  in  vain. 
His  Lordship's  proceeding  is  sufficient  to  make  me 
infamous  to  all  princes,  having  protested  the  contrary, 
as  I  have  done,  in  a  book  which  is  translated  into  divers 
and  sundry  languages.  His  Lordship,  being  my  servant, 
a  creature  of  my  own,  ought  not,  in  duty  towards  me, 
have  entered  into  this  course  without  my  knowledge 
and  good  allowance." 

Shirley.— **  But  the  world  hath  conceived  a  high 
judgment  of  your  Majesty's  great  wisdom  and  pro- 
vidence, shown  by  your  assailing  the  King  of  Spain  at 
one  time  both  in  the  Low  Countries  and  also  by  Sir 
Francis  Drake.  I  do  assure  myself  that  the  same  judg- 
ment which  did  first  cause  you  to  take  this  in  hand 
must  continue  a  certain  knowledge  in  your  Majesty  that 
one  of  these  actions  must  needs  stand  much  better  by 
the  other.  If  Sir  Francis  do  prosper,  then  all  is  well. 
And  though  he  should  not  prosper,  yet  this  hold  that 
his  Lordship  hath  taken  for  you  on  the  Low  Countries 
must  always  assure  an  honourable  peace  at  your  High- 
ness's  pleasure.  I  beseech  your  Majesty  to  remember 
that  to  the  King  of  Spain  the  government  of  his  Lord- 
ship is  no  greater  matter  than  if  he  were  but  your 


1586. 


HIS  INTERVIEW  WITH  ELIZABETH. 


411 


lieutenant-general  there ;  but  the  voyage  of  Sir  Francis 
is  of  much  greater  offence  than  all." 

Queen  (interrupting).—"  I  can  very  well  answer  for 
Sir  Francis.  Moreover,  if  need  be,  the  gentleman  careth 
not  if  I  should  disavow  him." 

Shirley. — "  Even  so  standeth  my  Lord,  if  your  dis- 
avowing of  him  may  also  stand  with  your  Highness's 
favour  towards  him.     Nevertheless,  should  this  bruit 
of  your  mislike  of  his  Lordship's  authority  there  come 
unto  the  ears  of  those  people— being  a  nation  both  sudden 
and   suspicious,  and   having  been   heretofore   used   to 
stratagem— I  fear  it  may  work  some  strange  notion  in 
them,  considering  that,  at  this  time,  there  is  an  increase 
of  taxation  raised  upon  them,  the  bestowing  whereof 
perchance  they  know  not  of.     His  Lordship's  giving  up 
of  the  government  may  leave  them  altogether  without 
government,  and  in  worse  case  than  they  were  ever  in 
before.     For  now  the  authority  of  the  States  is  dissolved,  and 
hts  Lordship's  govemmerU  is  the  only  thing  that  hddeth  them 
together.     I  do  beseech  your  Highness,  then,  to  consider 
well  of  it,  and  if  there  be  any  private  cause  for  which 
you  take  grief  against  his  Lordship,  nevertheless  to  have 
regard  unto  the  public  cause,  and  to  have  a  care  of  your 
own  safety,  which,  in  many  wise  men's  opinions,  standeth 
much  upon  the  good  maintenance  and  upholding  of  this 
matter."  ° 

Queen.—"  I  believe  nothing  of  what  you  say  con- 
cerning the  dissolving  of  the  authority  of  the  States.  I 
know  well  enough  that  the  States  do  remain  states  still 
I  mean  not  to  do  harm  to  the  cause,  but  only  to  reform 
tiiat  which  his  Lordship  hath  done  beyond  his  warrant 
from  me."  * 

And  with  this  the  Queen  swept  suddenly  from  the 
apartment.  Sir  Thomas,  at  different  stages  of  the  con- 
versation, had  in  vain  besought  her  to  accept  a  letter 
^om  the  Earl  which  had  been  entrusted  to  his  care, 
bhe  obstinately  refused  to  touch  it.  Shirley  had  even 
had  recourse  to  stratagem :  affecting  ignorance  on  many 
pomts  concerning  which  the  Queen  desired  information, 
and  suggesting  that  doubtless  she  would  find  those 
matters  fully  explained  in  his  Lordship's  letter."     The 

»  Bruce'g  'Leyc.  Corresp.'  171-176.  J^  March,  1686.  t  ftkl. 


ffi 


412 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


\ 


axtifice  was  in  vain,  and  the  discussion  was,  on  the 
whole,  unsatisfactory.  Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Queen  had  had  the  worst  of  the  argument,  and  she  was 
far  too  sagacious  a  politician  not  to  feel  the  weight  of 
that  which  had  been  urged  so  often  in  defence  of  the 
course  pursued.  But  it  was  with  her  partly  a  matter  of 
temper  and  offended  pride,  perhaps  even  of  wounded 

affection. 

On  the  following  morning  Shirley  saw  the  Queen 
walking  in  the  garden  of  the  palace,  and  made  bold  to 
accost  her.  Thinking,  as  he  said,  *'  to  test  her  affection 
to  Lord  Leicester  by  another  means,"  the  artful  Sir 
Thomas  stepped  up  to  her,  and  observed  that  his 
Lordship  was  seriously  ill.  .  "  It  is  feared,"  he  said, 
"  that  the  Earl  is  again  attacked  by  the  disease  of  which 
Dr.  Goodrowse  did  once  cure  him.  Wherefore  his 
Lordship  is  now  a  humble  suitor  to  your  Highness  that 
it  would  please  you  to  spare  Goodrowse,  and  give  him 
leave  to  go  thither  for  some  time." 
The  Queen  was  instantly  touched. 
"  Certainly— with  all  my  heart,  with  all  my  heart,  he 
shall  have  him."  she  replied,  '*  and  sorry  I  am  that  his 
Lordship  hath  that  need  of  him." 

"And  indeed,"  returned  sly  Sir  Thomas,  "your 
Highness  is  a  very  gracious  prince,  who  are  pleased  not 
to  suffer  his  Lordship  to  perish  in  health,  though  other- 
wise you  remain  deeply  offended  with  him." 

"  You  know  my  mind,"  returned  Elizabeth,  now  all 
the  queen  again,  and  perhaps  suspecting  the  trick ;  *|  I 
may  not  endure  that  my  man  should  alter  my  commis- 
sion and  the  authority  that  I  gave  him,  upon  his  own 
fancies  and  without  me." 

With  this  she  instantly  mimmoned  one  of  her  gentle- 
men, in  order  to  break  off  the  interview,  fearing  that 
Shirley  was  about  to  enter  again  upon  a  discus-sion  of 
the  whole  subject,  and  again  to  attempt  the  delivery  of 
the  Earl's  lettter.* 

In  all  this  there  was  much  of  superannuated  coquetry, 
no  doubt,  and  much  of  Tudor  despotism,  but  there  was 
also  a  strong  infusion  of  artifice.  For  it  will  soon  be 
necessary  to  direct  attention  to  certain   secret  trans- 


«  Bnioe'a  'L^c  Oorretp.'  175, 170,  bmom  date. 


1586. 


HIS  INTERVIEW  WITH  ELIZABETH. 


413 


aotions  of  an  important  nature  in  which  the  Queen  was 
engaged,  and  which  were  even  hidden  from  the  all- 
seeing  eye  of  Wahjingham-although  shrewdly  suspected 
both  by  that  statesman  and  by  Leicester— but  which 
were  most  influential  in  modifying  her  policy  at  that 
moment  towards  the  Netherlands. 

There  could  be  no  doubt,  however,  of  the  stanch  and 
strenuous  manner  in  which  the  delinquent  Earl  was 
supported  by  his  confidential  messengers  and  by  some 
ot  his  fellow-councillors.  His  true  friends  were  urgent 
that  the  great  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged  should 
be  forwarded  sincerely  and  without  delay.  Shiriey 
had  been  sent  for  money ;  but  to  draw  money  from 
Elizabeth  was  like  coining  her  life-blood,  drachma  by 
drachma.  -^ 

"  Your  Lordship  is  like  to  have  but  a  poor  supply  of 
money  at  this  time,"  said  Sir  Thomas.  -  To  be  plain 
with  you  I  fear  she  groweth  weary  of  the  charge,  and 
will  hardly  be  brought  to  deal  thoroughly  in  the 
action.  ^    '' 

He  was  also  more  explicit  than  he  might  have  been 
--had  he  been  better  informed  as  to  the  disposition  of 
the  chief  personages  of  the  court,  concerning  whoso 
temper  the  absent  Earl  was  naturally  anxious.  Hatton 
was  most  in  favour  at  the  moment,  and  it  was  through 
Hatton  that  the  communications  upon  Netherland 
matters  passed;  "for,"  said  Shiriey,  -she  will  hardly 
endure  Mr.  Secretary  (Walsingham)  to  speak  unto  her 
therein. 

"  And  truly,  my  Lord,"  he  continued,  "  as  Mr.  Secre- 
tary  IS  a  noble,  good,  and  true  friend  unto  you,  so  doth 
Mr.  Vice-Chamberlain  show  himself  an  honourable  true 
and  faithful  gentleman,  and  doth  carefully  and 'most 
like  a  good  friend  for  your  Lordship." 

And  thus  very  succinctly  and  graphically  had  the 
envoy  painted  the  situation  to  his  principal.  »'  Your 
Lordship  now  sees  things  jnst  as  they  stand,"  he 
moralized.  "Y^our  Lordship  is  exceeding  wise.  You 
knmc  the  Queen  and  her  nature  best  of  any  man.  You  know 
all  men  here.  Your  Lordship  can  judge  the  sequel  by 
this  that  you  see :  only  this  I  must  tell  your  Lordship  ; 
1  perceive  that  fears  and  doubts  from  thence  are  like  to 
work  better  effects  here  than  comforts  and  assurance. 


414 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


\ 


i 


I  think  It  my  part  to  send  your  Lordship  this  as  it  is, 

rather  than  to  be  silent."  *  .     .       x«       xi> 

And  with  these  rather  ominous  insinuations  the  envoy 
concluded  for  the  time  his  narrative.  , ,      •„„ » 

While  these  storms  were  blowmg  and     overblo^ng 
in  England,  Leicester  remained  greatly  embarrassed  and 
Lnxious   in  Holland.     He   had   sown   the   wind   more 
extensively  than  he  had  dreamed  of  when  accepting  the 
government,  and  he   was  now   awaiting,  with   niuch 
trepidation,  the  usual  harvest.     And  we  have  seen  that 
it  was  rapidly  ripening.     Meantime,  the  good  which  he 
had  really  effected  in  the  Provinces  by  the  course  he 
had  taken  was  likely  to  be  neutralized  by  the  sinister 
rumoure  as  to  his  impending  disgrace  while  the  enemy 
was  proportionally  encouraged.     -I   understand   cre- 
diblv  "  he  said,  "  tjfiat  the  Prince  of  Parma  feels  himself 
in  great  jollity  that  her  Majesty  doth  rather  mislike 
thai  allow  of  our  doings  here  whieh,j^  it  be  true,  let 
her  be  sure  her  own  sweet  self  shall  first  smart. 

Moreover,  the  English  troops  were,  as  we  have  se^, 
mere  shoeless,  shivering,  starving  vagabonds.  Ihe 
Earl  had  generously  advanced  very  large  sums  of  money 
from  his  own  pocket  to  relieve  their  necessity.  Phe 
States,  on  the  other  hand,  had  voluntarily  increased  the 
monthly  contribution  of  200,000  floniis,  to  which  their 
contract  with  Elizabeth  obliged  them,-  and  were  more 
disposed  than  ever  they  had  been  since  the  death  of 
Orancre  to  proceed  vigorously  and  harmoniously  against 
the  cSmmon  enemy  of  Christendom.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances it  may  well  be  imagined  that  there  was 
cause  on  Leicester's  part  for  deep  mortification  at  the 
tragical  turn  which  the  Queen's  temper  seemed  to  be 

^I^know  not,"  he  said,  "  how  her  Majesty  doth  mean 


»  Brace's '  Leyc.  Cormtp.'  Jost  cited. 

«  Bruce.  148,  ~  March,  1586. 

»  "  They  have,  1  say,  added,"  wrote 
Lord  North  to  Lord  Barghley,  "  to  their 
first  offer  as  much  more,  which  amount- 
eth  to  at  least  forty  thousand  pounds  a 
month."  28  Feb.  1686.  (S.  P.  OfBce  MS.) 

But  he  seems  to  have  much  overstated 
the  amount.  The  regular  contribution 
of  the  States  was  twenty  thousand 
pounds  (or  300,000  florlnt,  as  It  was  then 


always  reckoned)  a  month,  and  they  had 
recently  granted,  at  Leicester's  urgent 
request,  an  additional  sum  of  forty  thou- 
sand pounds  (400,000  florins)  for  four 
months,  making  thirty  thousand  pounds 
a  month.  It  is,  however,  quite  impossible 
to  ascertain  at  this  day  the  exact  sums 
voted  or  collected  In  the  republic  for  war- 
expenses,  although  there  is  no  doubt  that 
their  efforts  were  enormous.  Comp.  Bruce, 

•Leyc  Oorresp.'  136,  ^^-j^  1586. 


1586.  LEICESTER'S  LETTERS  TO  HIS  TRIENDS.  415 

to  dispose  of  me.     It  hath  grieved  me  more  than  I  can 
express  that  for  faithful  and  good  service  she  should  so 

S^'T'^^'''^   ^^T^  S?-,  ^^  ^^^«  ^«^  what 
mind  I  have  served  her  Highness,  and  perhaps  some 

others  might  have  failed.     Yet  she  is  neither  tied  one 

jot  by  covenant  or  promise  by  me  in  any  way,  nor  at 

one  groat  the  more  charges,  but  myself  two  or  three 

thousand  pounds  steriing  more  than  now  is  like  to  h« 

weU   spent     I  will   desire  no  partial   speech   in   my 

favour.     If  my  doings  be  ill  for  her  Majesty  and  the 

realm  let  me  feel  the  smart  of  it.     The'cause  is  now 

well  forward ;  let  not  her  Majesty  suffer  it  to  quaU      If 

sfrVir  l^u  ^'""^l^^  .^  ^^^^  ^ff^^t'  «e^d  away 
Sir  William  Pelham  with  all  the  haste  you  can.  I  mean 
not  to  complain   but  with  so  weighty  a  cause  a*  this  is 

Ww""" w7^  ^r^  '^.  "^^^'^  ^''^^'  Her  Majest; 
hath  far  better  choice  for  my  place,  and  with  any  thS 

may  succeed  me  let  Sir  William  Pelham  be  fir^f  that 

may  come.     I  speak  from  my  soul  for  her  Majesty's  ser- 

Thus  far  the  Eari  had  maintained  his  dimity.     He 
had  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the  States,  and  had 
thereby  exceeded  his  commission,  and  gratified  his  ambi- 
tion, but  he  had  m  no  wise  forfeited  his  self-respect 
But    so  soon  as  the  first  unquestionable  intelligence 
of  the  passion  to  which  the  Queen  had  given  way  at  Us 
misdoings  reached  him,  he  began  to  whimper^    T^e 
straightforward  tone  which  Davison  had  adopted  in  his 
interviews  with  Elizabeth,  and  the  firmness  ^th  which 
he  had  defended  the  cause  of  his  absent  friend  at  a 
moment  when  he  had  plunged  himself  into  disgrace 
wa^  worthy  of  applause.     He  deserved  at  least  a  word 
of  honest  thanks. 

Ignoble    however,  was  the  demeanour  of  the  Earl 

«^.Tti  / -^  ""?  ^?'  ^^^'^  ^"  ^«^  ^^t  ^^^^ently  been 
unable  to  invent  eulogies  sufficiently  warm,  so  soon  as  he 
conceived  the  possibility  of  sacrificing  his  friend  as  the 
scapegoat  for  his  own  fault.     An  honeft  schoolboy  wo^d 

ti  ^       °g*^*i"g  Jiis  battles  so  honestly. 

**  How  earnest  I  was,"  he  wrote  to  the  lords  of  the 

1  Leicester  to  Burghley,  18  Feb.  1686.   (S.  P.  OfBce,  MS.) 


'It 


w 


I 


w 


J' 


( 


416  THE  CXITED  NETHERLANDS.  CHiP.  VII. 

coiincll,  Oth  March,  1586,  "not  only  to  acquaint  her 
Zesty,  hut,  immediately  upon  the  first  motion  made  hy 
Z  StJt^s,  U>  send  Mr.  Davison  over  to  her  -ith  letters 
•I  doubt  not  hut  he  will  truly  affirm  for  me ;  j  ea,  and 
how  far  against  my  will  it  was,  notwithstanding  any 
reln^deTered  me,  that  he  and  others  persisted  in,  to 
Wme  accept  first  of  this  place.  .  ...  The  extremity 
of  the  case,  and  my  being  persuaded  that  Mr.  Davison 
might  have  better  satisfied  her  Majesty  than  I  perceive  he 
^„^  caused  me -neither  arrogantly  nor  contemptuously, 
but  even  merely  and  faithfully-to  do  her  Majesty  the 

^He'^knowledged,  certainly,  that  Davison  had  been 
influenced  by  honest  motives,  although  his  importuni- 
SeshXenthe  real  cause  of  the  Earl's  neglect  of  his 
o^  obligations.  But  he  protested  that  he  had  lumself 
onlv  erred  through  an  excessive  pliancy  to  the  wiU  ot 
others  "  My  yielding  was  my  own  fault,  he  admitted, 
°  whateover  his  persuasions ;  but  far  from  a  contemptu- 
ous heart,  or  else  God  pluck  out  both  heart  and  bowels 

with  utter  shame."  '  „i„j  i,:~ 

So  soon  as  Sir  Thomas  Heneage  had  presented  him- 
self, and  revealed  the  full  extent  of  the  Queen  s  wrath, 
the  Earl's  disposition  to  cast  the  whole  crime  on  the 
shoulders  of  Davison  became  quite  undisguised. 

"  I  thank  you  for  you  letters,"  wrote  Leicester  to 
Walsingham,  "though  your  can  send  me  no  comfort. 
Her  Majesty  doth  deal  hardly  to  believe  so  lU  of  me.  It 
S  true  I  faulted,  ....  but  she  doth  not  consider  what 
commodities  she  hath  withal,  and  herself  no  way  en- 
eaged  for  it,  as  Mr.  Davison  might  have  better  declared 
uTit  had  pleased  him.  And  I  must  thank  him  only 
tor  my  blaie,  and  so  he  will  confess  to  you,  for,  1 
protest  before  God,  no  necessity  here  could  have  made 
me  leave  her  Majesty  unacquainted  with  Ae  cause  be- 
fore I  would  have  accepted  of  it,  but  only  hj  so  earned 
prming  me  with  his  faithful  assured  promise  to  d'schargeme, 

Cre?  h^  Majesty  shoM  take  U  ^^P^^Jl^J^^Z 
she  had  no  other  cause  to  be  offended  but  this,  and.^ 
the  Lord,  he  was  the  only  cause  ;  ^beit  it  .s  °o  «"ffi««^* 
allegation,  being  as  I  am He  had,  I  think,  saved 


»  Brace's  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  l«2.  -  March.  1686. 


2  Ibid  163,  same  data. 


1580.      PALTRV  CO.VDUCT  OF  THE  EARL  TO  DAVISOX.     417 

all  to  have  told  her,  as  he  promised  me.    But  now  it  is  laid 
upon>ne,  God  send  the  cause  to  take  no  harm  mv^kt 
must  be    ho  less    ....   How  far  Mr.  Heneai?J  Sm 
mission  shall  deface  me  I  know  not.     He  i^  warT  to 
observe  his  commission,  and  I  consent  withal.     iTuo^ 
the   tune   w.ll   be   her  Majesty   will   be  sorry  fo  "7 
In  the  mean  time   I  am   too,  too  weary  of  the  hi<^h 
dignity.     I  would  that  any  that  could  irve  her  sfa 
Cs"  ■''  ^  "'^  ""  "■  ''"•^  ^  *"  "*  '^""'^  with  all  my 
In  more  manful  strain  he  then  alluded  to  the  suffer 
ngs  of  his  army.     "  \\  hatsoever  become  of  me,"  he  said 
''  give  me  leave  to  speak  for  the  poor  soldiers      If  Sev 
tWe  J^n  f  ■"  «^'f  ^'-^l.  feeing  »  this  stmng;  coun^rT 
JZi  Ju  ^  """^r  ^'^  ««'-^'«e  done,  nor  be  without 
great  dishonour  to  her  Majesty.  .  .        Well   vn.,T»l  V^ 
wants,  and  it  is  one  cause'tli  will  glad  me  foLIld  of 
his  heavy  high  calling,  and  wish  „^  a! ZZ^,   cot- 
tage agam  if  any  I  shall  find.     But  let  her  Maj^v  pfy 
them  well,  and  appoint  such  a  man  as  Sir  Wil Ham  llT 
am  to  govern  them,  and  she  never  wan  moreZnour 
than  these  men  here  will  do,  I  am  persuaded.'" 

verS^U^fh^V  !,"■?  T""?!^.  "'■S'''^  fey  «"  »»«'  con- 
versant with  Netherland  politics  to  assume  the  covem- 
ment  was  a  fact  admitted  by  all.  That  ho  maStTd 
rather  eagerness  th.-m  reluctance  on  the  subfect  and 
that  his  only  hesitation  arose  from  the  Zposed  re 
stramtsupon  the  power,  not  from  scruples  llZt  accepl 
rng  the  power,  are  facts  upon  record.     'I'here  ^  nothint 

mrt  to"  °r,  ^ff '^^t'on  to/''ow  any  backwardness  on  Sf 
part  to  snatch  the  coveted  prizo  ;  and  that  assertion  wa^ 
flatly  denied  by  Davison,  and  was  indeed  refuted  bv 
every  circumstance  in  the  case.  It  is  certain  that  he 
had  concealed  from  Davison  the  previous  prohibitions 

cou  IcrDal?".  !'  T'"^  "?""P'*"^  much  ^better  than 
couid  Davison,  therefore,  the  probable  indignation  of 

Wse^lsfoit  «n  ■■^,f TrS-^tJ^en  tfeat  he  should^ave Thu 
W?  Itr  A         i^""^'-  ""**  '**'^°S«''  «'"!  tfeat  he  should 
ow?+       V    ?   *^  "''""^^  eloquence  instead  of  his 
own  to  mitigate  that  emotion.    Had  he  placed  his  dl 
fence  simply  upon  its  tme  basis,  the  necessity  of  the 


'  Bnice'.'Leyc.  CoiTKp.'  165-HI,  1  March,  I68C. 
VOL.   1. 


'Ibid. 


2   E 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


418 

case,  and  the  impossibility  of  carrying  o^t  the  Queen' s 
intentions  in  anv  other  way,  it  would  be  difficult  to  cen- 
sure  him  ;  but  that  he  should  seek  to  screen  himself  by 
laying  the  whole  blame  on  a  subordinate  was  enough  to 
make  any  honest  man  who  heard  him  hang  his  head 
^I  meant  not  to  do  it,  but  Davison  told  me  to  do  it 
please  your  Majesty,  and  if  there  was  naughtiness  in  it 
tZAe  would  make  it  all  right  with  your  Majesty. 
Such,  reduced  to  its  simplest  expression,  was  the  defence 
of  the  magnificent  Earl  of  Leicester.     _ 

And  as  he  had  gone  cringing  and  whining  to  li^s  ro>al 
mistress,  so  it  was  natural  that  he  should  be  brutal  and 

blustering  to  his  friend.  , 

-  By  your  means,"  said  he,»  "I  have  fallen  mto  her 

Majesty's  deep  displeasure.  ...  J^  ^^^^.^  ^^^.r 
to  her  the  tmth  of  my  dealing,  her  Highness  never 
could  have  conceived,  as  I  perceive  she  doth.  ....  J>  or 
doth  her  Majesty  know  how  hardly  *  I  was  drawn  to  accept 
this  place  before  I  had  acquainted  her- as  to  which 
you  promised  you  would  not  only  give  her  full  Batisfac- 

tion,  but  would  procure  me  great  thanks lou  did 

chiefly  persuade  me  to  take  this  charge  upon  me.  .  .  .  . 
You  can  remember  how  many  treaties  you  and  others 
had  with  the  States,  before  1  agreed,  for  all  ymrs  and 
their  persuasion  to  take  it.^  ....  You  gave  me  assurance  to 
satisfy  her  Majesty,  but  I  see  not  that  you  have  done 

anything I  did  not  hide  from  you  the  doubt  I . 

had   of  her  Majesty's   ill   taking  it iou  chiefy 

brought  me  into  lY,*  ....  and  it  could  no  way  have  been 
heavy  to  you,  though  you  had  told  the  uttermost  of  your 
own  doing,  as  you  faithfully  promised  you  would  .  .  .  . 
J  did  very  nnmllingly  came  into  the  matter,'  doubting  that  to 

fall  out  which  is  come  to  pass, and  it  doth  so  Jail 

out  by  your  negligent  carelessness,  whereof  I  many  hundred  times 
told  you  that  you  would'  both  mar  the  goodness  of  the 


1  Leicester  to  Davbon,  with  hto  com- 
ments in  reply  wrlttan  in  the  margin. 

Bruce,  168-171.  ^  March,  1686. 

«  The  words  italicized  in  the  text 
were  underscored  by  r>avlson,  with  the 
marginal  comment— "  I^t  Sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney and  others  wltneas." 

»  "All  this  while  there  was  no  note  of 


any  contrary  commandment."— Comment 
of  Davison. 
«  ♦•  Absolutely  denied."— Comment  of 

Davison. 
»  "  Hereof    let    the   world   Judge."— 

DaviiJon. 

•  Worda  underscored  by  Davison,  with 
the  comment—"  Yon  might  doubt  it,  but 
if  you  had  uttered  so  much,  you  should 


1586.     HE  EXCUSES  HIMSELF  AT  DAVISON'S  EXPENSa     419 

matter   and  breed  me  her  Majesty's  displeasure.  . 
nils  fare  you  weU,  and  except  your  embassae-es  have 
Wter^  success.    I  shall  have   no^  cause   to    cTrnmend 

And  so  was  the  unfortunate  Davison  ground  into 
finest  dust  between  the  upper  and  lower  milktones  of 
royal  wrath  and  loyal  subserviency  """^^tones  of 

Meantime  the  other  special  envoy  had  made  b;« 
appearance  in  the  Kethcrlands;   the  ofter  gXTween 

layourite.  It  has  already  been  made  snfficientlv  obvious 
by  the  sketch  g.ven  of  his  instructions,  that  his S on 
was  a  delicate  one.     In  obedience  to  those  inMons 

Se  severe  n;,\v''"-P''^'?°*=«  delivered  to  them 
the  severe  and  bitmg  repnmand  which  Elizabeth  had 
ehosen  to  inflict  upon  the  States  and  upon  the  governor 
Iho  envoy  performed  his  ungracious  task  as  daS 
as  he  could,  and  after  preliminary  consultation  wh 
Wester;  but  the  proud  Earl  was"^ deeply  iLortified 
The  fourteenth  day  of  this  month  of  March,"  sa  d  he' 

her  m1  Wvl^r*^'  '^f^'^  ^  ^'^y  ^'"T  letter  from 
ner  Majesty  to  the  council  of  estate,  besides  his  message 

-myself  being  present,  for  so  was  her  M^fesTIs 
pleasure  a«  he  said,  and  I  do  think  he  did  but  as  helfas 
commanded  How  great  a  grief  it  must  be  to  an  hon^s? 
heart  and  a  true,  faithful  servant,  before  his  own  face  to 
a  company  of  very  wise  and  grave  counsellorsT^ho  had 
conceived  a  marvellous  opinion  before  of  my  cVdU  ^th 
her  Ma  csty    o  be  charged  now  with  a  manifest  and^l- 

heart  that  looked  rather  for  thanks,  as  God  doth  W 
I  did  when  I  first  heard  of  Mr.  Heneage's  anivafll 
must  say  to  your  Lordship,  for  discharge™!  mv 
duty.  I  can  bo  no  fit  man  to  serve  here-my  dis^n^e  is 
too  great-protesting  to  you  that  since  that  day  I^no 
find  It  in  my  heart  to  come  into  that  place  where,  by 

m»ch.pr««l„g  well  «,„„gh  how  ttamk.    1M6     S  KC^  mIJ  "^^     '   "'""■ 

2  E  2 


J 


420 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


He  then  comforted  himself— as  he  had  a  right  to  do 
—with  the  reflection  that  this  disgrace  mflicted  was 
more  than  he  deserv^ed,  and  that  such  would  be  tho 
opinion  of  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded. 

"  Albeit  one  thing,"  he  said,  -  did  greatly  comfort 
me,  that  they  all  best  knew  the  wrong  was  great  i  had, 
and  that  her  Majesty  was  very  wrongfully  imformed  ot 
the  state  of  my  cause.  I  doubt  not  but  they  can  and 
will  discharge  me,  howsoever  they  shall  f^^^^y^^®^ 
Maiesty.  And  as  I  would  rather  wish  for  death  than 
justly  to  deserve  her  displeasure,  so,  good  my  l^ord, 
this  disgrace  not  coming  for  any  ill  service  to  her  pray 
procure  me  a  speedy  resolution,  that  I  may  go  hide  me 
and  pray  for  her.  My  heart  is  broken,  though  thus  far 
1  can  quiet  myself,  that  I  know  I  have  done  her 
Majesty  as  faithful  and  good  service  in  these  countries 
as  ever  she  had  done  her  since  she  was  Queen  ot  ±.ng- 

land Under  correction,  my  good  Lord,  i  have 

had  Halifax  law— to  bo  condemned  first  and  inquired 
upon  after.  I  pray  God  that  no  man  find^  this  measure 
that  I  have  done,  and  deserved  no  worse.'  ' 

He   defended  himself— as  Davison  had  already  de- 
fended him— upon  the  necessities  of  the  case. 

"la  poor  gentleman,"  he  said,  "  who  have  wholly 
depended  upon  herself  alone- and  now,  being  com- 
mjmded  to  a  service  of  the  greatest  import^ce  that 
ever  her  Majesty  employed  any  servant  in,  and  tinding 
the  occasion  so  serving  me,  and  the  necessity  of  time 
such  as  would  not  permit  such  delays,  flatly  seeing  that 
if  that  opportunity  were  lost,  the  like  again  tor  her 
service  and  the  good  of  the  realm  was  never  to   bo 
looked  for,  presuming  upon  the  favour  of  my  prince,  as 
many  servants  have  done,  exceeding  somewhat  there- 
upon, rather  than  breaking  any  part  of  my  commission, 
taking  upon  me  a  place  whereby  I  found  these  whole 
countries  could  be  held  at  her  best  devotion,  without 
binding  her  Majesty  to  any  such  matter  as  she  had 
forbidden  to  the  States  before-finding,  I  say,  both  the 
time  and  opportunity  to  serve,  and  no^l^ck  but  to 
trust  to  her  gracious  acceptation,  I  now  feel  that  how 
good,  how  honourable,  how  profitable  soever  it  be  it  is 
turned  to  a  worse  part  than  if  I  had  broken  all  her 

»  LelctiBter  to  Burghley.    (AIS.  last  cited.) 


1586. 


HIS  LETTER  TO  BURGHLEY. 


421 


commissions  and  commandments,  to  the  greatest  harm, 
and  dishonour,  and  danger,  that  may  be  imagined 
against  her  person,  state,  and  dignity."  * 

He  protested,  not  without  a  show  of  reason,  that  he 
was  hke  to  be  worse  punished  "  for   well-doing   than 
any  man  that  had  committed  a  most  h  einous  or  traitor- 
ous offence,"  and  he   maintained  that  if  he  had  not 
accepted  the  government,  as  he  had  done,  "  the  whole 
fetate  had  been  gone  and  wholly  lost."  *     All  this— as 
we  have  seen— had  already  been  stoutly  urged  by  Davi- 
son, in  the  very  face  of  the  tempest,  but  with  no  result 
except  to  gain  tho  enmity  of  both  parties  to  the  quarrel. 
1  he  ungrateful  Leicester  now  expressed  confidence  that 
the  second  go-between  would  be  more  adroit  than  tho 
first  had  proved.     -The  causes  why,"  said  he,  "Mr. 
Davison    could   have   told— mo   man   better,— but   Mr 
Heneage  can  now  tell,  who  hath  sought  to  the  uttermost 
the  bottom  of  all  things.     I  will  stand  to  his  report, 
whether  glory  or  vain  desire  of  tide  caused  me  to  step 
one  foot  forAvard  in  the  matter.     My  place  was  great 
enough  and  high  enough  before,  with  much  less  trouble 
than  by  this,  besides  the  great  indignation  of  her  Ma- 
jesty. ...  Jf  I  had  overslipt  the  good  occasion  then 
m  danger,  I  had  been  worthy  to  be  hanged,  and  to  be 
taken  for  a  most  lewd  sei-A^ant  to  her  Majesty,  and  a  dis- 
nonest  wretch  to  my  country."^ 

But  diligently  as  Heneage  had  sought  to  the  bottom 
of  all  things,  he  had  not  gained  the  approbation  of 
•11  u^^\  ^''"  ^^'^'P  *^^"Sht  that  the  new  man  had  only 
111  botched  a  piece  of  work  that  had  been  most  awk- 
wardly contrived  from  the  beginning.  "  Sir  Thomas 
Heneage  said  he,  -  hath  with  as  much  honesty,  in  my 
opinion,  done  as  much  hurt  as  any  man  this  twelvemonth 
hath  done  with  naughtiness.  But  I  hope  in  God,  when 
her  Majesty  finds  the  truth  of  things,  her  graciousness 
will  not  utterly  overthrow  a  cause  so  behooveful  and 
costly  unto  her.   * 

He  briefly  warned  the  government  that  most  disastrous 
effects  were  likely  to  ensue,  if  the  Earl  should  be  pub- 
licly  disgmced,  and  the  recent  action  of  the  States  re- 
versed.    The  penny-wise  economy,  too,  of  the  Queen, 

U^cester  to  Burjhiey.     (MS.  last        .  Sir  P.  Sidney  to  Rurghley,  18  MarcJ 
ciuMi.;  .  2bid.  3  Ibid.     1586.    (S.  1\  Office  MS.) 


422 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


was  rapidly  pro^dng  a  most  ruinous  extravagance.  "  I 
only  cry  for  Flushing,"  said  Sidney,  '*  but,  unless  the 
moneys  be  sent  over,  there  will  some  terrible  accident 
follow,  particularly  to  the  cautionary  towns,  if  her  Ma- 
jesty mean  to  have  them  cautions."  * 

The  efiect  produced  by  the  first  explosion  of  the  Queen's 
wrath  was  indeed  one  of  universal  suspicion  and  dis- 
trust. The  greatest  care  had  been  taken,  however,  that 
the  affair  should  be  delicately  handled,  for  Heneage, 
while  doing  as  much  hurt  by  honesty  as  others  by  naugh- 
tiness, had  modified  his  course  as  much  as  he  dared  in 
deference  to  the  opinions  of  the  Earl  himself,  and  that 
of  his  English  coimsellors.  The  great  culprit  himself, 
assisted  by  his  two  lawyers,  Clerk  and  Killigrew,  had 
himself  drawn  the  bill  of  his  own  indictment.  The 
letters  of  the  Queen  to  the  States,  to  the  council,  and  to 
the  Earl  himself,  were,  of  necessity,  delivered,  but  the 
reprimand  which  Heneage  had  been  instructed  to  ful- 
minate was  made  as  harmless  as  possible.  It  was  ar- 
ranged that  he  should  make  a  speech  before  the  council, 
but  abstain  from  a  protocol.  The  oration  was  duly  pro- 
nounced, and  it  was,  of  necessity,  stinging.  Otherwise 
the  disobedience  to  the  Queen  would  have  been  flagrant. 
But  the  pain  inflicted  was  to  disappear  with  the  first 
castigation.  The  humiliation  was  to  bo  public  and 
solemn,  but  it  was  not  to  be  placed  on  perpetual  record. 

"  We  thought  best,"  said  Leicester,  Heneage,  Clerk, 
and  Killigrew — "according  to  her  Majesty's  secret 
instructions — to  take  that  course  which  might  least 
endanger  the  weak  estate  of  the  Provinces — that  is  to 
say,  to  utter  so  much  in  words  as  we  hoped  might 
satisfy  her  excellent  Majesty's  expectation,  and  yet 
leave  them  nothing  in  writing  to  confinn  that  which 
was  secretly  spread  in  many  places  to  the  hindrance  of 
the  good  course  of  settling  these  aflairs.  Which  speech, 
after  Sir  Thomas  Heneage  had  devised,  and  we  both 
perused  and  allowed,  he,  by  our  consent  and  advice, 
pronounced  to  the  council  of  state.  This  wo  did  think 
needful,  especially  because  every  one  of  the  council 
that  was  present  at  the  reading  of  her  Majesty's  first 
letters  was  of  the  full  mind  that,  if  her  Majesty  should 
again  show  the  least  mislike  of  the  present  government, 

I  Sir  PMllp  Sidney  to  Burghley.    (MS.  just  clteU.) 


158G.     EFFECT  OF  QUEEN'S  LETTERS  TO  THE  STATES.     423 

or  should  not  by  her  next  letters  confinn  it,  they  were 
all  undone— for  tJiat  every  rmn  would  cast  with  himself  which 
way  to  make  his  peace,'' ' 

Thus  adroitly  had  the  "  poor  gentleman,  who  could 
not  hnd  It  in  his  heart  to  come  again  into  the  place 
where-by  his  own  sufferings  torn-he  was  made  to 
appear  so  lewd  a  person  "—provided  that  there  should 
remain  no  trace  of  that  lewdness  and  of  his  sovereiim's 
displeasure  upon  the  record  of  the  States.*  It  was  not 
long  too  before  the  Earl  was  enabled  to  surmount  his 
mortification ;  but  the  end  was  not  yet. 

The  universal  suspicion,  consequent  on  these  pro- 
ceedings, grew  most  painful.  It  pointed  in  one  in4ri- 
able  quarter.  It  was  believed  by  all  that  the  Queen 
was  privately  treating  for  peace,  and  that  the  transaction 
was  kept  a  secret  not  only  from  the  States  but  from  her 
own  most  trusted  counsellors  also.  It  would  be  diflicult 
to  exaggerate  the  pernicious  effects  of  this  suspicion. 
VVhether  it  was  a  well-grounded  one  or  not,  will  be 
shown  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  vigour  of  the  entei-prise  was  thus  sapped  at  a 
most  critical  moment  The  Pmvinces  had  never  been 
more  heartily  banded  together  since  tlie  fatal  10th  of 
July,  1584,  than  they  were  in  the  early  spring  of  1580. 

nor  Is  there  in  the  daily  register  of  the 
sessions  of  the  States  General  for  1586— 
which  I  have  examined,  page  by  page, 
very  carefnlly-a  trace  of  the  dissatisfac- 
tion  of   the   Queen,  or   of  the  angty 
correspondence  which  ensnetl.  after  the 
acceptance  by  Leicester  of  the  "absolute  " 
government.    All  the  pieces  have  been 
lost— probably  secreted  at  the  period ;  so 
that  no  one  could  tell  at   present,  by 
consulting  the  Hague  Archives  only,  that 
there  had  been  a  quarrel.    Bor,  Metertn 
and  other  contemporaries,  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  transaction,  in  the  main 
correct,  although  most  of  th?m  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  Queen's  anger  was  mere 
pretence,  and  that  she  was  desirous  6f 
assuming  the  sovereignty,  in  ca.se   the 
l^rovinces    were    deemed    by   I^icesUr 
capable  of  maintaining  their  own  cause. 
This  view,  as  we  have  seen,  was  quite 
erroneous. 

It  is  remarkable  that  between  23  Feb. 
and  11  April,  1586,  the  Statcs-Geuerai 
Were  not  in  session. 


1  "  The  Resolution  of  my  Lord.  &c., 
for  the  speech  I  should  use  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  States  upon  the  letters  written 
from  H.  Majesty  in  March.  14  March, 
1586."  Signed  by  Leicester,  Heneage, 
Clerk,  and  Killigrew.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  In  the  foreign  correspondence,  or 
"despatch  books,"  between  the  States- 
Genera!  and  England,  there  are  no  letters 
either  from  Queen  Elizabeth,  or  from 
Ortell,  who  was  in  Eitgland  during  the 
whole  of  the  year  1586,  as  agent  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland,  and,  at  the  close  of  the  year, 
was  added  to  the  number  of  commission- 
ers sent  by  the  States-General  to  the 
Queen.  Nor  are  there  any  letters  ad- 
dressed to  Elizabeth  or  to  Ortell,  although 
there  are  a  few  notes  (which  I  have 
used)  made  by  the  persons  to  whom  was 
entrusted  tke  task  of  drawing  up  letters 
to  be  sent  by  Davison  In  the  middle  of 
February  1586,  and  afterwartls.  There 
are,  indeed,  no  letters  of  1586  relative  to 
England, or  to  the  Leicester  govtrnment. 
to  be  Ibuud  in  the  archives  of  the  Hague; 


4?4 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


t 


They  were  rapidly  organizing  their  own  army,  and,  if 
the  Queen  had  manifested  more  sympathy  with  her  ovm 
starving  troops,'  the  united  Englishmen  and  Hollanders 
would  have  been  invincible  even  by  Alexander  Famese. 

Moreover,  they  had  sent  out  nine  war-vessels  to  cruise 
off  the  Cape  Verd  Islands  for  the  homeward-bound 
Spanish  treasure-fleet  from  America,  with  orders,  if 
they  missed  it,  to  proceed  to  the  West  Indies ;  so  that, 
said  Leicester,  "  the  King  of  Spain  will  have  enough  to 
do  between  these  men  and  Drake." '  All  parties  had 
united  in  conferring  a  generous  amount  of  power  upon 
the  Earl,  who  was,  in  truth,  stadhokler-general  under 
grant  from  the  States— and  both  Leicester  and  the 
Provinces  themselves  were  eager  and  earnest  for  the 
war.  In  war  alone  lay  the  salvation  of  England  and 
Holland.  Peace  was  an  impossibility.  It  seemed  to 
the  most  experienced  statesmen  of  both  countries  even 
an  absurdity.  It  may  well  be  imagined,  therefore,  that 
the  idea  of  an  underhand  negotiation  by  Elizabeth  would 
cause  a  frenzy  in  the  Ketherlands.  In  Leicester's 
opinion,  nothing  short  of  a  general  massacre  of  tho 
English  would  be  the  probable  consequence.  "  No  doubt,  * 
said  he,  "  the  very  way  it  is  to  put  us  all  to  the  sword 
here.  For  mine  own  part  it  would  be  happiest  for  me, 
though  I  wish  and  trust  to  lose  my  life  in  better  sort."  ** 

Champagny,  however,  was  giving  out  mysterious  hints 
that  the  King  of  Spain  could  have  peace  with  England 
when  he  wished  for  it.  Sir  Thomas  Cecil,  son  of  Lord 
Burghley,  on  whose  countenance  the  Stiites  especially 
relied,  was  returning  on  sick-leave  from  his  government 
of  the  Brill,  and  this  sudden  departure  of  so  eminent  a 
personage,  joined  with  tho  public  disavowal  of  the  recent 
transaction  between  Leicester  and  the  Trovinces,  was 


1  "  I  will  not  trouble  your  Lordship," 
wrote  Leicester  to  Burghley  on  the  15th 
March.  1586, "  with  anything  that  may 
privately  concern  myself.  I  see  what  the 
acceptation  of  my  services  is,  and  how 
little  it  avalleth  to  allege  most  Juat 
reasons  In  defence  of  them.  But  though 
I  see  I  am.  and  must  be,  disgraced,  which 
God  I  hope  will  give  me  strength  to  bear 
patiently,  yet  let  me  entreai  your  L'p 
to  be  a  mean  to  her  M.  that  the  poor 
soldiers  be   not  beaten   for  my  sake. 


There  came  no  penny  of  treasure  over 
since  my  coming  hither.  That  whidi 
then  came  was  most  part  due  before  it 
came.  There  is  much  due  to  ihem. 
They  cannot  get  a  penny.  Their  credit 
is  spent.  They  i>erish  for  want  qf 
victual  and  clotkivg  in  gieat  numbers. 
The  whole  and  some  are  ready  to 
mutiny,"  &c.  S.  P.  Office  MS. 

«  Leicester  to  Burghley,  17  March, 
1684.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  Ibid. 


1586.  STATES  EXCUSE  THEIR  CONDUCT  TO  THE  QUEEN.  42;» 

producing  a  general  and  most  sickening  apprehension 
as  to  the  Queen's  good  faith.  The  Earf  dE  M  to 
urge  these  matters  most  warmly  on  the  consideration  of 
the  English  council  setting  forth  that  the  States  wei^ 
stanch  for  the  war,  but  that  they  would  be  beforehand 
with  her  If  she  attempted  by  underhand  means  to  com- 
pass a  peace.  -  ]f  these  men  once  smell  any  such 
matter,  wrote  Leicester  to  Burghley,  ''be  ycfu  "  e 
they  will  soon  come  before  you,  to  the  utter  overthrow 
of  her  Majesty  and  state  for  ever."  ' 

The  Earl  was  suspecting  the  -folse  boys,"  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded,  although  it  was  impossible  for  h  m 
to  perceive,  as  we  have  been  enabled  to  do,  the  wide- 
spread and  intricate  meshes  by  which  he  was  enveloped. 

\ouv  Papists  m  England,"  said  he,  -  have  sent  over 
word  to  some  m  this  company,  that  all  that  they  ever 

shall  be  called  away  m  greatest  indignation  with  her 
Majesty,  and,  to  confirm  this  of  Champagny,  I  have 
myse  f  seen  a  letter  that  her  Majesty  is  n  hand  with  a 
secret  peace.     God  forbid !  for  if  it  be  so,  her  Swy 
her  realm,  and  we,  are  all  undone  "  *  ^ 

.J^^^''^''''?  '"l  *^^  Provinces  was  still  sincerely  loyal 
towards  England.     " These  men,"  said  Leicester,  "yet 
honour  and  most  dearly  love  her  Majesty,  and  haiX 
I  know  will  be  brought  to  believe  ill  of  W  any  way  " 
Aevertheless  these  rumours,  to  the  discredit  of  her  good 
faith,  were  doing  infinite  harm  ;  while  the  Earl,  although 
keeping  his  eyes  and  ears  wide  open,  was  anxious  not 
to  comprx)mise  himself  any  fnrtlier  with  his  sovereign 
by  appearing    himself   to    suspect    her   of   duplicity.' 
(^ood  my  Lord,"  he  besought  Burghley,  "do  not  let 
her  Majesty  know  of  this  concerning  Champa^y  as 
coming  from  me,  for  she  will  think  it"  is  doncTr^my 
own  cause,  which,  by  the  Lord  God,  it  is  not,  but  even 
on  the  necessity  of  the  case  for  her  own  safety,  and  the 
realm,  and  us  all.     Good  my  Lord,  as  you  will  do  any 
good  in  the  matter,  let  not  her  Majesty  understand  any 
piece  of  It  to  come  from  me." »  ^ 

The  Stafes-General,  on  the  25th  March,  N.S.,  addressed 
a  respectful  letter  to  the  Queen,  in  reply  to  .5 
her  vehement  chidings.    They  expressed  their  S^'"--^=^««- 

Leicester  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited.  2  u,i^  ,  ^^^ 


426 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


1586. 


deep  regret  that  her  Majesty  should  be  so  offended 
with  the  election  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  as  absolute 
Kovemor.  They  confessed  that  she  had  just  cause  of 
displeasure,  but  hoped  that  when  she  should  be  informed 
of  the  whole  matter  she  would  rest  better  satisfaed 
with  their  proceedings.  They  stated  that  the  authority 
was  the  same  which  had  been  previously  bestowed 
upon  provemors-general ;  observing  that  by  the  word 
"absolute,"  which  had  been  used  in  designation  of 
thiit  authority,  nothing  more  had  been  intended  than  to 
give  to  the  Earl  full  power  to  execute  his  commission, 
while  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  was  reserved  to  the  people. 
This  commission,  they  said,  could  not  be  without  danger 
revoked.  And  therefore  they  most  humbly  besoiight 
her  Majesty  to  approve  what  had  been  done,  and  to 
remember  its  conformity  with  her  own  advice  to  them, 
that  a  multitude  of  heads,  whereby  confusion  m  tlic 
government  is  bred,  should  be  avoided.' 

Leicester,  upon  the  same  occasion,  addressed  a  letter 
to  Burghley  and  Walsingham,  expressing  himself  as 
became  a  crushed  and  contrite  man,  never  more  to 
raise  his  drooping  head  again,  but  warmly  and  maniully 
urging  upon  the  attention  of  the  English  government— 
for  the  honour  and  interest  of  the  Queen  herself—"  the 
miserable  state  of  the  poor  soldiers."  The  necessity  of 
immediate  remittances,  in  order  to  keep  them  from 
starving,  was  most  imperious.  For  himself,  ho  was 
smothering  his  wretchedness  until  he  should  learn  her 
Majesty's  final  decision  as  to  what  was  to  become  of 
him.     *'  Meantime,"  said  he,  "  I  caiTy  my  grief  inward, 


LEICESTER  DISCREDITED  IX  HOLLAND. 


»  The  letter  is  given  in  Meteren,  xli. 
234.  Wagenaar  (vlll.  121.  note  4)  ob- 
serves very  correctly,  that,  when  the 
States  were  thus  Rlibly  explaining  away 
the  word  "  absolute, "  they  had  either  not 
read  over  very  carefully  the  commission 
granted  by  themselves  to  Leicester,  or 
trusted  that  the  (jueen  would  not  cloaely 
examine  that  document.  In  this  ori- 
ginal contract  with  the  Earl  were  these 
words  :  "  Item,  his  Excellency  shall  have 
lull  authority  and  absolute  power  (voile 
macht  en  absoluyt  geweld)  within  the 
Provinces  in  the  matter  of  polity  and 
Justice  (in  't  stuck  van  de  politie  en 
Justitie)."  Comp.  Bor.  11.  686.  Groot 
Pldkaat  Boek,  iv.  i»i.    Metereu,  ubi  sup. 


Bor,  Meteren,  and  many  contemporary 
writers,  as  well  as  Wagenaar  and  other 
more  modern  authorities,  are  quite  mis- 
taken in  representing  the  whole  angry 
demonstration  made  by  the  Queen  in 
n'gard  to  this  acceptance  by  Leicester  of 
the  "absolute,"  government  as  a  farce, 
and  a  farce  which  had  been  previously 
arranged.  We  have  seen  from  the  pri- 
vate letters  of  the  period  how  very 
genuine  was  the  ill  humour  of  Elizabeth. 

Tlie  state-council  also,  on  the  27  March, 
1586  (N.S.),  addresstd  a  letter  to  the 
Queen,  of  similar  tenour  to  that  written 
by  the  States-Gt- neral.  Printed  In  Bruce's 
'  Leyc.  Corresp.'  Append.  468,  469. 


427 

and  will  proceed  till  her  Maiestv'a  fnii  ^i 

by  the  enemy."  i  ^       ^  ^"^^  '^  ^^^^^^»  ^^t  not 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  mihlin  ri;.^ 
flicted  upon  the  broken-heaSed  gove^orfrd'tW^"'  '"• 
censure  administered  to  the  States T?  f I.',  n      °  ^'''''^''^ 
both   ill-timed  and  undese^ed      Yvht?evtr"Li;"r 
ingenuousness    towards    Davison,    whatve/  h^  H    " 

sti^t^^ti^L  ^^^  ix  -^^^  ^  '- 

^J^  far  he  &^^^  ^f  iS^iJ 

poSSs^fTdJt-itr  ''V'''  ^^"-  ^p- 

subject.  "  It  is  a  ?hi,Hr«l  f ^°°^  language  on  the 
"that  the  care  and  duLn'J  "^«edible,"  said  he, 
could,  in  so  smaH  tin.n  T  "'^  °^  *"^  '''"'  '"an  living 
jointed  and  W  an  ±L'  '"  °'""^r  '^P*''«d  «°  '^^^ 
country  in.  BuTC  heTouS  s^^ll'-rprfrof  th  1 
bis  good  success, your  Lordship  knoweth  that  Co/),  fl 
so  tempered  the  cause  with  lie  WMWtinn  <^  ^•'**^ 
way  well  hold  him  in  J^    construction  thereof,  as 

things."  »     Cal  Ided  wf ^  v» '^''^^'''*'°°  "^  ^"""^n 
ne|tiatio*  i^t^^^^^^^ 

■h-mg  his  master  anrl  +ha+  ,•+  •    •    i  •    -^tidjesiy  unto   the 

Provinces  anrl  ir,  Vr.J\     I       /.?P   ,     ^^   *^®   obedient 

which  the   oueen^h^^^^^^  P^^^^^^^  ^^ 

^  tne   gueen    had  placed  the    favourite.     Most 


428 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIl. 


I 

/ 


I 


« 


galling  to  the  haughty  Earl—most  damaging  to  the 
cause  of  England,  Holland,  and  liberty— were  the  tales 
to  his  discredit,  which  circulated  on  the  Bourse  at 
Antwerp,  Middelburg,  Amsterdam,  and  in  all  the  other 
commercial  centres.  The  most  influential  bankers  and 
merchants  were  assured  by  a  thousand  chattering— but 
as  it  were  invisible — tongues,  that  the  Queen  had  for  a 
long  time  disliked  Leicester  ;  that  he  was  a  man  of  no 
account  among  the  statesmen  of  England  ;  that  he  was 
a  beggar  and  a  bankrupt ;  that,  if  he  had  waited  two 
months  longer,  ho  would  have  made  his  appearance  in 
the  Provinces  with  one  man  and  one  boy  for  his  fol- 
lowers ;  that  the  Queen  had  sent  him  thither  to  be  rid 
c.f  him;  that  she  never  intended  him  to  have  more 
authority  than  Sir  John  N orris  had  ;  that  she  could  not 
abide  the  bestowing  the  title  of  Excellency  upon  him, 
and  that  she  had  not  disguised  her  fury  at  his  elevation 
to  the  post  of  governor-general.' 

All  who  attempted  a  refutation  of  these  statements 
were  asked,  with  a  sneer,  whether  her  Majesty  had  ever 
written  a  line  to  him,  or  in  commendation  of  him,  since 
hiTs  arrival.  Minute  inquiries  were  made  by  the  Dutch 
merchants  of  their  commercial  coiTesi)ondent8,  both  in 
their  own  country  and  in  England,  as  to  Leicester's 
real  condition  and  character  at  home.  What  was  his 
rank,  they  asked,  what  his  ability,  what  his  influence 
at  court  ?  Why,  if  he  were  really  of  so  high  quality  as 
had  been  reported,  was  he  thus  neglected,  and  at  last 
disgraced  ?  Had  he  any  landed  property  in  England  ? 
Had  he  really  ever  held  any  other  office  but  that  of 
master  of  the  horse  ?  *'  And  then,"  asked  one  particular 
busybody,  who  made  himself  very  unpleasant  on  the 
Amsterdam  exchange,  "  why  has  her  Majesty  forbidden 
all  noblemen  and  gentlemen  from  coming  hither,  as  was 
the  case  at  the  beginning?  Is  it  because  she  is 
hearkening  to  a  peace  ?  And  if  it  be  so,"  quoth  he,  "  we 
are  well  handled ;  for  if  her  Majesty  hath  sent  a  dis- 
graced man  to  amuse  us,  while  she  is  secretly  working 
a  peace  for  herself,  when  we — on  the  contrary — had 
broken  off"  all  our  negotiations,  upon  confidence  of  her 
Majesty's  goodness,  such  conduct  will  be  remembered 

a  Bruce'B  •  Leyc.  Corresp."  214-219.  ^  April.  1586. 


1536.   EVIL  CONSEQUENCES  TO  HOLLAND  AND  ENGLAND.  420 

to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  Hollanders  will  never 
abide  the  name  of  England  again."  ' 

On  such  a  bed  of  nettles  there  was  small  chance  of 
repose  for  the  governor.     Some  of  the  rumours  were 
even  more  stinging.      So  incomprehensible  did  it  seem 
that  the  proud  sovereign  of  England  should  send  over 
her  siibjects  to  stai-^^e  or  beg  in  the  streets  of  Flu^hin- 
and  Ostend,  that  it  was  darkly  intimated  that  Leicester 
had  embezzled  the  funds,  which,  no  doubt,  had  been 
remitted  for  the  poor  soldiers.^   This  was  the  most  cruel 
blow  of  all.     The   Earl  had  been   put   to  enomuus 
charges.     His   household    at   the   Hague   cost  liim  a 
thousand  pounds  a  month.     He  had  been  paying  and 
furnishing  five  hundred  and  fifty  men  out  of  hi?  own 
purse.     He   had   also  a   choice   regiment   of  cavalry 
numbering  seven  hundred  and  fifty  horse,  three  hundred 
and  titty  of  which  number  were  over  and  above  those 
allowed  for  by  the  Queen,  and  were  entirely  at   his 
expense.      He  was  most  liberal  in  making  presents  of 
money  to  every  gentleman  in  his  employment.     He  had 
deeply  mortgaged  his  estates  in  order  to  provide  for 
these   heavy   demands   upon   him,   and    professed  his 
willingness  "  to  spend  more,  if  he  might  have  got  any 
more  money  for  his  land  that  wa^  left ;"  and  in  the  face 
of  such  unquestionable  facts—much  to  the  credit  cer- 
tainly oi  his  generosity «— he  was  accused  of  swindlin"- 
a  Queen  whom  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile  had  ever  yet 
been  sharp  enough  to  swindle  ;  while  he  was  in  reality 
plunging  forward  in  a  course  of  reckless  extravao-ance 
m  order  to  obviate  the  fatal  eff'ects  of  her  penurious- 
ness.  ^ 

Yet  these  sinister  reports  were  beginning  to  have  a 
poisonous  effect.  Already  an  alteration  of  mien  was 
perceptible  in  the  States-Geneml.  "  Some  buzzing  there 
18  amongst  them,"  said  Leicester,  "  whatsoever  it  be 
Ihey  begin  to  deal  veiy  strangely  within  these  few 
days  Moreover,  the  industry  of  the  Poleys,  Blunts, 
and  lagets,  had  turned  these  unfavourable  circum- 
stances to  such  good  account  that  a  mutiny  had  been 
near  breaking  out  among  the  English  troops.     "  And, 

»  Bruce'g  •  Leyc.  Corresp.,'  last  cited.  3  jM(J.  2U-2I9. 

•  'Leyc.  Corresp,'  216,  ^  April,  15S6.  *  ^^"*- 


430 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VH. 


before  the  Lord  I  speak  it,"  said  the  Earl,  "  T  am  sure 
some  of  these  good  to^vns  had  been  gone  ere  this,  but 
for  my  money.  As  for  the  States,  I  warrant  you,  they 
see  day  at  a  little  hole.  God  doth  know  what  a  forward 
and  a  joyful  country  here  was  within  a  month.  God 
send  her  Majesty  to  recover  it  so  again,  and  to  take  care 
of  it,  on  the  condition  she  send  me  after  Sir  Francis 
Drake  to  the  Indies,  my  service  here  being  no  more 

acceptable." ' 

Such  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  Provinces  after 
the  first  explosion  of  the  Queen's  anger  had  become 
known.  Meanwhile  the  court- weather  was  very  change- 
able in  England,  being  sometimes  serene,  sometimes 
cloud}-,  always  treacherous.  Mr.  Vavasour,  sent  by  the 
Earl  with  desi>atches  to  her  Majesty  and  the  council, 
had  met  with  a  sufficiently  benignant  reception.  She 
accepted  the  letters,  which,  however,  owing  to  a  bad 
cold  with  a  defluxion  in  the  eyes,  she  was  unable  at 
once  to  read ;  but  she  talked  ambiguously  with  the 
messenger.  Vavasour  took  pains  to  show  the  immediate 
necessity  of  sending  supplies,  so  that  the  armies  in  the 
Netherlands  might  take  the  field  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  **  And  what,"  said  she,  "  if  a  peace  should 
come  in  the  mean  time  ?"  *  ^^ 

"If  your  Majesty  desireth  a  convenient  peace,* 
replied  Vavasour,  "  to  take  the  field  is  the  readiest  way 
to  obtain  it ;  for  as  yet  the  King  of  Spain  hath  had  no 
reason  to  fear  you.  He  is  daily  expecting  that  your 
own  slackness  may  give  your  Majesty  an  overthrow. 
Moreover,  the  Spaniards  are  soldiers,  and  are  not  to  be 
moved  by  shadows." " 

But  the  Queen  had  no  ears  for  these  remonstrances, 
and  no  disposition  to  open  her  coff"er8.  A  warrant  for 
twenty-four  thousand  pounds  *  had  been  signed  by  her 
at  the  end  of  the  month  of  March,  and  was  about  to  be 
sent,  when  Vavasour  arrived ;  but  it  was  not  possible 
for  him,  although  assisted  by  the  eloquence  of  Wal- 
singham  and  Burghley,  to  obtain  an  enlargement  of  the 


J  •  Leyc.  Corresp.,'  last  cited. 

«  Bniwe   'Leyc.  Corresp.'   194,  195, 

SI  March 
'?i-==^,  1586. 
10  April  ' 

3  Ibid. 

*  This  sum,  added  to  the  62.00nf.  al- 


ready advanced,   maile    76.0001.  in  all, 
"which,"  eaid  Burghley,  "her  Mtjesty 
doth  often  repeat  with   great  offence." 
_  SI  March   ,,„^ 

•  Uyc.  Comsp/  199,  -^^ ,  1580. 


1586.  EVJL  CONSEQUENCES  TO  HOLLAND  AND  ENGLAND.  431 

Elm  ""  b„t  'w  °  '*°™'  r  ?\'''^1°^"."  said  WaUing- 
Jiam,  but  I  fear  your  Lordship  shall  receive  vei  v 
scarce  measure  fn,m  hence.  You  will  not  believe  how 
the  sparing  humour  doth  increase  upon  ns  " ' 

*!,  *  L'^^''^  ^^'^  ^^"7^^  ^°  thoroughly  overblown  but 
that  there  were  not  daily  indications  of  retumi^  fo  { 

weather.     Accordmgly-after  a  conference   wi"h   Va- 

^thTrn"'^^'"^  ^""u-  >^^«'°g>>am  had  an  interviet 
with  the  Queen,  m  which  the  Lord  Treasurer  used  bold 

Z    1T°.JT^"°".-      "<^  protested  to  her  that  he  was 
bound  both  by  his  duty  to  himself  and  his  oath  as  her 
councillor  to  declare  that  the  course  she  was  holdin' 
to  Lord  Leicester  was  most  dangerous  to  her  owS 
I'l.Tk  i?.     T*'  ""f  "^^^'^^  "'*''«  '°t<=°"^^d  to  continue 
LorH  Til„        """'^"l*'.  ^^  ^^Sed  to  resign  his  office  of 
Lord  Treasurer ;  wishing,  before  God  and  man,  to  wash 
his  hands  of  the  shame  and  peril  which  he  s^w  c^uld 
not  be  avoided.     The  Qucen.'Ltonished  at  the  audadU 
of   Burghley 's  attitude  and    language,   hardly  knew 
whether  to  chide  him  for  his  presumVion  or  to  listen 
to  his  arguments.     She  did  both.     She"^  taxed  him  with 
insolence  in  daring  to  address  her  so  roundly,  and  then 
o,?t  ."?      i"^*^  speaking  even  m  amarUudim  animce  and 
W;™;  A    T  <=o°«Fi<^°<=e,  she  became  calm  again,  and 

abse"^t^ri/''P°'^*'°''  *°  "l""^'^^  ^''  "^"g^^  ^^^'^t  '^^ 

thfi*;>i  n^'  *°  ^M""  ^^°'^'  *^<'  *^o  councillors  found 
tLt  b^H  9"««^^l»^d  again  changed  her  mind-"  as  one 
mt  hod  been  by  some  adverse  counsel  seduced."  She 
expressed  the  opinion  that  affairs  would  do  well  enou<.h 
^\^A  ^l*^^!?'"^'  even  though  Leicester  were  d?s- 
&„■     ^,<'°i''^^«JJ<=e  followed  between  Walsingham, 

to  W  M*^  .^"'i^J^^'  """^  *«"  *'^«  tl>^<'«  went  again 
to  her  Majesty.     They  assured  her  that  if  she  did  not 

B^nllTfh  P^  '-'P'  to.^^ti'^fy  the  States'  and  the 
and  W     ^  P^'O^'nces,  she  would  lose  those  countries 

^ev  w  Vr  ^°™'"  ***  *°  '^'"^  t^'"^ :  and  that  then 
woteM?ni  ^^7  *  s^roo  .of  danger  to  her  instead  of 
protection  and  glory.  At  this  she  was  greatly  troubled, 
and  agreed  to  do  anything  they  mi|ht  ^vise  coj 

^  Bruces  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  191,*'^*"'', 

7  April'  -    - 10  April 


1586. 


»  Ibid.  197.  "'^•-I^.  1586. 
10  Apnl 

»  Bruce,  •  Loyc.  Corresp  198.  last  cited. 


432 


THt:  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


) 


\i} 


Kistently  witli  her  lionour.  It  was  then  agreed  that 
Leicester  should  be  continued  in  the  government  which 
he  liad  accepted  until  the  matter  should  bo  further  con- 
sidered, and  letters  to  that  effect  were  at  once  written. 
Then  came  a  messenger  from  Sir  Thomas  Heneage, 
briuo-ina;  despatches  from  that  envoy,  and  a  second  and 
most^'secret  one  from  the  Earl  himself.  Burghley  took 
the  precious  letter  which  the  favourite  had  addressed 
to  his  royal  mistress,  and  had  occasion  to  observe  its 
magical  effect.'  W  aLsingham  and  the  Lord  Treasurer 
had  been  right  in  so  earnestly  remonstrating  with  him 
on  his  preVious  silence.  ,,     a    - 

"  She   read  your   letter/'  said  Burghley,    ''  and,  m 
very  truth,   I  found  her  princely  heart  touched  with 
favourable    interpretation    of   your  actions;   affirming 
them  to  be  only  offensive  to  her  in  that  she  vm  not  rnad^ 
vriw  to  them  ;  not  mw  mulikimj  that  you  luid  the  authority:  ^ 
Such,  at  fifty-three,  was  Elizabeth  Tudor.     A  gentle 
whisper  of  idolatry  from  the  lips  of  the  man  she  loved, 
and  she  was  wax  in  his  hands.     Where  now  were  the 
vehement  protestations  of  horror  that  her  public  declara- 
tion of  principles  and  motives  had  been  set  at  nought? 
AVhere  now  were  her  vociferous  denunciations  ot  the 
States,  her  shrill  invectives  against  Leicester,  her  big 
oaths,  and  all  the  hystenca  passio,  which  had  se^t  poor 
Lord  Burghley  to  bed  with  the  gout,  and  inspired  the 
soul   of  Walsingham  with  dismal   forebodings?     Her 
anger  had  dissolved  into  a  shower  of  tenderness,  and  it 
her  pai-simony  still  remained  it  was  because  that  could 
only  vanish  when  she  too  should  cease  to  be. 

And  thus,  for  a  moment,  the  gi*ave  diplomatic  differ- 
ence  between  the  cro^vn  of  England  and  their  high 
mightinesses  the  United  States-upon  the  solution  of 
which  the  fate  of  Christendom  was  hangmg-seemed  to 
shrink  to  the  dimensions  of  a  lovers  quarrel.  W  as  it 
not  strange  tliat  the  letter  had  been  so  long  delayed .'' 


»  This  letter  was  prolmbly  very  tender 
and  personal,  for  no  trace  of  it  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Knglish  archives. 

«  Bruce'8  '  Leyc  Curresp.'  193,  199, 
3lM*rrh  ^^^g  ^^^^  ^^^^^  wwk^  later. 
10  April' 

after  the  news  of  the  success  of  the  h-arl 
before  Grave  (to  be  d  ■sctJImhI  hi  a  sob- 
sequent  chapter)  had  reached  England 


Walsingham  ob9er\ed  to  Leicester, "  I  do 
assure  your  Lordship  I  think  her  Majesty 
took  OA  much  joy  upon  tlie  view  of  your 
letter,  in  seeing  you  restored  to  your 
firmer  comfort,  grounded  upon  her  fa- 
\  our,  as  she  did  in  the  overthrow  of  the 

enemy.'    Ibid.  230,  y^.  1M6. 


1586.      MAGIC  EFFECT  OF  A  LETTEU  FROM  LEICESTER.    433 

the  States,  an'd  td  gained  'otht^^^^^^  ''^• 

■save  abuse  from  the  Oueen    . ^  1  ^  •  ^      •    <=lo4«ence, 

iVom  the  Earl.    He  ^J^^^ly  TsLZZTC^rr' 
the  cause  of  the  errino-  fivmirifT     i  ^<^^^i  by  pleading 

8h..ld  have  .poke'n'forhlre  r*':.  ?^':Mr%^°""*i 
said  Walsingham,  "  doth  tat,>  it  J  ■      "^''^^", 

your  Lordship  should  conceive  so  h^rl^fT^^^^^'  '^"* 
do.  I  find  the  conceit  of  vC  Lordsl  fn^,  a  ^"^  ""V' 
greatly  dejected  him  But  at  Z^Tl-^  disfavour  hath 
her  Majesty  was  so  incensed  as  aH  tT  "'  ''"  """'''''^ 
^in  the  world  co^lt  hat  ^l^"  tl^! 

remained  the  same  but  tho  n,.!  ,       °  •■"•gumcnts 

that  Leicester  shlhf  tV^rthX"' t"'"' 
natural  that  the  Lord  Treisi.rer  ILf  ?i  ^'  ,  ■"*  """^ 
faction  at  this  auspicious  rcTidt  ^^°""  "^I"*^^^  ^'^  «^««- 

an'owin^yr":"'  LTeiZrV^*"^*''.''  '"^  «»''^'  "- 
spot  of  ?vil  meaCo-  an")  T  ti  .  !^*"'TS  y^"  °f  "">■ 
resolution,.  ^^lohTou  mit  .  "°  '  ^'"^  *°  '"*«*^"  ''e'r 
fevourablJ  gooteiesrVrn^^'t^Lni^'"  ^ 
nahjre  to  throw  over  your  shoulder  hat  Xlit^t"- 
pes'ncX^.^    SS;.t:d%n  K  been'-t/iCnd 

him  on  the  chan-e  In  wT        .  *  T"^  *^  congratulate 
i\.,^       •     •  ^"^^"o^  "1  Jier  Majesty '.s  demeanour      "  Th,^ 

^ZT,'^  T  7'^  ^'^^^  *^^™  ^^th  you  now  "he  sa/d 
and,  thanks  be  to  God  wpII  r»ooifi^:i        i      '         ^^^' 
her '  sweet  Robin:  "^  pacified,  and  you  are  again 

ho  had  be°en  repr^^^^^^^^      as  ^^^1  '"  ?"'  ^^"^^  '''^' 

1     Tlr*iiyvA      t  T ^>t  1 


'  ^««.  'Loyc.  Corresp.'  206,  i  April.  1586. 


2  Ibid.  190,^1^"^'' 


VOL.  r. 


'  Ibid.193,  m.*'"'^'' 

8  April, 


1«  April ' 


1586. 


15S6. 


2   F 


434 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


ciiAr.  vn. 


ijf 


bade  Walsingliam  declare  to  the  Earl,  upon  lier  honour, 
that  Raleigh  had  dune  good  offices  for  him,  and  that  in 
the  time  of  her  anger,  he  had  been  as  earnest  in  his 
defence  as  the  best  friend  could  be.     It  would  have 
been  singular,  indeed,  had  it  been  otherwise.     "  ^our 
Lordship,"  said  Sir  Walter,  -  doth  well  understand  ray 
affection  toward  Spain,  and  how  I  have  consumed  the 
best  part  of  my  fortune,  hating  the  tyrannous  prosperity 
of  that  state.     It  were  strange  and  monstrous  that  i 
should  now  become  an  enemy  to  my  country  and  con- 
science.    All  that  I  have  desired  at  your  Lordships 
hands  is  that  you  will  evermore  deal  directly  with  me 
in  all  matters  of  suspect  doubleness,  and  so  ever  esteem 
me  as  you  shall  find  me  deserving  good  or  bad.     In  the 
mean  time,  let  no  poetical  scribe  work  your  Lordship  by 
any  device  to  doubt  that  I  am  a  hollow  or  cold  servant 

to  the  action." '  ,      , ,  ,_     i 

It  was  now  agreed  that  letters  should  be  drawn  up 
authorising  Leicester  to  continue  in  the  office  which  he 
held,  untilthc  state-council  should  devise  some  moditi- 
cation  in  his  commission.  As  it  seemed,  however,  very 
improbable  that  the  board  would  devise  anything  of 
the  kind,  Burgliley  expressed  the  belief  that  the  country 
was  like  to  continue  in  the  Earl's  government  without 
any  change  wliatever.  The  Lord  Treasurer  was  also  of 
opinion  that  the  (Queen's  letters  to  Leicester  would 
convey  as  much  comfort  as  he  had  received  discomfort ; 
although  he  admitted  that  there  was  a  great  differ- 
ence. Tlie  former  letters  he  knew  had  deeply  wounded 
his  heart,  while  the  new  ones  could  not  suddenly  sink 
so  low  as  the  wound.*  . 

The  despatch  to  the  States-General  was  benignant, 
elaborate,  slightly  diffuse.  Tlie  Queen's  letter  to  '  sweet 
Eobin  '  was  caressing  but  argumentative.  ^   ^ 

"It  is  alwavs  thought,"  said  she,  "  in  the  opinion  of 
the  world,  a  liard  bargain  when  both  parties  are  losei-s, 
and  so  doth  fall  out  in  the  case  between  us  two.  You, 
as  we  hear,  are  greatly  grieved  in  respect  of  the  great 
displeasure  you  find  we  have  conceived  against  you. 
We  are  no  less  grieved  that  a  subject  of  ours  of  that 
quality  that  you  are,  a  creature  of  our  own,  and  one 


1  Bruce,  •  Loyc.  Coircsp.' just  dted. 


t  Ibid.  202, 'l-""f.  1586. 
10  A\>Til, 


1586.     HER.  LETTERS  TO  THE  STATES  .AND  THE  EARL.      435 

ning  of  our  reTg^^iXtl  t'  Z'l'jT  ,:„^<^  ^^ 
contemptuous  y,  as  to  give  the  wmor/ ■  f  •*'  *"  "^'y 
that  wi  are  ha'd'in  co„?empt  b^L  m  hft  ZZ  *°  '""l''^ 
respect  and  reverence  us,  which  wc  r  ntc  ^  """f*  **" 
wrought  as  great  grief  in  us  as  i^ otX:  S  '"''* 
happened  unto  us.  ^  ^^^  *^^*  ^^'"^^ 

•'  ^^e  are  persuaded  that  you  that  linvn^.i        i 
us,  cannot  think  that  evor^eTuh^^^^ 

grieved  and  wounded  mind  Whl;         *  ^"'i^"^  >"'"' 

LX«  *; -•  rH  "£H '-*' 

do  find  so  littfe  ISf  ^''  ""'^'"'''"'  "'«  ourselves 

professeth  to  ve  j'ubJs  ^'S  ^  i'"'  ^^r'^'^ 
your  well  doinc:  or  dU-w  7  7  *  '"'"'''  '^^'^^oH  of 
ourself."'  ^'       '*'*<='""'^"rt  of  your  evil  doing,  than 

"cariy  as  possible  into  hi  tw„  tnds     tV^  T'"'-'^ 

"u'cffrr^'"  *''^  -^'"4  of^bJo^^r^^^^^^^ 
witU:' stt- riro-^L^Th^c'r  ^^^^^^^^ 

2-enorfll      T+  L^     **^"^"&   only  that   of  her   heuteuant- 
tlierefore  willinir  Xt  *l  rovmces,  and  she  was 


'  Bruce,  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  2C9.  April  y^r        u    r.  . 

I  15S6  V"'^'  '^^  ^'^  addressed  a  shorter  letter 

*•          '  of  similar  tenour  to  the  FJarl. 

'Ibid.    Quoen  to  Leicester   ""'"'=»' 30  ^»  h«r   litters  of  the  same  date  to 

16S6-    (S.  P    Office  M*{^    n'   fr^'°'  "7*^^*"' ^''<^  *^«°S^"tul.aed  lK.th  h-rsel/ 

ko.  r.  uffice  MS.)    On  the  duy  and  Uie  envoy  that  he  liad  not  bc-en  SQ 

2  F  2 


436 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


Until  this  soothing  intelligence  could  arrive  in  tlie 
Ketherlands  the  suspicions  concerning  the  underhand 


precipitate  in  executinp,  as  she  had  been 
in  ordaining,  the  condign  and  public 
chastisement  of  the  great  delinquent. 
Sir  Thomas  might,  in  the  humour  in 
which  the  t^een  now  found  herself,  have 
even  ventured  upon  a  still  longer  delay, 
aiid  a  more  decided  mitigation,  of  the 
sentence.  Tender,  Indet-d,  was  the  tone, 
compared  with  that  in  which  she  had  so 
lately  communicated  her  sentiments  to 
the  departing  diplomatist,  in  which  she 
now  expressed  her  satisfaction  that  he 
had  not  been  hasty  In  obeying  "her 
secret  directions  touching  the  revocation 
of  her  cousin  the  Earl's  goveniment." 

•*  We  perceive  by  your  letters,"  she 
observed,  "  that  if  the  same  had  been 
executed  according  to  our  first  purpose, 
it  would  have  wrought  some  dangerous 
alteration  in  the  state  there,  and  utterly 
have  overthrown  the  reputation  and 
credit  of  our  cousin,  no  lets  prejudicial  to 
our  service  than  the  utter  defacing  and 
overthrow  of  one  whom  we  ourselves 
have  raiseii  up,  and  have  always  found 
as  greatly  devoted  to  our  service  as  ever 
sovereign  found  any  subject.  Though 
in  his  late  proceeding  touching  the  ab- 
solute government  he  did  greatly  lor- 
get  himself,  yet  we  would  never  have 
proceeded  against  him  so  severely  had 
not  our  honour  been  touched.  We  are 
well  persuatkHi  that  this  ollence  and  error 
grew  not  out  of  any  evil  m^anins  toward 
"o,  whose  service  we  know  he  doth  prefer 
even  before  his  own  life.  And  although 
we  luve  assured  him  »>  nuuh  by  our 
own  letters,  directed  t<»  him,  yet  we  think 
meet  you  should  lalxinr.  by  all  means,  to 
comfort  him,  whose  mind— as  we  under- 
stand from  yoursi'lf  and  others— is  greatly 
woundtxi  and  overthrown,  and  also  to  re- 
move any  hard  opinion  that  may  be 
formed  against  him.  as  a  man  quite 
shaken  out  of  our  favour."  Queen  to 
Heneage.  April   ~,  1586.  (S.  P.    Office 

MS.) 

She  reiterated  her  instructions  as  to 
the  repairing,  as  handsomely  as  possible, 
of  tlie  luirl's  broken  heart.  In  a  style  which 
was  almost  pathetic. 

"  You  have  been  an  eye-witness,"  she 
said,  *•  of  the  great  love  we  have  always 
borne  him  above  any  subject  we  have,  and 


therefore  you  can  easily  guess  Ihe  grief 
we  should  conceive  if  he  should  miscaiTy. 
We  doubt  not  therefore  that  you  will 
leave  nothing  undone  that  may  salvo  his 
wounded  mind,  and  repair  his  credit.  If 
you  find  the  same  decayed." 

She  was  desirous  that  Sir  Thomas 
should  be  the  medium  through  which 
the  Earl's  pardon  should  be  communi- 
cated to  the  States,  as  he  had  already  been 
the  vehicle  which  had  borne  to  them  her 
wrath.  Although,  therefore,  she  had 
written  to  themselves  very  much  at 
length,  sht'  had  yet  rtserved  certaui  poltitii 
upon  which  they  were  referred  to  the 
envoy  for  details,  This  proceeding  she 
intended  as  an  especial  compliintnt  to 
Heneage.  "  Forasmuch,"  so  she  expressed 
herself,  "  as  you  have  already  yielded  the 
one  part  of  the  scorpion  which  is  to 
wound,  we  think  that  we  should  do  you 
wrong  if  you  should  not  deliver  some 
matter  of  contentment,  whereby  you  may 
cure."    (Ibid.) 

She  then  proceeded  to  handle  the  two 
points  contained  in  the  last  missive  of  the 
States-General  to  herself.  Upon  tlie  lirst, 
namely,  that  the  absolute  government 
conferred  on  the  Earl  was  not  repugnant 
to  the  original  treaty,  and  was  offensive 
rather  In  name  than  In  matter,  she  rea- 
soned at  considerable  length.  Her  KTounds 
of  objection  are,  however,  suflicienily 
well  known.  She  considered  that  the 
acceptance  without  her  permlssit)n  sa- 
voun-d  of  contempt,  and  that  an  implied 
permission  on  her  part  was  an  Impeach- 
ment on  the  self-denying  nature  of  her 
orlpinal  declarations.  She  had  b<?<  n  mcist 
anxious,  therefore,  lest  "  the  world  should 
condemn  her.  as  guilty  of  cunning  and 
unprincely  dealing ; "  nor  had  she  seen 
the  need  of  the  extreme  haste  with 
which  the  matter  had  been  concluded 
without  previous  communication  to  her- 
self. 

As  to  the  second  point  in  the  messnpe 
of  the  States— that  the  Queen  would  lie 
pleased  to  "  stay  the  revocation  of  the 
authority  granted  "  to  Leicester,  because 
of  the  imminent  danger  of  such  a  proceed- 
ing—her  Majesty's  benignity,  comparil 
with  her  ferwlty  but  a  few  short  weeks 
before,  seemed  almost  incredible. 


1586.  SHE  PERMITS  THE  GRANTED  AUTHORITY.  437 

negotiations  with  Spain  grew  daily  more  rife,  and  the 
discredit  cast  upon  the  Earl  more  embarrassino-.     Tlie 


"You  shall  proceed,  in  the  answering 
of  this  point,"  said  she, "  according  to  such 
resolution  as  shall  be  taken  by  our  cousin 
the  Earl,  upon  debathig  the  matter  with 
you  and  such  others  as  he  shall  call  unto 
him  for  that  purpose."    (Ibid.) 

Just  one  fortnight  before,  the  Earl  had 
been  forced  to  statjd,  as  it  were,  in  a  white 
sheet,  with  candle  in  hand,  before  the 
state-council.  His  heart  had  been  broken 
in  consequence,  and  he  hatl  resolved 
never  again  to  appear  in  that  chamber 
■where  he  had  been  maile  to  enact  so  sorry 
a  part.  Now  a  blank  paper  was  fur- 
nished to  himself  and  Heneage,  which 
they  were  to  inscribe  with  the  most  flat- 
tering expressions  that  could  be  desired 
from  royal  lips. 

"  You  shall  use  all  the  persuasions  you 
may,"  said  Elizabeth,  "to  remove  any 
opinion  that  may  be  conceived  by  the 
council  of  state  to  the  hlnderance  or  pre- 
judice of  our  cousin  the  Earl's  former 
reputation,  as  though   the  qualification 
which  we  now  seek  proceeded  of  any  mis- 
like  that  we  had  of  any  honour  that  hath 
been  or  may  be  yielded    to   him.  .  .  . 
Assure  them  that  they  can  no  way  better 
show  the  good-will  they  bear  towards  us 
than  by  continuing  their  former  devotion 
toward  the  Earl,  of  whose  love  and  devo- 
tion towards  us,  you  may  tell  them,  we 
make  that  account  as  of  no  other  subject 
more."    (Ibid.) 

She  then  alluded  to  the  reports  "  thrown 
abroad"  that  she  had  a  secret  intention 
of  treating  for  her  own  peace  with  the 
enemy  apart,  as  "  malicious  bruits  "  :— 
"For  as  our  fortune,"  said  she,  in  the 
the  most  explicit  language  which  pen 
could  write,  "is  so  joined  with  thelr.s, 
tliat  the  good  or  evil  success  of  their 
affairs  must  needs  harm  or  prosjjer  ours, 
so  you  may  assure  them  that  we,  for  our 
part,  are  resolved  to  do  nothing  that  may 
concern  them  without  their  own  knowledge 
and  good  lik-ing."    ( Ibid. ) 

The  despatch  to  the  States-General  was 
very  explicit  on  the  subject  of  the  title, 
but  most  affectionate  In  style. 

••  We  find  by  your  late  letters,"  said 
tie  Queen,  "  that  you  are  greatly  grieved 
through  some  mislike  conceived  by  us 
against  you,  In  respect  of  the  ofifer  to  our 


cousin  of  Ivolcester  of  the  absolute  l'o- 
vei^ment  of  the  United  Provinas  being 
made  without  our  privity,  and  contrary 
to  our  express  commandment  to  the  siiid 
fjarl.    We  pray  you.  In  this  case,  to  con- 
s  der  that  we  were  not  rashly  carried  Into 
this  mislike,  neither  could  we  have  l>een 
drawn  into  so  hani  and  severe  a  course 
had  we  not  Iwn  provoked  by  two  thingj 
that  do  greatly  Import  us  in  honour.  The 
one,  that  the  Ejirl's  acceptation,  contrary 
to  our  commandment,  might  work  in  the 
opinion  of  the  world,  that  it  proceeded  of 
contempt;  the  other,  that  we  sought  to 
abuse  the  world,  iu  pretending  outwardly 
that  our  proceedings  with  those  countries 
tended  only  to  relieve  them  In  their  dls- 
tressed  state  against  such  as  sought  to 
tyrannise  them,  when  tlie  acceptation  of 
the  absolute  government  by  the  Earl, 
being  a  creature  of  our  own.  and  known 
to  be  wholly  at  our  devotion,  could  not 
but  give    them  just  cause  to  conceive 
otherwise  of  us.    A  matter  we  had  just 
cause  to  look  into,  considering  what  a 
number  of  evil  and  malignant  spirits  do 
reign  In  these  days,  that  are  apt,  upc^n 
tlie    least    advantage    that  may  be,    to 
deliver  out  hard  and  wicked  censures  of 
princes'  doings."    Queen  to  the  States- 

^  ,    ao  March 

General,   ^  ^^^.^  ,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

The  States  were  then  reminded  that, 
although  there  was  nothing  absolutely 
incomjKitible  in  the  absolute  goveniment 
as  accepted  by  Leicester  with  the  nature 
of  the  original  treaty,  the  Queen  had  reso- 
lutely set  her  face  from  the  beginning 
against  any  such  step,  because  she  was 
"  loath  to  give  the  world  cause  to  think 
that  she  was  moved  by  any  other  respect 
to  assist  them  than  by  the  love  she  bore 
them  and  the  commiseration  she  had  for 
their  affiiction."    (Ibid.) 

"And  therefore,"  she  continued, "  seeing 
there  was  no  special  matter  contained  In 
the  treaty  that  might  any  v.-ay  give  him 
any  authority  to  accept  the  offer,  reason 
would  that  before  the  matter  had  been 
proceeded  in,  we  had  been  first  made 
acquainted  therewith.  For  we  do  not 
see,  for  anything  that  yet  hath  been 
declared  unto  us  touching  certain  pre- 
tended dangers,  but  that  the  acceptation 


1 


438  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chai-.  VII. 

private  letters  whicli  passed  between  the  Earl's  enemies 
Fn  Holland  and  in  England  contained  matter  more  damag- 
i„<r  to  himself  and  to  the  cause  which  he  had  at  heart 
than  the  more  public  reports  of  modem  days  can  d  s- 
Snare,  which"!  being  pLtent  to  all  can  ^o  more  cas,ly 
contradicted.  Leicester  inces.santly  ^^f^^^?  "^^ 
Icag^tes  of  her  Majesty's  council  against  the  malignant 

mamifacturers  of  intelligence      "  I  P'"''/ ;^°"; "  f,  ^^Cu 

as  von  are  wise,"  said  he,  " beware  of  them  all.     iou 

'Jhall  find  them  here  to  bo  .M  pick-thinks,  and  hardly 

worth  the  heuikening  unto."  '  *i,  *  wo«  Lpaned" 

He  complained  bitterly  of  the  disgrace  that  ^v"«  ^eapeJ 

upon  him  both  publicly  and  privately,  «»d  of  the  e^.l 

consequences  which  were  sure  to  follow  ?;«««'«  «°"'^^^. 

pursued.     "  Never  was  man  so  villanonsly  handled  by 

etters  out  of  England  as  1  have  been,    «aid  he   _  not 

only  advertising  her  Ma  csty's  great  di.liko  ^1*1  ."« 

Se  this  my  "coming  "^ •  ^"\**M  7^^^  »"  "'l'^, 
min  in  England,  and  so  long  as  I  tarried  here  that  no 
Tip  was  to%e  iJoked  for,  thai  her  Majesty  would  send 


thereof  might  have  beon  d.'luye<i  tintU 
onr  pleasure  had  been  first  known.    We 
hope  iJiat  you  have  put  on  tliat  conceit  of 
us.  as  we  would  have  l>een  loath,  either  In 
relpect  of  yourselves  or  of  our  cousin  the 
Karl,  to  have  proceeded  so  severely  as  we 
Intei'idwl.  if  we  hud  not  Ixnn  Justly  pro- 
v.'kiHl    thereunto.    For   yourst>lvcs.  our 
love  towaixls  you  cannot  more  plainly 
appear  than  in  that  we  do  opi^ose  our- 
selves, for  your  sake,  unto  one  of  the 
mightiest  p«»tenUtes  In  Europe,  without 
n^Md  either  to  the  expense  of  our  trea- 
sure, or  of  our  subjrcto'  lives.    And  as 
touching  the  l-Jii  I,  all  the  world  knowelh 
that  he  Is  one  of  onr  own  raising,  and  we 
do  acknowledge  that  no  man  can  airry 
moro  love  than  he  hath  ever  shewed  to 
bear    towards    ua.    And   touching    the 
ctuse  of  this  our  prest^nt  offence,  we  do 
acknowledge  our   pt^rsuaslon    that   the 
same  proceeded  of  no  evil  meaning  to 
wards   us.  though   good  intents   many 
times  bring  forth  dangerous   and   evil 
frulta.    If  the  offence  hatl  not  grown  out 
of  a  public  and  op«'n  action,  none  would 
have  been  more  ready  to  have  hidden  the 
same  than  ourselves.  Therelore.  we  pray 
you  U)  think  that  this  mlsllke  of  ours 
hatU  grown  rather  out  of  grief,  In  respect 


of  the  love  we  bear  him,  than  out  of 
indignation,  as  one  of  whom  we  have  con- 
ceived a  minister  opinlt)ii,  whom  we  do 
esteem  jvs  greatly  devote  d  towards  ua  as 
ever  subject  was  to  prlnc?;  and  so  we 
hope  you  will  use  him,  without  either 
diminishing  any  part  of  tliut  good-will 
and  love  that  y<mhave  hitherto  professeil 
Ujwards  him,  or  leaving  that  respect  that 
Is  due  unto  him  as  our  mitilster,  or  that 
he  may  Justly  challenge  at  your  handn. 
who.  for  your'sakes.  Is  content  to  expose 
both  his  life  and  fortune  unto  any  peril, 
which    Is  not  the  Icjisl  cause  why  wo 
esteem  so  greatly  of  him.     And  whenas. 
by  your  late  letters,  you  have   slgidfle»l 
that  the  commission  and  authority  grant- 
ed unto  him  cannot  be  revoked  without 
great  p<rll  to  the  state,  we  liave  given 
authority  to  our  cousin   the    Fj\rl.  and 
to  our  servant  Sir  Thomas  Ileneage.  to 
oMifer  with  you  upon  8«jme  course   to 
ha  taken,  as  we  conceive  both  onr  honour 
maybe  savni  and  the  pt>rll  avolde«l.    We 
pray  you  to  bend  y..ur*lves  U)  do  that, 
as  both  the  one  and  the  other  may  be 
provided  for."    (Ibid.) 

»  Leicester  to  Burghley,  --  April,  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


SSC.        UNHAPPY  RESULTS  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  COUUSE.     439 

no  more  men  or  money,  and  that  I  was  nsed  here  but  for 
a  time  till  a  jieace  were  concluded  between  her  Majesty 
and  the  Prince  of  Parma.  What  the  cuntinuance  of  a 
man's  discredit  thus  will  turn  out  is  to  be  thouo-ht  of 
for  better  1  were  a  thousand  times  displaced  than  that 
her  Majesty's  great  advantage  of  so  notable  Provinces 
should  be  hindered."  ' 

As  to  the  peace-negotiations— which,  hoAvever  cun- 
ningly managed,  could  not  remain  entirely  concealed— 
the  Earl  declared  them  to  be  as  idle  as  they  were  disin- 
genuous. "  I  will  boldly  pronounce  that  all  the  peace 
you  can  make  in  the  world,  leaving  these  countries  " 
said  he  to  Burghley,  "  wnll  never  prove  other  than  a  fair 
spring  for  a  few  days,  to  be  all  over  blasted  with  a  hard 
storm  after."*  Two  days  later  her  Majesty's  comforting- 
letters  amved,  and  the  Earl  began  to  raise  his  droopin^ 
head.  Heneage,  too,  was  much  relieved,  but  he  was,  at 
the  same  time,  not  a  little  perplexed.  It  was  not  to 
easy  to  und(j  all  the  mischief  created  by  the  Queen's 
petulance.  Tlie  "  scorpion's  sting  "—as  her  Majesty  ex- 
pressed herself— might  be  balsamed,  but  the  poison  had 
spread  far  beyond  the  original  wound. 

"The  letters  just  brought  in,"  wrote  Heneao-e  to 
Burghley,  '*  have  well  relieved  a  most  noble  and ''suffi- 
cient servant,  but  1  fear  they  will  not  restore  the  much- 
repaired  wrecks  of  these  far-decayed  noble  countries 
into  the  same  state  I  found  them  in.  A  loose,  disordered, 
and  unknit  state  needs  no  shaking,  but  propping.  A 
subtle  and  fearful  kind  of  people  should  not  be  made 
more  distrustful,  but  assured."  *«  He  then  expressed  an- 
noyance at  the  fault  already  found  with  him,  and  surely 
if  ever  man  had  cause  to  complain  of  reproofs  admi- 
nistered him,  in  quick  succession,  for  not  obeying  contra- 
dictory directions  following  upon  each  other  as*quickly, 
that  man  was  Sir  Thomas  Heneage.  He  had  been,  as 
he  thought,  over  cautious  in  administering  the  rebuke 
to  the  Earl's  arrogance,  which  he  had  been  exi)ressly 
sent  over  to  administer;  but  scarcely  had  he  accom- 
plished his  task,  with  as  much  delicacy  as  he  could 
devise,  when  he  found  himself  censured,  not  for  dila- 
toriness,  but  for  liaste.     '*  J^aidt,  1  perceive,''  said  he  to 

J  I>>ice8t€r  to  Burghley.  MS.  last  cited.       s  «,.„„„„„  , .  «      , ,       «  .     .. 

2  lua.  Heneage  to  Burghley,  ^^  April,  1586. 

S.  P.  Office  31S.) 


•«  .-;:,»».•>  a^^ 


440 


THE  UNITED  NETFIIIILANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


1586. 


HEK  VARIABLE  MOODS. 


441 


Bnrgbley,  "  is  found  in  me,  not  by  your  Lordship,  but  by 
some  other,  that  I  did  not  stay  proceeding  if  1  found  tJiepaUui 
cmise  might  take  hurt.  It  is  true  I  bad  good  warrant  for 
the  manner,  the  place,  and  the  persons,  hnt  ior  the  matter 
wne,  for  done  it  must  he.  Her  Majesty's  offence  must  be 
declared.  Yet  if  I  did  not  all  I  possibly  could  to  uphold 
the  cause,  and  to  keep  the  tottering  cause  upon  the 
wheels,  1  desei-ve  no  thanks,  but  reproof."  ' 

Certainly,  when  the  blasts  of  royal  rage  are  remem- 
bered, by  which  the  envoy  had  been,  as  it  were,  blown 
out  of  England  into  Holland,  it  is  astonishing  to  find  his 
actions  censured  for  undue  precipitancy.  But  it  was 
not  the  first,  nor  was  it  likely  to  bo  the  last  time  lor 
comparatively  subordinate  agents  in  Elizabeth's  govern- 
ment to  be  distressed  by  contradictory-  commands,  when 
the  sovereign  did  not  know,  or  did  not  choose  to  make 
known,  her  own  mind  on  importiint  occasions.  *'  Well, 
my  Lord,"  said  plaintive  Sir  Thomas,  "  wiser  men  may 
serve  more  pleasingly  and  happily,  but  never  shall  any 
serve  her  Majesty  more  faithfully  and  heartily.  And  so 
I  cannot  be  persuaded  her  Majesty  thinketh  ;  for  from 
herself  I  find  nothing  but  most  sweet  and  gracious 
favour,  though  by  others'  censures  I  may  gather  other- 
wise of  her  judgment,  which  I  confess  doth  cumber 


"  a 


me. 

He  was  destined  to  be  cumbered  more  than  once  before 
these  negotiations  should  be  concluded,  but  meantime 
there  was  a  brief  gleam  of  sunshine.  The  English  friends 
of  Leicester  in  the  Netherlands  were  enchanted  with 
the  sudden  change  in  the  Queen's  humour  ;  and  to  Lord 
Burghley,  who  was  not,  in  reality,  the  most  stanch  of 
the  absent  Earl's  defenders,  they  poured  themselves  out 
in  profuse  and  somewhat  superfluous  gratitude.* 

Cavendish,  in  strains  exultant,  was  sure  that  Hurghley's 
children,  grandchildren,  and  remotest  posterity,  would 
rejoice  that  their  great  ancestor,  in  such  a  time  of  need, 
had  been  "  found  and  felt  to  be  indeed  a  pater  patrite,  a 


«  I^etter  to  Burgbley.  MS.  last  cited. 

»  Ibid. 

»  North  to  Burghley,  -  April,  1586. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

N'o  greater  mistake  could  have  been 
made  than  to  insinuate,  as  I.elccster'a 
ikiglisli  correspoudeuts  had  Insinuated, 


that  North  was  a  secn-t  enemy  to  IxMces- 
ter.andhad  maligned  him  in  hib  letters  to 
influential  personages  at  home.  I  have 
read  many  of  Northe  unpublished  letters 
to  Burghley  and  other  statesmen,  and 
they  all  speak  of  the  Earl  in  strongest 
language  of  admiration  and  attachment. 


good  father  to  a  happy  land."  And,  altliough  unwillin"- 
to  "  stir  up  the  old  Adam  "  in  his  Lordship's  soul,  he  vet 
took  the  liberty  of  comparing  the  Lord  Treasurer,  in  his 
old  and  declining  years,  to  Mary  Magdalen,  assuring  him, 
that  tor  ever  after,  when  the  tale  of  the  preservation  of 
the  Church  of  God,  of  her  Majesty,  and  of  the  Nether- 
land  cause,  which  were  all  one,  should  be  told,  his  name 
and  well  doing  would  be  held  in  memory  also.' 

And  truly  there  was  much  of  honest  and  generous  en- 
thusiasm, even  if  couched  in  language  somewhat  startliii"- 
to  the  eai-s  of  a  colder  and  more  material  age,  in  the 
hearts  of  these  noble  volunteers.  ITiey  were  fio-htino- 
the  cause  of  England,  of  the  Netherland  republic,  and 
ot  human  liberty,  with  a  valour  worthy  the  best  days  of 
English  chivalry,  against  manifold  obstacles,  and  they 
were  certainly  not  too  often  cheered  by  the  beams  of 
royal  favour. 

It  was  pity  that  a  dark  cloud  was  so  soon  again  to 
sweep  over  the  scene.     For  the  temper  of  Elizabeth  at 
this  important  juncture  seemed  as  capricious   as   the 
April  weather  in  which  the  scenes  were  enacting      A\  e 
have  seen  the  genial  warmth  of  her  letters  and  messao-es 
to  Leicester,  to  licneage,  to  the  States-General  on  The 
first  of  the  month.     Nevertheless  it  was  hardly  three 
weeks  after  they  had  been  despatched,  when  W'alsino-- 
ham  and  Burghley  found  her  Majesty  one  morning  in^a 
towering  passion,  because  the  Earl  had  not  already  laid 
down  the  government.     The  Lord  Treasurer  ventured 
to  remonstrate,  but  was  bid  to  hold  his  tongue.     Ever 
variable  and  mutable  as  woman,  Elizabeth  was  perplex- 
ing and  baffling  to  her  counsellors,  at  this  epoch,  beyond 


'  Richard   Cavendish  to  Burghley,   — 

April.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

"  It  may  please  j-ou  to  think  with 
yourself  what  a  favour  the  Ix)rd  hath 
liereln  bestowed  upon  you  in  these  your 
old  and  declining  years,  nanxiy,  from 
yt'ur  good  and  happy  labours  to  adoni 
your  posterity  with  the  note  of  this  most 
Just  and  worthy  renown,  that  such  a 
father,  a  grandfather,  or  ancestor  of  theirs, 
hi  such  a  needful  time,  was  both  foimd 
and  fell  to  be  indeed  pater  patriae,  a  good 
father  to  a  happy  land.  Suspicion  of 
flattery  ought  of  right  to  be  secluded. 


where  assured  truth  doth  etiforcethe  con- 
clusion.   Neither  do  1  write  this  to  stir 
up   in    your    Lordship  old    Adam,   but 
knowing  you  well  have  learned  Christ.  I 
do  It  only  to  quicken  in  you  the  Jov  of 
well-doing,  grounded   upon  faith.     For 
If  the    I»i-d    himself  refrained   not    to 
add   unlo  Mary   Magdalen's  well-dolng 
this  ornament  unto  her  name  for  ever, 
that  wheresoever  the  Gospel  should  be' 
preached,    there   should    also    the   me- 
morial of  that  her  act  be  had  in  record, 
then  doubt  I  not  but  tliat  example  may 
well  warrant  me,"  &c. 


.«»-*- 


; 


442 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


all  divination.  The  "  sparing  humour  "  was  increasing 
fearfully,  and  she  thought  it  would  be  easier  fur  her  to 
slip  out  of  the  whole  expensive  enterprise,  provided 
Leicester  were  merely  her  lieutenant-general,  and  not 
stadholder  for  the  Provinces.  Moreover  the  secret  ne- 
gotiations for  peace  were  producing  a  deleterious  effect 
upon  her  mind.  Upon  this  subject,  the  Queen  and 
Burghley,  notwithstanding  his  resemblance  to  Maiy 
Magdalen,  were  better  informed  than  the  Secretary, 
whom,  however,  it  had  been  impossible  wholly  to  de- 
ceive. The  man  who  could  read  secrets  so  far  removed 
as  the  Vatican  was  not  to  be  blinded  to  intrigues  going 
on  before  his  face,  llie  Queen,  without  revealing  more 
than  she  could  help,  had  been  obliged  to  admit  that  in- 
fonnal  transactions  were  pending,  but  had  authorised  the 
Secretary  to  assure  the  United  States  that  no  treaty 
would  be  made  without  their  knowledge  and  full  con- 
currence. ''She  doth  think,"  wrote  Walsingham  to 
Leicester,  "  that  you  should,  if  you  shall  see  no  cause 
to  the  contrary,  acquaint  the  council  of  state  there  that 
certain  overtures  of  peace  are  daily  made  unto  her,  but 
that  she  meaneth  not  to  proceed  therein  without  their  good 
Ukincf  and  pnmty,  being  persuaded  that  there  can  no  peace 
be  made  profitable  or  sure  for  her  that  shall  not  also 
stand  with  their  siifety  ;  and  she  doth  acknowledge  hei-s 
to  bo  80  linked  with  theirs  as  nothing  can  fall  out  to  their 
prejudice,  but  she  must  be  partaker  of  their  harm."  > 

This  communication  was  dated  on  the  21st  April,  ex- 
actly three  weeks  after  the  Queen's  letter  to  Heneage, 
in  which  she  had  spoken  of  tlie  "  malicious  bruits"  con- 
cerning the  pretended  peace-negotiations ;  and  the 
Secretaiy  was  now  confirming,  by  her  order,  what  she 
had  then  stated  under  her  own  hand,  that  she  would 
"  do  nothing  that  might  concern  them  without  their  own 
knowledge  and  good  liking  J* 

And  surely  nothing  could  bo  more  reasonable.  Even 
if  the  strict  letter  of  the  August  treaty  between  the 
(^ueen  and  the  States  did  not  provide  against  any  sepa- 
rate negotiations  by  the  one  party  without  the  know- 
ledire  of  the  other,  there  could  be  no  doubt  at  all  that 
its  spirit  absolutely  forbade  the  clandestine  conclusion 

tl  April 

»  Bruce'8  •  Leyc.  Corrcsp.'  232,  -f'tu'   ^*®'* 


1586.        SHE  ATTEMPTS  TO  DECEIVE  WALSINGHAM.         443 

of  a  peace  with  Spain  by  Englaml  alone,  or  by  the  Xc- 
herlands  alone,  and  that  such  an  arrangcn.ent  wouKl 
be  disingennons,  If  not  positively  dishononrable. 

>,»^   k''      !  f""  ''  r"'*^  *'""""*  ««'<>">  th'it  Elizabeth 
had  been  taking  advantage  of  the  day  when  she  Is 

wratmg  her  letter  to  Heneage  on  the  Ist  of  A, 
Xever  was  painstaking  envoy  more  elaborately  tr  fled 
with.  On  the  2(ith  of  the  month-and  only  five  d"v8 
after  the  coinmnnication  by  Walsingham  ji.st  noticcd- 
the  Queen  was  furions  that  any  admission  should  have 
been  made  to  the  States  of  their  right  to  particitto 
with  her  m  peace-negotiations.  ^    "cipato 

"  W  e  find  that  Sir  ITiomas  Ilcneasce  "  said  she  to 
Leicester,  ..hath  gone  further-in  assuring^he  S^te^ 
that  we  would  make  no  peace  without  their  privitv  and 
assent-than  he  had  commission;  for  that  our  direc 
tion  was  -If  our  meaning  had  been  well  set  dov™  and 
not  m.s  aken  by  our  Secretary-that  they  should'havo 
been  only  let  understand  that,  in  any  treaty  that  mioht 
pass  between  us  and  Spain,  they  might  be  well  ai  red 
we  would  have  no  less  care  of  their°safety  than  of  our 

Secretaiy  Walsingham  was  not  likely  to  mistake  her 

llTl^'  Ar"'""'  'V^\''  ^"^  other^important  ato 
ot  state.      Moreover,  it  so  happened  that  the  Queen  had 

m  her  own  letter  to  Heneage,  made  the  same  statenient 
which  she  now  chose  to  disavow.  She  had  often  a  con- 
venient way  of  making  herself  misunderstood,  when  slie 
thought  It  desirable  to  shift  responsibility  from  her  own 
shoulders  upon  those  of  others ;  but  upon  this  occa- 
sion she  had  been  sufficiently  explicit.  Nevertheless  a 
scapegoat  was  necessary,  and  unhappy  the  subordinate 
who  happened  to  be  .N-ithin  her  Majesty's  reach  when  a 
vicarious  sacrifice  was  to  be  made.      Sir  Francis  \\  al- 

1  Queen  to  Leicester,  *'^^I'-"-.i586.  (S. 
P.  Office  MS.)  '  *"^ 

Almost  the  same  words  wore  used  In  a 
letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Heneage  of  the  same 

.    .       86  April 
^^'     «  May  •    ^5*«-      (S-    P-    Office    MS.) 

Printed  .ilso  in  Bruce,  p.  241,  from  a  copy 
in  the  handwriting  of  Heneage  in  the 
British  Museum. 

2  "When    she   chargeth   your   Lord- 
»lilp,"  wrote   Walsingham  to  Leicester, 


(-  May,  15S6),  "with  the  acquainting 
the  council  of  State  there  with  th^  ovr-r- 
tures  of  peace  made  unto  her  by  tht-  Pi  In(  e 
of  Parma  as  a  fault,  herein  your  Lord-hip 
is  wronged,  for  the  fault  is  mine,  if  Miiy 
were  committed.  But  in  vtry  truth,  ghg 
gave  me  commavdment  to  direct  you  to 
acquaint  them  v-ithal,  though  nmi  the  does 
tfewy  it.  I  have  received,  within  the.>;e 
few  days,  many  of  these  hard  measurcb." 
Brace's  '  Ltyc,  Corn sp."  p.  272. 


I 


||||[^|||||||j|j|{|||:)l|||g:]||{g  , 


444 


THE  UNITED  ^LTHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


singliani  was  not  a  man  to  be  brow-beaten  or  hood- 
winked, but  Heneage  was  doomed  to  absorb  a  feaiful 
amount  of  royal  wrath. 

"What  phlegmatical  reasons  soever  were  made 
you,'*  wrote  the  Queen,  who  but  three  weeks  before  had 
been  so  gentle  and  aftectionate  to  her  ambassador,  "  liow 
happeneth  it  that  you  will  not  remember,  that  when  a 
man  hath  faulted  and  committed  by  abettors  tliereto, 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  \n\l  willingly  make  their 
owTi  retreat.  Jesus!  whiit  availeth  wit,  when  it  fails 
the  owner  at  greatest  need  ?  Do  that  you  are  bidden, 
and  leave  your  considerations  for  your  own  affairs.  For 
in  some  things  you  had  clear  commandment,  which  you 
did  not,  and  in  others  none,  and  did.  We  princes  be 
wary  enough  of  our  bargains.  Think  you  I  will  be 
bound  by  your  own  speech  to  make  no  peace  for  mine  oicn 
vuitters  without  their  consent  ?  It  is  enough  that  I  injure  not 
tlieir  count)^  nor  tfiemselves  in  making  peace  for  them  without 
tfieir  consent.  I  am  assured  of  your  dutiful  thoughts,  but 
I  am  utterly  at  squares  with  this  childish  dealing."  * 

Blasted  by  this  thunderbolt  iiiUing  upon  his  head  out 
of  serenest  sky,  the  said  Sir  Thomas  remained,  for  a 
time,  in  a  state  of  political  annihilation.  "  Sweet  Rubin  " 
meanwhile,  though  stunned,  was  unscathed— thanks  to 
the  convenient  conductor  at  his  t^ide.  For,  in  Eliza- 
beth's court,  mediocrity  was  not  always  golden,  nor  was 
it  usually  the  loftiest  mountains  that  the  lightnings 
smote.  The  Earl  was  deceived  by  his  royal  mistress, 
kept  in  the  dark  as  to  impoi-tant  transactions,  left  to 
provide  for  his  famishing  soldiers  as  he  best  might ;  but 
the  Queen  at  that  moment,  though  angry,  was  not  dis- 
posed to  trample  upon  him.  Tsow  that  his  heart  was 
known  to  be  broken  and  his  sole  object  in  life  to  be 
retirement  to  remote  regions — India*  or  elsewhere— 
tliere  to  languish  out  the  brief  remainder  of  his  days  in 
prayers  for  Elizabeth's  happiness,  Elizabeth  was  not 
inclined  very  bitterly  to  upbraid  him.  She  had  too 
recently  been  employing  herself  in  binding  up  his 
bi-oken  heart,  and  pouring  balm  into  the  "scorpion's 
sting,"  to  be  willing  so  soon  to  deprive  him  of  those 
alle\iation8. 

.„  _  «  April,,.-  ^^     from  a  copy  In  the  handwriting  of  Hene- 

1  QueentoHeneage.  -,  ^^^ .  1586.  (S.P.    ^^^  ^^  ^^^  p^,^  ^^^ 

Office  MS.)  Printed  also  in  Brace  (p.  243),       a  Bracc't  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  p.  21 7. 


^s 


1586. 


HER  INJUSTICE  TO  HENEAGE. 


445 

Her  tone  was,  however,  no  longer  benignant,  and  her 
directions  were  extremely  peremptory.     On  the  1st  of 
Apnl  she  had  congratulated  Leicester,  Heneage    the 
States  and  all  the  world,  that  her  secret  command;  had 
been  stayed,  and  that  the  ruin  which  wouM  W  fol 
owed,  had  those  decrees  been  executed  accordin/to 
her  first  violent  wish,  was  fortunately  averted      IJe 
neage    was    even    censured,    not   by   hei-elf    Lnf   1 
courtiers  in  her  confidence  and  witLercoL^;!^^^^ 
for  being  over  hast,  in  going  before  the  state  com  oil   a ^ 

he  ooth  nT A  ""•  \^''  '^''''^''  ^^^  commands      On' 
the  2Gth  of  April  she  expressed  a^stonishment  that  He 
neage  had  dared  to  be  ..  dilaforg,  and  that  the  title  of 

hanP""  Sh/'*  ^''u  Y""  ^^"^  ^y  Leicester  Zut  / 
strlL.  il    f  .  ^f^7^"^d   greatly,    and   found   it   very 
strange  that  "  ministers  in  matters  of  moment  shn^ilrl 
presume  to  do  things  c^  their  own  head'Sut" 
ho   ;.  accordingly  gave  orders  that  there  should 

be  no  more  dallying,  but  that  the  Earl  should  i 
media  ely  hold  a  conference  with  the  state-council  ?n 
order  to  arrange  a  modification  in  his  commiss  on  It 
was  her  pleasure  that  he  should  retain  all  he  ^utho 
niy  granted  to  him  by  the  States,  but  as  aWv 
intimated  by  her,  that  he  should  abandon  the  t  tie  o^f 
absolute  governor,"  and  retain  only  that  of  hoi 
heutenant-general.«  ^  ^^    ^^^^ 

«ihll^!.'*-f'!?^^  ^^""^  Heneage,  placed  in  so  respon- 
sible a  situation  and  with  the  f^xte  of  England  of 
Holland,  and  perhaps  of  all  Christendom,  hano-  n-  in 
great  measure  upon  this  delicate  negotiation  shmid  b^ 
amazed  at  such  contiadictoi^^  orders,  anrgrTeved  by 
such  inconsistent  censures  ?  ^  ^ 

wrJ""  i^^^  y""''  "^^V  S''^'''^^  ''^"^  "^y  lacks,"  said  he  to 
Walsmgham,  "would  little  pleasi  you  or  help  me 
Iherefore  I  will  say  nothing,  but  think  there  was  neve; 
man  in  so  great  a  seivice  received  so  little  comfmr.^.? 
so  contrarious  directions.  But  *  Dominus  estTdt  w 
tribulationibus.'  If  it  be  possibSm:  rt^^':oZ 
certam  direction,  in  following  which  I  shalTnot  oS 

1  Queen  to  Leicester,  ^~^\  i586.  (S.P.        '  ^^'d.    See  also  Queen  to  Honoage 

Office  AIS.)  '      ,,ui.        faniedate.    (S.  P.  Office  MS. ;  and  priuted 

iDia.       in  Bruce,  p.  242.) 


H 


Pi 


446 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


I'i 


her    Majesty,    what    good    or  hurt   soever  1    do  he- 
sides  " ' 

Th'is  certainly  seemed  a  loyal  and  reasonahle  request, 
yet  it  was  not  one  likely  to  he  granted.     Sir  Thomas, 
perplexed,  puzzled,  hlindfolded,  and  hrow-heaten,  al- 
ways endeavouring  to  obey  orders  when  he  could  com- 
prehend them,  and  always  hectored  and  lectured  whether 
he  obeyed  them  or  not-ruined  in  purse  by  the  expenses 
of  a  mission  on  which  he  had  been  sent  without  ade- 
quate salarj^-appalled  at  the  disaffection  waxing  more 
lormidable  every  hour   in   Provinces  which  were   re- 
cently so  loyal  to  her  Majesty,  but  which  were  now 
pervaded  by  a  suspicion  that  there  was  aouble-dealiug 
upon  her  part-because  quite  sick  of  his  life.     He  fell 
seriously  ill,  and  was  disappointed,  when,  after  a  time, 
tlie  physicians  declared  him  convalescent,     i^  or  when 
he  rose  from  his  sick-bed,  it  was  only  to  plunge  once 
more,  without  a  clue,  into  the  labyrinth  where  he  seemed 

to  be  losing  his  reason..  „r  ,  •  i  ..  •  t 
"It  is  not  long,"  said  he  to  Walsingham,  " since  1 
looked  to  have  written  you  no  more  letters,  my  extre- 
mity was  BO  great But  God's  will  is  best ;  other- 
wise I  could  have  liked  better  to  have  cumbered  the 
earth  no  longer,  where  I  find  myself  contemned,  and 
which  1  find  no  reason  to  see  will  be  the  better  m  the 

wearing'- It  were  better  for  her  Majesty's  service 

that  the  directions  which  come  were  not  contrarious  one 
to  another,  and  that  those  you  would  have  serve  might 
know  what  is  meant,  else  they  cannot  but  much  deceive 
you,  as  well  as  displease  you."  * 

Public  opinion  concerning  the  political  morality  ot 
the  English  court  was  not  gratifying,  nor  was  it 
rendered  more  favourable  by  these  recent  transactions. 
-1  fear,"  said  Ileneage,  "that  the  world  will  judge 
what  Champagny  wrote  in  one  of  his  letters  out  of 
England  (which  I  have  lately  seen)  to  be  over  trite. 
His  words  be  these,  '  Et  de  vray,  c'est  le  plus  fascheux 
ot  le  plus  incertiiin  negocier  de  ceste  court,  que  je 
pense  soit  au  monde.'  "  *  And  so  "  hasting,"  as  he  said, 
"  with  a  weak  body  and  a  willing  mind,  to  do,  he 
feared,  no  good  work,"  he  set  forth  from  Middelburg 

1  Heneage  to  WaLsinghtun.  ^  May.  1 586.       «  Same  to  same,  1  May.  15S6.  (S.  P. 


(S.  P  Office  Md.) 


Office  MS.) 


•Ibid. 


1586. 


HIS  PERPLEXlir  AND  DISTRESS. 


447 
to  rejoin  Leicester  at  Arnheim,  in  order  to  obey  as  well 

if  .'?l^'  ^H  ^"""^'^  ^^^^«*  directions.'         ^ '  " 

iiut   before   he  could  set  to  work  fli^r^  r.o,., 
;'c.p„trari.,us"  orders.     The  iJi^MLTH:?. 
Leicester  and  himself,  were  that  the  EarF  hould  r^si-^ 
the  post  of  governor  absohite  "  out  of  hand  "  l^wP 
ueen  had  been  vehement  in  denounig":';  delL  on 
such  an   occasion.      He  was  now  informed  thnfnft 
consulting  with  Leicester  and  with  the  stato  1'        ,'' 
he  was  to  return  to  England  witrthert^J^ttS 
Fnr^'   n"'\  -^^  T\'^  ^  afterwards  decided  how    ,e 
Ear  could  retain  aU  the  authority  of  governor  absohe 

~^«"'"fCii;!''-'  '''''  ^'  'he  Qien'slL"^: 

"  that  i,;«  T^  J  ^-  f  °,'."S  '"  ""'•  ^'^  Walsiugham 
that  his  Lordship  should  presently  give  it  over  T,r 
she  foreseeth  in  her  princely  iudjnuf.n+tl/i  ."^^r-.'"' 
over  the  government  ?,pon7  Sn  anlwl^^jr"^^ 
countries  without  a  heid  or  director'  cannot  b.^t^^'^^ 
»  most  dangerous  alteration  ther;!"»'~  seeretrrv 
therefore  stated  the  royal  wish  at  mesoJfc,hT?!T2' 
•'renunciation  of  the'  title"  sUrbe  dew"  tiU 
lleneage  could  visit  England,  and  subsequentty  return 

the  as^^"i'  ^i''-\  Majesty's  further  dir^cetionrEve™ 

tJie  astute  W  alsingham  was  himself  puzzled  howevo, 

while  conveying  these  ambiguous  orders    Vndh^.' 

fessed   that  he  was  doubtful  whether  1^'  i  ad  rW. '  J 

comprehended  the  Queen's  intentions.     Bw^Wey  t>;^ 

ever,  was  better  at  guessing  riddles  than  he  was  "nd 

so  I  eneagc  Mas  advised  to  rely  chiefly  upon  Kighlo- 

But  Hencage  had  now  ceased  to  be  interested  in  m^ 

enigmas  that  luightbe  propomided  hy  iClngutCotu! 

«or  could  he  find  comfort,  as  Walsingham  had  recoml 


Hene.iRe  to  Burghley,  same  date  (S.  P. 
OfTue  MS.)   "  For  her  M^esty's  service," 
said  he  to  the  Lord  Treastirer,  as  he  had 
MJd  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  "  it  wero 
vory  convenient,  that  sudi  as  you  would 
have  serve  you  here  might  know  tnUy 
what  you  meiui,  and  might  accordingly 
hive cort.iin  directions  what  to  do.    And 
surely  Jiitherto.  so  have  not  I  had,  wliich 
Is  the  only  cause  why  I  cannot  in  this  ser- 
vice  please  you  there,  which  God  knoweth 
1  most  care  for.  If  J  could  tell  how." 

'  \\'alsirigliam    to    Heneage.  '*  May, 


1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
^  Same  to  same.    Same  date 

Mbid  "This  I  take  to  l;  the  sub. 
sUtnce  of  her  Majesty's  pleasure."  sa.d 
Sir  Hancis."  which  she  willed  both  the 
I/.rd  Ireasurer  and  Mr.  Vice-Cham l>er- 
la.n.  together  with  myself,  to  signify  unto 
yuu  praying  you,  for  that  I  think  my 
l.ord  Treasurer  hath  best  conc^-ived  her 
Majesty's  meaning,  that  you  will  cln.  fly 
rely  upon  such  direction  as  you  biiall 
receive  from  blm."    MS.  last  cited 


i:! 


f! 


448 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


mended  ho  should  do,  in  railing.  "  I  wish  I  conld 
follow  your  counsel,"  he  said,  -  but  sure  the  uttering 
of  my  choler  doth  little  ease  my  gnef  or  help  my 


»» 1 


He  rebuked,  however,  the  inconsistency  and  iho  ter- 
giversations  of  the  government  with  a  good  dea  of 
dLmitv  "  This  certainly  shall  I  tell  her  Majesty,  ho 
safd  '^if  I  live  to  see  her,  that  except  a  more  constant 
course  be  taken  with  this  inconstant  people  it  is  not 
the  blaming  of  her  ministers  will  advance  her  Highness  s 
ser^'ice,  or  better  the  state  of  things.  And  shall  I  tell 
von  what  they  now  say  here  of  u«-I/f^^^^^^  "^^^^^ 
;ome  cause-even  as  Lipsius  wrote  of  the  French  '  Do 
Gallis  quidem  enigmata  veniunt,  non  veniunt,  voiunt, 
nolunt,  andent,  timent,  omnia,  ancipiti  metu,  suspcnsa 
et  suspecta.'     God  grant  better,  and  ever  keep  you  and 

'^le'^announced   to   Burghley  that  he   was  about  to 
attend  a  meeting  of  the  state-council  the  next  day,  for 
the  puiTOso  of  a  conference  on  these  matters  at  Amheim 
and  that  he  would  then  set  forth  for  England  to  report 
proceedings  to  her  Majesty.      He   supposed    on   the 
whole,  that   this  was  what  was  expected  of  him  but 
acknowledged  it  hopeless  to  fathom  the  royal  intentions. 
Yet  if  he  went  wrong,  he   was  always  sure  to  make 
mischief,  and,  though  innocent,  to  be  held  accountable 
for  others'  mistakes.     -  Every  prick  I  make,    said  he, 
-is  made   a  gash;  and  to   follow  the  words  of  my 
directions  from  England  is  not  enough,  except  1  likewise 
see  into  your  minds.      And  surely  mine  eyesight  is  not 
so  good.     But  I  will  pray  to  God  tor  his  help  herein. 
With  all  the  wit  I  have,  I  will  use  all  the  care  I  can- 
first,  to  satisfy  her  Majesty,  as  God  knoweth  I  have  ever 
most  desired ;  then,  not  to  hurt  this  cause  but  that  i 
despair  of." '     Leicester,  as  may  be  supposed,  had  been 
muih  discomfited  and  perplexed  during  the  course  of 
these  contradictory  and  pei-verse  direc^tions.      IhcBC  is 
no  doubt  whatever  that  his  position  had  been  made  dis- 
creditable and  almost  ridiculous,  while  he  was  really 
doing  his  best,  and   spending  large   sums  out  ol   his 
private  fortune  to  advance   the  true  interests  of  the 

•-  Heneage  to  Walsingham.  ^ .  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


»  Ibid. 


»lbJd. 


1586. 


HUMILIATING  POSITION  OF  LEICESTER. 


449 

?^7\  ^^  ^f  become  a  suspected  man  in  the  Nether- 
lands having  been,  m  the  beginning  of  the  year  aWi 
adored  as  a  Messiah      He  had  submitted  to&umiH 
ation   which   had  been   imposed  upon  him,  of  bdi^' 
himself  the  medium  to  convey  to  the  council  the  sever! 

oTthlTtaZ^t^^^^^^ 

forted  by  the  aifectionat:  e'^Sons'l^^^^^^^^^^^      rt 
explosion  of  femmme  and  royal  wrath  had  been  sue 
ceeded.    He  was  now  again  distressed  by  the  peremptu  v 
conmiand  to  do  what  wa«  a  disgrace^  to  h^r^nd  an 

gmedy  for  all  his  anguis^  WuiL^  to^l^Zfe  of 
El  zabeth  s  presence.     He  felt  that  her  coui^e  if  per 
sisted  in,  would   ead  to  the  destniction  of  the\  ether" 
land  commonwealth,  and  eventually  to  the  downfaU  of 
England  ;  and  that  the  Provinces,  believing  ihZlttel 
deceived  by  the  Queen,  were  ready  to  revoU  aS  an 
authority  to  which,  but  a  short  time  before  ?hevlr« 
so  devotedly  loyal.     Nevertheless,  he  ony  tisLd    o 
know  wha    his  sovereign's  commands  distfnct  y  were 
in   order  to  set  himself  to  their  fulfilment      He  had 
come  from  the  camp  before  Nymegen  in  order  to  attend 
the  conference  with  the  state-council  at  Arnheim  and 
he   would   then   be   ready  and    anxious    to    despatch 
mSl''  ^""^'^'^  ''  '^^^^  ^^^  ^lajesty  s'finSetr' 
He  protested  to  the  Queen  that  he  had  come  upon  this 
arduous  and  perilous  serviee  only  because  he  consideH 
her  throne  m  danger,  and  that  this  was  the  only  means 
of  preserving  it ;  that,  in  accepting  the  absolute  g^em' 
ment;,  he  had  been  free  from  all  ambitious  motiv^^  b"^ 
deeply  impressed  with  the  idea  that  only  by  .o  doinl 
could  he  conduct  the  enterprise  entrusted  to  him  to   hf 
desired   consummation;    and   he   declared   with   ffieat 

PenTt^  htn!  r  ^'^T''''.  '?:  ^'^^  '^''  could  Ln- 
pensate  him  for  this  enforced  absence  from  her.     To  bo 

sent^back  even  in  disgrace  would  still  be  a  boon  to  him 
lor  he  should  cease  to  be  an  exile  from  her  sight.  He 
knew  that  his  enemies  had  been  busy  in  defaming  him 
while  he  had  been  no  longer  there  to  defend  himself 
Dut  his  conscience  acquitted  him  of  any  thought  which 
VOL.  I.  2  Q 


450 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


] 


t 


\ 


r 


was  not  for  her  liappiness  and  glory  Yet  gnevons  it 
is  to  me,"  said  lie  in  a  tone  of  tender  reproach  that 
having  left  all— yea,  all  that  may  be  imagined— for  yon, 
you  have  left  me  for  very  little,  even  to  the  uttermost 
of  all  hard  fortune.  For  what  have  I,  unhappy  man,  to 
do  here  either  with  cause  or  country  but  for  you . 

He  stated  boldly  that  his  services  had  not  been  in- 
effective, that  the  enemy  had  never  been  m  worse 
plight  than  now,  that  he  had  lost  at  least  five  thousand 
men  in  divers  overthrows,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  people  and  towns  of  the  Seven  Provinces  had  been 
safely  preserved.  "  Since  my  arrival,'  he  said,  (jr(Ml 
hath  blessed  the  action  which  you  have  taken  in  hand, 
and  committed  to  the  charge  of  me  your  poor  unhappy 
servant.  I  have  good  cause  to  say  somewhat  for  myselt, 
for  that  I  think  I  have  as  few  friends  to  speak  for  me  as 

any  man."  *  ^    -,•       i       •  -u 

Nevertheless— as  he  warmly  protested— his  only  wish 

was  to  return ;  for  the  country  in  which  he  had  lost  her 
favour,  which  was  more  precious  than  life,  had  become 
odious  to  him.  The  most  lowly  office  in  her  presence 
was  more  to  be  coveted  than  the  possession  of  unlimited 
power  away  from  her.  It  was  by  these  tender  and  soft 
insinuations,  as  the  Earl  knew  full  well,  that  he  was 
sure  to  obtain  what  he  really  coveted— her  sanction  for 
retaining  the  absolute  government  in  the  Provinces. 
And  most  artfully  did  he  strike  the  key. 

»*Most  dear  and  gracious  Lady,"  he  cried,  "my  care 
and  service  here  do  breed  me  nothing  but  grief  and  un- 
happiness.  I  have  never  had  your  Majesty's  good 
favour  since  I  came  into  this  charge— a  matter  that 
from  my  first  beholding  your  eyes  hath  been  most  dear 
unto  me  above  all  earthly  treasures.  Never  shall  I  love 
that  place  or  like  that  soil  which  shall  cause  the  lack  of 
it.  Most  gracious  Lady,  consider  my  long,  true,  and 
faithful  heart  toward  yon.  Let  not  this  unfortunate 
place  here  bereave  me  of  that  which,  above  all  the 
world,  I  esteem  there,  which  is  your  favour  and  your 
presence.  I  see  my  service  is  not  acceptable,  but  rather 
more  and  more  disliketh  you.  Here  I  can  do  your 
Majesty  no  service ;  there  I  can  do  you  some,  at  the 


»  lidoestertotheQueeo,  ^^.  1W6.  (S.P  OflBceMS.) 


>I1M 


1586. 


HIS  MELANCHOLY  LETTERS  TO  THE  QUEEN. 


451 
least  nib  your  horse's  heels— a  R*^rviV«  -™,i.  •  i,    r   i,  , 
much  more  welcome  to  me  tha^  fh™  A  AS  «  "^ 
men  may  give  me.     I  do,  humbly  and  WrnvV.? 
prostrate  at  your  feet    bee-  thJ.  ^^        .     ^^  "''*'■*• 
hands,  that  you  will  be  pissed  tnW      ""^  ^°"'"  '^"^^ 
home4ervice,  with  your  fevotr   let  thT  ''*"™.>  ""^ 
used  in  what  sort  shiil  plelrand   ike  you      r/r  ^ 
spark  of  favour  was  i„*^your  Maiestv  tow«  J      ^^"1 
servant,  let  me  obtain  this  mvhlttl      -f  "^  ^'°'"'  °^<* 
before  the  Majesty  of  all  MaiS   t ^rt^'  P'"*''""*^ 
cause  under  ri'ea/en  but  h3  yi„t  ^t^^  °" 

chamber  touching  thZoiTZZulZl  Z^t 
confirmation  of  his  authoritv      Thic        T  "^®„^^d  the 

pleasure  is  deolarprl   fr.  iV,^         «^y,  , ^^^^^^^r.      'Your 

willed  it.     How  i^wil  fin  ont"""-'  ^^'^  ^  ^'°"  ^'-^ 

construction,  Z  LTd  knoweth  •^""  '°  ^"^  ^^J^'*^^'^ 

Leicester  might  be  forgiven  for  referrino-  t«  i,-  i, 

c^C"^  ^'"- ^'•y  P-^iWe  interpreSion  o7hfrMaSl 
changing   humour;   but  meantime    while   IfrTf^ 

was  getting  ready  for  his  expeS^Ttion  to^Englald^Z 

wm.lAU  yueen.     ihe  alternation  of  emotions 

would  however  prove  too  much  for  him,  he  feared  and 

'  I^loester  to  tbe  Queen.  ^^,  ,588.       «  Same  to  «.n^  «7  M.. 

MS.  last  cit«l  ' '"-'  ^^  ^l  *"  ''™"'  -«7un«  •  ^636.    (S  P. 

Offlce  MSt) 

2  G  2 


i 


452 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII 


Pi 


lie  was  reluctant  to  open  his  heart  to  so  unwonted  a 

tenant  as  joy.  ,  j  • 

"  But  that  my  fear  is  such,  most  dear  and  gracious 
Lady,"  he  said,  "  as  my  unfortunate  destiny  will  hardly 
permit,  whilst  I  remain  here,  any  good  acceptation  of 
so  simple  a  service  as  mine.  I  should  greatly  rejoice 
anil  comfort  myself  with  the  hope  of  your  Majesty's  most 
prayed  for  favour.  But  of  late,  being  by  your  own 
sacred  hand  lifted  even  up  into  Heaven  with  joy  of 
your  favour,  I  was  bye  and  bye,.without  any  new  desert 
or  offence  at  all,  cast  down  and  down  again  into  the 
depth  of  all  grief.  God  doth  know,  my  dear  and  dread 
Sovereign,  that  after  I  first  received  your  resolute 
pleasure  by  Sir  Thomas  Heneage,  I  made  neither  stop 
nor  stay,  nor  any  excuse  to  be  rid  of  this  place,  and  to 

satisfy  your  command So  much  I  inislike 

this  place  and  fortune  of  mine,  as  I  desire  nothing  in 
the  world  so  much  as  to  be  delivered,  with  your  favour, 
from  all  charge  here,  fearing  still  some  new  cross  of 
your  displeasure  to  fall  upon  me,  trembling  continually 
with  the  fear  thereof,  in  such  sort  as  till  1  may  be 
fully  confirmed  in  my  new  regeneration  of  your  wonted 
favour,  1  cannot  receive  that  true  comfort  which  doth 
appertain  to  so  great  a  hope.  Yet  I  will  not  only 
acknowledge  with  all  humbleness  and  dutiful  thanks 
the  exceeding  joy  these  last  blessed  lines  brought  to 
my  long-wearied  heart,  but  will,  with  all  true  loyal 
at^ectiun,  attend  that  further  joy  from  your  sweet  self 
which  may  utterly  extinguish  all  consuming  fear  away. 

Poor  Heneage — who  1  ikewise  received  a  kind  word 
or  two  after  having  been  so  capriciously  and  petulantly 
dealt  with— was  less  extravagant  in  his  expressions  of 
gratitude.  *'  The  Queen  hath  hent  me  a  paper  plai^ter, 
whi'ih  must  please  for  a  time,"  he  said.  '*  God  Almighty 
bless  her  Majesty  ever,  and  best  direct  her."*  He  was 
on  the  point  of  starting,  for  England,  the  bearer  of  the 
States'  urgent  entreaties  that  Leicester  might  retain 
the  government,  and  of  despatches  announcing  the 
recent  success  of  the  allies  before  Grave.  '*  God  pros- 
pereth  the  action  in  these  countries  beyond  all  expecta- 
tion," he  said,  "  which  all  amongst  you  will  not  be  over 


»  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  ,  j— .  l!^*'^- 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


Igst  } 

»  Heneagp  to  Walsingham, 
(S.  r.  Office  MS.) 


to  May 
Juoa' 


15SG. 


1586.  HE  RECEIVES  A  LITTLE  CONSOLATION.  453 

glad  of,   for  somewhat  I  know." '      The   intrimies   of 
Grafigny,  Champagny,  and  Bodman,  with  Croft,  Burgh- 

republic.    (Bruce.  469-471.  i  May.  1586.) 
Six  weeks  later  (June  ll.  1686,  NJS.). 
aft^r  receiving  the  last  communications 
of  the  Queen,  the  council  again  addressed 
her  m  a  similar  strain,  entrusting  their 
despatches  to  Heneage.  who  was  settimr 
forth  according  to  her  commands.    They 
expressed  thelp  deep  aCaiction  that  she 
should  again  so  urgently  demand  ihe  ab- 
rogation of  the  government-general    Kot 
to  comply  with  a  requisition  so  seriously 
and  repeatedly  made,  was,  as  they  acknow- 
ledged.  a  grave  offence.    To  comply  with 
It,  however,  without  manifest  peril  to 
the  republic,  was  impossible.    For  the 
whole  conservation  of  authority  depended 
upon  the  Utle  and  office  of  governor     If 
that  should    shake   and  vacillate,  they 
feared  that  In  this  very  beginning  of  their 
prosperity,  which   was,  through  Divine 
Providence,  every  day  augmenting,  all 
things  would  fall  headlong  into  utter  ruin, 
to  the  Joy  of  the  common  enemy,  to  whom 
the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Earl  was 
most  formidable.    For  the  lieutenancy  of 
the  Queen,  however  great  in  Itself,  could 
never  suffice  to   the   administration    of 
political  affairs,  without  the  government- 
general,  which  could  not  be  adjoined  to 
the  lieutenancy,  but  must  proceed  from 
the  superior  power  residing  in  the  States- 
QeneraL      Again,   therefore,   they  most 
eamesUy  besought  her  Majesty  to  pardon 
the  error  which  they    had  committed, 
through  immoderate  devotion  to  herself, 
and  through  the  necessity  of  the  times! 
Her  sacred  breast  would,  It  was  hoped,  be 
moved  to  pretermit  the  proposed  revoca- 
tion, which  could  only  be  accompUshed 
by  solemn  convocation  of  the  orders,  and 
by  exposhig  the  whole  affair  to  the  world, 
a  step  which,  on  account  of  the  fluctua- 
tion of  men's  minds,  and  the  insidious 
suggestions  of  the  enemy,  would  be  at- 
tended with  infinite  peril.    They  there- 
fore most  urgently  demanded   that  the 
execution  of  her  demand  should  be  de- 
ferred, at  least,  to  a  more  convenient 
season.    For  the  rest  they  referred  the 
whole  matter  to  the  report  of  Heneage. 
who  was  about  to  return  to   Knglarid. 
fully  instructed    as    to   the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  States.       Uruce's  'Leyc. 
Corresp.'  472.  June  J 1. 1586,  N.S. 


»  Heneage  to  Walslngham,  MS.  Just 
cited.    Just  before  the  envoy  had  sig- 
nified to  the  States  the  last  change  in 
the  royal  humour,  the  Netherland  council 
of  state  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Queen.    In  this  document  they  had  ex- 
cused the  celerity  with  which,  mov(d  by 
the  necessity  of  the  case,  they  bad  conferred 
the  absolute  government  upon  the  Earl. 
This  measure,  they  said,  passed  by  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Provinces,  had 
wonderfully  elevated  the  collapsed  minds 
of  the  patriots,  and  filled  the  enemy  with 
extreme  consternation.    The  renewal  of 
a  general  authority  had  laid  an  excellent 
foundation  for  completely  restoring  the  re- 
public, had  curbed  the  ferocious  hearts  of 
the  enemy,  had  restrained  the  prc^ess  of 
a  hostile  army  exulthig  in  a  career  of 
extraordhiary    victories,  and,    with    the 
blessing  of  God.  ha.1  changed  the  fortunes 
ofthe  war.    The  prosperity  of  the  United 
Provinces    had   been     restored    by   the 
dignity,  virtue,  and  assiduous  solicitude 
ot  the  illustrious  Earl,  and  was  dally  on 
the  increase.  They  had  therefore  thanked 
her  Majesty  for  accepting  so  benlgnantly 
their  excuses  for  the  authority  conferred, 
and  for  no  longer  requiring  its  dlminu- 
Uon.    They  expressed  th&  opinion  that 
it  would  be  perilous— in  the  fragile  conr 
dIUon  of  the  republic -to    change    the 
word  (vocabulum)  absolute  government, 
v^ich  could  only  be  done  at  a  special 
session  of  the  States,  called  for  that  pur- 
po«e.    They  feared  that,  by  such  a  step, 
at  the  very  moment  of  restored  authority', 
they  should  throw  prostrate  all  author- 
ity, and  overwhelm  the  commonwealth 
with  confuilon.    They  declared  their  de- 
termination to  cherish   the  dignity  and 
honour  of  Leicester,  as  being  under  God 
and  Her  Majesty  the  foundation  of  their 
existence  and  their  felicity.    The  States 
of  the  Provinces,   and    all    individuals, 
were  agreed  In  admiring  and  venerating 
his  extraordinary  prudence  and  assiduity. 
'i'hey  acknowledged  that  the  eafety  of 
the  whole  republic  depended  upon  the 
care  of  the  governor,  who,  moved  by  his 
zeal  for  the  true  religion,  and  his  pity  for 
their  afflicted  fortunes,  had  abandoned  his 
private  Interests,  his  country,  and  the 
I'reseuce  of  his  sovereign,  to  encounter  all 
t-ie  adverse  chances  of  their  perturbed 


II 


454 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


1586. 


ley,  and  the  others,  were  not  so  profound  a  secret  as 
they  could  wish. 

The  tone  adopted  by  Leicester  has  been  made  manitest 
in  his  letters  to  the  Queen.  He  had  held  the  same 
lano-uago  of  weariness  and  dissatisfaction  in  his  commu- 
nications to  his  friends.  He  would  not  keep  the  office, 
he  avowed,  if  they  should  give  him  *'  all  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  with  all  their  appurtenances,"  and  he  was 
ready  to  resign  at  any  mom»mt.  He  was  not  "  cere- 
monious for  reputation,"  he  said,  but  he  gave  warning 
that  the  Netherlanders  would  grow  desperate  if  they 
found  her  Majesty  dealing  weakly  or  carelessly  with 
them.  As  for  himself  he  had  already  had  enough  of 
government.  "  I  am  weary,  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  plain- 
tively exclaimed,  "  indeed  I  am  weary ;  but  neither  of 
pains  nor  travail.  My  ill  hap  that  I  can  please  her 
Majesty  no  better  hath  quite  discouraged  me."  * 

He  had  recently,  however— as  we  have  seen — received 
some  comfort,  and  he  was  still  farther  encouraged,  upon 
the  eve  of  Heneage's  departure,  by  receiving  another 
aflfectionato  epistle  from  the  Queen.  Amends  seemed 
at  last  to  be  offered  for  her  long  and  angry  silence,  and 
the  Earl  was  deeply  grateful. 

*•  If  it  hath  not  been,  my  most  dear  and  gracious 
Lady,'*  said  he  in  reply,  "  no  small  comfort  to  your  poor 
old  servant  to  receive  but  one  line  of  your  blessed  hand- 
writing in  many  months,  for  the  relief  of  a  most  grieved, 
wounded  heart,  how  far  more  exceeding  joy  must  it  be, 
in  the  midst  of  all  sorrow,  to  receive  from  the  same 
sacred  hand  so  many  comfortable  lines  as  my  good  friend 
Mr.  George  hath  at  once  brought  me  !  Pardon  me,  my 
sweet  Lady,  if  they  cause  me  to  forget  myself.  Only 
this  I  do  say,  with  most  humble  dutiful  thanks,  that  the 
scope  of  all  my  service  hath  ever  been  to  content  and 
please  you  ;  and  if  I  may  do  that,  then  is  all  sacrifice, 
either  of  life  or  whatsoever,  well  offered  for  you."  * 

The  matter  of  the  government  absolute  having  been 
so  fully  discussed  during  the  preceding  four  months,  and 
the  last  opinions  of  the  state-council  having  been  so 
lucidly  expounded  in  the  despatches  to  be  carried  by 

»  Brace's  '  Leyc.  Correep.'  pp.  262, 263,       2  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  -  June,  1586. 
^  May,  1M6.  (s.  P.  Office  M&) 


AND  WHITES  MORE  CHEERFULLY. 


455 

fxlaS"  f'^^'f'  '^^r^^^rsht  be  considered  a, 
exhausted.   Leicester  contented  himself,  therefore  witl 

TLZ^"  n'v  «  l^fr  M-^Je^ty'-ttentio;  .0  the  feet  Aat 
If  he  had  not  himself  accepted  the  office  thus  conferred 
upon  h,m  by  the  States,  it  would  hare  been  Wowed 
upon  some  other  personage.     It   would  hardly  hive 

or  Count  W.lham,  or  Count  Moeurs,  had  been  appointed 
governor  absolute,  for  in  that  case  the  Earl,  aJ^geS 
of  the  auxrliar,'  English  force,  would  have  heTnlZeot 
to  the  authority  of  the  chieftain  thus  selected.     It  was 
.mrK.ssible  as  the  state-council  had  very  plain  y  shown 
for  Leicester  to    exercise    supreme    LLrity,   whi?e 
merely   holding  the   military  office  of  her  Maiesfv! 
lieutenant-general.     The  authority  of  governor  or  stad! 
holder  could  only  be  derived  from  the  sup,  erne  powelo 
«otr"*7-        £  \?'"  ""^'i'^'y  ^^  ^ho^en  to  accqT  he 
»?Jwf  *^**?wt^*^l"«  ^"^  ever  desired,  the  requisite 
authonty  could  then  have  been  derived  from  her  a^ 

refused  that  ofifer,  however,  his  authority  was  necessarily 
to  be  drawn  from  the  States-Geneml,  or  else  the  Si 
mus  content  herself  with  seeing 'him  serve  asT 
English  military  officer,  only  subject  to  the  ordei^  of 
the  supreme  power,  wherever  that  power  might  reside 

^Lt  /'•  u  ''*^*''>«''  t'''^*  her  general  might  be 
clo  bed  with  the  privileges  of  her  viceroy.  wWle  she 

dec  med  herself  to  be  the  sovereign,  was  illogical  and 
could  not  be  complied  with.'  'ofcicai,  anu 

Very  soon  after  inditing  these  last  epistles  to  the 
1  royinces,  the  Queen  became  more  reasonable  on  the 
subject;  and  an  elaborate  communication  was  soon 
received  by  the  state-council,  in  which  the  roval 
acquiescence  was  signified  to  the  latest  propositions  of 
the  States.  The  various  topics,  suggested  in  previous 
despatehes  from  Leicester  and  from  the  council,  were 
reviewed  and  the  whole  subject  was  suddenly  placed  in 
a  somewhat  different  light  from  that  in  which  it  seemed 
to  have  been  previously  regarded  by  her  Majesty.  She 
alluded  to  the  excuse  offered  by  the  state-council,  which 
had  been  drawn  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and 
from  their  "  great  liking  for  her  cousin  of  Leicester," 

*  Leicester  to  the  Queen.    MS.  last  cited. 


li! 


456 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIL 


nlthougli  in  violation  of  the  original  contract.  "  As  j'on 
acknowledge,  however,"  she  8aid,  "that  therein  you 
were  justly  to  l^e  blamed,  and  do  crave  pardon  for  the 
same,  we  cannot,  upon  this  acknowledgment  of  your 
fault,  but  remove  our  former  dislike."  ^ 

Nevertheless  it  would  now  seem  that  her  "mistake  " 
had  proceeded,  not  from  the  excess,  but  from^  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  powers  conferred  upon  the  Earl,  and 
she  complained,  accordingly,  that  they  had  given  him 
shadow  rather  than  substance* 

Simultaneously  with  this  royal  communication,  came 
a  joint  letter  to  Leicester,  from  Burghley,  Walsingham, 
and  Hatton,  depicting  the  long  and  strenuous  conflict 
which  they  had  maintained  in  his  behalf  with  the 
rapidly  varying  inclinations  of  the  Queen.  They  ex- 
pressed a  warm  sympathy  with  the  difficulties  of  his 
position,  and  spoke  in  strong  terms  of  the  necessity  that 
the  Netherlands  and  England  should  work  heartily 
together.  For  otherwise,  they  said,  **  the  cause  will 
fall,  the  enemy  will  rise,  and  we  must  stagger."  Not- 
withstanding the  secret  negociations  with  the  enemy, 
which  Leicester  and  Walsingham  suspected,  and  which 
will  be  more  fully  examined  in  a  subsequent  chapter, 
they  held  a  language  on  that  subject,  which  in  the 
Secretary's  mouth  at  least  was  sincere.  "  Whatsoever 
speeches  be  blown  abroad  of  parleys  of  peace,"  they 
said,  "  all  will  be  but  smoke,  yea,  fire  will  follow."  * 


16 

Qaeen  to  Council  of  State  —  June, 

1596  (S.  P.  Offlce  MS.) ;  much  corrected 
In  Burghley'8  bandwritlng. 

«  Ibid.  "  Yet  when  we  look,"  she  pro- 
ceeded, "into  the  little  profit  that  the 
common  cause  hath  received  hitherto  by 
the  yielding  unto  htm  rather  in  words 
and  writings  a  title  of  a  kind  of  absolute 
government,  than  any  effect  of  the  au- 
thority sijmified  by  the  words  of  the 
irrant ;  for  that  by  virtue  thereof  we  un- 
derstand that  he  can  neither  be  made 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  true  state 
of  your  affairs  there,  requisite  for  such 
an  ofQcc  as  you  have  given  him  in  name, 
Ror  yet  receive  the  due  performance  of 
such  contributions  of  money  and  other 
necessaries  as  were  specialty  promised 
unto  him  bt-fore  the  acceptation  of  the 
government ;  inasmuch  as,  for  the  lack  of 


due  satisfaction  of  the  things  promised, 
he  hath  been  enforced  to  employ  part  of 
our  treasure — sent  over  for  tlie  payment 
of  such  of  our  people  as  by  the  contract 
we  promised  to  maintain— to  pay  and  re- 
lieve such  other  forces  as  were  enter- 
tained by  the  States besides  many 

other  like  burdens  laid  upon  our  cousin, 
contrary  to  our  expoctitlon ;  all  this  doth 
give  us  cause  to  mislike  not  to  mitch  the 
title  itself,  as  the  lack  of  performance 
which  the  title  carries  show  of— a  matter, 
yea,  of  things  most  necessary  for  your 
own  defence  ;  a  matter  that,  without 
8i>eedy  redress,  cannot  but  breed  both  im- 
min)-nt  peril  to  those  countries  and  dis- 
honour to  us." 
>  Burghley,  Hatton,  and  Walsingham, 
17 
V 
MS.) 


to  Uicester,  ^  June,  1856.    (S.  P.  Office 


1586.  THE  QUEEN  IS  MORE  BENIGXAXT.  457 

They  excused  themselves  for  their  previous  and 
enforced  silence  by  the  fact  that  they  had  been  unablo 
0  communicate  any  tidings  but  messages  of  distress 
bu  they  now  congratulated  the  Earl  that  her  Maies'v 
a.s  he  would  see  by  her  letter  to  the  council  waffirn  h' 
resolved,  not  only  to  countenance  his  goveriSin  but 
to  sustain  him  in  the  most  thorough  mLnen  t^^uld 
be  therefore  quite  out  of  the  question/or  them  to  iZTto 
his  earnest  proposithns  to  he  recalled ' 

Moreover,  the  Lord  Treasurer  had  already  apprized 
Leicester  that  Heneage  had  safely  arrived  in^EKd 
that  he  had  made  his  report  to  the  Queen,  and  t  a   her 

inS.-''  """'  "'"  ^^"'^"^^^  -^^^^-  and  Lis 
It  may  be  easily  believed  that  the  Earl  would  feel  a 
sensation  of  relief,  if  not  of  triumph,  at  this  teminaTion 
to  the  embarrassments  under  which  he  had  beeTlabouT 
ing  ever  since  he  listened  to  the  oration  of  ^he  Xe 
Leoninus  upon  ^  ew  Year's  Day.  At  last  the  QueenTad 
formally  acquiesced  in  the  action  of  the  States  and  in 
his  acceptance  of  their  offer.  He  now  saw  himself  unds 
puted  -  governor  absolute,"  having  been  sixTon^  W 
a  suspected  discredited,  almost  disgraced  man  It  was 
natural  that  he  should  express  himself  cheerfully 

i^ady,    he  said,     by  your  most  favourable  lines  written 
by  your  own  sacred  hand,  1  did  most  humbly  a^know 
edge  by  my  former  letter;  albeit  I  can  no  way  m^^^^ 
testimony  oft  enough  of  the  great  joy  I  took  thereby 
And  seeing  my  wounded  heart  is  by  this  means  almost  mMe 
Me}  do  pray  unto  God  that  either  I  may  n^er  feel 
the  like  again   from  you,  or   not  be  suffererto  liVe 
rather  than  I  should  fall  again  into  those  torments  of 
your  displeasure.     Most  gracious  Queen,  I  beseech  you 

Place   I  iT"'"'''''  -^'T''  ^^"  ^^^  ^"'  ^^^ident  to  the 
place   1  serve  you  in,  be  accompanied   with   greater 

mind^/'  i^yZi6''tK'LZ'S''    "'"I  "'™"^'^'  "'^  ^P^"«"3^  -^^  ^ouej 
resolutely   detemrin^d;!        ^'"^T:    ""'^  '"*^"  ^""^  maintenance  of  those  coun- 

fuT-thatutT^7^ryLT.?    T..r'"\'^\^^^^y'     W^^ould 

but  to  have  it  more  amply  establisbed  and       2  Bruce  307  ^ 

perfected  to  all  purposes  for  your  credit 


II 


f'l 


458 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  VII. 


troubles  and  fears  indeed  than  all  the  horrors  of  death 
can  bring  me.  My  strong  hope  doth  now  so  assure  me, 
as  I  have  almost  won  the  battle  against  despair,  and  I 
do  arm  myself  with  as  many  of  those  wonted  comfortable 
conceits  as  may  confirm  my  new  revived  spirits  re- 
posing myself  evermore  under  the  shadow  of  those  blessed 
beams  that  must  yield   the  only  nourishment  to  this 

disease."  i 

But  however  nourishing  the  shade  of  those  blessed 
beams  might  prove  to  Leicester's  disease,  it  was  not  so 
easy  to  bring  about  a  very  sunny  condition  in  the  Pro- 
vinces. It  was  easier  for  Elizabeth  to  mend  the  broken 
heart  of  the  governor  than  to  repair  the  damage  which 
had  been  caused  to  the  commonwealth  by  her  caprice 
and  her  deceit.  ITie  dispute  concerning  the  government 
absolute  had  died  away,  but  the  authority  of  the  Earl  had 
got  a  "  crack  in  it "  which  never  could  be  handsomely 
made  whole.*  The  States,  during  the  long  period  of 
Leicester's  discredit— feeling  more  and  more  doiabtful 
as  to  the  secret  intentions  of  Elizabeth— disappointed  in 
the  condition  of  the  auxiliary  troops  and  in  the  amount 
of  supplies  furnished  from  England,  and,  above  all, 
having  had  time  to  regret  their  delegation  of  a  power 
which  they  began  to  find  agreeable  to  exercise  with 
their  own  hands,  became  indisposed  to  entrust  the  Earl 
with  the  administration  and  full  insjiection  of  their 
resources.  To  the  enthusiasm  which  had  greeted  the 
first  arrival  of  Elizabeth's  representative  had  succeeded 
a  jealous,  carping,  suspicious  sentiment.  The  two  hun- 
dred thousand  florins  monthly  were  paid,  according  to  the 
original  agreement,  but  the  four  hundred  thousand  of 
extra  service-money  subsequently  voted  were  withheld, 
and  withheld  expressly  on  account  of  Heneage's  original 
mission  to  disgrace  ths  governor." ' 


1  Leicester  to  the   Queen,   -    June, 

1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  "My  credit  hath  been  cracked  ever 
fclnce  her  Mj^esty  sent  Sir  Thomas  Hene- 
age  hither,  m  all  men  can  tell  you." 

Bnice'H   'Leyc   Corresp."    434,   Oct  -• 

15H6. 

a "  Aa  to  the  not  paying  by  the 

8tate«  of  the  200.000  florins  a  month, 
•greed  upon,"  said  Lelcedter  to  the  Queen* 


"  I  must  needs  say  that  they  have  paid 
that  200,000,  but  that  I  stand  upon  of 
late  with  them  is  200.000  mure,  which 
they  long  since  agreed  upon,  and  I  sent 
word  to  your  Majesty.  And  herein,  in- 
deed, they  liave  been  very  slack;  but  If 
yonr  Majesty  will  pardon  me  to  speak 
the  truth  of  that  sUy,  it  grew  only  vpon 
Sir  Tkomaa  Heneage'$  coming  with  the 
message  of  your  displeasure ;  for  from, 
that  (iflM  till  this  they  have  not  only 


1586. 


THE  STATES  LESS  CONTENTED  THAN  THE  EARL. 


459 

T  "7x?   ¥®  ""^^"^^   ^^  Sir   Thomas   Heneaffe  "   s«i.1 
Lord  Aorth,^^hath   put   such  busses  fnthel' heads 
as  ^they  march  forward  with  leaden  heels  and  doubtM 

..r.^  l^%  through  the  discredit  cast  by  the  Queen 

TZl  '^®f°."'*^Ie,  It  was  too  lafe  to  induce  them  to  oart 

Jttlr^    ^''^J     Leicester  had  become  to  a  certain 
extent  disgraced  and   disliked  by  the   Estate,      TI^ 

pS  o  rf •  'T  *'^  "^^''-"y  °f  the  i?fo  ced' : 

aK,.  *i^  Z^"?^^.'^*'"^*  ^^''^  legal  representatives 
and  thus  the  foundation  of  a  nominally  democratic  riart^ 
in  opposition  to  the  municipal  onef w^Sy  t^! 
for  we"LT  '  f.'^-'^^-fortnn.te'  at'that  jlltS 
sUioTto  tl;  ^*";?' .*""^  *!>«  Earl  in  perpetual  opt^ 
vinces     to  t^r"'*  •^"^t'^&l'i^ted  statesmen  in  the  t?^ 

rnfluentilj  InVtr^^'  ""!?  '""^^"^  ^l*"  ^^  ^^^  most 
ir^r  ■       I-  "^?"°S  the  sovereignty  to  England   and 

cov^ter^K  ""  ""  "^^  P°«'*'°"  ^hich  he  had  so  much 
Sbfth  tn°twT  'u''^"'"  ^''^  ^'^  ^^^^  confirmeTby 
wt      5  *T  ^^"^  ^'^^  °*<=e  ^^^  his  arrogance  broke 

Stfv"  l^tr""'"^  ^^*"«-  l^elf  a-d  the  repre! 
Bt-niacive  body  became  incessant. 

sai^  if'*"  T  """^ '°  somewhat  better  terms  than  I  did  " 
^iL^.l  Ti?"'  '"  '*^^  *'"  °f  l^te  to  deal  rou" dh . 
r^mbtof  fi^»  ^*^'  "•°'"  '^°°^-  I  l-^^e  established  i 
I  dm,?,f  "^.^."""eeS'  against  some  of  their  wills,  whereby 
I  doubt  not  to  procure  great  benefit  to  increase  our  abf- 
Wy  for  payments  hereafter.     The  people  I  find  sHl 

tttLT  "^^'^  ^'^J'^^*^-  tl^O'-gh  of  ?ite  ml,  lewd 
practices  have  been  used  to  withdraw  their  good  wMs 

festVLly  b:"*?- =  '""'^  ^^'"  P^'^y  <5°1  tl^al  her  M^I 
wh.^  ^  .X.  *''"'  so'^ereign.  She  should  then  see 
what  a  contribution  they  will  all  bring  forth    i  J",  m! 

which  did  appertain  to  my  office.  To  ^'**°'  u  '^""^'  ^^^^-  (S.  P.  Office  MS  ") 
withstand   them-to  be  plaln-I  durst  *t  mm 

not.  and  they  have  applied  it  dlllgendy  ^°'"'  ^  BurgLlcy.   -""'',  igge.   (S. 

fitnce  to  work  that  conceit  into  eveiy  P.  Office  MS.) 


430 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VII. 


'■iji 

I 


I'*' 


St(aes  they  wHJ  never  return,  which  will  breed  some  great 
mischief,  there  is  sw:h  mislike  of  the  iStates  universally.  ^  1 
would  your  Lordship  had  seen  the  case  I  had  lived  in 
among  tbem  these  four  months,  especially  after  her  Ma- 
jesty's mislike  was  found.  You  would  then  marvel  to 
see  how  1  have  waded,  as  I  have  done,  through  no  small 
obstacles,  without  help,  counsel,  or  assistance."  ' 

Thus  the  part  which  he  felt  at  last  called  upon  to 
enact  was  that  of  an  aristocratic  demagogue,  in  pei-pe- 
tual  conflict  with  the  burgher-representative  body. 

It  is  now  necessaiy  to  lift  a  corner  of  the  curtain,  by 
which  some  international— or  rather  interpalatial— in- 
trigues were  concealed,  as  much  as  possible,  even  from 
the  piercing  eyes  of  VValsingham.  The  Secretary  was, 
however,  quite  aware — despite  the  pains  taken  to  de- 
ceive him— of  the  nature  of  the  plots  and  of  the  some- 
what ignoble  character  of  the  actors  concerned  in 
them. 

1  Ldcpster  to  BurgWey,  ^  June,  158C.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1586. 


FORLORN  CONDITION  OF  FLANDERS. 


461 


•       CHAPTEE   VIII. 

^OmTjTn*!,' rI;,  '^  Fla,.der8- Parma's  8«n-et  Negotiations  with  the  Quecn- 
Grafigniand  Bodnian -  1  he.r  IVallngs  ulth  English  Counsellors -In.nlicltv  of 
Farnese-Secna  Offer,  of  the  Knglish  Peace-Party  -  I.tt^-ns    nTint  iX  oH  e 

sr^heved  by  the  News  from  Engla,.d-Qneen'8  secret  I^tt^  to  iS- His 
Letters  and  Instmctlons  to  Bodnum  -  Bodn.an's  secret  Transactions  at  (ireenwi  i 
-Walslngham  detects  and  expos..s  the  Plot -The  Intriguers  baffled- Qu"n. 
W  to  Parma  and  his  to  the  Klng-Unlccky  P^sults  of  the  Peace  Intrigu.-s 
-  Unhandsome  I  reatn.eo  t  of  Ix.i<«ster  -  Indigna,  ion  of  the  Rarl  and  WaWngS^ 

Alexander  Farnp:se  and  his  heroic  little  army  had  been 
lett  by  their  sovereign  in  as  destitute  a  condition  as 
that    m   which   Lord   Leicester   and    his    unfortunate 

paddy   persons "   had   found   themselves   since   their 
arrival  in  the  Netherlands.     These  mortal  men  were 
but  the  weapons  to  be  used  and  broken  in  the  hands  of 
the  two  great  sovereigns,  already  pitted  against  each 
other  m  mortal   combat.      That   the   distant  invisible 
potentate,  the  work  of  whose  life  was  to  do  his  best 
to  destroy  all  European  nationality,  all  civil  and  reli- 
gious freedom,  should  be  careless  of  the  instiiiments  by 
which  his  purpose  was  to  be  effected,  wa.s  but  natural 
It  IS  painful  to  reflect  that  the  gTuat  champion  of  liberty 
and   of  Protestantism   was  almost   equally  indifferent 
to  the  welfare  of  the  human  creatures  enlisted  in  her 
cause.     Spaniards  and  Italians,  English  and  Irish,  went 
halt  naked  and  half  starving  through  the  whole  incle- 
ment winter,  and  perished  of  pestilence  in  droves  after 
confronting  the  less  formidable  dangers  of  battle-field 
and  leaguer.      Manfully  and  sympathetically  did  the 
l!.arl  of  Leicester— while  whining  in  absurd  hyperbole 
oyer  the   angry  demeanour   of  his  sovereign  towards 
himself— represent  the  imperative  duty  of  an  English 
government  to  succour  English  troops. 

Alexander  Famese  was  equally  plain-spoken  to  a 
sovereign  with  whom  plain-speaking  was  a  crime.  Jn 
bold,  almost  scornful  language,  the  Prince  leproKeiited 


a 


I 

i 


4r>2 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


to  Philip  the  sufferings  and  destitntion  of  the  little 
hand  of  heroes,  hy  whom  that  magnificent  military 
enterprise,  the  conquest  of  Antwerp,  had  just  been 
effected.  "  Ood  will  be  weary  of  working  miracles  for 
lis,"  he  cried,  "  and  nothing  but  miracles  can  save  the 
troops  from  starving."  There  was  no  question  of  paying 
them  their  wages,  there  was  no  pretence  at  keeping 
them  reasonably  j^rovided  with  lodging  and  clothing, 
but  he  asserted  the  undeniable  proposition  that  they 
"could  not  pass  their  lives  without  eating,"'  and  he 
implored  his  sovereign  to  send  at  least  money  enough 
to  buy  the  soldiers  shoes.  To  go  foodless  and  barefoot 
without  complaining,  on  the  frozen  swamps  of  Flandeis 
in  January,  was  more  than  was  to  be  expected  from 
Spaniards  and  Italians.  The  country  itself  was  eaten 
bare.  The  obedient  Provinces  had  reaped  absolute 
ruin  as  the  reward  of  their  obedience.  Bruges,  Ghent, 
and  the  other  cities  of  Brabant  and  Flanders,  once  so 
opulent  and  powerful,  had  become  mere  dens  of  thieves 
and  paupers.  Agriculture,  commerce,  manufactures — 
all  were  dead.  The  condition  of  Antwerp  was  most 
tragical.  The  city,  which  had  been  so  recently  the 
commercial  centre  of  the  earth,  was  reduced  to  absolute 
beggary.  Its  world-wid  e  traffic  was  abruptly  terminated, 
for  the  mouth  of  its  great  river  was  controlled  by 
Flushing,  and  Flushing  was  in  the  firm  grasp  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  as  governor  for  the  English  Queen. 
Merchants  and  bankers,  who  had  lately  been  possessed 
of  enormous  resources,  were  stripped  of  all.  Such  of 
the  industrial  classes  as  could  leave  the  place  had 
wandered  away  to  Holland  and  England.  There  was 
no  industry  possible,  for  there  was  no  market  for  the 
products  of  industry.  Antwerp  was  hemmed  in  by  the 
enemy  on  every  side,  surrounded  by  royal  troops  in  a 
condition  of  open  mutiny,  cut  off  from  the  ocean,  de- 
prived of  daily  bread,  and  yet  obliged  to  contribute  out 
of  its  poverty  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Spanish  soldiers, 
who  were  there  for  its  destruction.  Its  burghers,  com- 
pelled to  furnish  four  hundred  thousand  florins,  as  the 
price  of  their  capitulation,  and  at  least  six  hundred 
thousand  more '  for  the  repairs  of  the  dykes,  the  destruc- 

1  ••  Xo   se    pnede  paaar    la   vlda  sin       '  Parma  to  Philip  II.  19  April,  1586. 
cwmer."    I'arma  to   Philip  II.  28  Feb.    (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 
1S»6.    (Archive  de  Slmancaii,  MS.)  The    contemporaiy   bUtorlans  of  the 


1586.        PARMA'S  NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  THE  QUEEN.        453 

tjon  Of  which,  loo  long  .leferred,  had  only  spread  desola- 
tion over  the  country  without  saving  the  city  and  ovi; 
and  above  all  forced  to  TphnJIrl   „t  *i,  •       •''  ^' 

th^t  «.*  1    -7  1  , '>^'-"  r«  reouild,  at  their  own  expense 
that  fatal  citadel  by  which  their  liberty  and  lives  were 
to   be  perpetually   endangered,  might  now  reS-eTlt 
leisure  that  they  had  not  been 'as  stedfastTurinrtheiJ 
siege  as  had  been  the  heroic  inhabitants  of  Levden  Tn 
their  time   of  trial    twelve   years   before       Obedient 
Antwerp  was,  in  truth,  most  forlorn.     But  there  wis  oZ 
consolation  for  her  and  for  Philip,  one  bright  spo7S  Z 
else  universal  gloom.     The  ecclesiastics  assured  Parma 
that,  notwithstanding  the  frightful  diminution  inTe 
population  of  the  city,  they  had  confessed  and  absolved 
more  persons  that  Easter  than  they  had  ever  done  s  nee 
he  commencement  of  the  revolt.^  Great  w^PhilTp's 
fV  consequence.'     "You  cannot  imagine  mvlatl! 

.  Z'^l  *  ruined  country,  starving  and  mutinous  troops 
a  bankrupt  exchequer,  and  a  desperate  and  muT; 
population  Alexander  Famese  wal  not  urwiuCTo 
gun  time  by  simulated  negotiations  for  peace.  It  wl^ 
strange,  however  that  so  sagacious  a  monarch  as  Z 
Queen  of  England  should  suppose  it  for  her  interest  to 
grant  at  hat  moment  the  verf  delay  which  w^  deemed 
most  desirable  by  her  antagonist  aeemea 

r^ruf  '*  '^^.''^,  wounded  affection  alone,  nor  insulted 
fiii^  AfTlf  "n"^^'\  parsimony,  that  had  carried  the 
fuj  of  the  Queen  to  such  a  height  on  the  occasion  of 
Leicester  s  elevation  t»  absolute  government.     It  was 

StiZr'vwr*  *''•'  '^"P  ^  ♦h"''Sht  likely  to 
^l^^^ll  "^^  *?  PJ''^''^  of  those  negotiations  into 
which  the  Queen  had  allowed  herself  to  be  drawn 

A  certain  Grafigni— a  Genoese  merchant  residing 
much  m  London  and  in  Antwerp,  a  meddling  intS 
and  irresponsible  kind  of  individual,  whose  icuS 


country  do  not  paint  more  frightful  pic- 
tares  of  the  desolation  of  Antwerp,  and 
of  the  obedient  Provinces  generally,  than 
tliose  ftimished  by  the  Prince  of  Parma 
in  bis  secret  letters  to  his  sovereign. 
Compare  Bor,  11.  984 ;  Meteren,  xlli, 
253^ ;  Hoofd  Vervolgh.  251,  et  mult,  al 
"Grandissima  lastiroa,"  said  Famese 
Of  Antwerp,  "ver  perdida  tan  principal 


villa,  y  la  navigacion.de  ribera  tan  linda 
y  provechosa  no  solo  para  el  puis  mas 
para  todo  el  mundo."  MS.  before  cited. 
•Letter  to  Philip  TI.  Just  cited. 
"No  podreys  pensar  el  contento  que 
me  ha  dado  el  aviso  de  la  f^equencia  que 
huvo  a  l08  sacramentos  la  pasqua  pasada  " 
&c.  Philip  II.  to  Parma,  5  July,  i^ 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 


J' 


4C4 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  Mil, 


1586. 


GRAFIGNI  AND  BODMAN. 


1/ 


t 


was   gone  with  the   cessation  of  Flemish  trade— had 
recently  made  his  appearance  as  a  volunteer  diplomatist. 
The  principal  reason  for  accepting  or  rather  for  winking 
at  his  services,  seemed  to  be  the  possibility  of  disavow- 
incr  him,  on  both  sides,  whenever  it  should  be  thought 
advisable.     He  had  a  partner  or  colleague,  too,  named 
Bodman,   who   seemed   a  not  much    more    creditable 
negotiator   than   himself.      The   chief  director   of  the 
intrigue  was,  however,  Champagny,  brother  of  Cardinal 
Granvelle,  restored  to  the  King's  favour  and  disposed 
to  atone  by  his  exuberant  loyalty  for  his  heroic  patriot- 
ism   on    a    former    and    most    memorable    occasion.' 
Andrea  de   Loo,   another  subordinate   politician,  was 
likewise  employed  at  various  stages  of  the  negotiation. 
It  will  soon  be  perceived  that  the  part  enacted  by 
Burghley,  Hatton,  Croft,  and  other  counsellors,   wad 
even  by   the  Queen  herself,  was  not  a  model  of  in- 
t^enuousness   towards   the    absent    Leicester   and    the 
States-General.     The  gentlemen  sent  at  various  times 
to  and  from  the  Earl  and  her  Majesty's  government,— 
Davison,  Shirley,  V^avasor,  Heneage,  and  the  rest,— had 
all  expressed  themselves  in  the  strongest  language  con- 
cerning the  good  faith  and  the  friendliness  of  the  Lord- 
TreasTU-er  and  the  Vice-Chamberlain,'  but  they  weie 
not  so  well  informed  as   they  would  have  been   had 
they  seen  the  private  letters  of  Parma  to  Philip  II. 

Walsingham,  although  kept  in  the  dark  as  much  as  it 
was  possible,  discovered  from  time  to  time  the  mys- 
terious practices  of  his  political  antagonists,  and  warned 
the  Queen  of  the  danger  and  dishonour  she  was  bringing 
upon  herseU?  Elizabeth,  when  thus  boldly  charged, 
equivocated  and  stoimed  alternately.  She  authorized 
\\  alsingham  to  communicate  the  secrets — which  he  had 
thus  surprised— to  the  States-General,  and  then  denied 
having  given  any  such  orders.* 

In  truth,  Walsingham  was  only  entrusted  with  such 
portions  of  the  negotiations  as  he  had  been  able,  by  his 
own  astuteness,  to  divine  ;  and  as  he  was  very  much  a 


46d 


«  In  the  memorable  Antwerp  fury.  See 
•  Rise  of  ibe  Dutch  Republic,'  vol.  Hi. 

2  Brace's  '  Leyc.  Convsp.'  pp.  112.  124, 
143. 161, 176.  231.  Leicester  U)  Burghley, 
18  Match,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


«I  Avnl 

3  Bruce'8  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  231,  j-^' 
15-6;  272,^  May.  1686. 

Mbid.240.^\l586j272,^  MuJ 
UIM. 


46 

friend  to  the   ProvincM  on^   *     t    • 

failed  to  keep  themTnZetedt^^A'"*''*^^'  ^«  ""^er 
It  must  be  co,^e^^i^t'^^^^\]^'^' '^l^t ''^^^i'y^ 
paltering  among  grekt  men  I^d  jU^  ""^'"^  and 

a  tt-^eirdr  ^*  p"-- -£  oTei;:4t 
^^^^'i^t::i::ii^r^fi- ^  —^  ^om 

Pnnce  of  Parma,  at  BruIeL  In  l^*^^^'''•  *»  &<> 
passport.'  They  entered  ^!n'-  °'^^^  *°  P^'oc^e  a 
the  mise^  of  thecountrj  "n^  T^i'TT"^''''^  "PO" 
the  troubles  to  which  S^w^?''"'^^  concerning 
Wn  exposed.  Ale^nder  'f  ^""""^^  merchante  had 
with  the^commercfarc^i' Jt^InT**  ^"^  ^>'"P''% 
the  ancient  friendship    bS'nh*'*'°"^ '*""«'*»'« 

Queen  of  England  mig^ht  be  7id  T'^' .^^  the 
tiie  Pnnce-as  the  lesult  ofl^?  &ra£gni  assured 
England-that  the  Ouepn  LS  '  °T^  observation  in 
^ntiments.  "You  aTLFn^l^^^  '^  .J^'^'^e  pacific 
Pnnce,  "and  you  may  sa5  f^  i^  •'^'  '^P^'^'^  *J'« 
Majesty,  that,  after  my  aUeSinn^f^^  "J'"'"*^'*  °^  ^er 
fevouraWy   and   affeSf elvInT^  ^"'S' ^  *«>  n>o«t 

If  it  pleases  them  that  I  it^..,"^'?'*'^  *""'»"1«  her. 
attempt  to  bring^aW  an  accS"td  y"'"""^'  ^^""^^J 
sioners  could  bS  assured  of  ^^5'  "   "'"''  '^°""'" 

would  take  care  thrtTve,^„^X^,'?'  ^"«''"<''  ^ 
with  due  regard  tn  tt.!.  t^*^  ^  should  be  conducted 
Majesty.'"  ^      *°  ^^  ^°'«*"  ^^  reputation  of  her 

Grafigni  then  asked  for  a  written  letter  of  .,  A 

ihat  cannot  be,"  renlipH    AloJ^  j  °*  credence. 

return  to  me  I  shaKwf        "'^^'" '    "^""^  'f  you 

proper  person  c^n  be  ll^JT  'T"*'  ''"d  then  a 

KingtoieatwaThh^MSt;-    ''"*''°"*^  "'"'^   ^^ 

withtfd'  Cbhat'  A  W'  T^  "^'^  -  -terview 
gave  the  merchanra  Jn^^     '*^''  '"*"'  *^*  '""""'"an 

a«HeproLdedts«^-reta^7ofe  ^Z^^ 

VUL,  1,  % 

2  H 


(it 


466  THE  UNITED  SETHERLANDS.  Chap.  VHI. 

good  inclination.    Being,  l^''^'^;,"^' * ''^"na  disposed  to 

tvilling  to  l-e -"f --  ;:X  t"  W  he'  ear  to  a 
avoid  bloodshed,  she  was  leaay  ^^^ 

negotiation  f-  P-^V  ,7:^:  ^^'a^^Veased  .hat  his 
and  secure  one.  *^""Vy  °,°  „,  mediator  of  such  a 
Highness  of  Panna  «l^^"W^f„^',t"^f«t  and  honourable 
*'"'^''*^'-TntuZ  P^olerarTcV;:.     Her  Majesty 

a  a"coln  b-Cld  ^^^^^tlXT^ 
the  honourable  com-x^rs  alluded  ^-^^^^^^ 
that  even-  step  taken  by  his  llignnebs 
with  her  honour  and  safety.  j^j^ 

At  about  the  same  ^."Jf.^Vod^n  mnmunicatcd 
diplomatic  e«t«T'™«V^Vf  VroS^^«^°"^'"  ^ug\anA. 
^He^X-dlhltrSll.^^^^^^^^^^ 

iilk  uS  ?=thl^=----^^^^ 

said,  to  g<^^,^t\  '%  x^^^r,  floTip  to  be  pure  matter  of 
evervthina;  whicli  had  been  done  to  iw  **-,.. 

:;ciint  entirely  with.,  t^^^^^^^^^^ 

and  each  f  «^'"g.  *°  ?  G^fi.mi  informed  Bodman, 
pees  of  her  M-J'^^^y^j^T^aTquite  to  be  depended 
however,  that  Lord  i^oonaiu     c*     i  T^rivatelv, 

Croft  would  teect  Bodman  as  to  his  course,  and  would 

Bo,leLn  de  IM  liitencloues  df  Ingla-  iwa. 


>586.     THEm  DEALINGS  WITH  ENGLISH  COUNSELLORS.     467 
by  name,  was  a  Papist   a.  man   ^^f  i.  i     ^ 
fonnerly  a  spy  of  the^uke  TLl  "^^^  tlT^'  ^"/ 
ship  or  myself  should  use  s,,.^,   •     .  '  ^"'""  ^•^i^- 

^vr^te  Wal'singham  to  Leicester  \'!f  T'"*'  "^  *'"''•" 
bear  no  small  reproach  •  but  ?t ;    k       '™,°,'^  '"^  ''''""I'l 

and  doubtful  ^ZZ\''tTtlXfrt^"^''Bf''''' 
thought  the  ords  of  the  peace  fooH, .,  i  .V'  •  '^"'^man 
not  sufficiently  strong  ro'tethe".^''''^''- ^'It^rent^ 

success       He  assured^arneT^V  a  mota^fthf/f 

cause  of  the  Q«!en  a^d  thVi/,    vk'!*"  "'•'^'"*»"'  *e 
chance  of  peace  wL^esnor^f/'^'^^'  ""'^  *'^''t  'I'e 

turn  the  til,  -ns.trCai:;trS"of  ^:f 

or  an  invasion  by  Philip  of  Ireland  ors«,Vhnd  ' 

Jr^"i.t7„XA"  ES^-a  EC'S 

i-ach  party  was  desirous  of  forcing  or  whL^ll^      .1  " 
antagonist  to  show  his  hand      "  Y™  wlJ!         ^  ^  .*''* 

nnn  and  lasting  peace."  *  "o  "*  na\e  a 

Molf?"*w'*  ^"^^  ^°'^  Cobham,"  said  Richardot  to  La 
Motte,     that  you  are  not  at  liberty  to  go  into  a  cones 


»  Bmce'8  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  231.  '^-^^^J,        '  '  ^  V^e  ^n  particular  sienle  G  Bode- 

»M.7      n«m.'&c.    MS.  lastdted. 

*  I>.rd  Cobham  to  Sigr.  de  la  Motte. 
2  March,  1586.     (Arch,  de  Sim. MS) 

2  H  2 


1586 


468 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


1586. 


ponrtence,  until  assured  of  the  intentions  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Her  Majesty  ought  to  speak  first,  in  order 
to  make  her  good-will  manifest,"  *  and  so  on. 

"  The  'friend '  can  confer  viith  you,"  said  Kichardot  to 
Champagny;  "but  his  Highness  is  not  to  appear  to 
know  anything  at  all  about  it.  The  Queen  must  signify 
her  intentions."  * 

"  You  answered  Champagny  correctly,"  said  Burghley 
to  De  Loo,  "as  to  what  1  said  last  winter  concerning 
her  Majesty's  wishes  in  regard  to  a  pacification.  Tha 
Netherlands  must  be  compelled  to  return  to  obedience  to  the  King  ; 
but  their  ancient  privileges  are  to  be  maintained.  You 
omitted,  however,  to  say  a  word  about  toleration,  in  the 
Provinces,  of  the  reformed  religion.  But  I  said  then, 
as  I  say  now,  that  this  is  a  condition  indispensable  to 

peace." " 

This  was  a  somewhat  important  omission  on  the  part 
of  De  Loo,  and  gives  the  measure  of  his  conscientious- 
ness or  his  capacity  as  a  negotiator.  Certainly  for  the 
Lord-Treasurer  of  England  to  off'er,  on  the  part  of  her 
Majesty,  to  bring  about  the  reduction  of  her  allies  under 
the  yoke  which  they  had  thrown  off  without  her 
assistance,  and  this  without  leave  asked  of  them,  and 
with  no  provision  for  the  great  principle  of  religious 
liberty,  which  was  the  cause  of  the  revolt,  was  a  most 
flagitious  trifling  with  the  honour  of  Elizabeth  and  of 
England.  Certainly  the  more  this  mysterious  corres- 
pondence is  examined,  the  more  conclusive  is  the 
justification  of  the  vague  and  instinctive  jealousy  felt 
by  Leicester  and  the  Stat^es-General  as  to  English 
diplomacy  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  1586. 

Burghley  summoned  De  Loo,  accordingly,  to  recall 
to  his  memory  all  that  had  been  privately  said  to  him  on 
the  necessity  of  protecting  the  reformed  religion  in  the 
Provinces.  If  a  peace  were  to  be  perpetual,  toleration 
was  indispensable,  he  observed,  and  her  Majesty  was 
said  to  desire  this  condition  most  earnestly.* 

The  Lord-Treasurer  also  made  the  not  unreasonable 
suggestion,  that,  in  case  of  a  pacification,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  provide   that  English  subjects — peaceful 

»  Richardot  to  La  Motte,  23  March,  d'luglpterra  a  Andrea  de  Loo,  verbatim 

IS^^fi.     (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  traslatau   dalla   sua  llnpia  In    quesU, 

«  Richardot  to  Champagny,  24  March,  6  Marte,  1586.'     (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 

1586.  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  «  'Leltera,'  &c.  Just  clt«d. 

>  •  Leticra   del  Sr.  Gran   Tbesoriero 


DCJPLICITY  OF  FARNESE. 


469 
traders,  mariners,  and  the  lilrA     ci.^,  i.^         i 

had  already  been  the  ca^e  ■  '      '     '*^  8"^^*  multitudes, 

Elizabeth/- he  corr^otT/ob::^edto'SrL  a  ;?""" 
she  IS  also  by  no  nieai4  fond  of  exnensp  '^'ti    t^""?^"" 

accustomed  to  repose,  is  already  Z^  of  wir    ,^'"^"^.°"'' 
they  are  all  pacifically  inclined  "'^  "17  V.      ^'■^^"'^' 

and  perhaps  the  Earl  vcouldtrS^d"'     ^^       T'T*^' 

immense  success  *     T}i^  P^,-«     »^^"^^' ^^a^  would  be  an 

trickeiy  was  to  be  expected      Ttt^'/^^J^^  '"'* 
hoped  for  was  to  "  chill  tt?n'        •    ^^'^^  ^ood  to  bo 

and  allianl^  and   durin.  tte'lvV?  ^T  P^°*^'  '^''«"««' 
their  own  grkt  d^si^n  "?    T      Y\  *°  *"'""y  '""'^^''l 

their  preparToL^:%.t  th'^QttVste^^i^'*  ? 

^  *  Lettera,'  &c.,  lost  dted  >  t>- 

'  "  U  „,„..  ^  ,,  '^„^,  ^  ^„„^       .'  ^  to  PbHIp  ,1..  MS.  u,.  ciM. 

Para  adonnecerla."  fibld.) 


470 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


internal  dissensions  and  civil  war  ;—mch.  was  the   game 
of  the  King  and  the  governor,  as  expounded  between 

i'hf^niRplires  ' 

President  Kichardot,  at  the  same  time,  stated  to  Car- 
dinal Granvelle  that  the  English  desire  for  peace  was 
considered  certain  at  Brussels.     Grafigni  had  informed 
the  Prince  of  Parma  and  his  counsellors  that  the  Queen 
was  most  amicably  disposed,  and  that  there  would  bo 
no  trouble  on  the  point  of  religion,   her  Majesty  not 
wishing   to   obtain  more  than   she   would   hert^elf  bo 
willing  to  grant.     "  In  this,"  said  Kichardot,  "there  is 
both  hard  and  soft ; "  *  for,  knowing  that  the  Spanish 
game  was  deception,   pure  and   simple,  the   excellent 
President  could  not  bring  himself  to  suspect  a  possible 
grain  of  good  faith  in  the  English  intentions.     Much 
anxiety  was  perpetually  felt  in  the  French  quarter,  her 
Majesty's  government*^ being  supposed   to  be    secretly 
preparing    an    invasion    of    the   obedient   Netherlands 
across  the  French  frontier,  in  combination,   not  with 
the  Bearnese,  but  with  Henry  ill.     So  much  in  the  dark 
were  even  the  most  astute  politicians.     "I  can't  feel 
satisfied  in  this  French  matter,"   said  the  President: 
"we  mustn't  tickle  ourselves  to  make  ourselves  laugh."  ^ 
Moreover,  there  was  no  self-deception  nor  self-tickling 
possible  as  to  the  unmitigated  misery  of  the  obedient 
Netherlands.     Famine  was  a  more  formidable  foe  than 
Frenchmen,  Hollanders,  and  Englishmen  combined ;  so 
that  Kichardot  avowed  that  the  "  negotiation  would  be 
indeed  holy,  if  it  would  restore  Holland  and  Zeeland  to 
the  Kina;  without  fighting.     The  prospect  seemed  on  the 
whole  rather  dismal  to  loyal  N  etherlanders  like  the  old 
leaguing,    intriguing,    Hispaniolized   president   of   the 
privy  council.     "  I  confess,"  said  he  plaintively,  "  that 
England  needs  chastisement;  but  1  don't  see  how  we 
are  to  give  it  to  her.     Only  let  us  secure  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  and  then  we  shall  always  find  a  stick  whenever 
we  like  to  beat  the  dog."  * 

Meantime  Andrea  de  Loo  had  been  bustling  and  buzz- 

»  Parma  to  Philip  II..  MS.  laat  cited.  could  then  foresee  that  within  two  months 

2  "En  cecy  il  y  a  du  dur  &  du  moL"  Henry  III.  would  be  proposing  to  Philip 

Kichardot  to  Oranvelle.  30  Mars,  15«6.  11.  a  Joint  Invasion  of  England  ! 

(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  *  "  Kt  nous  sera  ayse  do  trouver  le  has- 

8  "  11  ne  fnut  pas  que  nous  nous  cha-  ton  quaud  nous  voulous  battre  le  chlen. 

touillons  pour  nous  falre  rire. '    (Ibid.)  (Ibid.) 

Neither  Rlclmrdot    nor  Parnia  himself 


1586.    SECRET  OFFERS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PEACE-PARTr.      471 

ing  about  the  ears  of  the  chief  counsellors  at  the  English 
court  during  all  the  early  spring.  Most  busily  he  had 
been  endeavouring  to  eflace  the  prevalent  suspicion  tliat 
Philip  and  Alexander  were  only  trifling  by  these  in- 
formal negotiations.  We  have  just  seen  whether  or  not 
there  was  ground  for  that  suspicion.  De  Loo,  being 
importunate,  however—*'  as  he  usually  was,"  according 
,  to  his  own  statement— obtained  in  Burghley's  hand  a 
confirmation,  by  order  of  the  Queen,  of  De  Loo's  letter 
of  the  26th  December.  The  matter  of  religion  gave  the 
worthy  merchant  much  difficulty^  and  he  begged  Lord 
Buckhurst,  the  Lord-Treasurer,  and  many  other  counsel- 
lors, not  to  allow  this  point  of  toleration  to  ruin  the 
whole  affair;  "for,"  said  he,  ''his  Majesty  will  never 
permit  any  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion."* 

At  last  Buckhurst  sent  for  him,  and,  in  presence  of 
Comptroller  Croft,  gave  him  information  that  he  had 
brought  the  Queen  to  this  conclusion :  firstly,  that  she 
would  be  satisfied  with  as  great  a  proportion  of  reli- 
gious toleration  for  Holland,  Zeeland,  and  the  other 
United  Provinces,  as  his  Majesty  could  concede  with 
safety  to  his  conscience  and  his  honour ;  *  secondly,  that 
she  required  an  act  of  amnesty ;  thirdly,  that  she  claimed 
reimbursement  by  Philip  for  the  money  advanced  by  her 
to  the  States.** 

Certainly  a  more  wonderful  claim  was  never  made  than 
this— a  demand  upon  an  absolute  monarch  for  indemnity 
for  expenses  incuiTcd  in  fomenting  a  rebellion  of  his 
o^Ti  subjects.  The  measure  of  toleration  proposed  for 
the  Provinces — the  conscience,  namely,  of  the  greatest 
bigot  ever  born  into  the  world — was  likely  to  prove  as 
satisfactory  as  the  claim  for  damages  propounded  by  the 
most  pai-siraonious  sovereign  in  Christendom.  Itwas, 
however,  stipulated  that  the  non-conformists  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland  who  should  be  forced  into  exile  were  to 
have  their  property  administered  by  Papist  trustees  v 
and  further  that  the  Spanish  Inquisition  was  not  to  be 
established  in  the  Netherlands.  Philip  could  hardly 
demand  better  terms  than  these  last,  after  a  career  of  vic- 

1  Memorial  d'  Andrea  de  Loo  del  nego-  gione  rhe  d'  ottenere  dal  lie  quolla  tanta 

tiato  alia  corte  d'lnglaterra  nel  mesf;  di  toltrantla  per  la  Hollanda  y  la  Zelan.^a 

FebraloeMarzo,  1586.  (ArchlvodeSiman-  con  le  altre    provincie  unite,  che  potra 

cas,  MS.)  conce<lere  con    sua  salva  cunstlenza  et 

'  "  Imprimis,  che  S.  M"-  si  contenta  di  honore."     (ll)id.) 

oa  estai-  allrimeutl  sul  punto  della  rcli-  »  Ibid. 


47! 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


1 

I 


Kl 


torj.    That  they  should  be  offered  now  by  Elizabeth  was 
hardly  compatible  with  good  faith  to  the  States. 

On  account  of  Lord  Burghley's  gout,  it  was  suggested 
that  the  negotiators  had  better  meet  in  England,  as  it 
would  be  necessary  for  him  to  take  the  lead  in  the 
matter,  and  as  he  wa«  but  an  indifferent  traveller.' 
Thus,  according  to  De  Loo,  the  Queen  was  willing  to 
hand  over  the  United  Provinces  to  l*hilip,  and  to  toss 
religious  toleration  to  the  winds,  if  she  could  only 
get  back  the  se\^enty  thousand  pounds — more  or  less — 
which  she  had  invested  in  an  unpromising  speculation. 
A  few  weeks  later,  and  at  almost  the  very  moment  when 
Elizabeth  had  so  suddenly  overturned  her  last  vial  of 
wrath  upon  the  discomfited  Heneagefor  having  commu- 
nicated—according to  her  express  command — the  fact 
of  the  pending  negotiations  to  the  Netherland  States ; 
at  that  very  instant  Panna  was  wiiting  secretly,  and  in 
cipher,  to  Philip.  His  communication— could  Sir 
Thomas  have  read  it — might  have  partly  explained 
her  Majesty's  rage. 

Parma  had  heard,  he  said,  through  Bodman,  from 
Comptroller  Croft,  that  the  Queen  would  willingly 
receive  a  proper  envoy.  It  was  very  easy  to  see,  he 
observed,  that  the  English  counsellors  were  seeking 
every  means  of  entering  into  communication  with 
Spain,  and  that  they  were  doing  so  with  the  participa- 
tion of  the  Queen."  Lord-Treasurer  Burghley  and 
Comptroller  Croft  had  expressed  surprise  that  the 
Prince  had  not  yet  sent  a  secret  agent  to  her  Majesty, 
under  pretext  of  demanding  explanations  concerning 
Lord  Leicester's  presence  in  the  Provinces,  but  in 
reality  to  treat  for  peace.  Such  an  agent,  it  had  been 
intimated,  would  be  well  received."  The  Lord-Treasurer 
and  the  Comptroller  would  do  all  in  their  power  to  ad- 
vance the  negotiation,  so  that,  with  their  aid  and  with  the 
pacific  inclination  of  the  Queen,  the  measures  proposed 
in  favour  of  Leicester  would  be  suspended,  and  perhaps 
the  Earl  himself  and  all  the  English  would  be  recalled.* 

'  MS.  Just  cited.  I  Ibid. 

«  "  Blen  claro  ccha  de  ver  qne  van  bus-  *  ••  Y  con  esto  y  la  Inclinacion  qno 

candu  U)dm  los  que  lea  parectn  a  propo-  liene  la  Reyna  &  la  paz.  se  suspende- 

6ltu  imra  entrar  en  comunicacion.  y  que  riaii  las  pruposlciones  que  se  hazen  en 

lo  hazen  con  la  participjicion  iHa  Reyna."  favor  del  Cunde  de  I^estre,  y  quiza  sorla 

rinuit  U>I'hillp  a.,  za  April,  15JJ6.  (Arch,  revwado   el    con    mdus   lo»    Ingleaes." 

de  6.1U.  MS.)  (Ibid.) 


1586.  LETTERS  AND  INTRIGUES  OF  DE  LOO.  473 

The  Queen  was  fiirther  represented  as  taking  creat 
pains  to  excuse  both  the  expedition  of  Sir  Fmncis  Drake 
to  the  Indies  and  the  mission  of  Leicester  to  the  Pro 
vinces.  She  was  said  to  throw  the  whole  blame  of 
these  enterprises  upon  Walsingham  and  other  ill-inten- 
tioned personages,  and  to  avow  that  she  now  understoofi 
matters  better ;  so  that,  if  Parma  would  at  once  send^ 

Parma  had  expressed  his  gratification  at  these  hope- 
ful  dispositions  on  the  part  of  Burghley  and  Croft    and 
held  out  hopes  of  sending  an  ageiTt  to'ireat  wkh  the" 
If  not  directly  with  her  Majesty.     For  some  time  pSt 
-according  to   the   Prince-the   English  government 
had  not  seemed  to  be  honestly  seconding  the  EaS  of 
Leicester,  nor  to  correspond  with  his  desires      -  Tliis 
makes  me  think,"  he  said,  -  that  the  counsellors  before 
mentioned,  being  his  rivals,  are  trying  to  trip  him  up  "« 
In  such  a  caballing,  prevaricating  age,  it  is  difficult 
to  know  which  of  all  the  plotters  and^'ounterpi™ 
engaged  m  these  intrigues  could  accomplish  the  great- 
est  amount  of  what-for  the  sake  of  diluting  in  nine 
syllables  that  which  could  be  more  forcibly  expressed 
m  one-was  tben  called  diplomatic  dissimulation.     It 
IS  to  be  feared  notwithstanding  her  frequent  and  voci- 
ferous denials,  that  the  robes  of  the  "  imperial  votaress  " 
were  not  so  unsullied  as  could  be  wished.     AVe  know 
how  loud  y  Leicester  had  complained-we  have  seen 
how  cdearly  )\  alsmgham  could  convict ;  but  Elizabeth 
though  convicted,  could  always  confute  :  for  an  absolute 
sovereign,  even  without  resorting  to  Philip's  syllogisms 
of  axe  and  faggot  was  apt  in  the  sixteenth  century  to 
dulfs  ^"^   argument  with  private   indivi- 

The  secret  statements  of  Parma-made,  not  for  public 
effect,  but  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  his  master  with 
the  most  accurate  mfonnation  he  could  gather  as  to 
English  pohcy-are  certainly  entitled  to  consideration. 
^V^-^-7T  ^?^¥^««  ^^^^^«d  upon  the  statements  of 
ndividuals  rejoicing  m  no  very  elevated  character;  but 
those  individuals  had  no  motive  to  deceive  their  patron. 

1  "  Eamerando  se  mucho  en  excusar  la    tenclonados.  y  qne  ya  la  Revna  com*»n 


I 


474 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VUI. 


If  they  clashed  with  the  vehement  declarations  of  very 
eminent  i>er8onage8,  it  must  be  admitted  on  the  other 
hand  that  they  were  singularly  in  accordance  with  the 
silent  eloquence  of  important  and  mysterious  events. 

As  to  Alexander   Famese  —  without   deciding    the 
question   whether   Elizabeth  and   Burghley  were   de- 
ceiving Walsingham  and  Leicester,  or  only  trying  to 
delude  Philip  and  himself-he  had  no  hesitation,  of 
course,  on  his  part  in  recommending  to  Philip  the  em- 
ployment of  unlimited  dissimulation.    ^  othing  could  bo 
more  ingenuous  than  the  intercourse  between  the  King 
and  his  confidential  advisers.     It  was  perfectly  under- 
stood among  them  that  they  were  always  to  deceive 
every  one,  upon  every  occasion.     Only  let  tnem   De 
false    and  it  was  impossible  to  be  wholly  wrong ;  but 
grave  mistakes  might  occur  from  occasional  deviations 
Lto   sincerity.     It  was  no  question  at  all,  therefore 
that  it   was   Parma's   duty   to   delude   Elizabeth    and 
Burghley.     Alexanders  course  was  plain.     He  informed 
his  master  that  he  would  keep  these  difficulties  alive  as 
much  as  it  was  possible.     In  order  to  -  put  them  all  to 
sleep  with  regard  to  the  great  enterprise  of  the  inva- 
sion "  '    ho  would  send  back  Bodman  to  Burghley  and 
Croft,  and  thus  keep  this  unofficial  negotiation  upon  its 
legs    The  King  was  quite  uncommitted,  and  could  always 
disavow  what  had  been  done.  Meanwhile  he  was  gaining, 
and  his  adversaries  losing,  much  precious  time.     -  If  by 
this  course,"  said  Parma,  -  we  can  induce  the  EngUsh  to 
hand  over  to  us  the  places  which  they  hold  in  Holland 
and   Zeeland,   that   ^^^\l  be   a    great    triumph.        Ac- 
cordingly he  urged  the  King  not  to  slacken  m  the  least, 
his  preparations  for  invasion,  and,  above  all,  to  have  a 
care   that  the   French  were  kept  entangled  and   em- 
barrassed   among    themselves,    which    was    a    most 

substantial  point.*  .  ,   .,     » 

Meantime  Europe  was  ringing  with  the  American  suc- 
cesses of  the  bold  corsair  Drake.  San  Domingo,  Porto 
Kico,  Santiago,  Caithagena,  Florida,  were  sacked  and 
destroyed,  and  the  supplies  drawn  so  steadily  from  the 
oppre.4i()n  of  the  Western  World  to  maintain  Spanish 
tyranny  in  Europe  were  for  a  time  extinguished,    i  arma 

1  .•  ftr  endomiecerlo3  por  lo  que  toca    embara^ados  entre  se  que  es  punto  sua- 
el  negiKlo  principal."    (IWd.)  tancialissimo.      (Ibid.) 

-  "  Que  los  frauceses  ae  entietengaa 


1586.  DRAKE'S  VICTORIES  AND  THEIR  EFFECT.  475 

was  appalled  at  these  triumphs  of  the  Sea-Kin^— "  a 
fearful  man  to  the  King  of  Spain"  '—as  Lord  Bur-hie v 
well  observed.     The  Spanish  troops  were   star^^Sg  in 
Inlanders,  all  Flanders  itself  was  starving,  and  Philip  as 
usual  had  sent  but  insignificant  remittances  to  save  his 
perishing  soldiers.    Parma  had  already  exhausted  his  cre- 
dit.   Money  was  most  difficult  to  obtain  in  such  a  forlorn 
country;  and  now  the  few  rich  merchants  and  bankers  of 
Antwerp  that  were  left  looked  very  black  at  these  crush- 
ing news  from  America.    "  They  are  drawing  their  purse- 
striDgs  very  tight,"  said  Alexander,   "  and  will  make  no 
accommodation.    The  most  contemplative  of  them  ponder 
much  over  this  success  of  Drake,  and  think  that  your 
Majesty  will  forget  our  matters  here  altogether  "*    For 
this  reason  he  informed  the  King  that  it  would  be  ad- 
visable to  drop  all  further  negotiation  witli  England  for 
the  time,  as  it  was  hardly  probable  that,  with  such  advan- 
tages gained  by  the  Queen,  she  would  be  inclined  to  pro- 
ceed m  the  path  whicli  had  been  just  secretly  opened  ^ 
Moreover,  the  Prince  was  in  a  state  of  alarm  as  to  the 
intentions  of  France.    Mendoza  and  Tassis  had  given  him 
to  understand  that  a  very  good  feeling  prevailed  between 
the  court  of  Henry  and  of  Elizabeth,  and  that  the  French 
were  likely  to  come  to  a  pacification  among  themselves.  ^ 
In  this  the  Spanish  envoys  were  hardly  anticipating  so 
great  an  effect  as  we  have  seen  that  they  had  the  rio-ht 
to    do    from   their  own   indefatigable   exertions;    for 
thanks  to  their  zeal,  backed  by  the  moderate  subsidies 
furnushed   by  their  master,  the   civil  war   in   France 
already  seemed  likely  to  be  as  enduring  as  that  of  the 
Netherlands.     But  Parma— still  quite  in  the  dark  as  to 
French  politics— was  haunted  by  the  vision  of  seventy 
thousand  foot  and  six  thousand  horse  *  ready  to  be  let 
slip  upon  him  at  any  moment,  out  of  a  pacified  and 
harmonious  France ;  while  he  had  nothing  but  a  few 
starving  and  crippled  regiments  to  withstand  such  an 
invasion.     AVhen  all  these  events   should   have   taken 
place,  and   France,  in  alliance  with  England,   should 
have  formally  declared  war  against  Spain,  Aiexander 
protested  that  he  should  have  learned  nothing  new.' 
The   Prince  was  somewhat  mistaken  as  to  political 


I  ; 


I 


>  Brace's     •  Leyc.    Correspond.*    199, 

81  March  ^ 


2  Parma  to  Philip  II.,  9  jklay,  1586 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  M.S.) 

3  Ibid.      *  Ibid.        5  Ibid.       «  Ibid 


476 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


!♦ 


iii 


affairs :  but  his  doubts  concerning  his  neigbbours.blended 
with  the  forlorn  condition  of  himself  and  army,  about 
which  there  was  no  doubt  at  all,  showed  the  exigencies 
of  his  situation.     In  the  midst  of  such  embarrassments 
it  is  impossible  not  to  admire  his  heroism  as  a  milit^ry 
chieftain,  and  his  singular  adroitness  as  a  diplomatist. 
He  had  painted  for  his  sovereign  a  most  faithful  and 
horrible  portrait  of  the  obedient  Provinces.     The  soil 
was  untilled ;  the  manufactories  had  all  stopped  ;  trade 
had  ceased  to  exist.     It  was  a  pity  only  t<^)  look  upon 
the  raggedness  of  his  soldiers.      No  language  could 
describe  the  misery  of  ihe  reconciled  Provinces — Artois, 
Hainault,  Flanders.     The  condition  of  Bruges  would 
melt  the  hardest  heart;    other  cities  were  no  better; 
Antwerp  was  utterly  ruined ;  its  inhabitants  were  all 
starving.     The  famine  throughout  the  obedient  Nether- 
lands was  such  as  had  not  been  known  for  a  century. 
The  whole  country  had  been  picked  bare  by  the  troops, 
and  the  plough  was  not  put  into  the  ground.     Deputa- 
tions were  constantly  with  him  from  Bruges,  Dender- 
monde,    Bois-le-Duc,    Brussels,     Antwerp,    Nymegen, 
proving  to  him  by  the  most  palpable  evidence  that  the 
whole  population  of  those  cities  had  almost  literally 
nothing  to  eat.     He  had  nothing,  however,  but  exhor- 
tations to  patience  to  feed  them  withal.     He  was  left 
without  a  groat  even  to  save  his  soldiers  from  starving, 
and  he  wildly  and  bitterly,  day  after  day,  implored 
his   sovereign  for  aid.^    These   pictures   are  not   the 
sketches  of  a  historian  striving  for  effect,  but  literal 
transcripts  from  the   most  secret  revelations   of   the 
Prince  himself  to  his  sovereign.     On  the  other  hand, 
although  Leicester's  complaints  of  the  destitution  of  the 
English  troops  in  the  republic  were  almost  as  bitter,  yet 
the  condition  of  the  United  Provinces  was  comparatively 
healthy.     Trade,  external  and  internal,  was  increasing 
daily.      Distant  commercial   and   military  expeditions 
were  fitted  out,  manufactures  were  prosperous,  and  the 
war  of  independence  was  gradually  becoming — strange 
to  say — a  source  of  prosperity  to  the  new  common- 
wealth. ^ 

Philip — being  now  less  alarmed  than  his  nephew 

1  Letters  of  Pamm  to  PhlUp  II..  19  April,  1586;  9  May,  1586;  27  May,  1566, 
et  ai.    (Arch,  de  Sim.  MSS.) 


1586.  PARMA'S  PERPLEXITY  AND  ANXIETY.  477 

concerning  French  affairs,  and  not  feeling  so  keenlv 
the  misery  of  the  obedient  Provinces,  or  &e  wants  of 
the  fepanish  army-sent  to  Alexander  six  >mdred 
thousand  ducats  by  way  of  Genoa.  In  the  letter  sub- 
mitted by  his  secretary  recording  this  remittance,  the 
!^J"^'  ^f  4f '  however,  a  characteristic  marginal  note  :- 
bee  if  it  will  not  be  as  well  to  tell  him  something 
concerning  the  two  hundred  thousand  ducats  to  he 
deducted  for  Mucio,  for  fear  of  more  mischief,  if  the 
Prince  should  expect  the  whole  six  hundred  thousand  '» » 

niT'^'^'f  J/^""^^^  S^*  *^^  *^^^  h^^dred  thousand. 
Chie-third  of  the  meagre  supply  destined  for  the  relief 
ot  the  King  s  starving  and  valiant  little  army  in  the 
Netherlands  was  cut  off  to  go  into  the  pocket's  of  the 
intrigiung  Duke  of  Guise.    -  We  must  keep  the  French," 
said  Phihp,  -  m  a  state  of  confusion  at  home,  and  feed 
their  civil  war.     We  must  not  allow  them  to  come  to  a 
general   peace    which   would   be   destruction   for  the 
Catholics.     1  know  you  will  put  a  good  face  on  the 
matter ;  and,  after  all,  'tis  in  the  interest  of  the  Nether- 
Sed  » «     ''''^^'''  ^^  "^"^"^^y  *^h^ll  ^e  immediately  re- 
Alexander  was  more  likely  to  make  a  wrj^  face,  not- 
withstanding his  views  of  the  necessity  of  fomenting 
the  rebellion  against  the  House  of  Valois.     Certainly  if 
a  monarch  intended  to  conquer  such  countries  as  France, 
Jljngland,  and  Holland,  without  stirring  from  his  easy 
chair  m  the  Escorial,  it  would  have  been  at  least  ^ 
well--so  Alexander  thought-to  invest   a  little  more 
capital  m  the  speculation.     No  monarch  ever  dreamed 
ot  arriving   at   universal    empire   with    less    personal 
Pi.-K^^TT^''   exposure,  or  at  a  cheaper   rate,  than  did 
rnuip  IL      His  only  fatigue  was  at  his  writing-table, 
^ut  even  here  his  merit  was  of  a  subordinate  description 
We  sat  a  great  while  at  a  time,— he  had  a  genius  for 
sitting,— but  he  now  wrote  few  letters  himself.  A  dozen 
words   or   so,    scrawled   in   hieroglyphics  at  the   top, 
bottom,  or  along  the  margin  of  the  interminable  des- 
patches of  his  secretaries,  contained  the  suggestions, 

*  "Mirad  si  es  bien  declrle  algo  de  los  de  Sim.  MS  ) 
20nm  ducad.«  para  Mrfcio.  en  caso  que        2  "Sustentando  los  (franceses)  el  ruido 

sean  mene8ter-p.,rque  despuos   no   se  en  su  casa,  y  uo  les  dcjando  consegulr  la 

haga  mas  de  mal.esperando  todos  600".."  paz  general,  que  uo  ha  de  ser  sino  dea- 

1  hlUp  II.  to  Parma,  1 4  May.  1 586.  (Arch,  tracclon  de  los  Catollcoa."  &c     ( Ibid  ) 


I 


47  R 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


more  or  less  luminous,  whicli  arose  in  his  mmd  concem- 
ina:  public  affairs.  But  he  held  firmly  to  his  purpose. 
He  had  devoted  his  life  to  the  extermination  of  1  rotes- 
tantism,  to  the  conquest  of  France  and  England,  to  the 
Bubiuo-ation  of  Holland.  ITiese  were  vast  schemes.  A 
king  who  should  succeed  in  such  enterprises,  by  his 
personal  courage  and  genius,  at  the  head  of  his  armies, 
or  bv  consummate  diplomacy,  or  by  a  masterly  system 
of  finance— husbanding  and  concentrating  the  resources 
of  his  almost  boundless  realms-might  be  in  truth 
commended  for  capacity.  Hitherto,  however,  Philip  s 
triumph  had  seemed  problematical ;  and  perhaps  some- 
thing more  would  be  necessary  than  letters  to  1  arma, 
and  paltry  remittances  to  Mucio,  notwithstanding 
Alexander's  splendid  but  local  victories  in  Flanders. 

Parma,  although  in  reality  almost  at  bay,  concealed 
his  despair,  and  accomplished  wonders  in  the  lieid. 
The  military  events  during  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1586  will  be  sketched  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  lor 
the  present  it  is  necessary  to  combine  into  a  complete 
whole  the  subterranean  negotiations  between  Brussels 

and  England.  .„     ..       -n  ^       i 

Much  to  his  surprise  and  gratification,  Parma  found 
that  the  peace-party  were  not  inclined  to  change  their 
views  in  consequence   of  the  triumphs  of  Drake.     He 
soon  informed  the  King  that— according  to  Champagny 
and   Bodman— the   Lord   Treasurer,   the   Comptroller, 
Lord  Cobham,  and  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  were  more 
pacific   than   they  had   ever   been.     These   four  were 
represented  by  Grafigni  as  secretly  m  league  against 
Leicester  and  Walsingham,  and  ver>'  anxious  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation  between  the  crowns  of  England 
and   Spain.'     Hie   merchant-diplomatist,   according   to 
his  own  statement,  was  expressly  sent  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth  to  the  Prince  of  Parma,  although  without  letter  ot 
credence    or    signed    instructions,   but   with    the   lull 
knowledge  and  approbation  of  the  four  counsellors  just 
mentioned.     He  assured  Alexander  that  the  Queen  and 
the  majority' of  her  council  felt  a  strong  desire  for  peace, 
and  had  mamfested  much  repentance  for  ichat  had  been  done. 

1  Parma  to  Philip  II..  11  Jane.  1586.  1*  paz.  y  de  ammcxlarse  con  V.  M..  y  del 
(An^  de  Sim.  MS.)  arret>cntimentoquemu^trandclohecho. 

2  "  La  Incllnaclon  y  deseo  que  tiene  la  (Ibid.) 
Reyna  y  la  mayor  parte  de  su  consejo  de 


h 


1586.    HE  IS  RELIEVED  BY  THE  NEWS  FROM  ENGLAND.    479 

Tliey  had  explained  their  proceedings  by  the  necessity 
ot  selt-defence.     1  hey  had  avowed— in  case  they  should 
be  made  sure  of  peace— that  they  should,  not  with 
reluctance  and  against  their  will,  but,  on  the  contrary 
with  the  utmost  alacrity  and  at  once,  surrender  to  the 
King  of  Spain  the  territory  which  they  possessed  in  the 
Aetherlands.    and    especially   the    fortified   towns   in 
Holland  and  Zeeland  ;'  for  the  English  object  had  never 
been  conquest.     Parma  had  also  been  informed  of  the 
Queen's  strong  desire  that  he  (should  be  employed  as 
neguiiatoi,  on  account  oi   hur  great  conriaeiioe  ju  hia 
sincerity       lliey  had  expressed  much  satisfaction  on 
hearing  that  he  was  about  to  send  an  agent  to  En<rland 
and    had    protested    themselves    rejoiced    at    Drake's 
triumphs,  only  because  of  their  hope  that  a  peace  with 
bpam  would  thus  be  rendered  the  easier  of  accompli^h- 
T^*i:-|.   ,  ^^  w^^^  «i"ch  afraid,  according  to  Grafigni, 
ot  1  hihp  s  power,  and  dreaded  a  Spanish  invasion  of 
their  country,  in  conjunction  with  the    Pope.     They 
were  now  extremely  anxious  that  Parma— as  he  himself 
inlormed   the   King— should  send   an   agent   of   good 
capacity,  m   great  secrecy,  to   England.     The  Comp- 
troller had  said  that  he  had  pledged  himself  to  such  a 
result,  and,  if  it  failed,  that  they  would  probably  cut  off 
his    head.       The    four    counsellors   were    excessively 
solicitous  for  the  negotiation,  and  each  of  them  was 
expecting  to  gain  favour  by  advancing  it  to  the  best  of 
his  ability. 

^  Parma  hinted  at  the  possibility  that  all  these  profes- 
sions were  false,  and  that  the  English  were  only  intend- 
ing to  keep  the  King  from  the  contemplated  invasion. 
At  the  same  time  he  drew  Philip's  attention  to  the  fact 
thatBurghley  aiui  his  party  had  mos't  evidently  been  doing  every- 
thmg  m  their  power  to  obstruct  Leicester's  progress  in  the 
JSetherlands,  and  to  keep  back  the  reinforcements  of  troops  aud 
money  which  he  so  much  required.^ 

No  doubt  these  communications  of  Parma  to  the  Kino- 
were  made  upon  the  faith  of  an  a^ent  not  over-scrupulous^ 
and  of  no  elevated  or  recognised  rank  in  diplomacy. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  he  had  been 

1  "  Antes,  se   allanaran  en  volver  y    Zelanda,"  &c.    (Ibid.) 
TOti^gar  a  V.  M".  lo  que  ocupan  y  poseen       2  "  Que  le  corten  la  caboza."    Parma 
y  en  particular  las  fuerzas  de  Holanda  y    to  Philip  JJ-,  MS.  Just  cited.  »  Ibi.1, 


^^^^ 


480 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


made  use  of  by  both  parties  ;  perhaps  because  it  would 
be  easy  to  thiow  otf  and  discredit  him  whenever  such 
a  step'  should  be  convenient ;  and  that,  on  the  other 
hand,  coming  fresh  from  Burghley  and  the  rest  into  the 
presence  of  the  keen  eyed  Faniese,  he  would  hardly 
invent  for  his  employer  a  budget  of  falsehoods.  That 
man  must  have  been  a  subtle  negotiator  who  could 
outwit  such  statesmen  as  Burghley  and  the  other 
counsellors  of  Elizabeth,  and  a  bold  one  who  could 
dare  to  trifle  on  a  momentous  occasion  with  Alexander 

of  Parma. 

Leicester  thoucjht  Burghley  very  much  his  friend, 

and  so  thought  Davison  and  Heneage ;  and  the  Lord- 
Treasurer  had,  in  truth,  stood  stoutly  by  the  Earl  in 
the  affair  of  the  absolute  governorship; — *'a  matter 
more  severe  and  cumbersome  to  him  and  others,"  said 
Burghley,  *'  than  any  whatsoever  since  he  was  a  coun- 
sellor." '  But  there  "is  no  doubt  that  these  negotiations 
were  going  forward  all  the  spring  and  summer,  that 
they  were  most  detrimental  to  Leicester's  success,  and 
that  they  were  kept— so  far  as  it  was  possible— a  pro- 
found secret  from  him,  from  Walsingham,  and  from  the 
States-General.  N  othing  was  told  them  except  what  their 
own  astuteness  had  discovered  beforehand  :  and  the 
game  of  the  counsellors— so  far  as  their  attitude  towards 
Leicester  and  Walsingham  was  concerned — seems  both 
disingenuous  and  impolitic. 

Parma,  it  was  to  be  feared,  was  more  than  a  match 
for  the  English  governor-general  in  the  field  ;  and  it 
was  certainly  hopeless  for  poor  old  Comptroller  Croft, 
even  though  backed  by  the  sagacious  Burghley,  to 
accomplish  so  great  an  amount  of  dissimulation  in  a 
year  as  the  Spanish  cabinet,  without  effort,  could  com- 
pass in  a  week.  Kor  were  they  attempting  to  do  so.  It 
IS  probable  that  England  was  acting  towards  Philip  in 
nmch  better  faith  than  he  deserved,  or  than  Parma 
believed;  but  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that 
Leicester  should  think  himself  injured  by  being  kept 
perpetually  in  the  dark. 

Elizabeth  was  very  impatient  at  not  receiving  direct 
letters  from   Parma,  and  her  anxiety   on  the  subject 

13 

»  'Leyc.  Corresp.'    268.  --  May,  1586. 


1386. 


QUEEN'S  SECKET  LETTERS  TO  PARMA. 


explains  much  of  her  cannV^  a  ■ 
the  govenior-generalshTr  Man?"5  *«  ^'^'''^  about 
^"f«.  thought  those  vXJ.SlT'"''^^^^'^^^- 
that  had  been  arranced  with  T  °  f  *^''°®'  ^nd  a  farce 
this  they  were  mi^^.^Xl'^^l^  forehand.    Z 

secret  correspondence  of  the  period?  '?^*',°''  "f  t^e 
-which  to  contemporaries'^werl  TT}^  *^«  "'"tives 
strange  transactions.  The  O.I  i'dden-of  many 
tremely  anxious,  and  with  cans?  a^  T\  "°  •^°"'^*'  ^^^ 
gathenng  over  her  head;  h^tht'^^  l^T^^^  slowly 
ened,  the  more  was  her  ovm  offiTr,*^''  '^^"S^'^  thick- 
1"  h,gh  places  befitting  tCoveS  oTfT  *°  '^'^^ 

She  expressed  her  surprisl  t„T  ^^ England, 
not  written  to  her  on  tKutw  nf  ?..''^*^»*  ^^  ^ad 
Bodman  affair.     The  fir«t  T^     -f  ^^^  Grafigni  and 
-hich  he  had  narked    'a^e'in'v'  ""^  i^^^&^int 
had  sent  him.     The  oft;r  had  nn^"  T ?^'°''  *^^*t  «he 
because  he  had  not  come  providpr.     •!^**'"^^  audience, 
direct  or  indirect.    Ha^ns  now ,    f  ^*^  *''^'  credentials 
de  Lo    ,„^  ^^^  SeiSde  cL''°°'^  fr*""  Andrea 
had  the  power  to  coSL  „    ^hampagny  that  Parma 
very  much  to  des"™    she  oCZ\^}t^  ^«  ««^e  ™d 
necessaiyforhimtobesocharvir    /*!^^  ^'  ^"^  "o* 
of  the  proposed  negotiations^  n  "^^T'^S  ^^^^  b^sis 
into  a  straightforward  patnLA    '^^  ^?"^'-  *°  enter 
to  spin  out  to  great  IenXmatter«  t^  .«mbiguous  words 
at  once  conclude.'         ^        ""'^  "^"^'ch  princes  should 

ing  Sj;lToK'S^V?orf°'.:;i^"*  ^  ^-n^eek. 
that  which  is  mine  own     But  h     """^'^    ^  ^^ek  only 
good  heed  of  the   s?ord  which  T  ^*  ^  ^"  ^^^ 
destruction,  nor  think  that  T  .f^   ^^^eatens   me   with 
to  endure  a  wrono-  nf+r^  i  ^  ^  so  craven-spirited  »« 
?iy enemy.    ^^rf^^ZkitfT^"^^ '''  theCrcyrf 
from  Spain  that  tWear  2 11  L-f'^^'"!''^  ^"^  letters 
England;   for   the   iZi^a}  T^^V^^  ^o^^M  ^f; 
dJtvided,  with  great  liCl'^  ^    ^t  ^""ter  who 
body  and  limbs^f  the  wo^  l^e W  *??!  ft  ^'^nds  the 
have  partitioned  tbiskinSmand  tW  ^^I'^t"  ^'^^^~ 
the  conquest  has  been  efecrd     r!.*    of  Ireland  before 
no  whit  appalled  by  sucXeaS*  TtS '^^1^^^ 

'  Queen  Elizabeth  to  PHn       .  t>  '  ^*^   *^® 

2  I 


482  THE  UNITED  NETHEELANDS.  Chap.  VUL 

1,  i„  ^f  tTie  Divine  hand— which  has  thus  far  miracu- 
Sv  p rt^r^eTmo-to  smite  all  these  braggart  powers 
Z  ^n^'and  to  preserve  my  bonour  and  the  kmg- 
Ilnm,  which  He  has  given  me  for  my  heritage, 
^"vertheless,  ifV  ta-  authority  to  enter  npon 

and  to  conclude  this  negotiation,  y°"7/l  /'^^^^rther 
Ta^la^^s  WTXXi  tl^'U:'^t'^ 

hani  ""^ily  1--  «ff-«*  -^'^  ^^•'*""^"*^  '^°" 

"'^s'JTliterwards,  Bodm»i  was  again  despat^^od  to 
England    Grafigni  being  already  there.     He  was  pro^ 
vWTdw^th  unsigned  instructions,  according  to  which 
he  was  to  say  Uiat  the  Prince,  having  heard  of  the 
Oueln's  gooTintentions  had  despatehed  him  and  Gra- 
Sto  h^r  court.    They  were  to  listen  to  any  «ug|es- 
tk^s  made  by  the  Queen  to  her  ministers ;  b"t  they 
IZ  t'dono^ing  but  listen.    .1^  t^e -unsell^rs^^^^ 
enter  into  their  grievances  against  his  MaJ^^y- ^^  ^^ 
for  explanations,  the  agents  were  to  say  that  they  had 
no  aXrity  or  instructions  to  speak  for  bo  gr^at  and 
Christian  a  monarch.     Thus  they  were  to   cut   the 
thrcadTf  ^y  such  discoui-se,  or  any  other  observations 

'"liknJ:  Sort!  was  recommended,  first  and  last,  as 
the  oneVeat  business   of  their  mission;  and  it  was 
mauckv  that  men  whose  talent  for  taciturnity  was  thus 
riSv  reUed  upon  should  be  somewhat  remarkable  for 
k,Sy      Grafigni  was  also  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from 
Kndertothe>een_of  which  Bodman  received  a 
copy-but  it  was  strictly  enjoined  upon  them  to  keep 
^letter,  their  instructions,  and  the  objects  of  their 
innrnev   a  secrot  from  all  the  world. 
J°X^ieUer  of  the  Prince  consisted  mainly  of  compli- 
mentarv  flourishes.    He  had  heard,  he  said,  all   that 
SSo  Grafigni  had  communicated,  and  he  now  begged 
heTCesty  tolet  him  understand  the  course  which  it 
w^  p^Vto  t^° :  ^'^^S  lier  of  his  gratitude  for 

.  MS  )     "  Ck)rtaiido  el  hllo  a  la  platica  y 

1  MS.  just  cited.  „„„^,^„  Bo-    dLscursos  a.mo  atos  dolos  demas  queno- 


1586.     HIS  LETTERS  AKD  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  BODMAN.     483 

her  good  opinion  touching  his  sincerity,  and  his  desire 
to  save  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  so  on    concluding  of 

^dTevTtion  ■'^'''''°°'  "^  °'°''  P^°f°'«'l  conside  Jion 
Early  in  July  Bodman  arrived  in  London.  He  found 
Grafigni  in  very  low  spirits.  He  had  been  with  Lord 
Cobham  and  was  much  disappointed  with  his  reception 
for  Cobham-ang^  that  Grafigni  had  brought  no^S,m: 
mission  from  the  King-had  refused  to  receive  I>am?s 
letter  to  the  Queen,  and  had  expressed  annoyanceTha? 

WhT),  t?^*^  ^  '"'P^°y^'^  '"^  '^'^  ■mission,  ha^W 
heard  that  ho  was  very  ill-tempered  and  pa^ionlte 
The   same   evening,  he   had    been   sent  for   by   Lord 
Burghley-who  had  accepted  the  letter  for  her  Makstv 
mthout  saving  a  word-and  on  the  following  mSg 
he  had  been  taken  to  task  by  several  counsellors^ 

ite^Zt  thfo*^'  ""TT'  '"^  *^^*  communication   C 
stated  that  the  Queen  had  expressed  a  desire  for  peace  « 

It  has  just  been  shown  that  there  was  no  such  ^^t^' 
mationatali  in  the  letter;  but  as  neither  cXni^or 
Bodman  had  read  the  epistle  itself,  but  only  tte  copy 
furnished  them  they  could  merely  say  that  such  an 
assertion,  rf  made  by  the  Prince,  i^d  Wn  foimded  on 
no  statement  of  theirs.  Bodman  consoled  his  cXatT 
as  well  as  he  could,  by  assurances  that  when  theS; 

a"^  Sl'^'"''\^f  ^'"dication  would  be  ^mS 
and  Grafigni,  upon  that  point,  was  comforted.     He  was 

He  ifdllfrfc^"^''^"',^-''  ^"«''*  counsellors. 
«e  said  that  they  had  forced  him,  against  his  will   to 

make  this  journey  to  Bnissels,  that  th!y  had  ofi-eredhim 
presents,  that  they  would  leave  him  no  rest  in  his  o^ 
house,  but  had  made  him  neglect  all  his  private  buSm!^ 
and  caused  him  a  great  loss  of  time  and  money,  in  orde^ 

ston^^st");! ^*  tn  i^'"^-    .^^^y  ^^  'nantf;sted  the 

S  aL  Wl  h*'-  ^^"^  '^"'^'^  °P^"»  '^  communi- 
cation and  had  led  him  to  expect  a  very  large  recompense 

rLfi,^^-'*T-  '"n*^"  transaction.  "And  now."^said 
no  f«^fK  his  colleague,  with  great  bitterness,  "I  find 
no  taith  nor  honour  in  them  at  all.     They  don't  keep 

2  I  2 


II 


I'i 


f^i 


484 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


their  word,  and  every  one  of  them  is  trying  to  slide  out 
of  the  very  business,  in  which  each  was  but  the  other 
day  striving  to  outrival  the  other,  in  order  that  it 
might  be  brought  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion."  * 

After  exploding  in  this  way  to  Bodman,  he  went 
back  to  Cobham,  and  protested,  with  angry  vehemence, 
that  Parma  had  never  written  such  a  word  to  the  Queen, 
and  that  so  it  would  prove,  if  the  letter  were  pro- 
duced. 

Next  day,  Bodman  was  sent  for  to  Greenwich,  where 
her  Majesty  was,  as  usual,  residing.  A  secret  pavilion 
was  indicated  to  him,  where  he  was  to  stay  until  sunset. 
When  that  time  arrived.  Lord  Cobham's  secretary  came 
with  great  mystery,  and  begged  the  emif  sary  to  follow 
him,  but  at  a  considerable  distance,  towards  the  apart- 
ments of  Lord  Burghley  in  the  palace.  Arriving  there, 
they  found  the  Lord-Treasurer  accompanied  by  Cobham 
and  Croft.  Burghley,  instantly  opened  the  interv'iew 
by  a  defence  of  the  Queen's  policy  in  sending  troops  to 
the  Netherlands,  and  in  espousing  their  cause,  and  then 
the  conversation  proceeded  to  the  immediate  matter  in 

hand." 

Bodman  (after  listening  respectfully  to  the  Lord- 
Treasurer's  observations).—"  His  Highness  has,  how- 
ever, been  extremely  surprised  that  my  Lord  Leicester 
should  take  an  oath  as  governor-general  of  the  King's 
Provinces.  He  is  shocked  likewise  by  the  great  demon- 
strations of  hostility  on  the  part  of  her  Majesty." 

Burghley. — "  The  oath  was  indispensable.  The  Queen 
was  obliged  to  tolerate  the  step  on  account  of  the  great 
urgency  of  the  States  to  have  a  head.  But  her  Majesty 
has  commanded  us  to  meet  you  on  this  occasion,  in  order 
to  hear  what  you  have  to  communicate  on  the  part  of  the 

Prince  of  Parma." 

Bodman  (after  a  profusion  of  complimentary  phrases). 
— "  I  have  no  commission  to  say  anything,  I  am  only 
instructed  to  listen  to  anji;hing  that  may  be  said  to  me, 
and  that  her  Majesty  may  be  pleased  to  command." 

Burghley. — "  'Tis  very  discreet  to  begin  thus.  But 
time  is  pressing,  and  it  is  necessary  to  be  brief     We 

1  "No  faallaba  f%,  palabra,  nl  honra  qulen  prlmero  lo  podrio  ac abar."  'Rela- 
entre  ellos,  porque  cada  uno  querla  cion  de  lo  sucedldo,' &c.  (Arch,  de  Sim. 
saline  aftiera  que  de  antes   estrlbaban    MS.  last  dted.)  «  Ibid. 


1586.        BOUMAN'S  TRANSACTIONS  AT  GREENWICH.         485 

beg  vou  therefore  to    communicate,   without    furthpr 
preface,  that  which  you  have  been  charged  to  J " 

Bodman.-"!  can  only  repeat  to  you?  Lordship  that 
I  have  been  charged  to  say  nothing  "  ^' 

After  this  Barmecide  feast  of  diplomacy,  to  partake  of 
which  It  seemed  hardly  necessaiy  that  the  guertsTould 
have  previously  attired  themselves  in  such  imifnte  of 
mystery,  the  parties  separated  for  the  night  F^™*"*"  °^ 

A  T\^.°^^^'''\  ^^'•<''  it  '"'oi'W  seem  that  the  Artrus 
eyed  Walsingham  had  been  able  to  see  after  sunset  Tr 
the  next  evening-after  Bodman  had  been  introdliced 
with  the  same  precautions  to  the  same  company  in  the 

Bodman  was  profoundly  astonished,  for  he  had  beer, 
expressly  informed  that  Walsingham  was  to  know 
^othing  of  the  transaction.'  ThI  Secret^^y  of  St^tT 
could  not  so  easily  be  outwitted,  however,  md  he  was 
soon  seated  at  the  table,  surveying  the  sc^ne  wirtilt 
grave  melancholy  eyes,  which  hid  fookedquft'e  Through 
the  whole  paltry  intrigue.  ^        ^nrougli 

Burghley.-"  Her   Majesty  has    commanded    us   to 
assemble  together,  in  order  that,  in  my  presence  it  mav 

LetTlV '' •'l!^* '*'' ^'^ T' "='""'"enJe?hi8negot  S 
ijet  (jrafigni  be  summoned."  <»""u. 

Grafigni  immediately  made  his  appearance. 

Burghley.-"  You  will  please  to  explain  how  von 
came  to  enter  into  this  business  "  ^  ^  " 

Grafigni.-''  The  first  time  I  went  to  the  States  it 
was  on  my  private  affairs  ;  I  had  no  order  from  aTy  one 
to  treat  witi  the  Prince  of  Pama.  His  Highnes^ 
having  axjcidentally  heard,  however,  that  I  resided  S 
England  expressed  a  wish  to  see  mo.      I  had  an  inter 

rr  r*rf  ^"  ^T-^^-     ^  *°'<1  ^^^  °"t  of  my  own  he^ 
that  the  Queen  had  a  strong  inclination  to  W  pro' 
position  of  peace,  and  that-ts  some  of  her  counseHo™ 
were  of  the  same  opinion-I  believed  that  if  his SS 

The   pCi  *  "T^^ff;  T-^^'.SOod  would  be  eCc?ed 
Ihe   Pnnce  replied  that  he  felt  bv  no  means  sure  of 
s^ich  a  result;  but  that,  if  I  should  come  Wk  from 
Engird,  sent  by  the  Queen  or  her  council,  he  would 
then  despatch  a  person  with  a  commission  to  treat  of 

»'EeUciondelo8nc«lido,'4c.    MS.  last  cltM.  t  ma.  j  „,y 


486 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


peace.  This  statement,  together  with  other  matters 
that  had  passed  between  ns,  was  afterwards  drawn  up 
in  writing  by  command  of  his  Highness." 

Biirghlej.— "  Who  bade  you  say,  after  your  second 
return  to  Brussels,  that  you  came  on  the  part  of  the 
Queen  ?  For  you  well  know  that  her  Majesty  did  not 
send  you." 

Grafigni.— "  I  never  said  so.  I  stated  that  my  Lord 
Cobham  had  set  down  in  writing  what  I  was  to  say  to 
the  Prince  of  Parma.  It  will  never  appear  that  I  re- 
presented the  Queen  as  desiring  peace.  I  said  that 
her  Majesty  vxmld  lend  her  ears  to  peace.  Bodman  knows 
this  too ;  and  he  has  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  his  High- 
ness." 

Walsingham  to  Bodman.—"  Have  you  the  copy  still  ?" 

Bodman. — **  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary." 

Walsingham.—**  Please  to  produce  it,  in  order  that 
this  matter  may  be  sifted  to  the  bottom." 

Bodman.—*'  I  supplicate  your  Lordships  to  pardon 
me,  but  indeed  that  cannot  be.  My  instructions  forbid 
my  showing  the  letter." 

Walsingham  (rising).—**  I  will  forthwith  go  to  her 
Majesty,  and  fetch  the  originaL"  A  pause.  Mr.  Secre- 
tary returns  in  a  few  minutes,  having  obtained  the 
document,  which  the  Queen,  up  to  that  time,  had  kept 
by  her,  without  showing  it  to  any  one.^ 

Walsingham  (after  reading  the  letter  attentively,  and 
aloud).—'*  ITiere  is  not  such  a  word,  as  that  her  Majesty 
is  desirous  of  peace,  in  the  whole  paper."* 

Burghley  (taking  the  letter,  and  slowly  construing  it 
out  of  Italian  into  English).-**  It  would  seem  that  his 
Highness  hath  written  this,  assuming  that  the  Signer 
Grafigni  came  from  the  Queen,  although  he  had  re- 
ceived his  instructions  from  my  Lord  Cobham.  It  is 
plain,  however,  that  the  negotiation  was  commenced 
accidentally." 

Comptroller  Croft  (nervously,  and  with  the  air  of  a 
man  fearful  of  getting  into  trouble).—*'  You  know  very 
well,  Mr.  Bodman,  that  my  servant  came  to  Dunkirk 
only  to  buy  and  truck  away  horses  ;  and  that  you  then, 

»  •  Relacion  de  lo  sucedido,'  &c.  MS.    •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  321,    ■    "'"^,  1586 ;  and 


before  cited.  gojnne   ,.^^ 

5» '  Relacion,'   &c.     Compare    Bruce's    327,  j^-j^.  lose. 


1586.    WALSINGHAM  DETECTS  AND  EXPOSES  THE  PLOT.    487 

by  chance,  entered  into  talk  with  him  about  the  best 
means  of  procunng  a  peace  between  the  two  kingdoms 
f^^CZ^;  "^irtfJtF^J^^^^  that  pr&i 


■r>    v*uv^ic  trausaciion. 

Burghley.—-  That  is  quite  true." 

Crolt.—**  My  servant  subsequently  returned  to  the 

Bodman  (with  immense  politeness,'  but  very  de- 
cidedly) "  Pardon  me,  Mr  Comptrol  er  ;  butjn^tht 
matter,  I  must  speak  the  truth,  even  if  the  honour  and 
life  of  my  father  were  on  the  issue.  I  declare  that 
your  servant  ^  orris  came  to  me,  directly  commissioned 
for  that  purpose  byyourself,  and  informed  me  from  you, 
Sfnn?nf°  .^°"'  ^tJ^o^ty,  that  if  1  would  solicit  the 
Pnnce  of  I'arma  to  send  a  secret  agent  to  England  a 
peace  would  be  at  once  negotiated.  Your  Snt 
entreated  me  to  go  to  his  Highness  at  BrusselJ  I 
refused,  but  agreed  to  consider  the  proposition.  After 
the  lapse  of  several  days,  the  servant  returned  to  make 

f^  nn/"^  •  ""'"'-XT  ^  ^^^  ^'"^  ^''t  tJ^e  P™««  tad  come 
to  no  decision.     Norns  continued  to  press  the  matter. 

ie  a  W  T  •''^  i^"  *''""  ^""""^d  a^d  obtained  from 
h^s  H.V^  °    '°?°'J°«t'0'?  to  De  Loo,  the  secretaiy  of 

and  had  an  interview-as  I  found,  four  days  later-with 
\w  "*r'  ^  ^o'lsequence  of  the  representations  of 
^  orris,  those  of  Signer  Grafigni,  and  those  by  way  of 

EngTanT"  ^'''  determined  to    send^  ,^1  to 

Burghley  to  Croft.-"  Did  you  order  your  servant  to 
speak  with  Andrea  de  Loo  ?  " 

Croft. — "  I  cannot  deny  it." 

Burghley.— "  The  fellow"  seems  to  have  travelled  a 
good  way  out  of  hi^  commission.  His  mast^rl^^ds  him 
to  buy  horses,  and  he  commences  a  peace-negotiation 
between  two  kingdoms.  It  would  be  well  he  were 
chastised.  As  regards  the  Antwerp  matter,  too,  we 
have  had  many  letters,  and  I  have  seen  one  from  the 

•  'Retaclon,'  *c.  MS.  .  "Con  bue.,.  crlama,"  &c.   •  Itelaci™,'  ic.  MS. 

»"Muzo."    (Ibid.) 


488 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


Seigneur  de  Champagny,  to  the  same  effect  as  that  of  all 
the  rest." 

Walsingham. — "  I  see  not  to  what  end  his  Highness 
of  Parma  hath  sent  Mr.  Bodman  hither.  The  Trince 
avows  that  he  hath  no  commission  from  Spain." 

Bodman. — "  His  Highness  was  anxious  to  know  what 
was  her  Majesty's  pleasure.  So  soon  as  that  should  be 
known,  the  Prince  could  obtain  ample  authority.  He 
would  never  have  proceeded  so  far  without  meaning  a 
good  end." 

Walsingham. — **  Very  like.  I  daro  say  that  his 
Highness  will  obtain  the  commission.  Meantime  as 
Prince  of  Parma,  he  writes  these  letters,  and  assists  his 
sovereign  perhaps  more  than  he  doth  ourselves."  ^ 

Here  the  interview  terminated.     A  few  days  later, 

Bodman  had  another  conversation  with  Burghley  and 

14th  July,  Cobham.    Reluctantly,  at  their  urgent  request, 

1586.  *  lie  set  down  in  writing  all  that  he  had  said 
concerning  his  mission.  The  Lord  Treasurer  said  that 
the  Queen  and  her  counsellors  were  *'  ready  to  embrace 
peace  when  it  was  treated  of  sincerely."  Meantime  the 
Queen  had  learned  that  the  Prince  had  been  sending 
letters  to  the  cautionary  towns  in  Holland  and  Zee- 
land,  stating  that  her  Majesty  was  about  to  surrender 
them  to  the  king  of  Spain.  These  were  tricks  to  make 
mischief,  and  were  very  detrimental  to  the  Queen. 

Bodman  replied  that  these  were  merely  the  idle 
stories  of  quidnuncs ;  and  that  the  Prince  and  all  his 
counsellors  were  dealing  with  the  utmost  sincerity. 

Burghley  answered  that  he  had  intercepted  the  very 
letters,  and  had  them  in  his  possession. 

A  week  afterwards,  Bodman  saw  Walsingham  alone, 
20th  July,  and  was  informed  by  him  that  the  Queen  had 

1586.  written  an  answer  to  Parma's  letter,  and  that 
negociations  for  the  future  were  to  be  carried  on  in  the 
usual  form,  or  not  at  all.  Walsingham,  having  thus  got 
the  better  of  his  rivals,  and  delved  below  their  mines, 
dismissed  the  agent  with  brief  courtesy.  Afterwards 
the  discomfited  Mr.  Comptroller  wished  a  private  inter- 
view with  Bodman.  Bodman  refused  to  speak  with  him 
except  in  presence  of  Lord  Cobham.  This  Croft  refused. 
In  the  same  way  Bodman  contrived  to  get  rid,  as  he 

1 '  Relaclon,'  &c.  MS. 


1586.     QUEEN'S  LETTER  TO  PARMA-HIS  TO  THE  KING.     489 

said  of  Lord  Burghley  and  Lord  Cobham,  declining  to 
speak  with  either  of  them  alone.  Soon  afterwards  he 
returned  to  the  Provinces. ' 

The  Queen's  letter  to  Parma  was  somewhat  caustic. 
It  was  obviously  composed  through  the  inspiration  of 
\\alsingham  rather  than  that  of  Burghley.     The  letter 
brought  by  a  certain  Grafigni  and  a  certain  Bodman  she 
said,    was  a  very  strange  one,   and  written  under  a 
Sif'Tl      1  ^^^a/e^y  g^ave  error  that,  in  her  name, 
without  her  knowledge,  contrary  to  her  disposition,  and 
to  the  prejudice  of  her  honour,  such  a  person  as  this 
Grafigni,  or  any  one  like  him,  should  have  the  audacitv 
to  commence  such  a  business,  as  if  she  had  by  messages 
to  the  Prince  sought  a  treaty  with  his  King,  who  Ld 
so   often   returned   evil  for  her  good.     Grafigni,  after 
representing  the  contrary  to  his  Highness,  had   now 
denied  in  presence  of  her  counsellors  havine;  received 
any   commission  from   the   Queen.      She    also   brieflv 
gave  the  result  of  Hodman's  interviews  with  Bur-hie v 
^  .  ^  fu""!   n''  J'''*  narrated.     That  agent    had  inti- 
mated that  Parma  would  procure   authority  to   treat 
tor  peace,  if  assured  that  the  Queen  would  lend  her  ear 
to  any  propositions. 

She  replied  by  referring  to  her  published  declara- 
tions, as  showing  her  powerful  motives  for  interfering  in 
these  affairs.  It  was  her  purpose  to  save  her  own  realm 
and  to  rescue  her  ancient  neighbours  from  misery  and 
from  slavery  To  this  end  she  should  still  direct  her 
actions,  notwithstanding  the  sinister  rumoura  which  had 
been  spread  that  she  was  inclined  to  peace  before  pro- 
viding fur  the  security  and  liberty  of  her  allies.  She 
was  determined  never  to  separate  their  cause  from  her 
own.  Propositions  tending  to  the  security  of  herself 
received  «''  neighbours   would  always  be   favourably 

Parma,  on  his  part,  informed  his  master  that  there 
could  be  no  doubt  that  the  Queen  and  the  majority  of 

I  'Relaclon  de  lo  sucedldo.'  &c.  MS.    A       «•  Carta  desclfrada  de  la  Reyna  de  In- 

J^rot  proceedings  is  m  the  State  Paper    15S6.     (Arch,  de  ^m.  MS.)  ^' 

t^r?  *"a   I  ^     ^""^  Correspondence,  en-        A  copy  is  also-written  In  the  Italian 

tr^atlnlf     '"'""?  "^  '^'  "^'^""^^  «^    language-in  the  S.  P.  Office.  Flande^ 
treathig  of  peace  underhand  to  the  Earl  of    Correspondence  MS. 
Leicester.'    MS.  A"  1586. 


490 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VTII. 


her  council  abhorred  the  war,  and  that  already  much 
had  been  gained  by  the  fictitious  negociation.  Lord- 
Treasurer  Burghleyhad  been  interposing  endless  delays 
and  difficulties  in  the  way  of  every  measure  proposed  for 
the  relief  of  Lord  Leicester,  and  the  assistance  rendered 
him  had  been  most  lukewarm.  Meantime  the  Prince  had 
been  able/ he  said,  to  achieve  much  success  in  the  field, 
and  the  English  had  done  nothing  to  prevent  it.  Since  the 
return  of  Grafigni  and  Bodman,  however,  it  was  obvious 
that  the  English  government  had  disowned  these  non- 
4th  Angust,  commissioned  diplomatists.  The  whole  nego- 
i«^'*«-  tiation  and  all  the  negotiators  were  now  dis- 
credited, but  there  was  no  doubt  that  there  had  been  a 
strong  desire  to  treat,  and  great  disappointment  at  the 
result.  Grafigni  and  Andrea  de  Loo  had  been  publish- 
ing everywhere  in  Antwerp  that  England  would  con- 
sider the  peace  as  made,  so  soon  as  his  Majesty  should 
be  willing  to  accept  any  propositions.* 

His  Majesty,  meanwhile,  sat  in  his  cabinet,  without 
the  slightest  intention  of  making  or  accepting  any 
propositions  save  those  that  were  impossible.  lie 
smiled  benignantly  at  his  nephew's  dissimulation  and  at 
the  good  results  which  it  had  already  produced.  He 
approved  of  gaining  time,  he  said,  by  fictitious  nego- 
tiations and  by  the  use  of  a  mercantile  agent ;  for,  no 
doubt,  such  a  course  would  prevent  the  proper  succours 
from  being  sent  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  If  the  English 
would  hand  over  to  him  the  cautionary  towns  held  by 
them  in  Holland  and  Zeeland,  promise  no  longer  to 
infest  the  seas,  the  Indies,  and  the  Isles,  with  their 
corsairs,  and  guarantee  the  complete  obedience  to  their 
King  and  submission  to  the  holy  Catholic  Church  of  the 
rebellious  Provinces,  perhaps  something  might  be  done 
with  them  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  he  was  inclined  to  think 
that  they  had  been  influenced  by  knavish  and  deceitful 
18th  Sept.  motives  from  the  beginning.  He  enjoined  it 
1686.  upon  Parma,  therefore,  to  proceed  with  equal 
knavery — taking  care,  however,  not  to  injure  his  repu- 
tation— and  to  enter  into  negociations  wherever  occasion 
might  serve,  in  order  to  put  the  English  off  their  guard 
and  to  keep  back  the  reinforcements  so  imperatively 
required  by  Leicester.* 


1  I^anua  tu  Philip  II.  4  Aug.  1586. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 


>  Philip  II.  to  Parma,  18  July,  1686. 
(Arch,  de  Slin.  MB.) 


1586.      UNLUCKY  RESULTS  OF  THE  PEACE  INTRIGUES.     491 

And  the  reinforcements  were  indeed  kept  back.   Had 
B'jrghley  and  Croft  been  in  the  pay  of  Philip  II.  they 
C(juld  hardly  have  served  him  better  than  they  had  been 
doing  by  the  course  pursued.    Here  then  is  the  explana- 
tion of  the  shortcomings  of  the  English  government 
towards  Leicester  and  the  States  during  the  memorable 
spring  and  summer  of   1586.     Ko  money,  no  soldiers, 
when  most  important  operations  in  the  field  were  re- 
quired.    The  first  general  of  the  age  was  to  be  opposed 
by  a  man  who  had  certainly  never  gained  many  laurels 
as  a  military  chieftain,  but  who  was  brave  and  confident, 
and  who,  had  he  been  faithfully  supported  by  the  go- 
vernment which  sent  him  to  the  Netherlands,  would 
have  had  his  antagonist  at  a  great  disadvantage.     Alex- 
ander   had    scarcely    eight    thousand    efi*ective    men. 
Famine,  pestilence,  poverty,  mutiny,  beset  and  almost 
paralyzed  him.      Language  could   not  exaggerate  the 
absolute   destitution  of  the  country.      Only   miracles 
could  save  the  King's  cause,  as  Earnese  repeatedly  ob- 
served.    A  sharp  vigorous   campaign,  heartily  carried 
on  against  him  by  Leicester  and  Hohenlo,  with  plenty 
of  troops  and  money  at  command,  would  have  brought 
the  heroic  champion  of  Catholicism  to  the  ground.     He 
was  hemmed  in  upon  all  sides  ;  he  was  cut  off  from  the 
sea ;    he  stood  as  it  were  in  a  narrowing  circle,  sur- 
rounded  by  increasing   dangers.      His   own   veterans, 
maddened  by  misery,  stung  by  their  King's  ingratitude, 
naked,  starving,  ferocious,  were  turning  against  him. 
Mucio,  like  his  evil  genius,  was  spiriting  away  his  sup- 
plies just  as  they  were  reaching  his  hands ;  a  threatening 
tempest  seemed  rolling  up  from  France;    the  whole 
population  of  the  Provinces  which  he  had  "  reconciled  " 
— a  million  of  paupers— were  crying  to  him  for  bread ; 
great  commercial  cities,  suddenly  blasted  and  converted 
into  dens  of  thieves  and  beggars,  were  cursing  the  royal 
author  of  their  ruin,  and  uttering  wild  threats  against 
his  vicegerent ;  there  seemed  in  truth,  nothing  left  for 
Alexander  but   to   plunge   headlong  into   destruction, 
when,  lo !  Mr.  Comptroller  Croft,  advancing  out  of  the 
clouds,  like  a  propitious  divinity,  disguised  in  the  garb 
of  a  foe — and  the  scene  was  changed. 

The  feeble  old  man,  with  his  shuffling,  horse- trucking 
servant,  ex-spy  of  Monsieur,  had  accomplished  more 


492 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


work  for  Philip  and  Alexander  than  many  regiments  of 
Spaniards  and  Walloons  could  have  done.  The  arm  of 
Leicester  was  paralyzed  upon  the  very  threshold  of 
success.  The  picture  of  these  palace-intrigues  has  been 
presented  with  minute  elaboration,  because,  however 
petty  and  barren  in  appearance,  they  were  in  reality 
prolific  of  grave  results.  A  series  of  victories  by  Parma 
was  substituted  for  the  possible  triumphs  of  Elizabeth 
and  the  States. 

The  dissimulation  of  the  Spanish  court  was  fathom- 
less. The  secret  correspondence  of  the  times  reveals  to 
us  that  its  only  purpose  was  to  deceive  the  Queen  and 
her  counsellors,  and  to  gain  time  to  prepare  the  grand 
invasion  of  England  and  subjugation  of  Holland — that 
double  purpose  which  Philip  could  only  abandon  with 
life.  There  was  never  a  thought,  on  his  part,  of  honest 
negotiation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Queen  was  sincere  ; 
Burghley  and  Hatton  and  Cobham  were  sincere  ;  Croft 
was  sincere,  so  far  as  Spain  was  concerned.  At  least 
they  had  been  sincere.  In  the  private  and  doleful 
dialogues  between  Bodman  and  Graiigni  which  we  have 
just  been  overhearing,  these  intriguers  spoke  the  truth, 
for  they  could  have  no  wish  to  deceive  each  other,  and 
no  fear  of  eaves-droppers  not  to  be  bom  till  centuries 
aftewards.  These  conversations  have  revealed  to  us  that 
the  Lord-Treasurer  and  three  of  his  colleagues  had  been 
secretly  doing  their  best  to  cripple  Leicester,  to  stop 
the  supplies  for  the  Netherlands,  and  to  patch  up  a 
hurried  and  unsatisfactory,  if  not  a  disgraceful  peace  ; 
and  this,  with  the  concurrence  of  her  Majesty.  After 
their  plots  had  been  discovered  by  the  vigilant  Secretary 
of  State,  there  was  a  disposition  to  discredit  the  humbler 
instruments  in  the  cabal.  Elizabeth  was  not  desirous  of 
peace.  Far  from  it.  She  was  qualmish  at  the  very  sug- 
gestion. Dire  was  her  wrath  against  Bodman,  De  Loo, 
Grafigni,  and  the  rest,  at  their  misrepresentations  on  the 
subject.  But  she  would  '*lend  her  ear."  And  that 
royal  ear  was  lent,  and  almost  fatal  was  the  distilment 
poured  into  its  porches.  The  pith  and  marrow  of  the 
great  Netherland  enterprise  was  sapped  by  the  slow 
poison  of  the  ill-timed  negotiation.  The  fruit  of  Drake's 
splendid  triumphs  in  America  was  blighted  by  it.  The 
stout  heart  of  the  vainglorious  but  courageous  Leicester 


1586.         UNHANDSOME  TREATMENT  OF  LEICESTER.         493 

was  sickened  by  it,  while  meantime,  the  maturing  of 
the  great  armada-scheme,  by  which  the  destruction  of 
England  was  to  be  accomplished,  was  furthered,  throudi 
Philip  procrastination  so  precious  to  the  heart  of 

thfw^fTf  ^i^'  subtle  Walsingham  was  there  upon 

too  Ztl  ''//T.''''l''  ^^^  l^^^^^y  ^^^^'^  it  was  quite 
too  lat^ ;  and  to  him  England  and  the  Netherlands  were 
under  lasting  obligations.  While  Alexander  and  PhiHp 
suspected  a  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  English  govem- 

that  the   Earl   of   Leicester  was    both  deserted    and 
deceived      Yet  it  had  been  impossible  for  the  peace 
party  in  the  government  wholly  to  conceal  their  desicms 
when  such  prating  fellows  as  Grafigni  and  De  Loo  ITre 
employed  m  what  was  intended  to  be  a  secret  negotk! 

X^i.  ^  r'""/'^  *^^  ^"^'^^^  ^f  Leicester  in  the 
Netherlands  endeavour  to  account  for  the  neglect  with 
which  he  was  treated,  and  for  the  destitution  of  hi^ 

"^vl^^^'P     f^V'^  they  attempt  to  counteract  those 
advertisements  of  most  fearful  instance,"  as  Eichard 

e::^^r:^'''''''  ""^^^''^  ^-^^^^  --^  --^^^^4 

inl^?°r  '  *""  ^v%  babbling  of  the  very  men  whose  chief 
nstructions  had  been  to  hold  their  tongues  and  to 
hsten  with  all  tbeir  eai.  the  secret  negotiations  between 
f.ir  /a  /^^  ^""-^"^  counsellors  became  the  town 
T  o^^n  ^?,^^.^^'  ^^'\  Hague,  Amsterdam,  Brussels, 
London.  It  is  true  that  it  was  impossible  to  know 
what  wa^  actually  said  and  done ;  but  that  there  was 
something  doing  concerning  which  Leicester  was  not  to 

visits  to  the  obedient  Provinces,  brought  a  brace  of 
greyhounds  and  a  couple  of  horses  from  England,  as  a 


»  CavendtsL  to  Burghley,  18  March. 
1686.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

"Champagny  doth  not  spare  most 
Uberally  to  bruit  abroad,  "said  Cavendish, 
**  that  he  hath  in  his  hands  the  conditions 
of  peace  offered  by  her  Majesty  unto  the 
King  his  master,  and  that  it  is  in  his 
power  U>  conclude  at  pleasure,  wherein 
he  afflrmeth  that  one  or  two  of  the  chiefest 
counsellors  about  her  are  to  handle  the 


cause  with  him.  This  fearful  and  mis- 
chievous plot  cannot  but  prove  the  root 
of  great  ruin;  for  this  people,  beaten 
with  tedious,  long,  and  sharp  miseries,  is 
made  wonderful  provident  and  suspicious; 
saying,  that,  if  they  icould  suffer  the 
Spanish  yoke  anetc,  they  need  no  mediator, 
for  they  can  eatily  conclude  far  them- 
selves, how,  u-ith  leatt  mischief,  to  become 
miserable  again." 


494 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


present  to  Alexander,*  and  he  perpetually  went  about 
bragging  to  every  one  of  important  negotiations  which 
he  was  conducting,  and  of  his  intimacy  with  great  per- 
sonages in  both  countries.  Leicester,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  kept  in  the  dark.  To  him  Grafigni  made  no  com- 
munications, but  he  once  sent  him  a  dish  of  plums, 
*' which,"  said  the  Earl  with  superfluous  energy,  "I 
will  boldly  say  to  you,  by  the  living  God,  is  all  that  I 
have  ever  had  since  I  came  into  these  countries."* 
When  it  is  remembered  that  Leicester  had  spent  many 
thousand  pounds  in  the  Ketherland  cause,*  that  he  had 
deeply  mortgaged  his  property  in  order  to  provide  more 
funds,  that  he  had  never  received  a  penny  of  salary  from 
the  Queen,*  that  his  soldiers  were  '*  ragged  and  torn 
like  rogues  -pity  to  see  them,"  *  and  were  left  without 
the  means  of  supporting  life  ;  that  he  had  been  neglected, 
deceived,  humiliated,  until  he  was  forced  to  describe 


I  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  289,  -  June,  1686. 
i  Ibid.  246,  ^4^'.  1586. 

'     8  May 

»  "  I  myself  have  prested,"  wrote  the 
E«rl  to  Burghley,  "  above  30001.  among 
our  men  here  since  I  came,  and  yet  what 
need  they  be  in,  even  when  there  is  most 
need  of  Bervice,  all  the  world  here  doth 
see.  Here  hath  been  as  lewd  and  dan- 
gerous mutinies  as  1  cannot  but  grieve  to 
think  on  it."  &c  March  29, 1586.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

*  On  the  14  May,  1586,  the  States- 
General  resolved,  in  consequence  of  re- 
peated applications  on  behalf  of  Leicester, 
for  money  for  his  own  personal  expenses 
by  way  of  salary,  that,  although  the 
Queen  had  expressly  agreed,  by  the  con- 
tract with  the  States,  to  pay  the  salary  of 
the  governor-general  and  other  military 
chiefs,  they  would  themselves  very  wil- 
lingly provide  for  his  salary  and  mainten- 
ance, according  to  his  petition.  They 
previously  requested  Mr.  Killigrew,  how- 
ever, to  famish  them  information  as  to 
how  much  monthly  allowance  her  Ma- 
jesty was  then  paying  the  lieutenant- 
general. 

On  the  16  May,  1586,  the  committee  of 
the  States  appointeif  to  confer  with  Mr. 
Killigrew  concerning  the  amount  of 
monthly  allowance  paid  to  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  reported  that  Mr.  Killigrew  bad 


openly  and  roundly  declared  that  his 
Excellency,  up  to  that  hour,  had  never 
received  one  stiver  of  salary,  and  that 
bis  Excellency  bad  told  him  so,  on  the 
word  of  a  prince.  "  De  zelve  Heere  Killi- 
grew hen  opentlyk  ende  rondelyk  heeft 
vercleert  dat  Zyne  Exc«  tot  op  dejBC  ure 
toe  nyet  eenen  styver  voer  tractement 
hadde  ontfangen  van  heere  Ma'.,  ende  dat 
dezelve  Zyne  Ex"  hem  hadde  geseyt  en 
parole  de  prince,  dat  van  zyn  tractement 
by  heere  Ma*,  nyet  een  woort  was  ge- 
sproken."  '  Resoiutien  van  de  Staten- 
general,  ao  1586.'  Hague  Archives  MS. 
It  was  subsequently  voted  by  the  States- 
General  (4  July,  1586)  that  the  Earl 
should  receive  a  salary  of  60,000  florins 
yearly,  to  be  drawn  from  the  general 
duties  upon  cloth ;  and  that,  in  case  her 
Majesty  should  continue  in  her  refusal  to 
contribute  to  his  salary,  the  annual  al- 
lowance furnished  by  the  States  should 
be  Increased  to  100,000  florins. 

Ten  thousand  pounds  sterling  a  year  in 
the  sixteenth  century  was  certainly  a 
princely  salary,  and  it  was  hardly  be- 
coming in  the  Queon,  who  refused  to  pay 
her  own  favourite  "  a  stiver,"  to  censure 
any  shortcomings  of  the  States,  who 
proved  themselves  so  much  more  liberal 
than  herself.    '  Resoiutien,'  *c.   ubi  sup. 

»  •  Lcya  Conrespi'  286,  %P^,  1688. 

'  *^  10  June 


1586.    INDIGNATION  OF  THE  EARL  AND  WALSINGHAM.    495 

himself  as  a  "  forlorn  man  set  upon  a  forlorn  hope  "  » it 
must  be  conceded  that  Grafigni's  present  of  a  di^h  of 
plums  could  hardly  be   sufficient  to  make  him  very 

From  time  to  time  he  wa^  enlightened  by  Sir  Francis 
who  occasiona  y  forced  his  adversaries'  hands,  and  who 
always  faithfully  informed  the  Earl  of  everythincr  he 
could   discover.     "  We   are   so   greedy  of  a  peace    in 
respect  of  the  charges  of  the  wars,"  he  wrote  in  April 

^  m  the  procuring  thereof  we  weigh  neither  honou^ 
nor  safety  Somewhat  here  is  a-dealing  underhand 
wherein  there  is  great  care  taken  that  I  should  not  be 
made  acquainted  withal." «  But  with  all  their  ereat 
care,  the  conspi^tors,  as  it  has  been  seen,  were  some- 
times outwitted  by  the  Secretary,  and,  when  put  to  the 
blush,  were   forced  to  take  him  into  half-confidence. 

Your  Lordship  may  see,"  he  wrote,  after  getting  pos- 
session of  Parma's  letter  to  the  Queen,  and  unravelling 
Croft  8  intrigues,  -  what  effects  are  wrought  by  such 
weak  ministers  Thei/  that  have  been  the  employers  of  them 
are  ashamed  of  the  matter.'* »  r  ^       j 

Unutterable  was  the  amazement,  as  we  have  seen,  of 
Bodman  and  Grafigni  when  they  had  suddenly  found 
themselves  confronted  in  Burghley's  private  apartments 
m  Greenwich  Palace,  whither  they  had  been  conducted 
BO  mysteriously  after  dark  from  the  secret  pavilion-bv 
the  grave  Secretary  of  State,  whom  they  had  been  so 
anxious  to  deceive ;  and  great  was  ihe  embarrassment 
Bur  hie  ^^^^^»  ^^d  even  of  the  imperturbable 

And  thus  patiently  did  Walsingham  pick  his  course 
plummet  m  hand,  through  the  mists  and  alone  the 
quick^nds,  and  faithfully  did  he  hold  out  signals  to  his 
comrade  embarked  on  the  same  dangerous  voyage.  As 
for  the  Larl  himself,  he  was  shocked  at  the  shortsighted 
policy  of  his  mistress,  mortified  by  the  neglect  to  which 
he  was  exposed  disappointed  in  his  ambitious  schemes. 
Vehemently  and  judiciously  he  insisted  upon  the  ne- 
cessity of  vigorous  field-operations  throughout  the  spring: 
and  summer  thus  frittered  away  in  frivolous  negotiations: 

.  »  'Leyc  Oorresp.'  290, 1  June,  1586.  .  ibid.  223.  i|  April.  I58f 

a  ¥ujj    nn,    **  June 
^^^^  221,  ^-^.  1586. 


1586. 


;, 


496 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


SECRET  LETTERS  OF  PARMA  TO  PHILIP. 


He  was  for  peace,  if  a  lasting  and  honouraHe  peace 
"ouW  te  prolured;  but  he  insisted  that  the  onlyo^ 
to  such  a  result  was  through  a  "  good  sharp  war.       H:^ 
troops  were  mutinous  for  want  of  pay.  so  that  he  had 
been  obliged  to  have  a  few  of  them  executed,  although 
he  protested  that  he  would  have  "  rather  gone  a  thousand 
miles  a-foof"  than  have  done  so;  and  he  was  cnppled 
by  Ws  government  at  exactly  the  time  when  his. great 
adversary's  condition  was  most  forlorn.     Was  it  strange 
Al'Xe  proud  Earl  should  be  fretting  his  h^rt  awaj 
when  such  colden  chances  were  eluding  his  grasp  ?    He 
wou?d  "  cre?p  upon  the  ground,"  he  said.  "  as  far  as  his 
Zds  and  toees  would  carry  him,  to  have  a  good  peace 
for  her  Maiesty,  but  his  care  was  to  have  a  peace  indeed 
and  not  a  diow  of  it."  '     It  was  the  cue  of  Holland  and 
England  to  fight  before  they  could  expect  to  deal  uj^on 
favourable  teSns  with  their   enemy.      He   was   quick 
enough  to  see  that  his  false  colleagues  at  home  were 
playing  into  the  enemy's  hands.    Vic  ory  was  what  was 
wanted  ;   victory  the  Earl  pledged  himself,  if  properly 
Tconded,  to  obtain;  and,  braggart  though  he  was,  it  is 
by  no  m;ans  impossible  that  he  might  have  redeemed 
his  pledge.     "  If  her  Majesty  will  use  her  ad^^^t^^'. 
he  said,  "  she  shall  bring  the  King,  and  specially  this 
Prince  of  Parma,  to  seek  peace  in  other  sort  than  by 
way  of  merchants."*    Of  courage  and  confidence  the 
governor  had  no  lack.     Whether  he  was  capable  of  out- 
generalling  Alexander  Famese  or  no,  will  be  better 
feen,  perhlps,  in  subsequent  chapters ;  but  there  is  no 
doubt  that  he  was  reasonable  enough  u.  thinking    at 
that  juncture,  that   a  hard    campaip   rather   than   a 
"merchant's  brokemge"'  was  ^/q"'^<^d  ^o  obtain  an 
honourable  peace.     Lofty,  indeed,  was  the  ^com  of  the 
aristocratic ^^Leicester    that   "merchants   and    pedlare 
should  be  paltering  in  so  weighty  a  cause       and  daring 
to  send  him  a  dish  of  plums  when  he  was  hoping  half-a- 
dozen  regimente  from  the  Queen ;  and  a  soiry  business, 
in  truth,  the  pedlars  had  made  of  it. 


1  'Leyc.  Corrwp.'  254.  j^^.  1586. 

2  Leicester  to  Burgbley,   29  March, 
1686.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  'Leyc  Corresp.'  263,  ^^.  1586. 


«  Ibid.  251,  same  date, 

88  April 


5  Ibid.  247, 


-.  1586. 


8  May 
80  April    ,_„- 


497 

Never  had  there  been  a  more  delusive  diplomacy 
and  It  was  natural  that  the  lieutenant-general  abroad 
and  the  statesman  at  home  should  bo  sad  and  inditna^t 
seeing  England  drifting  to  utter  shipwreck  while  „,«: 
suing  tlmt  phantasm  of  a  pacific  haven.  Had  \Vals?nr 
ham  and  himself  tampered  with  the  enemy  I  3 
counsellors  he  could  name  had  done,  Leicester  ^serted 
that  the  gallows  would  be  thought  t^o  good  "em  •' 
and  vet  he  hoped  he  might  be  hanged  if  the  whole  TnL 
nish  faction  m  England  could  procure  for  the  Queen  a 
peace  fit  for  her  to  accept.'  '  * 

tion*^h!f.i*  r;'?"''^  impossible  for  the  Spanish  fac- 
tion to  bnng  about  a  peace.  No  human  power  could 
bring  It  about.  Even  if  England  had  been^iH^g  and 
able  to  surrender  Holland,  bound  hand  and  foSt  to 
Phihp,  even  then  she  could  only  have  obtained  » 
hollow  armistice.     Philip  had  swor^  in  his  inmos"  ll 

EuJZr%-\  ^"S'*"*^  ^^^  *•-«  dethrgnro,  t  o 
Elizabeth.     His  heart  was  fixed.     It  wa.s  only  bv  the 

subjugation  of  England  that  he  hoped  to  recover    he 

Hoknt  Th  ^^^"^^  ^^  *°  '^  hi«  stepping-stone  to 
Holland.  1  he  invasion  was  slowly  but  steadily  ma- 
turing, and  nothing  could  have  diverted  the  C/fr^m 
his  great  purpose.  In  the  very  midst  of  all  those  plX 
and  counterplots,  Bodmans  and  Grafignis.  English  geU^ 

Zh'tettetf  ^/Y'^T.'^?'  '''^^^^  of^plims^a^d  aC 
graph  letters  of  her  Majesty  and  his  Highness    the 

1  nnce  was  deliberately  discussing  all  the  details  of   he 

.nvas.on.  which,  as  it  was  then  hoped,  would  be  ready 

by  the  autumn  of  the  year  1586.    Although  he  had 

of  mmm'^^-\*?.™"P'  ^'^^  ^^  t°  «tate  by  wo^ 
ot  mouth  that  which  it  was  deemed  unsafe  to  write  ^  yet 

ttTorrvuir-^r'^^j'^f  ^y*"-'^  --*-••  --t': 

t^L.    /  iy/°'°  particulars  than  he  had  ever  ven- 

to  n.<,n  •^^^"'  ""f  '"°'*  '''"°"«ly  "  lending  her  ear" 
wra?hTt  st  Ti;  *°^  w  ""*  vehemently  expressing  her 
CstlSentT  ""'""^^  '°'  '•'^""S  candidl/with 

I  I  Wc  Comsp.'  254.  agent  allnded  to  In  the  teit)  .  Don  Juan 

vZ      ,     '"'""J"''-^-'^"""  <">«    AprtI,  I586,bffureclt«l. 

2    K 


408 


THE  UNITED  NETHEKLANDS. 


CUAP.  VIII. 


The  Prince  observed  that  when,  two  or  three  years 
before,  he  had  sent  hi.s  master  an  account  of  the  coasts, 
anchoring-places,  and  harbours  of  England,  he  had  then 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  conquest  of  England  was 
an  enterprise  worthy  of  the  grandeur  and  Christianity 
of  his  Majesty,  and  not  so  difficult  as  to  be  considered 
altogether  impossible.    To  make  himself  absolutely  mas-    ^ 
ter  of  the  business,  however,  he  had  then  thought  that 
the  King  should  have  no  associates  in  the  scheme,  and 
should  make  no  account  of  the  inhabitants  of  England.' 
Since  that  time  the  project  had  become  more  difficult  of 
accomplishment,  because  it  was  now  a  stale  and  common 
topic  of  conversation  everywhere— in  Italy,  Germany, 
and  France— so  that  there  could  be  little  doubt  that  ru- 
mours on  the  subject  were  daily  reaching  the  ears  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  of  every  one   in   her  kingdom. 
Hence  she  had  made  a  strict  alliance  with  Sweden,  Den- 
mark,  the   Protestant  princes  of  Germany,   and  even 
with  the  Turks  and  the  French.     Nevertheless,  in  spite 
of  these  obstacles,  the  King,  placing  his  royal  hand  to 
the   work,   might  well   accomplish  the   task;    for  the 
favour  of  the  Lord,  whose  cause  it  was,  would  be  sure 
to  give  him  success. 

Being  so  Christian  and  Catholic  a  king,  Philip  natu- 
rally desired  to  extend  the  area  of  the  Holy  Church, 
and  to  come  to  the  relief  of  so  many  poor  innocent 
martyrs  in  England,  crying  aloud  before  the  Lord  for 
help.*  Moreover  Elizabeth  had  fomented  rebellion  in 
the  King's  provinces  for  a  long  time  secretly,  and  now, 
since  the  fall  of  Antwerp,  and  just  as  Holland  and  Zee- 
land  were  falling  into  his  grasp,  openly. 

Thus,  in  secret  and  in  public,  she  had  done  the  very 
worst  she  could  do ;  and  it  was  very  clear  that  the  Lord, 
for  her  sins,  had  deprived  her  of  understanding,"  m 
order  that  his  Majesty  might  be  the  instrument  of  that 
chastisement  which  she  iso  fully  deserved.  A  monarch 
of  such  great  prudence,  valour,  and  talent  as  Philip, 
could  now  give  all  the  world  to  understand  that  those 
who  dared  to  lose  a  just  and  decorous  respect  for  him, 
as  this  good  lady  had  done,  would  receive  such  chastise- 

1  "NohaciendocasodelospropriOBdel  conspecto,"  &c.    (Ibid.) 

pals."    (MS.  Letter  of  Parma  to  PMllp,  »  "  Que  nuestro  Sefior  por  sus  pecados  le 

&c..JU8t.clted.)  ba  qultado  de    todo   punto    el  entendl- 

«  "Tantospobreaylnocenteaymartlres  miento."    (IWd.) 
qui  aeon  esclamando  delante  del  divlno 


1586.  INVASION  OF  ENGLAND  RECOMMENDED.  499 

ment  as  royal  power  guided  by  prudent  counsel  could 
inflict.  I  anna  assured  his  sovereign,  that,  if  the  con- 
quest  of  England  were  effected,  that  of  the  Ketheriands 
would  be  finished  with  much  facility  and  brevity ;  but 
that  otherwise,  on  account  of  the  situation,  strength 
and  obstinacy  of  those  people,  it  would  be  a  very  lono-' 
perilous,  and  at  best  doubtful  business.*  *" 

"  Three  points,"  he  said,  "  were  most  vital  to  the  inva- 
tion  of  England— secrecy,  maintenance  of  the  civil  war 
m  France,  and  judicious  arrangement  of  matters  in  the 
Provinces." 

The  French,  if  unoccupied  at  home,  would  be  sure  to 
make  the  enterprise  so  dangerous  as  to  become  almost 
impossible  ;  for  it  might  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
maxim  that  that  nation,  jealous  of  Philip's  power  had 
always  done  and  would  always  do  what  it  could  to  coun- 
teract his  puiposes. 

With  regard  to  the  Netheriands,  it  would  be  desirable 
to  leave  a  good  number  of  troops  in  those  countries— at 
least  as  many  as  were  then  stationed  there— besides  the 
garrisons,  and  also  to  hold  many  German  and  Swiss  mer- 
cenaries m  -  wartgeld."  It  would  be  further  desirable 
that  Alexander  should  take  most  of  the  personages  of 
quality  and  sufficiency  in  the  JVovinces  over  with  him 
to  England,  in  order  that  •they  should  not  make  mischief 
m  his  absence.^ 

With  legard  to  the  point  of  secrecy,  that  was,  in 
1  arma's  opinion,  the  most  important  of  all.  All  leagues 
must  become  more  or  less  public,  particulariy  those 
contrived  at  or  with  IJome.  SivAi  being  the  case,  the 
Queen  of  England  would  be  well  aware  of  the  Spanish 
projects,  and,  besides  her  militia  at  home,  would  lew 
trerman  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  provide  plenty  of 
vessels,  relying  therein  upon  Holland  and  Zeeland, 
where  ships  and  sailors  were  in  such  abundance.  More- 
over, the  English  and  the  Netherianders  knew  the 
coasts,  currents,  tides,  shallows,  quicksands,  ports,  better 
than  did  the  pilots  of  any  fleets  that  the  King  could  send 
thither.     Thus,   having   his   back   assured,   the  enemy 

»  "  Que  no  se  ban  a  perdor  ol  decoro  j-  vedad  lo  de  aca  (viz.  the  Notlierlnnds)  qu 

respoto  a  V.  M.  como  lo  ha  hecho  esia  de  otra  manera.  por  la  sitiiacion,  furtaleza 

buena  dama."  &c.    (MS.  letter  of  I'arnja  y  obeilnaclou  de  esUis  gcntcs.  sera  neg-cio 

to  Philip,  last  ciu-d.)  largo,  peligroso.  y  aun  dudoso."    (ll.id.) 

'  •*  be  acabariC  con  harta  facilldad  y  brc-        8  i^id. 


600 


THE  UNITED  NB:THEKLANDS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


1586. 


DETAILS  OF  THE  PROJECT. 


would  meet  them  in  front  at  a  disadvantage.  Although, 
notwithstanding  this  inequality,  the  enemy  would  be 
beaten,  yet  if  the  engagement  should  be  warm,  the 
Spaniards  would  receive  an  amount  of  damage  which 
could  not  fail  to  be  inconvenient,  particularly  as  they 
would  be  obliged  to  land  their  troups,  and  to  give  battle 
to  those  who  would  be  watching  their  landing.  More- 
over the  English  would  be  provided  with  cavalry,  of 
which  his  Majesty's  forces  would  have  very  little,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  its  embarkation.^ 

The  obedient  Netherlands  would  be  the  proper  place 
in  which  to  organize  the  whole  expedition.  There  the 
regiments  could  be  filled  up,  provisions  collected,  the 
best  way  of  ejecting  the  passage  ascei-tained,and  the  force 
largely  increased  without  exciting  suspicion  ;  but  with 
regard  to  the  fleet,  there  were  no  ports  there  capacious 
enough  for  large  vessels.  Antwerp  had  ceased  to  be  a 
seaport;  but  a  large  number  of  flat- bottomed  barges, 
hoys,  and  other  barks,  more  suitable  for  transporting 
soldiers,  could  be  assembled  in  Dunkirk,  Gravelines,  and 
Newport,  which,  with  some  five-and-twenty  larger  ves- 
sels, would  be  sufficient  to  accompany  the  fleet. 

The  Queen,  knowing  that  there  were  no  large  ships, 
nor  ports  to  hold  them  in  the  obedient  Provinces,  would 
be  unsuspicious,  if  no  greater  levies  seemed  to  be 
making  than  the  exigencies  of  the  Netherlands  might 
apparently  require. 

The  flat-bottomed  boats,  drawing  two  or  three  feet  of 
water,  would  be  more  appropriate  than  ships  of  war 
drawing  twenty  feet.  The  passage  across,  in  favourable 
weather,  might  (»ccupy  from  eight  to  twelve  hours. 

The  number  of  troops  for  the  invading  force  should  be 
thirty  thousand  infantry,  besides  five  hundred  light 
troopers,  with  saddles,  bridles,  and  lances,  but  without 
horses,  because,  in  Alexander's  opinion,  it  would  be 
easier  to  muunt  them  in  England.  Of  these  thirty 
thousand  thete  should  be  six  thousand  Spaniards,  six 
thousand  Italians,  six  thousand  Walloons,  nine  thousand 
Germans,  and  three  thousand  Burgundians. 

Much  money  would  be  required ;  at  least  three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  the  month  for  the  new  force, 
besides  the  regular  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  for 
I  MS.  Litter  of  Parma  to  Philip  IL,  last  cited. 


501 


the  ordinary  provision  in  the  Netherlands-    and  this 
ordinary  provision  would  be  more  neccessaVr  fW/.; 
because  a  mutiny   breakino-  f.r^L   •    tf  T-      T^""' 

Marpte,  became  the  Spaniards,  having  no  footiL  "^ 

£  Su'  i^:f'  "%1  "'^^■■^-'l  '^  -«ke  theh^fan- 
ing  point  in  t  landera.     The  country  about  Dover  was 

divided  bj  hedges ;  advantageous  for  infentrv  and  not 
requiring  a  larger  amount  of  cavali^-  thanTe  Ji'u^S  foZ 
at  hi«  di«posa  ,  while  the  people  there  tere  domestic  i« 

iLromLrSotvSul' V't  ''^ll^'^T  -•> 

encounters  would  X  .date  vet  aff  •''ti.'''*''""^^  ^"'"^ 
r.f  +1.^    •        J-  piace,  yet  alter  the  commander** 

hlndT'ofV!".  1.^  necessary  to  leave  the  re.t  in  the 
hands  of  God  who  governs  all  things,  and  from  whose 
bounty  and  mercy  it  was  to  be  hoped  that  H^  would 

,1.„    T-  i     .     ""cessary  to  make  immediately  for  Lon 

Sen  iv"*^'"?"^''°?'°?'fi'^^'  -°«ld  be  /e^-easily 
taken.  Ihis  point  gained,  the  whole  framework  nf  tC 
business  might  be  considered  as  well  prioge  her  '  K 
^e  Queen  should  fly-as,  being  a  woman,  sfcprobablv 
would  do-everything  would  be  left  in  such  ooX^n« 

Hpr  Afl-  ''°'>'.r'^  '''^'■"'o  ^ork  had  been  accomplished" 
Her  Majesty  it  was  suggested,  would  probably  niake  her 
escape  m  a  boat  before  she  could  be  captured  but  thl 
conquest  would   be   nevertheless  effec  ed      Althoul^h 

reiuui  and  try  their  fortune,  yet  it  would  be  quite  use- 

I  «•  n. • 


Domostica  y  rlca.  y  U  ge.ite  de 
ella  coiisigulente  es  n.fnos  annigem  y 
be  llcosa  yuada  a  .sus  trabnjos  y  como- 
du^des."    AIS.  Letter  of  i'aru.a;  before 

1 J  "  ^"  "'*""^  *^^'  ^^'**  ^^'^  K'»>>icrua  todas 
ia«  cosas.  y  de  cuya  bundad  y  miseri- 
«mll4  be  debe  e^in-rar  que  faborec^ra 
causa  tan  sauta,  JusU.  y  propria  suya." 


(Ibid.) 

3  '*  Sara  tan  facll  de  ganar,  lo  cual  con- 
seguldo.  se  puede  tener  por  tan  buen 
entablado  el  ncg-^io.'     (Ibid.) 

*  "  Se  aa.glessc,  como  slendo  mugor  es 

*^^^<^" 10"  laayudaden°Sefior 

podrla  tener  por  acabada  obra  tan  suva  v 
heroica."    Ibid.  ^    ' 


502 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  VHI. 


less  ;  for  the  invaders  would  have  already  planted  them- 
selves upon  the  soil,  and  then,  by  means  of  frequent  ex- 
cursions and  forays  hither  and  thither,  about  the  islands 
all  other  places  of  importance  would  be  gained,  and  the 
prosperous  and  fortunate  termination  of  the  adventure 

As,  however,  everything  was  to  be  provided  for,  so,  in 
case  the  secret  could  not  be  preserved,  it  would  be  ne- 
cessary for  Philip,  under  pretext  of  defending  himself 
against  the  English  and  French  corsairs,  to  send  a  large 
armada  to  sea,  as  doubtless  the  Queen  would  take  the 
same  measure.  If  the  King  should  prefer,  however, 
notwithstanding  Alexander's  advice  to  the  contrary,  to 
have  confederates  in  the  enterprise,— then,  the  matter 
being  public,  it  would  be  necessary  to  prepare  a  larger 
and  stronger  fleet  than  any  which  Elizabeth,  with 
the  assistance  of  her  Fremch  and  Netherland  allies,  could 
oppose  to  him.  That  fleet  should  be  well  provided  with 
vast  stores  of  provisions,  sufficient  to  enable  the  in- 
vading force,  independently  of  forage,  to  occupy  three  or 
four  places  in  England  at  once,  as  the  enemy  would  be 
able  to  come  from  various  towns  and  strong  places  to 

attack  them.  . 

As  for  the  proper  season  for  the  expedition,  it  would 
be  advisable  to  select  the  month  of  October  of  the  cur- 
rent year,  because  the  English  barns  would  then  be  full 
of  wheat  and  other  forage,  and  the  earth  would  have 
been  sown  for  the  next  year— points  of  such  extreme 
importance,  that  if  the  plan  could  not  be  executed  at 
that  time,  it  would  be  as  well  to  defer  it  until  the 
following  October.*  .    . 

The  Prince  recommended  that  the  negociations  with 
the  League  should  be  kept  spinning,  without  allowing 
them  to  come  to  a  definite  conclusion;  because  there 
would  be  no  lack  of  difficulties  perpetually  off'ering 
themselves,*  and  the  more  intricate  and  involved  the 
policy  of  France,  the  better  it  would  be  for  the  interests 
of  Spain.  Alexander  expressed  the  utmost  confidence 
that  his  Majesty,  with  his  powerful  aim,  would  over- 
come all  obstacles  in  the  path  of  his  great  project,  and 

I  "  Discurriendo  la  Jsla.  ganando  plazas  »  «  Que  la  pltica  de  la  liga  vaya  adel- 

de  importancia  .  .  .  .  y  se  puede  tener  por  ante  sin  concluyrse,  alargardola  todo  lo 

asegurado  el  prospero  y  felice  tin."  aiS.  que  se  pudiese,  pues  no  faltaran  dificul- 

Letter  to  Parma  before  cited.        «  Ibid.  tades  que  se  ofreceraii  .'•    (Ibid.) 


DETAILS  OF  THE  PKOJECT. 


1586.  ... 

503 

would  show  the  world  that  he  -  could  do  a  little  more 
than  what  was  possible." '     He  also  assured  his  maTter 

seSs  n  fhil   ^l"  "f^ecessary  for  him  to  off-er  his 
hirbirth  h^h  r^'?}^^'J^^m^-^.  because,  ever  since 

shoiw^T^e^t  n^"^'"'^  that  old  Peter  Ernest  Mansfeld 
snou Id  bo  left  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  in  the 
Netherlands    during    his    own    absence    in    Enlnd 
''Mansfeld  wa^  an  honourable  cavalier,"  he  said   ''and 
a  faithfu   servant  of  the  King;  and  al though ^me what 
1-conditioned  at  times,  yet  he  had  essential  goorquali 
ties  and  was  the  only  general  fit  to  be  trusted  alone  ^ 
.    Ihe  reader   having  thus  been  permitted  to  read  the 
nmost  thoughts  of  Philip  and  Alexander,  and  to  study 
their  secret  plans  for  conquering  England  in  October 
while  their  frivolous  yet  mischievous  Lgocia^ions  Sh 
the  Queen  had  been  going  on  from  April  to  June  ^1 

werelSit  or  no'"  YT.*^  ^^/^'  '^^^^^  ^^^^^^' 
rtatne d  hv  /^^  m  doubting  if  a  good  peace  could  be 
Obtained  by  a  "merchant's  brokerage." 

nnli^l'''''^'  f  *^''  ^^?«^i^^^g  these  pictures  of  interaulic 
Cl^ch^'^/^^^^^^^  diplomacy,  Vhich  represent^ 
large  and  characteristic  a  phasis  of  European  historv 
eSl'^'  year  1586,  we  ^must  throw  a  gTance  at  Z 
external,  more  stimng,  but  not  more  significant  public 
events  which  were  taking  place  during  the  same  pS! 

"•  Y  se  llegarfi  a  hacer  algo  mas  de  lo  posible."  MS.  Letter  of  Parma  before  cited 

2  Ibid. 


END  OF   VOL.    I. 


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Continental  Copyright  Edition. 


HISTORY 


OP  THE 


UNITED    NETHERLANDS: 


FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  WILLIAM  THE  SIUINT  TO 
THE  SYNOD  OF  DORT. 


By  JOHN  LOTHKOP  MOTLEY,  D.C.L., 

€0BRESFONDTNG  MElfBER  OF  THE  INOTITCTE  OF  FRANCI, 
AUTHOR  or  '  THE  USE  OF  THE  DUTCH  HEPCBUC' 


VOLUME    IL 


THE    HAGUE: 
MARTINUS   NIJHOFF. 

1860. 


Thi  right  of  Trantlation  it  rettrved. 


'/ 


\ 


\ 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  II. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Military  Plans  in  the  Netherlands  —  The  Elector  and  Electorate  of  Colojjne 

—  Martin  Schenk  —  His  Career  before  serving  the  States  —  Franeker 
University  founded  —  Parma  attempts  Grave  —  Battle  on  the  Meuse  — 
Success  and  Vainglory  of  Leicester  —  St.  George's  Day  triumphantly 
kept  at  Utrecht —  Parma  not  so  much  appalled  as  it  was  thought —  He 
besieges  and  reduces  Grave —  And  is  master  of  the  Meuse  —  Leicester's 
Rage  at  the  Surrender  of  Grave —  His  Revenge —  Parma  on  the  Rhine 

—  He  besieges  and  assaults  Neusz  —  Honnble  fate  of  the  Garrison  and 
City  —  Which  Leicester  was  unable  to  relieve  —  Axel  surprised  by 
Maurice  and  Sidney  —  The  Zeeland  Regiment  given  to  Sidney  —  Condi- 
tion of  the  Irish  and  English  Troops  —  Leicester  takes  the  Field  —  He 
i-educes  Doesburg  —  He  lays  siege  to  Zutphen  —  Which  Parma  prepares 
to  relieve  —  The  English  intercept  the  Convoy  —  Battle  of  Wamsfeld 

—  Sir  Philip  Sidney  wounded — Results  of  the  Encounter —  Death  of 
Sidney  at  Amheim  —  Gallantry  of  Edward  Stanley 


Page  1 


CHAPTER  X. 

.ould  Elizabeth  accept  the  Sovereignty?  —  The  Effects  of  her  Anger  — 
Quanels  between  the  Earl  and  States  —  The  Earl's  three  Counsellors  — 
Leicester's  Finance -Chamber  —  Discontent  of  the  Mercantile  Classes  — 
Paul  Buys  and  the  Opposition  —  Keen  insight  of  Paul  Buys  —  Truchsess 
becomes  a  Spy  upon  him  —  Intrigues  of  Buys  with  Denmark  —  His 
Imprisonment  —  The  EarPs  Unpopularity  —  His  Quarrels  with  the 
States — And  with  the  Norrise*  —  His  Counsellors  Wilkes  and  Gierke 

—  Letter  from  the  Queen  to  Leicester  —  A  Supper  Party  at  Hohenlo's 

—  A  Drunken  Quarrel —  Hohenlo's  Assault  upon  Edward  Norris —  III 
effects  of  the  Riot 58 

a  2 


IV 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  U. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Drake  in  the  Netherlands  —  Good  Results  of  his  Visit  —  The  Babington 
Conspiracy  —  Leicester  decides  to  visit  England —  Exchange  of  parting 
Compliments Page  95 

CHAPTER  XII. 

nUtimed  Interregnum  in  the  Provinces  —  Firmness  of  the  English  and 
Dutch  People  —  Factions  daring  Leicester's  Government  —  Democratic 
Theories  of  the  Leicestrians  —  Suspicions  as  to  the  Earl's  Designs  — 
Extreme  views  of  the  Calvinists  —  Political  Ambition  of  the  Church  — 
Antagonism  of  the  Church  and  States  —  The  States  inclined  to  Tolerance 
—  Desolation  of  the  Obedient  Provinces  —  Pauperism  and  Famine  — 
Prosperity  of  the  Republic  —  The  Year  of  Expectation       . .      . .     105 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Bameveld's  Influence  in  the  Provinces  —  Unpopularity  of  Leicester  — ; 
Intrigues  of  his  Servants — Gossip  of  his  Secretary  —  Its  mischievous 
Effects — The  Quarrel  of  Norris  and  Hollock  —  The  Earl's  Participation 
in  the  Affair  —  His  increased  Animosity  to  Norris  —  Seizure  of  Deventer 
—  Stanley  appointed  its  Governor  —  York  and  Stanley — Leicester's 
secret  Instructions  —  Wilkes  remonstrates  with  Stanley  —  Stanley's 
Insolence  and  Equivocation —  Painful  Rumours  as  to  him  and  York  — 
Duplicity  of  York  —  Stanley's  Banquet  at  Deventer  —  He  surrendei-s 
the  City  to  Tassis  —  Terms  of  the  Bargain  —  Feeble  Defence  of  Stanley's 
Conduct  —  Subsequent  Fate  of  Stanley  and  York  —  Betrayal  of  Gelder 
to  Parma  —  These  Treasons  cast  Odium  on  the  English  —  Miserable 
Plight  of  the  English  Troops  —  Honesty  and  Energy  of  Wilkes  —  Indig- 
nant Discussion  in  the  Assembly 129 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Leicester  in  England  —  Trial  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  —  Fearful  Perplexity 
at  the  English  Court  —  Infatuation  and  Obstinacy  of  the  Queen  — 
Netherland  Envoys  in  England  —  Queen's  bitter  Invective  against  them 

—  Amazement  of  the  Envoys  —  They  consult  with  her  chief  Councillors 

—  Remarks  of  Burghley  and  Davison — Fourth  of  February  Letter 
Ironi  the  States  —  Its  severe  Language  towards  Leicester — Painful 
roc.tion  of  the  Envoys  at  Court  —  Queen's  Pai^simony  towards  Lei- 
cestir 179 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  II. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Buckhurst  sent  to  the  Netherlands  —  Alarming  State  of  Affairs  on  his 

Arrival  —  His  Efforts  to  conciliate  —  Democratic  Theories  of  Wilkes 

Sophistry  of  the  Argument  —  Dispute  between  Wilkes  and  Bameveld 

—  Religious  Tolerance  by  the  States  — Their  Constitutional  Theory  — 
Deventer's  bad  Counsels  to  Leicester— Their  pernicious  Effect  — Real 
and  supposed  Plots  against  Hohenlo — Mutual  Suspicion  and  Distrust 

—  Buckhurst  seeks  to  restore  good  Feeling  —  The  Queen  angry  and 
vindictive  —  She  censures  Buckhurst's  Course  —  Leicester's  Wrath  at 
Hohenlo's  Chaises  of  a  Plot  by  the  Earl  to  mui-der  him  —  Buckhurst's 
eloquent  Appeals  to  the  Queen  —  Her  perplexing  and  contradictory 
Orders  —  Despair  of  Wilkes — Leicester  announces  his  Return  —  His 
Instructions  —  Letter  to  Junius  —  Bameveld  denounces  him  in  the 
S*»te8 Page  204 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Situation  of  Sluys  —  Its  Dutch  and  English  Ganison  —  Williams  writes 
from  Sluys  to  the  Queen  —  Jealousy  between  the  Earl  and  States  — 
Schemes  to  relieve  Sluys  —  Which  are  feeble  and  unsuccessful  —  The 
Town  capitulates — Parma  enters  —  Leicester  enraged  —  The  Queen 
angry  with  the  Anti-Leicestrians  —  Norris,  Wilkes,  and  Buckhurst 
punished  —  Drake  sails  for  Spain  —  His  Exploits  at  Cadiz  and  Lisbon 

—  He  is  rebuked  by  Elizabeth 247 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

Secret  treating  between  Queen  and  Parma —  Excitement  and  Alarm  in  the 
States — Religious  Persecution  in  England  —  Queen's  Sincerity  toward 
Spain  —  Language  and  Letters  of  Parma  —  Negotiations  of  De  Loo  — 
English  Commissioners  appointed  —  Parma's  affectionate  Letter  to  the 
Queen  — Philip  at  his  Writing-table  —  His  Plots  with  Parma  against 
England— Parma's  Secret  Letters  to  the  King  —  Philip's  Letters  to 
Parma  —  Wonderful  Duplicity  of  Philip  —  His  sanguine  Views  as  to 
England — He  is  reluctant  to  hear  of  the  Obstacles — And  imagines 
Parma  in  England  —  But  Alexander's  Difficulties  are  great — He  de- 
nounces Philip's  wild  Schemes  —  Walsingham  aware  of  the  Spanish  Plot 

—  Which  the  States  well  understand  —  Leicester's  great  Unpopularity 

—  The  Queen  warned  against  Treating — Leicester's  Schemes  against 
Bameveld  —  Leicestrian  Conspiracy  at  Leyden  —  The  Plot  to  seize  the 
City  discovered  —  Three  Ringleadei-s  sentenced  to  Death  —  Civil  War  in 
France —  Victoiy  gained  by  Navarre,  and  one  by  Guise  —  Queen  recalls 
Leicester  —  Who  retires  on  ill  Tenns  with  the  States —  Queen  wamed 
as  to  Sjanish  Designs  —  Results  of  Leicester's  Administi-ation     . .     272 


VI 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  11. 


CONTElfTS  OF  VOL.  II. 


▼U 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Prophecies  as  to  the  Year  1 588  —  Distracted  Condition  of  the  Dutch 
Republic  —  Willonghby  reluctantly  takes  Command  —  English  Com- 
missioDers  come  to  Ostend  —  Secretary  Gamier  and  Robert  Cecil  — 
Cecil  accompanies  Dale  to  Ghent —  And  finds  the  Desolation  complete  — 
Interview  of  Dale  and  Cecil  with  Parma  —  His  fervent  Expressions  in 
favour  of  Peace  —  Cecil  makes  a  Tour  in  Flanders  —  And  sees  much 
that  is  remarkable —  Interviews  of  Dr.  Rogers  with  Parma — Wonderful 
Harangues  of  the  Envoy  —  Extraoixlinary  Amenity  of  Alexander  — 
With  which  Rogers  is  much  touched  —  The  Queen  not  pleased  with  her 
Envoy — Credulity  of  the  English  Commissioners  —  Ceremonious  Meet- 
ing of  all  the  Envoys  —  Consummate  Art  in  wasting  Time  —  Long 
Disputes  about  Commissions  —  The  Spanish  Commissions  meant  to 
deceive  —  Disputes  about  Cessation  of  Aims  —  Spanish  Duplicity  and 
Procrastination — Pedantry  and  Credulity  of  Dr.  Dale  —  The  Papal 
Bull  and  Dr.  Allen's  Pamphlet  —  Dale  sent  to  ask  Explanations  — 
Parma  denies  all  knowledge  of  either  —  Croft  believes  to  the  last  in 
Alexander  —  Dangerous  Discord  in  North  Holland  —  Leicester's  Resigna- 
tion arrives  —  Enmity  of  Willoughby  and  Maurice  —  Willoughby's 
dark  Picture  of  Affairs  —  Hatred  between  States  and  Leicestrians  — • 
Maurice's  Answer  to  the  Queen's  Charges  —  End  of  Sonoy's  RebelUon  — 
Philip  foments  the  Civil  War  in  France  —  League's  Threats  and  Plots 
against  Henry —  Mucio  arrives  in  Paris  —  He  is  received  with  Enthu- 
siasm —  The  King  flies,  and  Spain  triumphs  in  Paris  —  States  expostu- 
late with  the  Queen  —  English  Statesmen  still  deceived  —  Deputies  from 
Netherland  Churches —  Hold  Conference  with  the  Queen —  And  present 
long  Memorials — More  Conversations  with  the  Queen  —  National 
Spirit  of  England  and  Holland  —  Dissatisfaction  with  Queen's  Course— 
Bitter  Complaints  of  Lord  Howard  —  Want  of  Preparation  in  Army  and 
Navy — Sanguine  Statements  of  Leicester  —  Activity  of  Parma — The 
painful  Suspense  continues Page  335 

CHAPl'ER  XIX. 

Philip  Second  in  his  Cabinet  —  His  system  of  Work  and  Deception  —  His 
vast  but  vague  Schemes  of  Conquest  —  The  Aniiada  saib —  Description 
of  the  Fleet  —  The  Junction  with  Parma  unprovided  for  —  The  Gale 
off'  Finisterre  —  Exploits  of  David  Gwynn  —  First  Engagements  in  the 
English  Channel  —  Considerable  Losses  of  the  Spaniards  — >  General 
Engagement  near  Portland  —  Superior  Seamanship  of  the  English  — 
Both  Fleets  off"  Calais  —  A  Night  of  Anxiety  —  Project  of  Howard  and 
Winter  —  Impatience  of  the  Spaniards  —  Fire-Ships  sent  against  the 
Arm;ula  —  A   great   Galeasse   disabled  —  Attacked  and  captured    by 


English  Boats—  General  Engagement  of  both  Fleets —  Loss  of  several 
Spanish  Ships  —  Armada  flies,  followed  by  the  English  —  English  in- 
sufficiently provided  —  Are  obliged  to  relinquish  the  Chase  — A  great 
Storm  disperses  the  Armada  —  Great  Energy  of  Parma  —  Made  fruitless 

by  Philip's  Dukess  —  England  readier  at  Sea  than  on  Shore The 

^LieutenantpGeneral's  Complaints  —  His  Quarrels  with  Norris  and 
Williams  —  Harsh  Statements  as  to  the  English  Troops  —  Want  of 
Organization  in  England  —  Royal  Parsimony  and  Delay — Quarrels  of 
English  Admirals  —  England's  narrow  Escape  from  great  Peril Va- 
rious Rumours  as  to  the  Armada's  Fate  — Philip  for  a  long  time  in 
doubt  —  He  believes  himself  victorious — Is  tranquil  when  undeceived. 

Page  435 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Alexander  besieges   Bergen-op-Zoom  —  Pallavicini's  Attempt   to  seduce 
Parma  —  Alexander's  Fury  —  He  is  forced  to  raise  the  Siege  of  Bergen 

—  Gertruydenberg  betrayed  to  Parma  —  Indignation  of  the  States 

Exploits  of  Schenk — His  Attack  on  Nj-megen — He  is  defeated  and 

drowned  —  English-Dutch  Expedition  to  Spain—  Its  meagre  Results 

Death  of  Guise  and  of  the  Queen-Mother  —  Combinations  after  the 
MurderofHenry  III.  — Tandem  fit  Surculus  Arbor 509 


N 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Military  Plans  in  the  Netherlands  —  The  Elector    and    Electorate  of  Cologne 

—  Martin  Schenk  —  His  Career  before  serving  the  States  —  Franeker  Univer- 
sity founded  —  Panna  attempts  Grave  —  Battle  on  the  Meuae  —  Success  and 
Vainglory  of  Leicester  —  St.  George's    Day  triumphantly  kept   at  Utrecht 

—  Parma  not  so  much  appalled  as  it  was  thought  — He  besieges  and  re- 
duces Grave  —  And  is  Master  of  the  Meuse  —  Leicester's  Rage  at  the 
Surrender  of  Grave  —  His  Revenge  —  Parma  on  the  Rhine  —  He  besieges 
and  assaults  Neusz  —  Horrible  fate  of  the  Garrison  and  City — Which 
Leicester  was  unable  to  relieve  —  Axel  surprised  by  Maurice  and   Sidney 

—  The  Zeeland  Regiment  given  to  Sidney — Condition  of  the  Irish  and 
English  Troops  —  Leicester  takes  the  Field  —  He  reduces  Doesburg  —  He 
lays  siege  to  Zutphen  —  Which  Parma  prepares  to  relieve  —  The  English 
intercept  the  Convoy — Battle  of   Wamsfeld  —  Sir   I'hilip   Sidney  wounded 

—  Results  of  the  Encounter  —  Death  of  Sidney  at  Arnheim — Gallantry  of 
Edward  Stanley. 

Five  great  rivers  hold  the  Netherland  territory  in  their 
coils.  Three  are  but  slightly  separated — the  Yssel, 
Waal,  and  ancient  Rhine,  while  the  Scheldt  and  Meuse 
are  spread  more  widely  asunder.  Along  each  of  these 
streams  were  various  fortified  cities,  the  possession  of 
which,  in  those  days,  when  modern  fortification  was  in 
its  infancy,  implied  the  control  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  lower  part  of  all  the  rivers,  where  they 
mingled  with  the  sea  and  became  wide  estuaries,  be- 
longed to  the  Republic,  for  the  coasts  and  the  ocean 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  Hollanders  and  English.  Above, 
the  various  strong  places  were  alternately  in  the  hands 
of  the  Spaniards  and  of  the  patriots. 

Thus  Antwerp,  with  the  other  Scheldt  cities,  had 
fallen  into  Parma's  power,  but  Flushing,  which  con- 
trolled them  all,  was  held  by  Philip  Sidney  for  tlie 
Queen  and  States.  On  the  IMeuse,  Maastricht  and  Roer- 
mond  were  Spanish,  but  Yenloo,  Grave,  Meghem,  and 

VOL.  11.  a 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


other  towns,  held  for  the  commonwealth.  On  the  Waal, 
the  t«^vn  of  Nymegen  had,  through  the  dexterity  of 
Martin  Schenk,  been  recently  transferred  to  the  royal- 
ists, while  the  rest  of  that  river's  course  was  true  to  the 
republic.  The  Rhine,  strictly  so  called,  from  its  en- 
trance into  Netherland,  belonged  to  the  rebels.  Upon 
its  elder  branch,  the  Yssel,  Zutphen  was  in  Parma's 
hands,  while,  a  little  below,  Deventer  had  been  recently 
and  adroitly  saved  by  Leicester  and  Count  Meurs  from 
falling  into  the  same  dangerous  grasp. 

Thus  the  triple  Rhine,  after  it  had  crossed  the  German 
frontier,  belonged  mainly,  although  not  exclusively,  to 
the  States.  But  on  the  edge  of  the  Batavian  territory, 
the  ancient  river,  just  before  dividing  itself  into  its 
three  branches,  flowed  through  a  debateable  country 
which  was  even  more  desolate  and  forlorn,  if  possible, 
than  the  land  of  the  obedient  l*rovinces.* 

This  unfortunate  district  was  the  archi episcopal  elec- 
torate of  Cologne.  The  city  of  Cologne  itself,  Neusz, 
and  Rheinberg,  on  the  river,  Werll  and  other  places  in 
Westphalia,  and  the  whole  country  around,  were  endan- 
gered, invaded,  ravaged,  and  the  inhabitants  plundered, 
murdered,  and  subjected  to  every  imaginable  outrage, 
by  rival  bands  of  highwaymen,  enlisted  in  the  support 
of  the  two  rival  bishops— beggars,  outcasts,  but  high- 
bom  and  learned  churchmen  both — who  disputed  the 
electorate. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  a  portion  of  the 
bishopric  was  still  in  the  control  of  the  deposed  pro- 
testant  elector  Gebhard  Truchsess,  assisted  of  course  by 
the  English  and  the  States.  The  city  of  Cologne  was 
held  by  the  Catholic  elector,  Ernest  of  Bavaria,  bishop 
of  Liege  ;  but  Neusz  and  Rheinberg  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  Dutch  republic. 

The  military  operations  of  the  year  were,  accoidingly, 
along  the  Meuse,  where  the  main  object  of  Parma  was 
to  wrest  Grave  from  the  N  etherlands ;  along  the  Waal 
where,  on  the  other  hand,  the  patriots  wished  to  recover 
Nymegen ;  on  the  Yssel,  where  they  desired  to  obtain 
the  possession  of  Zutphen ;  and  in  the  Cologne  electo- 
rate, where  the  Spaniards  meant,  if  possible,  to  transfer 
Nensz  and  Rheinberg  from  Truchsess  to  Elector  Ernest. 

1  Meteren,  xlii.  aas-^. 


1586.      THE  ELECTOR  AND  ELECTORATE  OF  COLOGNE.         3 

To  clear  the  coui-se  of  these  streams,  and  especially  to 
set  free  that  debateable  portion  of  the  river-territory 
which  hemmed  him  in  from  neutral  Geimany,  and  to 
cut  off  the  supplies  from  his  starving  troops,  was  the 
immediate  design  of  Alexander  Faniese. 

Nothing  could  be  more  desolate  than  the  condition  of 
the  electorate.  Ever  since  Gebhard  Truchsess  had  re- 
nounced the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church  for  the 
love  of  Agnes  Man^feld,  and  so  gained  a  wife  and  lost 
his  principality,  he  had  been  a  dependant  upon  the  im- 
poverished Nassans,  or  a  supplicant  for  alms  to  the 
thrifty  Elizabeth.  The  Queen  was  frequently  implored 
by  Leicester,  without  much  efl'ect,  to  send  the  ex-elector 
a  few  hundred  pounds  to  keep  him  from  starving,  as 
"  he  had  not  one  groat  to  live  upon,"  *  and,  a  little  later, 
he  was  employed  as  a  go-between,  and  almost  a  spy, 
by  the  Earl,  in  his  quarrels  with  the  patrician  party 
rapidly  forming  against  him  in  the  States. 

At  Godesbeig — the  romantic  ruins  of  which  strong- 
hold the  traveller  still  regaixis  with  interest,  placed  as 
it  is  in  the  midst  of  that  enchanting  region  where 
Drachenfels  looks  down  on  the  crumbling  tower  of  Ro- 
land and  the  convent  of  >ionnenwerth — the  unfortunate 
Gebhard  had  sustained  a  conclusive  defeat.  A  small, 
melancholy  man,  accomplished,  religious,  learned,  "  very 
poor,  but  very  wise,"  comely,  but  of  mean  stature,  alto- 
gether an  unlucky  and  forlorn  individual,*  he  was  not, 
after  all,  in  very  much  inferior  plight  to  that  in  which 
his  rival,  the  Bavarian  bishop,  had  found  himself.  Prince 


1  'LeycCorresp.'  378. 

•  ••  When  1  spake  of  the  Elector  here," 
said  Leicester,  "  1  assure  you  he  Is  a  very 
wise  gentleman;  and  if  it  were  possible 
to  net  him  in  his  place  again,  these  coun- 
tries were  soon  at  quiet He  is  ex- 
ceeding poor,  and  great  pity.  Believe  me, 
my  Lord,  he  is  worthy  to  be  esteemed. 
He  doth  greatly  love  and  honour  her 
Majesty.  I  would  to  God  your  Lordsbip 
could  but  procure  her  Majesty  to  bestow 
600  or  600  pound  on  him  for  a  token.  I 
have  received  more  comfort  and  po«d 
advice  of  him  than  of  any  man  htre.  He 
is  very  virtuous,  and  very  M>und  in  reli- 
gion ;  very  grave,  and  a  comely  person, 
but  of  a  mean  stattire.  His  adversary 
duth  all  he  cun  to  put  the  King  of  Spain 


into  his  territories,  yea,  even  Into  Cologne 
itself  —He  is  very  poor,  »nd  weary  ol  his 
keeping  that  place  with  such  charge.  His 
bishopric  of  Liege  is  all  spoiled  also  with 
these  wars,  and  he  no  longer  able  u»  main- 
tain his  charges.  A  small  matter  would 
set  up  this  man  now.  He  hath  many 
friends  In  Germany,  and  more  of  late 
than  ever  he  had."  I^icester  to 
Burghley,  28  Feb.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

l>oni  North  had  also  conceived  a  fa- 
vourable opinion  of  Truchsess,  whom  he 
spoke  of  as  a  "rare  gentleman,  notably 
furnished  with  excellent  gifts,  religious, 
and  worthy  of  all  honour  and  estimation." 
North  to  Burghley,  2S  Feb.  159»».  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

B  2 


/ 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


1 


Emest,  archbishop  of  Liege  and  Cologne,  a  hanger-on 
of  his  brother,  who  sought  to  shake  him  off,  and  a  sti- 
pendiary of  Philip,  who  was  a  worse  paymaster  than 
Elizabeth,  had  a  sorry  life  of  it,  notwithstanding  his 
nominal  possession  of  the  t^ee.     He  was  forced  to  go, 
disguised  and   in   secret,  to  the   Prince   of  Parma,  at 
Brussels,*  to  ask  for  assistance,  and  to  mention,  with 
lacrymose  vehemence,  that  both  his  brother  and  himself 
had  determined  to  renounce  the  episcopate,  unless  the 
forces  of  the  Spanish  King  could  be  employed  to  recover 
the  cities  on  the  Khine.     Jf  Neusz  and  Eheinberg  were 
not  wrested  from  the  rebels,  Cologne  itself  would  soon 
be  gone.     Ernest  represented  most  eloquently  to  Alex- 
ander, that  if  the  Protestant  archbishop  were  reinstated 
in  the  ancient  see,  it  would  be  a  most  perilous  result  for 
the  ancient  church  throughout  all   northern   Europe. 
Parma  kept  the  wandering  prelate  for  a  few  days  in  his 
palace  in  Brussels,  and  then  dismissed  him,  disguised 
and  on  foot,  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  through  the 
park-gate.*    He  encouraged  him  with  hopes  of  assist- 
ance, he  represented  to  his  sovereign  the  importance  of 
preserving  the  Khenish  territory  to  Bishop  Ernest  and 
to  Catholicism,  but  hinted  that  the  declared  intention 
of  the  Bavarian  io  resign  the  dignity,  was  probably  a 
trick,  because  the  archiepiscopate  was  no  such  very  bad 
thing  after  all.' 

The  arcniepiscopate  might  be  no  very  bad  thing,  but 
it  was  a  most  uncomfortable  place  of  residence,  at  the 
moment,  for  prince  or  peasant.  Overrun  by  hordes  of 
brigands,  and  crushed  almost  out  of  existence  by  that 
roost  deadly  of  all  systems  of  taxations,  the  *'  brand- 
Bchatzung/'  it  was  fast  becoming  a  mere  den  of  thieves. 
The  **  brandschiitzung  "  had  no  name  in  English,  but  it 
was  the  well-known  impost,  levied  by  roving  com- 
manders, and  even  by  respectable  generals  of  all  nations. 


1586. 


MARTIN  SCHENK. 


»  Purma  to  Philip  II.  2^  Feb.  1586  (Ar- 
chive de  Simancas,  MS.).  Compare  Strada, 
11.  426. 

2  Parma  to  Philip  II.  (MS.  last  cited.) 
Compare  Str  ida,  who  appears  to  be  very 
much  mistaken  in  repri»senting  the  Elec- 
tor Ernest  as  having  been  dismissed  by 
Parma  with  great  state,  and  with  a  mag- 
nificent escort  of  Belgian  nobility,—"  be- 
canae  uo  musk  v»n  ever  entirely  di>guise  a 


prince,  and  because  sans,  even  when 
under  a  cloud,  have  more  spectators  than 
ever." 

"  Nempe  nulla  larva  totum  prindpem 
tegit ;  immo  soles,  etiam  Isti  quum  defl* 
ciunt,  tunc  maxime  spectatores  babent," 
and  so  on,  11.  427. 

»  "Porque  no  le  esta  tan  mal  el 
electorado."  MS.  Letter  of  Parma  last 
cited. 


A  hamlet,  cluster  of  farm-houses,  country  district,  or 
wealthy  city,  in  order  to  escape  being  burned  and  ra- 
vaged, as  the  penalty  of  having  fallen  into  a  conqueror's 
hands,  paid  a  heavy  sum  of  ready  money  on  the  nail  at 
command  of  the  conqueror.  The  free  companions  of  the 
sixteenth  century  drove  a  lucrative  business  in  this  par- 
ticular branch  of  industry ;  and  when  to  this  was  added 
the  more  direct  profits  derived  from  actual  plunder,  sack, 
and  ransoming,  it  was  natural  that  a  large  fortune  was 
often  the  result  to  the  thrifty  and  persevering  commander 
of  free  lances. 

Of  all  the  professors  of  this  comprehensive  aii,  the 
terrible  Martin  Schenk  was  pre-eminent ;  and  he  was 
now  ravaging  the  Cologne  territory,  having  recently 
passed  again  to  the  service  of  the  States.  Intimately 
connected  with  the  chief  militarj^  events  of  the  period 
which  now  occupies  us,  he  was  also  the  very  archetype 
of  the  marauders  whose  existence  was  characteristic  of 
the  epoch.  Bom  in  1 549  of  an  ancient  and  noble  family 
of  Gelderland,  Martin  Schenk  had  inherited  no  property 
but  a  sword.  Serving  for  a  brief  tenn  as  page  to  the 
Seigneur  of  Ysselstein,  he  joined,  while  yet  a  youth,  the 
banner  of  William  of  Orange,  at  the  head  of  two  men-at- 
arms.  The  humble  knight-errant,  with  his  brace  of 
squires,  was  received  with  courtesy  by  the  Prince  and 
the  Estates,  but  he  soon  quarrelled  with  his  patrons. 
There  was  a  castle  of  Blyenbeek,  belonging  to  his  cousin, 
which  he  chose  to  consider  his  rightful  property,  because 
he  was  of  the  same  race,  and  because  it  was  a  convenient 
and  productive  estate  and  residence.  The  courts  had 
different  views  of  public  law,  and  supported  the  ousted 
cousin.  Martin  shut  himself  up  in  the  castle,  and  hav- 
ing recently  committed  a  rather  discreditable  homicide, 
which  still  further  increased  his  unpopularity  with  tlie 
patriots,  he  made  overtures  to  Parma.^  Alexander  was 
glad  to  enlist  so  bold  a  soldier  on  his  side,  and  assisted 
Schenk  in  his  besieged  stronghold.  For  years  afterwards, 
his  services  under  the  King's  banner  were  most  brilliant, 
and  he  rose  to  the  highest  military  command,  while  his 
coffers,  meantime,  were  rapidly  filling  with  the  results 
of  his  robberies  and  "  brandschatzungs."     **  'Tis  a  most 

»  Meteren,  xili.  231.     •  Levensbeschryviiig  Nederl.  Mannen,'  voL  it  in   voce 
Strada,  11.  633,  et  aliunde. 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


courageous  fellow,"  said  Parma,  "  hut  rather  a  desperate 
highwayman  than  a  valiant  soldier." »     Martin's  couple 
of  lances  had  expanded  into  a  corps  of  free  companions 
the  most  truculent,  the  most  obedient,  the  most  rapacious 
m  Christendom.     Never  were  freebooters  more  formid- 
able to  the  world  at  large,  or  more  docile  to  their  chief 
than  were  the  followers  of  General  Schenk.     Never  wa^ 
a  more  finished  captain  of  highwaymen.     He  was  a  man 
who  was  never  sober,  yet  who  never  smiled.     His  ha- 
bitual intoxication  seemed  only  to  increase  both  his  au- 
dacity and  his  taciturnity,  without  disturbing  his  reason 
He  was  incapable  of  fear,  of  fatigue,  of  remorse      He 
could  remain  for  days  and  nights  without  dismounting— 
eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping  in  the  saddle ;  so  that  to 
this  terrible  centaur  his  horse  seemed  actually  a  part  of 
himself.     His  soldiers  followed  him  about  like  hounds 
and  were  treated  by  him  like  hounds.     He  habituallv 
scourged  them  often  took  with  his  own  hand  the  lives 
of  such  as  displeased  him,  and  had  been  kno^vn  to  cause 
individuals  of  them  to  jump  from  the  top  of  church 
steeples  at  his  command  ;  yet  the  pack  were  ever  stanch 
to  his  orders,  for  they  knew  that  he  always  led  them 
where  the  game  was  plenty.  While  serving  under  Parma 
he  had  twice  most  brilliantly  defeated  Hohenlo.     At  the 
battle  of  Hardenberg  Heath  he  had  completely  oute-ene. 

^If  A     f  J'^^'if'^^^    chieftain,     slaying    fifteen 
hundred  of  his  soldiers  at  the  expense  of  only  fifty  or 
sixty  of  his  own      By  this  triumph  he  had  preserved  the 
important  city  of  Groningen  for  Philip,  during  an  addi- 
tional  quarter  of  a  century,  and  had  been  received  in 
that  city  with  rapture.     Several  startling  years  of  vic- 
tory and  rapine  he  had  thus  run  through  as  a  royalist 
partisan.  He  became  the  terror  and  scourge  of  his  native 
C^eldorland,  and  he  was  covered  with  wounds  received 
in  the  King  s  service.     He  had  been  twice  captured  and 
held  for  ransom.     Twice  he  had  effected  his  escape     He 
had  recently  gained  the  city  of  Nymegen.     He  Vas  the 
most  formidable,  the  most  unscrupulous,  the  most  auda- 
cious Netherlander  that  wore  Philip's  colours  ;  but  he 
had  received  small  public  reward  for  his  services,  and 
the  wealth  which  he  earned  on  the  high-road  did  not 

t  Parm»  to  Philip  II.,  6  June,  1585.    (Arch,  de  Sim.  M&i 
«  Archer,  In  Stowe,  739.  '' 


1586.        HIS  CAREER  BEFORE  SERVING  THE  STATES.  7 

suffice  for  his  ambition.  He  had  been  deeply  disgusted, 
when,  at  the  deatb  of  Count  Renneberg,  Verdugo,  a 
former  stable-boy  of  Mansfeld,  a  Spaniard  who  had  risen 
from  the  humblest  rank  to  be  a  colonel  and  general,  had 
been  made  governor  of  Friesland.  He  had  smothered 
his  resentment  for  a  time,  however,  but  had  sworn  within 
himself  to  desei*t  at  the  most  favourable  opportunity. 
At  last,  after  he  had  brilliantly  saved  the  city  of  Breda 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  patriots,  he  was  more 
enraged  than  he  had  ever  been  before,  when  Haulte- 
penne,  of  the  house  of  Berlaymont,  was  made  governor 
of  that  place  in  his  stead. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  1585,  at  an  hour  after  midnight, 
he  had  a  secret  interview  with  Count  Meurs,  stadliolder 
for  the  States  of  Gelderland,  and  agreed  to  transfer  his 
mercenary  allegiance  to  the  republic.  He  made  good 
terms.  He  was  to  be  lieutenant-governor  of  Gelderland, 
and  he  was  to  have  rank  as  marshal  of  the  camp  in  the 
States'  army,  with  a  salary  of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty 
guilders  a  month.  He  agreed  to  resign  his  famous  castle 
of  Blyenbeek,  but  was  to  be  reimbursed  with  estates  in 
Holland  and  Zeeland,  of  the  annual  value  of  four  thou- 
sand florins.* 

After  this  treaty,  Martin  and  his  free  lances  served 
the  States  faithfully,  and  became  sworn  foes  to  Parma 
and  the  King.  He  gave  and  took  no  quarter,  and  his 
men,  if  captured,  "  paid  their  ransom  with  their  heads."  * 
He  ceased  to  be  the  scourge  of  Gelderland,  but  he  be- 
came the  terror  of  the  electorate.  Early  in  1586,  ac- 
companied by  Herman  Kloet,  the  young  and  daring 
Dutch  commandant  of  Neusz,  he  had  swept  down  into 
the  Westphalian  countr}%  at  the  head  of  five  hundred 
foot  and  five  hundred  horse.  On  the  18th  of  March  he 
captured  the  city  of  Werll  by  a  neat  stratagem.  The 
citizens,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  marauders,  were  in 
want  of  many  necessaries  of  life,  among  other  things,  of 
salt.  Martin  had,  from  time  to  time,  sent  some  of  his 
soldiers  into  the  place,  disguised  as  boors  from  the 
neighbourhood,  and  carrying  bags  of  that  article.  A 
pacific  trading-intercourse  had  thus  been  established 
between  the  burghers  within  and  the  banditti  without 

1  '  Nederl.  Mannen,'  &c.,  uhi  sup. 
•  Doyle  to  Bui^hley,  June  24, 1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


-■g—i 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


the  gates.     Agreeable  relations  were  formed  within  tho 
walls,  and  a  party  of  townsmen  had  agreed  to  cooperate 
with  the  followers  of  Schenk.     One  morning  a  train  of 
waggons,  laden  with  soldiers  neatly  covered  with  salt, 
made  their  appearance  at  the  gate.     At  the  same  time  a 
fire  broke  out  most  opportunely  within  the  town.     The 
citizens  busily  employed  themselves   in  extinguishing 
the  flames.     The  salted  soldiers,  after  passing  through 
the  ^teway,  sprang  from  the  waggons,  and  mastered  the 
watch.     The  town  was  carried  at  a  blow.     Some  of  the 
inhabitants  were  massacred  as  a  warning  to  the  rest ; 
others  were  taken  prisoners  and  held  for  ransom ;  a  few[ 
more  fortunate,  made  their  escape  to  the  citadel.     ITiat 
fortress  was  stormed  in  vain,  but  the  city  was  thoroughly 
sacked.     Eveiy  house  was  rifled  of  its  contents.     Mean- 
time Haultepenne  collected  a  force  of  nearly  four  thou- 
sand men,  boors,  citizens,  and  soldiers,  and  came  to  be- 
siege Schenk  in  the  town,  while,  at  the  same  time,  attacks 
were  made  upon  him  from  the  castle.  It  waa  impossible 
for  him  to  hold  the  city,  but  he  had  completely  robbed 
It  of  everything  valuable.      Accordingly  he  loaded  .a 
train  of  waggons  with  his  booty,  took  with  him  thirty 
of  the  magistrates  as  hostages,  with  other  wealthy  citi 
zens,  and  marching  in  good  order  against  Haultepenne, 
completely  routed  him,  killing  a  number  variously  esti- 
mated at  from  five  hundred  to  two  thousand,  and  efiected 
his  retreat,  desperately  wounded  in  the  thigh,  but  tri- 
umphant and  laden  with  the  spoils,  to  Venlo  on  the 
Meuse,  of  which  city  he  was  governor." » 

*'  Surely  this  is  a  noble  fellow,  a  worthy  fellow,"  ex- 
claimed Leicester,  who  was  filled  with  admiration  at 
the  bold  marauder's  progress,  and  vowed  that  he  was 
"  the  only  soldier  in  truth  that  they  had,  for  he  was 
never  idle,  and  had  succeeded  hitherto  very  happily."  ■ 
And  thus,  at  every  point  of  the  doomed  territory  of 
the  httle  commonwealth,  the  natural  atmosphere  in 
which  the  inhabitants  existed  was  one  of  blood  and 
rapine.  Yet  during  the  ver>^  slight  lull,  which  was 
interposed  in  the  winter  of  1585-6  to  the  eternal  clang 

iMetereii,Strada,'XederLMannen.&c.  same  date.  Ibid.  MS.  Leicester  to 
l*6in»pBor.  .1.699.  700.  Bruce's  •  Leyc.  Burghley  and  Walsingham.  15  March. 
Corresp.-  79.  139.  141.  1«7.  227.  266,  475.     1586.    Ibid.  MS.  ^ 

(i>.  I .  Office  Mb.)    Leicester  to  Burghley,    ham.    MS.  ubi  sup. 


1586. 


FRANEKER  UNIVERSITY  FOUNDED. 


9 


of  arms  in  Friesland,  the  Estates  of  that  Province,  to 
their  lasting  honour,  founded  the  university  of  Franeker. 
A  dozen  years  before,  the  famous  institution  at  Leyden 
had  been  established,  as  a  reward  to  the  burghers  for 
their  heroic  defence  of  the  city.  And  now  this  new 
proof  was  given  of  the  love  of  Netherlanders,  even  in 
the  midst  of  their  misery  and  their  warfare,  for  the 
more  humane  arts.  The  new  college  was  well  endowed 
from  ancient  church-lands,  and  not  only  was  the  educa- 
tion made  nearly  gratuitous,  while  handsome  salaries 
were  provided  for  the  professors,  but  provision  was 
made  by  which  the  poorer  scholars  could  be  fed  and 
boarded  at  a  very  moderate  expense.  There  was  a  table 
provided  at  an  annual  cost  to  the  student  of  but  fifty 
florins  (5/.),  and  a  second  and  third  table  at  the  very 
low  price  of  forty  and  thirty  florins  respectively. 
Thus  the  sum  to  be  paid  by  the  poorer  class  of  scholars 
for  a  year*s  maintenance  was  less  than  three  pounds 
sterling  a  year.  The  voice  with  which  this  infant 
seminary  of  tlie  Muses  first  made  itself  heard  above  the 
din  of  war  was  but  feeble,  but  the  institution  was 
destined  to  thrive,  and  to  endow  the  world,  for  many 
successive  generations,  with  the  golden  fruits  of  science 
and  genius.* 

Early  in  the  spring,  the  war  was  seriously  taken  in 
hand  by  Famese.  It  has  already  been  seen  that  the 
republic  had  been  almost  entirely  driven  out  of  Flanders 
and  Brabant.  The  Estates,  however,  still  held  Grave, 
Megem,  Batenburg,  and  Venlo  upon  the  Meuse.  That 
river  formed,  as  it  were,  a  perfect  circle  of  protection 
for  the  whole  Province  of  Brabant,  and  Famese  deter- 
mined to  make  himself  master  of  this  great  natural 
moat.  Afterwards,  he  meant  to  possess  himself  of  the 
Rhine,  flowing  in  a  parallel  course,  about  twenty-five 
miles  farther  to  the  east.  In  order  to  gain  and  hold 
the  Meuse,  the  first  step  was  to  reduce  the  city  of 
Grave.  That  town,  upon  the  left  or  Brabant  bank,  was 
strongly  fortified  on  its  land -side,  where  it  was  sur- 
rounded by  luw  and  fertile  pastures,  while,  upon  the 
other,  it  depended  upon  its  natural  foss,  the  river.  It 
was,  according  to  Lord  North  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 


I  Bor,  11.  672. 


10 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


1586. 


PARMA  ATTEMPTS  GRAVE. 


11 


the  "  strongest  town  in  all  the  Low  Countries,  though 
but  a  little  one."  * 

Baron  Hemart,  a  young  Gueldrian  noble,  of  small 
experience  in  military  affairs,  commanded  in  the  city, 
his  garrison  being  eight  hundred  soldiers,  and  about 
one  thousand  burgher  guards.*  As  early  as  January, 
Farnese  had  ordered  Count  Mansfeld  to  lay  siege  to  the 
place.  Five  forts  had  accordingly  been  constructed, 
above  and  below  the  town,  upon  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  while  a  bridge  of  boats  thrown  across  the  stream 
led  to  a  fortified  camp  on  the  opposite  side.  Mansfeld, 
Mondragon,  Bobadil,  Aquila,  and  other  distinguished 
veterans  in  Philip*s  service,  were  engaged  in  the  enter- 
prise. A  few  unimportant  skirmishes  between  Schenk 
and  the  Spaniards  had  taken  place,  but  the  city  was 
already  hard  pressed,  and,  by  the  series  of  forts  which 
environed  it,  was  cut  off  from  its  supplies.  It  was 
highly  important,  therefore,  that  Grave  should  be  re- 
lieved with  the  least  possible  delay. 

Early  in  Easter  week,  a  force  of  three  thousand  men, 
under  Hohenlo  and  Sir  John  NoiTis,  was  accordingly 
April  ^.    despatched  by  Leicester,  with  orders,  at  every 
1586.       hazard,  to  throw  reinforcements  and  provisions 
into  the  place.     They  took  possession,  at  once,  of  a 
stone  sconce,  called  the  Mill-Fort,  which  was  guarded 
by  fifty  men,  mostly  boors  of  the  country.*     These  were 
neariy  all  hanged  for  '*  using  malicious  words,"  and  for 
"railing  against  Queen  Elizabeth,"*  and— a  sufficient 
number  of  men  being  left  to  maintain  the  fort— the 
whole  relieving  force  marched  with  great  difficulty— 
for  the  river  was  rapidly  rising,  and  flooding  the  country 
•—along  the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse,  taking  possession 
of  Batenburg  and  Ravenstein  castles,  as  they  went.     A 
force   of  four  or  five  hundred  Englishmen   was   then 
pushed  forward  to  a  point   almost    exactly  opposite 
Grave,  and  within  an  English  mile  of  the  head  of  the 
bndge   constructed   by   the   Spaniards.     Here,  in   the 
night   of   Easter    Tuesday,    they   rapidly   formed    an 

»  North  to  Burghley,  39  May,  158«.        .  „  „ 

CS.  P.  Office  MS.)      Leicester   to  Queen  Occurrences  from  Holland,  April  -, 

Elizabeth.  16  June.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office    1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  **' 

^'•■^«      ..  *  ibid.  Compare  •  LeycesL  Corresn '  d. 

«  Bor.  II.  TOT.  T08.    Hoofd  Verv.  154,    218.  AprU  6, 1686.  ^'  ^ 

156.   Strada,  il.  410.   Wagen«ar,viii.  126. 


entrenched  camp  upon  the  dyke  along  the  river,  and, 
although  molested  by  some  armed  vessels,  succeeded 
in  establishing  themselves  in  a  most  important  position.' 
On  the  morning  of  Easter  Wednesday,  April  16, 
Mansfeld,  perceiving  that  the  enemy  had  thus  stolen  a 
march  upon  him,  ordered  one  thousand  picked  April  -, 
troops,  all  Spaniards,  under  Casco  and  other  isse.  *" 
veterans,  to  assault  this  advanced  post.*  A  reserve  of 
two  thousand  was  placed  in  readiness  to  support  the 
attack.  The  Spaniards  slowly  crossed  the  bridge,  which 
was  swaying  very  dangerously  with  the  current,  and 
then  charged  the  entrenched  camp  at  a  run.  A  quarrel 
between  the  different  regiments  as  to  the  right  of  pre- 
cedence precipitated  the  attack,  before  the  reserve, 
consisting  of  some  picked  companies  of  Mondragon's 
veterans  had  been  able  to  arrive.  Coming  in  breathless 
and  fatigued,  the  first  assailants  were  readily  repulsed 
in  their  first  onset.  Aquila  then  opportunely  made  his 
appearance,  and  the  attack  was  renewed  with  great 
vigour.  The  defenders  of  the  camp  yielded  at  the  third 
charge  and  fled  in  dismay,  while  the  Spaniards,  leaping 
the  barriers,  scattered  hither  and  thither  in  the  ardour 
of  pursuit.  The  routed  Englishmen  fled  swiftly  along 
the  oozy  dyke,  in  hopes  of  joining  the  main  body  of  the 
relieving  party,  who  were  expected  to  advance,  with 
the  dawn,  from  their  position  six  miles  farther  down 
the  river.  Two  miles  long  the  chace  lasted,  and  it 
seemed  probable  that  the  fugitives  would  be  overtaken 
and  destroyed,  when,  at  last,  from  behind  a  line  of 
mounds  which  stretched  towards  Batenburg  and  had 
masked  their  approach,  appeared  Count  Hohenlo  and 
Sir  John  N orris,  at  the  head  of  twenty-five  hundred 
Englishmen  and  Hollanders.  This  force  advanced  as 
rapidly  as  the  slippery  ground  and  the  fatigue  of  a  two 
hours'  march  would  permit  to  the  rescue  of  their  friends, 
while  the  retreating  English  rallied,  turned  upon  their 
pursuers,  and  drove  them  back  over  the  path  along 
which  they  had  just  been  charging  in  the  full  career  of 
victory.  The  fortune  of  the  day  was  changed,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  Hohenlo  and  Norris  would  have  crossed 
the  river  and  entered  Grave,  when  the  Spanish  com- 

*  Occurrences  from  Holland,  MS.  154.155.    Occurrences,  &c  MS.  Bruce'* 

2  Strada,  U.  413  ^ej.  Hoofd  Vervolgh,    •  Le^cest.  Corresp.'  223,  226. 


\l 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


panics   of  Bobadil   and   other  commanders   were  seen 
marching  along  the  quaking  bridge. 

Three  thousand  men  on  each  side  now  met  at  push  of 
pike  on  the  bank  of  the  Meuse.*      llio  rain  was  pouring 
in  torrents,  the  wind  was  blowing  a  gale,  the  stream 
was  rapidly  rising,  and  threatening  to  overwhelm  its 
shores.     By  a  tacit  and  mutual  consent,  both  armies 
paused  for  a  few  moments  in  full  view  of  each  other. 
After  this  brief  interval  they  closed  again,  breast   to 
breast,   in   sharp   and    steady   conflict.     The    ground, 
slippery  witli   rain   and  with   blood,   which  was  soon 
flowing  almost  as  fast  as  the  rain,  afforded  an  unsteady 
footing  to  the  combatants.    They  staggered  like  diiinken 
men,  fell  upon  their  knees,  or  upon  their  backs,  and 
still,   kneeling   or   rolling    prostrate,    maintained    the 
deadly  conflict.     For  the  space  of  an  hour  and  a  half  the 
fierce  encounter  of  human  passion  outmastered  the  fury 
of  the  elements.    Norris  and  Hohenlo  fought  at  the  head 
of  their  columns,  like  paladins  of  old.     The  Englishman 
was  wounded  in  the  mouth  and  breast,  the  Count  was 
seen  to  gallop  past  one  thousand  musketeers  and  caliver- 
men  of  the  enemy,  and  to  escape  unscathed.     But  as  the 
strength  of  the  soldiers  exhausted  itself,  the  violence  of 
the   tempest  increased.     The   floods   of  rain   and  the 
blasts  of  the  hurricane  at  last  terminated  the  atfray. 
The  Spaniards,  fairly  conquered,  were  compelled  to  a 
retreat,  lest  the  i-apidly  rising  river  should  sweep  away 
the  frail  and  trembling  bridge,  over  which  they  had 
passed  to  their  unsuccessful  assault.      The  English  and 
Netherlanders  remained  masters  of  the  field.    The  rising 
flood,  too,  which  was  fast  converting  the  meadows  into 
a  lake,  was   as  useful  to   the   conquerors  as    it  was 
damaging  to  the  Spaniards. 

In  the  course  of  the   few   following  days,  a  large 
number  of  boats  was  despatched  before  the  very  eyes  of 

April  1.  Parma,  from  Batenburg  into  Grave  ;  Hohenlo, 
who  had  "  most   desperately  adventured   his 


1586. 


person  "  throughout  the  whole  affair,  entering  the  town 
himself.  A  force  of  five  hundred  men,  together  with 
provisions  enough  to  last  a  year,  was  thrown  into  the 
(dty,  and  the  course  of  the  Meuse  was,  apparently, 
secured  to  the  republic.     In  this  important  action  about 

I  Strada.  11.  413,  414.  Occurrences  from  Holland.  MS. 


1586. 


SUCCESS  OF  LEICESTER. 


13 


one  hundred  and  fifty  Dutch  and  English  were  killed, 
and  probably  four  hundred  Spaniards,  including  several 
distinguished  officers.* 

The  Earl  of  Leicester  was  incredibly  elated  so  soon 
as  the  success  of  this  enterprise  was  known.  "  Oh  that 
her  Majesty  knew,"  he  cried,  *'  how  easy  a  match  now 
she  hath  with  the  King  of  Spain,  and  what  millions  of 
afflicted  people  she  hath  relieved  in  these  countries. 
This  summer,  this  summer,  I  say,  would  make  an  end 
to  her  immortal  glory."  *  He  was  no  friend  to  his 
countryman,  the  gallant  Sir  John  Nonis — whom,  how- 
ever, he  could  not  help  applauding  on  this  occasion, — 
but  he  was  in  raptures  with  Hohenlo.  Next  to  God,  he 
assured  the  Queen's  government  that  the  victoiy  was 
owing  to  the  Count.  "  He  is  both  a  valiant  man  and  a 
wise  man,  and  the  painfullest  that  ever  I  knew,"  he  said  ; 
adding — as  a  secret — that  "  five  hundred  Englishmen  of 
the  best  Flemish  training  had  flatly  and  shamefully  run 
away,"  when  the  fight  had  been  renewed  by  Hohenlo 
and  Norris.  He  recommended  that  her  Majesty  should 
send  her  picture  to  the  Count,  worth  two  hundred 
pounds,  which  he  would  value  at  more  than  one  thousand 
pounds  in  money,  and  he  added  that  "  for  her  sake  the 
Count  had  greatly  left  his  drinking."  * 

As  for  the  Prince  of  Parma,  Leicester  looked  upon 
him  as  conclusively  beaten.  He  spoke  of  him  as  '*  mar- 
vellously appalled  "  by  this  overthrow  of  his  forces,  but 
he  assured  the  government  that  if  the  Prince's  "  choler 


•  Leicester  to  Burghley,  April  — ,  1586. 
(S.  p.  Omce  MS.)  R.  Cavendish  to  Burgh- 
ley,  April  -,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Lord 

Willoughby  to   Bnrghley,  -  April,  1586. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS  )  Occurrences  from  Hol- 
land. MS.)  Brace's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  226, 
244,  245,  252,  253.    Parma  to  Philip  11. 

—  April,  and  9  May,  1586.    (Archivo  de 

Simancas,  MS.) 

Lord  North  to  Burghley,  —  May,  1586. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  "Count  Holloclc  per- 
formed this  service  with  wisdom  and 
most  valiantly  In  his  own  person.  I  can- 
not give  him  too  much  praise,  because 
there  is  so  much  du«  to  him." 


Compare  Strada,  11.  413,  414 ;  Meieren, 
xlil.  234;  Hoofd,  155  teq.  et  cU.  It  is  of 
slight  consequence,  at  the  present  liay,  to 
know  the  exact  number  of  the  conibauinfs 
who  perished  in  this  hotly-contesud,  but 
now  forgotten,  field.  As  a  specimen  of 
conflicting  statistics  after  a  battle,  it  is 
worth  while  to  observe  that,  accurding  to 
some  eye-u-itnefses,  nine  hundred  Spa- 
niards were  killed,  and,  accoi-ding  to  others 
thirty ;  while,  on  the  other  liand,  the 
statement  of  the  loss  sustained  by  their 
ahtagonlsts  varied  from  fifty  to  seven 
hundred. 

2  Bruce's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  26 1.    May 

-,  1686. 

18' 

'  Bruce's  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  245. 


I 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX, 


should  press  him  to  seek  revenge,"  he  should  soon  be 
driven  out  of  the  country.  The  Earl  would  follow  him 
"  at  an  inch,"  and  effectually  frustrate  all  his  under- 
takings. *'  If  the  Spaniard  have  such  a  May  as  he  has 
had  an  April,"  said  Lord  North,  *'  it  will  put  water  in 
his  wine."  * 

Meantime,  as  St.  George's  Day  was  approaching,  and 
as  the  Earl  was  fond  of  banquets  and  ceremonies,  it  was 
thought  desirable  to   hold  a  great  triumphal  feast  at 
Utrecht.     His  journey  to  that  city  from  the  Hague  was 
a  triumphal    procession.      In   all   the   towns  thi-ough 
which  he  passed   he  was  entertained    with  militaiy 
display,  pompous  harangues,  interludes,  dumb  shows, 
and  allegories.     At  Amsterdam— a  city  which  he  com- 
pared to  Venice  for  situation  and  splendour,  and  where 
one    thousand    ships  were   constantly   lying— he  was 
received  with  *'  sundry  great  whales  and  other  fishes  of 
hugeness,"  that  gambolled  about  his  vessel,  and  con- 
voyed him  to  the  shore.     These  monsters  of  the  deep 
presented  him  to  ihe  burgomaster  and  magistrates  who 
were  awaiting  him   on   the   quay.     The   burgomaster 
made  him  a  Latin  oration,  to  which  Dr.  Bartholomew 
Clerk  responded,  and  then  the  Earl  was  ushered  to  the 
grand  square,  upon  which,  in  his  honour,  a  magnificent 
living  picture  was  exhibited,  in  which  he  figured  as 
Moses  at  the  head  of  the  Israelites  smiting  the  I'hilis- 
tines  hip  and  thigh.*      After  much  mighty  banquetting 
in  Amsterdam,  as  in  the  other  cities,  the  governor- 
general  came  to  Utrecht.      Through  the  streets  of  this 
antique   and  most  picturesque   city  flows   the   pa1«ied 
current  of  the  Rhine,  and  every  barge  and  bridge  were 
decorated  with  the  flowers  of  spring.      Upon  this  spot, 
where,  eight  centuries  before,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Wille- 
brod  had  first  astonished  the  wild  Frisians  with  the 
pacific  doctrines  of  Jesus,  and  had  been  stoned  to  death 
as  his  reward,  stood  now  a  more  aiTogant  representative 
of  English  piety.     The  balconies  were  crowded  with 
fair  women,  and  decorated  with  scarves  and  banneis. 
From  the  Earl's  residence— the  ancient  palace  of  the 
Knights  of  Rhodes— to  the  cathedral,  the  way  was  lined 
with  a  double  row  of  burgher  guards,  wearing  red  roses 

»  North  to  Burghley.-i  May,15S6.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
2  •  Leyc.  Conresp.'  476  seq. 


1586. 


ST.  GEORGES  DAY  KEPT  AT  UTRECHT. 


15 


on  their  arms,  and  apparelled  in  the  splendid  uniforms 
for  which  the  >«'etherlander8  were  celebrated.  Trum- 
peters in  scarlet  and  silver,  barons,  knights,  and  gieat 
officei-s,  in  cloth  of  gold  and  silks  of  all  colours ;  the 
young  Earl  of  Essex,  whose  career  was  to  be  so  romantic, 
and  whose  fate  so  tragic  ;  those  two  ominous  personages, 
the  deposed  little  archbishop-elector  of  Cologne,  with 
his  melancholy  face,  and  the  unlucky  Don  Antonio, 
Pretender  of  Portugal,  for  whom,  dead  or  alive,  thirty 
thousand  crowns  and  a  dukedom  *  were  perpetually 
offered  by  Philip  II. ;  young  Maurice  of  Nassau,  the 
future  controller  of  European  destinies  ;  great  coun- 
sellors of  state,  gentlemen,  guardsmen,  and  portcullis- 
herald,  with  the  coat  of  aims  of  Elizabeth,  rode  in 
solemn  procession  along.  Then  great  Leicester  himself, 
**  most  princelike  in  the  robes  of  his  order,"  guarded  by 
a  troop  of  burghers,  and  by  his  own  fifty  halberd-men  in 
scarlet  cloaks  trimmed  with  white  and  purple  velvet, 
pranced  gorgeously  by.* 

The  ancient  cathedral,  built  on  the  spot  where  Saint 
Willebrod  had  once  ministered,  with  its  light,  tapering, 
brick  tower,  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  height,  its 
exquisitely  mullioned  windows,  and  its  elegantly  foliaged 
columns,  soon  received  the  glittering  throng.  Hence, 
after  due  religious  ceremonies,  and  an  English  sermon 
from  Master  Kncwstubs,  Leicester's  chaplain,  April, 
was  a  solemn  march  back  again  to  the  palace,  ^^**®- 
where  a  stupendous  banquet  was  already  laid  in  the 
great  hall.* 

On  the  dais  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  blazing 
with  plate  and  crystal,  stood  the  royal  chair,  with  the 
Queen's  plate  and  knife  and  fork  before  it,  exactly  as  if 
she  had  been  present,  while  Leicester's  trencher  and 
stool  were  set  respectfully  quite  at  the  edge  of  the  board. 
In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  post  of  honour  sat  Count 
Maurice,  the  Elector,  the  Pretender,  and  many  illus- 
trious English  personages,  with  the  fair  Agnes  Mansfeld, 
Princess  Chimay,  the  daughters  of  William  the  Silent, 
and  other  dames  of  high  degree. 

Before  the  covers  were  removed,  came  limping  up  to 
the  dais  grim-visaged  Martin  Schenk,  freshly  wounded, 

*  IVclaration  of  Don  Antonio,  in  Bor,       '  Holinshed,  iv.  658  teq.    Stowe,  71X 
ti.  769.  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  145.  •  ibid. 


M 


i 


V 


I  I 


16 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


"but  trmmphant,  from  the  sack  of  Werll,  and  black  John 
Norris.  scarcely  cured  of  the  spear-wounds  in  his  face 
and  breast  received  at  the  relief  of  Grave.  The  sword 
of  knighthood '  was  laid  upon  the  shoulder  of  each  hero, 
by  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  as  her  Majesty's  vicegerent ; 
and  then  the  ushers  marslialled  the  mighty  feast.  Meats 
in  the  shape  of  lions,  tigers,  dragons,  and  leopards, 
flanked  by  peacocks,  swans,  pheasants,  and  turkeys  *'  in 
their  natural  feathers  as  in  their  greatest  pride,"  disap- 
peared, course  after  course, — sonorous  metal  blowing 
meanwhile  the  most  triumphant  airs.  After  the  ban- 
quet came  dancing,  vaulting,  tumbling,  together  with 
the  "forces  of  Hercules,  which  gave  great  delight  to 
the  strangers,"  after  which  the  company  separated  until 
evensong. 

Then  again,  "great  was  the  feast,"  says  the  chro- 
nicler,— a  mighty  supper  following  hard  upon  the 
gigantic  dinner.  After  this  there  was  tilting  at  the 
barriers,  the  young  Earl  of  Essex  and  other  knights 
bearing  themselves  more  chivalrously  than  would  seem 
to  comport  with  so  much  eating  and  drinking.  Then, 
horrible  to  relate,  came  another  "most  sumptuous  ban- 
quet of  sugar-meats  for  the  men  at  arms  and  the  ladies," 
after  which,  it  being  now  midnight,  the  Lord  of  Leices- 
ter bade  the  whole  company  good  rest,  and  the  men  at 
arms  and  ladies  took  their  leave." 

But  while  all  this  chivalrous  banquetting  and  holiday- 
making  was  in  hand,  the  Prince  of  Parma  was  in  reality 
not  quite  so  much  "  appalled  "  by  the  relief  of  Grave 
as  his  antagonist  had  imagined.  The  Earl,  flushed 
with  the  success  of  Hohenlo,  already  believed  himself 
master  of  the  country,  and  assured  his  government  that, 
if  he  should  be  reasonably  well  supplied,  he  would  have 
Antwerp  back  again  and  Bruges  besides  "  before  mid 
June." » 


>  Bor,  it.  699,  700.  Stowe,  Holinshed, 
vbi  tup.  '  Leyc.  Cornsp.'  252,  253,  April 

2. 1586. 

"Shenks  is  a  worthy  fellow,"  said 
Leicester,  who  never  could  get  nearer 
than  this  to  the  name  of  the  terrible  par- 
tisan. He  also  mentioned  that  he  had 
given  the  worthy  fellow  a  chain,  as  from 
her  Majesty;   adding,  with  an  eye  to 


Elizabeth's  thria.  that  if  she  thought  he 
had  paid  too  much  fur  it,  he  would  cheer, 
fully  pay  the  balance  over  what  seemed 
the  right  sum  out  of  his  own  pocket. 
Leyc.  Corresp.'  227,  228. 
»  Stowe,  Holinshed,  Bor,  Hoofd.  ubi 
stqpra. 

-  aO  Anril 

1586. 


«•  Leyc.  Corresp.' 251,-^**"' 


1586.     PARMA  LESS  APPALLED  THAN  WAS  THOUGHT.        17 

Never,  said  he,  was  the  Prince  of  Parma  so  dejected 
nor  so  melancholy  since  he  came  into  these  countries, 
nor  so  far  out  of  courage."*  And  it  is  quite  true 
that  Alexander  had  reason  to  be  discouraged.  He  had 
but  eight  or  nine  thousand  men,  and  no  money  to  pay 
even  this  little  force.  The  soldiers  were  perishing 
daily,  and  nearly  all  the  survivors  were  described  by 
their  chief  as  sick  or  maimed.  The  famine  in  the  obe- 
dient Provinces  was  universal,  the  whole  population 
was  desperate  with  himger  ;  and  the  merchants,  fright- 
ened by  Drake's  successes,  and  appalled  by  the  ruin  all 
around  them,  drew  their  purse-strings  inexorably.*  "  I 
know  not  to  what  saint  to  devote  myself,"  said  Alex- 
ander.' He  had  been  compelled,  by  the  movement 
before  Grave,  to  withdraw  Haultepenne  from  the  pro- 
jected enterprise  against  Neusz,  and  he  was  quite  aware 
of  the  cheerful  view  which  Leicester  was  inclined  to 
take  of  their  relative  positions.  *'  The  English  think 
they  are  going  to  do  great  things,"  said  he,  *'  and  con- 
sider themselves  masters  of  the  field."  * 

Nevertheless,  on  the  11th  May,  the  dejected  melan- 
choly man  had  left  Brussels,  and  joined  his  little  army, 
consisting  of  three  thousand  Spaniards  and  five  thou- 
sand of  all  other  nations.*  His  veterans,  though  unpaid, 
ragged,  and  half-starved,  were  in  raptures  to  have  their 
idolised  commander  among  them  again,  and  nth  May, 
vowed  that  under  his  guidance  there  was  no-  ^''^^• 
thing  which  they  could  not  accomplish.  The  King's 
honour,  his  own,  that  of  the  army,  all  were  pledged  to 
take  the  city.  On  the  success  of  that  enterprise,  he  said, 
depended  all  his  past  conquests,  and  every  hope  for  the 
future.  Leicester  and  the  English,  whom  he  called  the 
head  and  body  of  the  rebel  forces,  were  equally  pledged 
to  relieve  the  place,  and  were  bent  upon  meeting  him 
in  the  field."  The  Earl  had  taken  some  forts  in  the 
Batavia — Betuwe,  or  "good  meadow,"  which  he  pro- 
nounced as  fertile  and  about  as  large  as  Herefordshire,^ 
— and  was  now  threatening  Nymegen,  a  city  which  had 


10  Hay' 


»  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  just  dted. 
'  "Cierran  la  bolsa."   Parma  to  Philip, 
9  May,  1686.   (Arch,  de  Simancaa  MS.) 

'  Same  to  same,  27  April,  16s6.  (Arch, 
de  Slmancas,  MS.) 

Letter  of  9  May,  MS. 
VOL.  n. 


*  Parma  to  Philip  II  27  May,  1586. 
CArch.  de  Sim.  MS.) 

«  Parma  to  Philip  II.,  27  May,  11  June, 
1586.    (Ibid.) 

'  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  27  May,  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


) 


18 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX 


1586. 


HE  BESIEGES  AND  REDUCES  GRAVE. 


19 


a 


been  gained  for  Philip  by  the  last  effort  of  Schenk,  on 
the  royalist  side.  He  was  now  observing  Alexander's 
demonstrations  against  Grave,  but,  after  the  recent  suc- 
cess in  victualling  that  place,  he  felt  a  just  confidence 
in  its  security. 

On  the  31st  May  the  trenches  were  commenced,  and 

on  the  5th  June  the  batteries  were  opened.     The  work 

3i8tMay.  went  rapidly  forward  when  Famese  was  in 

15S6.  lY^Q  field.  "  The  Prince  of  Parma  doth  batter  it 
like  a  prince," '  said  Lord  North,  admiring  the  enemy 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  an  honest  soldier.  On  the  6th 
of  June,  as  Alexander  rode  through  the  camp  to  recon- 
noitre, previous  to  an  attack,  a  well-directed  cannon- 
ball  canied  away  the  hinder  half  of  his  horse.*  The 
Prince  fell  to  the  ground,  and,  for  a  moment,  dismay 
was  in  the  Spanish  ranks.  At  the  next  instant,  though 
somewhat  bmised,  he  was  on  his  feet  again,  and,  having 
found  the  breach  sufficiently  promising,  he  determined 
on  the  assault. 

As  a  preliminary  measure,  he  wished  to  occupy  a 
tower  which  had  been  battered  nearly  to  ruins,  situate 
near  the  river.  Captain  de  Solis  was  ordered,  with 
sixty  veterans,  to  take  possession  of  this  tower,  and  to 
"  have  a  look  at  the  countenance  of  the  enemy,  without 
amusing  himself  with  anything  else."  *  The  tower  was 
soon  secured,  but  Solis,  in  disobedience  to  his  written 
instructions  *  led  his  men  against  the  ravelin,  which  was 
still  in  a  state  of  perfect  defence.  A  musket-ball  soon 
stretched  him  dead  beneath  the  wall,  and  his  followers, 
still  attempting  to  enter  the  impracticable  breach,  were 
repelled  by  a  shower  of  stones  and  blazing  pitch-hoops. 
Hot  sand,  too,  poured  from  sieves  and  baskets,  insinu- 
ated itself  within  the  armour  of  the  Spaniards,  and 
occasioned  such  exquisite  suffering,  that  many  threw 
themselves  into  the  river  to  allay  the  pain.  Emerging 
refreshed,  but  confused,  they  attempted  in  vain  to  renew 
the  onset.  Several  of  the  little  band  were  slain,  the 
assault  was  quite  unsuccessful,  and  the  trumpet  soimded 
a  recal.'    So  completely  discomfited  were  the  Spaniards 

1  North  to  Burghley,  29  May,  1586.  (S.    de  Simancas,  MS.) 

P.  OflSce  MS.)  «  Panna  to  Philip  II.,  MS.  Just  cited. 

2  Stowe,  718.    Strada,  ii.  416.  »  Strada,  11.  417.    Bor,  11.  707,  708. 
a  Parma  to  Philip,  1 1  Juoe,  1586.  (Arch. 


by  this  repulse,  and  so  thoroughly  at  their  ease  were  the 
besieged,  that  a  soldier  let  himself  down  from  the  ram- 
parts of  the  town  for  the  sake  of  plundering  the  body 
of  Captain  Solis,  who  was  richly  dressed,  and,  having 
accomplished  this  feat,  was  quietly  helped  back  again 
by  his  comrades  from  above.* 

To  the  surprise  of  the  besiegers,  however,  on  the 
very  next  morning  came  a  request  from  the  governor  of 
the  city.  Baron  Hemart,  to  negociate  for  a  surrender. 
Alexander  was,  naturally,  but  too  glad  to  grant  easy 
terms,  and  upon  the  7th  of  June  the  garrison  left  the 
town  with  colours  displayed  and  drums  beating,  and  the 
Prince  of  Parma  marched  into  it,  at  the  head  of  his 
troops.  He  found  a  year's  provision  there  for  six  thou- 
sand men,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  •^^alls  had 
suffered  so  little,  that  he  must  have  been  obliged  to 
wait  long  for  a  practicable  breach.' 

"  There  was  no  good  reason  even  for  women  to  have 
surrendered  the  place,"  exclaimed  Leicester,  when  he 
heard  the  news.*  And  the  Earl  had  cause  to  be  enraged 
at  such  a  result.  He  had  received  a  letter  only  the  day 
before,  signed  by  Hemart  himself  and  by  aU  the  officers 
in  Grave,  asserting  their  determination  and  ability  to 
hold  the  place  for  a  good  five  months,  or  for  an  indefinite 
period,  and  until  they  should  be  relieved.  And  indeed 
all  the  officers,  with  three  exceptions,  had  protested 
against  the  base  surrender.  But  at  the  bottom  of  the 
catastrophe — of  the  disastrous  loss  of  the  city  and  the 
utter  ruin  of  young  Hemart — was  a  woman.  The 
governor  was  governed  by  his  mistress,  a  lady  of  good 
family  in  the  place,  but  of  Spanish  inclinations,  and  she, 
for  some  mysterious  reasons,  had  j^ei-suaded  him  thus 
voluntarily  to  capitulate.* 


*  Brace's  •  Leyc.  Corresp,'  288. 

2  Strada,  11.  418.  Bor,  ii.  707,  708. 
Parma  to  Philip  II.  27  May,  11  June, 
1586.  (Arch,  de  Simancas.  MS.)  North  to 

Burghley.  ^^'^ 


le 


Office  MS.)  North  to  Bm^ley.  ^  June,. 

•6 


1586.    (Ibid). 

"  The  governor,  Hemart,"  said  Nort  b 
"  is  a  gentleman  of  Gelder,  of  great  kin- 

8  June'  ^^^*'  ^^'  ^'  ^^^  ^^'^    ^'"^'  ^*^°8'  "^^^  acquaintance.    There  be 

many  vehement  presimiptions  to  argue  a 
treacherous  practice  with  the  enemy.  The 
best  that  can  bo  made  of  It  was  most  vile 
cowardice,  mixed  with  such  negligence  as 
is  unspeakable.  In  the  time  of  that  siege 
he  spent  his  time  in  his  house,  followed 
with  his  harlot,  and  when  he  came  abroad, 
he  could  not  be  gotten  by  entreaty  qf 

c  2 


Leicester  to  the  Queen,  -  June,  1686. 
(Ibid.) 

'  Bruce's  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  288. 

<  Meteren,  xlil.  235.  Bruce's  '  Leyc 
Corresp.'  299-310.  Strada,  11. 418.  Leices- 
ter to  the  Queen,  ^  June,  1586.    (S.  P. 

10 


20 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


Pama  lost  no   time,  however,  in  exulting  over  liis 
success.    Upon  the  same  day  the  tow-ns  of  Megen  and 
Batenburg  surrendered  to  him,  and  immediately  after- 
wards siege  was  laid  to  Venlo,  a  town  of  importance, 
lyincr  thirty  miles  farther  up  the  Meuse.     The  wife  and 
family  of  Martin  Schenck  were  in  the  city,  together 
with  two  hundred  horses,  and  from  forty  to  one  hundred 
thousand  crowns  in  money,  plate,  and  furniture  belong- 
That  bold  partisan,  accompanied  by  the  mad  Welsh- 
man  Roger  Williams,  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  English  lances  and  thirty  of  Schenk's  men,  made 
a  wild  nocturnal  attempt  to  cut  their  way  through  the 
besieging  force,  and  penetrate  to  the  city.     They  passed 
throuc'h  the  enemy's  lines,  killed  all  the  corps-de-garde, 
and  many  Spanish  troopers— the  terrible  Martin's  own 
hand  being  most  effective  in  this  midnight  slaughter 
—and  reached  the  very  door  of  Parma's  tent,  where 
they  killed  his  secretary  and  many  of  his  guards.     It 
was  even  reported,  and  generally  believed,  that  Farnese 
himself  had  been  in  imminent  danger,  that  Schenk  hud 
fired   his  pistol  at  him  unsuccessfully,  and  had  then 
struck  him  on  the  head  with  its  butt-end,  and  that  the 
Prince  had  only  saved  his  life  by  leaping  from  his  horse, 
and  scrambling  thi'ough  a  ditch.*    But  these  seem  to 
have  been  fables.     The  alarm  at  last  became  general, 
the  dawn  of  a  summer's  day  was  fast  approaching,  the 
drums  beat  to   arms,   and   the  bold  marauders   were 
obliged  to  effect  their  retreat,  as  they  best  might,  hotly 
purs^ied  by  near  two   thousand   men.      Having   slain 
many  cf  the  Spanish  army,  and  lost  nearly  half  their 
own  number,  they  at  last  obtained  shelter  in  Wachten- 

doiik.* 
Soon  afterwards  the  place  capitulated,  without  waiting 


captains,  burf^cTS,  or  soldiers  to  do  any- 
thing for  the  defence  of  the  town,  bnt 
straightway  entered  Into  a  continence  of 
the  people,  wishing  rather  to  give  np  the 
town  than  suffer  the  blood  of  so  many 
Innocenta  to  be  spilt  Which  purpose  hi 
did  prosecute  with  speed,  and  sent  a  dram 
to  the  enemy  for  parley.  The  town  was 
impossible  to  be  assaulted."  &c.  kc 
I  North  to  Burghley.  ^^,  1588.  (S. 


P.  Office  MS.)    T.  Doyley  to  Burehley, 

^ii^',1686.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
«  July 

«  North  to  Burghley,  ^  June,  1586.  (S. 

P.  Office  MS.) 
»  Ibid.    Meteren,  xiii.  235.    Doyley  to 

Burghley,  ^tl^,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1586. 


AND  IS  MASTER  OF  THE  MEUSE. 


21 


for  a  battery,  upon  moderate  terms.     Schenk's  wife  was 
sent  away  courteously  with  her  family,  in  a  28th  June, 
coach  and  four,  and  with  as  much  "apparel"      i^'^^- 
as  might  be  carried  with  her.     His  property  was  confis- 
cated, for  "  no  fair  wars  could  be  made  v^dth  him.'"  ^ 

Thus,  within  a  few  weeks  after  taking  the  field,  the 
"dejected,  melancholy"  man,  who  was  so  "out  of 
coumge,"  and  the  soldiers  who  were  so  "  marvellously 
beginning  to  run  away" — according  to  the  Earl  of 
Leicester — had  swept  their  enemy  from  every  town  on 
the  Meuse.  That  river  was  now,  throughout  its  whole 
course,  in  the  power  of  the  Spaniards.  The  Province 
of  Brabant  became  thoroughly  guarded  again  by  its 
foss,  and  the  enemy's  road  was  opened  into  3ie  northern 
Provinces. 

Leicester,  meantime,  had  not  distinguished  himself. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  he  had  been  sadly  outgene- 
ralled.  ^  The  man  who  had  talked  of  following  the 
enemy  inch  by  inch,  and  who  had  pledged  himself  not 
only  to  protect  Grave,  and  any  other  place  that  might 
be  attacked,  but  even  to  recover  Antwerp  and  Bruges 
within  a  few  weeks,  had  wasted  the  time  in  very 
desultory  operations.  After  ihe  St.  George  feasting, 
Knewstub  sermons,  and  forces  of  Hercules,  were  all 
finished,  the  Earl  had  taken  the  field  with  five  thousand 
foot  and  fifteen  hundied  horse.  His  intention  was  to 
clear  the  Yssel,  by  getting  possession  of  Doesburg  and 
Zutphen,  but,  hearing  of  Parma's  demonstration  upon 
Grave,  he  abandoned  the  contemplated  siege  of  those 
cities,  and  came  to  Amheim.  He  then  crossed  the 
Khine  into  the  Isle  of  Batavia,  and  thence,  after  taking 
a  few  sconces  of  inferior  importance— while  Schenk, 
meanwhile,  was  building  on  the  Island  of  Gravenweert, 
at  the  bifurcation  of  the  Rhine  and  Waal,  the  sconce  so 
celebrated  a  century  later  as  "  Schenk's  Fort"  (Schen- 
kenschans)— he  was  preparing  to  pass  the  Waal  in  order 
to  attack  Farnese,  when  he  heard,  to  his  astonishment, 
of  the  surrender  of  Grave." 

He  could  therefore — to  his  chagrin — no  longer  save 

^  Doyley  to  Burghley,  uW  sup.    Lei-    II.  8  July,  1586.    (Arch.de  Simancas, 

cester  to  the  Queen,  ^•'""^  1586.  (S.  P,  ^^S.)    Compare  Strada.  U.  423.  Meteren. 

6  July '          •  \  •     •  vjii   235 

Office  MS.)     North  to  Burghley.   same  »  Meteren,  xiU.  BSSt* 
<wi€.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Parma  to  Philip 


22 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


tliat  important  city,  but  lie  could,  at  least,  cut  off  the 
head  of  the  culprit,  Leicester  was  in  Bommel  when  he 
heard  of  Baron  Hemart's  faint-heartedness  or  treachery, 
and  his  wrath  was  extravagant  in  proportion  to  the 
exultation  with  which  his  previous  success  had  inspired 
him.  He  breathed  nothing  but  revenge  against  the 
coward  and  the  traitor,  who  had  delivered  up  the  town  in 
"such  lewd  and  beastly  sort." * 

**  I  will  never  depart  hence,"  he  said,  "  till  by  the 
goodness  of  God  I  be  satisfied  someway  of  this  villain's 
treachery."  *  There  could  be  little  doubt  that  Hemart 
deserved  punishment.  There  could  be  as  little  that 
Leicester  would  mete  it  out  to  him  in  ample  measure. 
"  The  lewd  villain  who  gave  up  Grave,"  said  he,  *'  and 
the  captains  as  deep  in  fault  as  himself,  shall  all  suifer 
together."  • 

Hemart  came  boldly  to  meet  him.  "  The  honest  man 
came  to  me  at  Bommel,"  said  Leicester,  and  he  assured 
the  government  that  it  was  in  the  hope  of  persuadino" 
the  magistrates  of  that  and  other  towns  to  imitate  hS 
own  treachery.* 

But  the  magistrates  straightway  delivered  the  culprit 

.    to  the  governor-general,  who  immediately  placed  him 

26th  June.  Under  arrest.     A  court-martial  was  summoned, 

^5^5-  26th  of  June,  at  Utrecht,  consisting  of  Hohenlo, 
Essex,  and  other  distinguished  officers.  They  found 
that  the  conduct  of  the  prisoner  merited  death,  but  left 
it  to  the  Earl  to  decide  whether  various  extenuating 
circumstances  did  not  justify  a  pardon.*  Hohenlo  and 
Korris  exerted  themselves  to  procure  a  mitigation  of  the 
young  man's  sentence,  and  they  excited  thereby  the 
governor's  deep  indignation.  Norris,  according  to  Lei- 
cester, was  in  love  with  the  culprit's  aunt,  and  was 
therefore  especially  desirous  of  saving  his  life.'  More- 
over, much  use  was  made  of  the  discredit  which  had 
been  thrown  by  the  Queen  on  the  Earl's  authority,  and 
it  was  openly  maintained,  that,  being  no  longer  govemor- 


»  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  -  Jane.  1586.    ^^' 


\9 


(S.  P.  Office  Ma)                "  *  North  to  Burghley,  ^  June,  1586.  (S. 

2  Brace's  '  Leyc  Corresp.'  285.  P.  Office  MS.)  Hoofd  Vervolgh.  156. 

•Ibid.  287.  «  Brace's  'Leyc    Corresp.'  301,  310, 

«  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  MS.  before  313. 


1586.      LEICESTER'S  RAGE  AT  SURRENDER  OF  GRAVE.         23 

general,  he  had  no  authority  to  order  execution  upon  a 
Netherland  officer.^ 

The  favourable  circumstances  urged  in  the  case,  were, 
that  Hemart  was  a  young  man,  without  experience  in 
military  matters,  and  that  he  had  been  overcome  by 
the  supplications  and  outcries  of  the  women,  panic- 
struck  after  the  first  assault.  There  were  no  direct 
proofs  of  treachery,  or  even  of  personal  cowardice.  He 
begged  hard  for  a  pardon,  not  on  account  of  his  life,  but 
for  the  sake  of  his  reputation.  He  earnestly  implored 
permission  to  serve  under  the  Queen  of  England,  as  a 
private  soldier,  without  pay,  on  land  or  sea,  for  as  many 
years  as  she  should  specify,  and  to  be  selected  for  the 
most  dangerous  employments,  in  order  that,  before  he 
died,  he  might  wipe  out  the  disgrace,  which,  throuo-h 
his  fault,  in  an  hour  of  weakness,  had  come  upon  an 
ancient  and  honourable  house.*  Much  interest  was 
made  for  him — his  family  connections  being  powerful 
— and  a  general  impression  prevailing  that  he  had  erred 
through  folly  rather  than  deeper  guilt.  But  Leicester, 
beating  himself  upon  the  breast — as  he  was  wont  when 
excited — swore  that  there  should  be  no  pardon  for  such 
a  traitor.'  The  States  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  likewise, 
were  decidedly  in  favour  of  a  severe  example."* 

Hemart  was  accordingly  led  to  the  scaffold  on  the 
28th  June.  He  spoke  to  the  people  with  great 
calmness,  and,  in  two  languages,  French  and  28th  June, 
Flemish,  declared  that  he  was  guiltless  of  i^'*^- 
treachery,  but  that  the  terror  and  tears  of  the  women, 
in  an  hour  of  panic,  had  made  a  coward  of  him.*  He 
was  beheaded,  standing.  The  two  captains,  Du  Ban  and 
Koeboekum,  who  had  also  been  condemned,  suffered  with 
him."  A  third  captain,  likewise  convicted,  was,  "for 
very  just  cause,"  pardoned  by  Leicester.^  The  Earl 
persisted  in  believing  that  Hemart  had  surrendered  the 
city  as  part  of  a  deliberate  plan,  and  affirmed  that  in 
such  a  time,  when  men  had  come  to  think  no  more  of 
giving  up  a  town  than  of  abandoning  a  house,  it  was 

'  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  -  June,  1586.    ^^-  220.    Wagenaar,  vlil.  128. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  *"  *  ^^^  ^''^'^'  W'^enaar.  ubi  sup, 

»  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  166.   Meteren.xiil.  ,„ 

236vo.  '  Leicester  to  Burghley,  -  June,  1586. 

'  Hoofd.  u6i«up.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  •  Kesol.  HoU.,'  24  June,  1  July,  1586 


24 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


1586. 


HIS  REVENGE—PARMA  ON  THE  RHINE. 


25 


higlily  necessary  to  afford  an  example  to  traitors  and  satis- 
faction to  tlie  people/  And  the  people  were  thoroughly 
satisfied,  according  to  the  governor,  and  only  expressed 
their  regret  that  three  or  four  members  of  the  States- 
General  could  not  have  their  heads  cut  off  as  well,  being 
as  arrant  knaves  as  Hemart ;  "  and  so  I  think  they  be," 
added  Leicester.' 

Parma  having  thus  made  himself  master  of  the  Meuse, 
lost  no  time  in  making  a  demonstration  upon  the  parallel 
course  of  the  Rhine,  thirty  miles  farther  east.*  Schenk, 
Kloet,  and  other  partisans,  kept  that  portion  of  the 
archiepiscopate  and  of  Westphalia  in  a  state  of  perpe- 
tual commotion.*  Early  in  the  preceding  year,  Count  de 
Meurs  had,  by  a  fortunate  stratagem,  captured  the  town 
of  Neusz  for  the  deposed  elector,  and  Herman  Kloet,  a 
young  and  most  determined  Geldrian  soldier,  now  com- 
manded in  the  place.* 

The  Elector  Ernest  had  made  a  visit  in  disguise  to  the 
camp  of  Parma,  and  had  represented  the  necessity  of 
recovering  the  city.  It  had  become  the  stronghold .  of 
heretics,  rebels,  and  banditti.  The  Rhine  was  in  their 
hands,  and  with  it  the  perpetual  power  of  disturbing  the 
loyal  Netherlands.  It  was  as  much  the  interest  of  his 
Catholic  Majesty  as  that  of  the  Archbishop  that  Neusz 
should  be  restored  to  its  lawful  owner.  Parma  had  felt 
the  force  of  this  reasoning,  and  had  early  in  the  year 
sent  Haultepenne  to  invest  the  city.  He  had  been 
obliged  to  recal  that  commander  during  the  siege  of 
Grave.  The  place  being  reduced,  Alexander,  before  the 
grass  could  grow  beneath  his  feet,  advanced  to  the  Rhine 
in  person.  Early  in  July  he  appeared  before  the  walls 
of  Neusz  with  eight  thousand  foot  and  two  thousand 
horse.  The  garrison  under  Kloet  numbered  scarcely 
more  than  sixteen  hundred  effective  soldiers,"  all  Nether- 
landers  and  Germans,  none  being  English. 

The  city  is  twenty  miles  below  Cologne.  It  was  so 
well  fortified  that  a  century  before  it  had  stood  a  year's 
siege  from  the  famous  Charles  the  Bold,  who,  after  all, 

»  Brace's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.' 309  jcg.  '  Panna  to  Philip  II.  8  July,  1586. 

Office,  MSS.)  •  Strada,  &c.,  MS.  Just  cited. 


had  been  obliged  to  retire.  *  It  had  also  resisted  the 
strenuous  efforts  of  Charles  the  Fifth,*  and  it  was  now 
stronger  than  it  ever  had  been.  It  was  thoroughly  well 
provisioned,  so  that  it  was  safe  enough,  "  if  those  within 
it,"  said  Leicester,  *'  be  men."  *  The  Earl  expressed  the 
opinion,  however,  that  "  those  fellows  were  not  good  to 
defend  towns,  unless  the  besiegers  were  obliged  to  swim 
to  the  attack."  *  The  issue  was  to  show  whether  the 
sarcasm  were  just  or  not.  Meantime  the  town  was  con- 
sidered by  the  governor-general  to  be  secure,  **  unless 
towns  were  to  be  had  for  the  asking."  * 

Neusz  is  not  immediately  upon  the  Rhine,  but  that 
river,  which  sweeps  away  in  a  north-easterly  direction 
from  the  walls,  throws  out  an  arm  which  completely 
encircles  the  town.  A  part  of  the  place,  cut  into  an 
island  by  the  Erpt,  was  strengthened  by  two  redoubts. 
This  island  was  abandoned,  as  being  too  weak  to  hold, 
and  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of  it  immediately.* 
There  were  various  preliminary  and  sanguinary  sorties 
and  skirmishes,  during  which  the  Spaniards,  after  having 
been  once  driven  from  the  island,  again  occupied  that 
position.  Arcbishop  Ernest  came  into  the  camp,  and, 
before  proceeding  to  a  cannonade,  Parma  offered  to  the 
city  certain  terms  of  capitulation,  which  were  approved 
by  that  prelate.  Kloet  replied  to  this  proposal,  that  he 
was  wedded  to  the  town  and  to  his  honour,  which  were 
as  one.  These  he  was  incapable  of  sacrificing,  but  his 
life  he  was  ready  to  lay  down.^  There  was,  through 
some  misapprehension,  a  delay  in  reporting  this  answer 
to  Famese.  Meantime  that  general  became  impatient, 
and  advanced  to  the  battery  of  the  Italian  regiment. 
Pretending  to  be  a  plenipotentiary  from  the  commander- 
in-chief,  he  expostulated  in  a  loud  voice  at  the  slowness 
of  their  counsels.  Hardly  had  he  begun  to  speak,  when 
a  shower  of  balls  rattled  about  him.  His  own  soldiers 
were  temfied  at  his  danger,  and  a  cry  arose  in  the  town 
that  "  Holofemese  " — as  the  Flemings  and  Germans  were 
accustomed  to  nickname  Famese — was  dead.®    Strange 

1  Meteren.  xlii.  235'o.             2  ibji  Qff^f^  j^g  j 

^  Bruce's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  250.  6  Strada,  11.  430. 

<  Leicester  to  Burghley,  -  July,  1686.  ^  North  to  Burghley,  26  July  1586.  (S 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  P.  Office  MS.) 

»c       *.u^           8^            „  ^  *  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  179. 

»  Same  to  the  Queen,  ^  July.     ^  P  b".       • 


26 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


to  relate,  he  was  quite  unharmed,  and  walked  back  to 
his  tent  with  dignified  slowness  and  a  very  frowning 
face.  It  was  said  that  this  breach  of  truce  had  been 
begun  by  the  Spaniards,  who  had  fired  first,  and  had 
been  immediately  answered  by  the  town.  This  was 
hotly  denied,  and  Farma  sent  Colonel  Tassis  with  a  flag 
of  truce  to  the  commander,  to  rebuke  and  to  desire  an 
explanation  of  this  dishonourable  conduct.* 

The  answer  given,  or  imagined,  was  that  Commander 
Kloet  had  been  sound  asleep,  but  that  he  now  much 
regretted  this  untoward  accident.  The  explanation  was 
received  with  derision,  for  it  seemed  hardly  probable 
that  so  young  and  energetic  a  soldier  would  take  the 
opportunity  to  refresh  himself  with  slumber  at  a  moment 
when  a  treaty  for  the  capitulation  of  a  city  imder  his 
charge  was  under  discussion.  This  terminated  the  nego- 
tiation.* 

A  few  days  afterwards,  the  feast  of  St.  James  was 
celebrated  in  the  Spanish  camp,  with  bonfires  and  other 
demonstrations  of  hilarity.  The  townsmen  are  said  to 
have  desecrated  the  same  holiday  by  roasting  alive  in 
the  market-place  two  unfortunate  soldiers,  who  had  been 
captured  in  a  sortie  a  few  days  before  ;  besides  burning 
the  body  of  the  holy  Saint  Quirinus,  with  other  holy 
relics."  The  detestable  deed  was  to  be  most  horribly 
avenged. 

A  steady  cannonade  from  forty-five  great  guns  was 

kept  up  from  2  a.m.  of  July  1 5  imtil  the  dawn  of  the 

16th  July,  following  day ;  the  cannoneers  being  all  pro- 

1M6.  vided  with  milk  and  vinegar  to  cool  the  pieces.* 
At  daybreak  the  assault  was  ordered.  Eight  separate 
attacks  were  made  with  the  usual  impetuosity  of 
Spaniards,  and  were  steadily  repulsed.*  At  the  ninth, 
the  outer  wall  was  carried,  and  the  Spaniards  shouting 
"  Santiago,"  poured  over  it,  bearing  baick  all  resistance. 
An  Italian  Knight  of  the  Sepulchre,  Cesar  Guidiccioni 
by  name,  and  a  Spanish  ensign,  one  Alphonso  de  Mesa, 
with  his  colours  in  one  hand  and  a  ladder  in  the  other, 

1  Stradft,  ii.  433.    Hoofd,  «M  tup.  There  Is    no  authority  but   that  of 

2  Hoofd.    Strada,  ubi  n^    Meteren,    Faroese  for  the  statement  of  this  hor- 
xiii.  236  teq.  rible  crime,  bat  I  feel  It  my  duty  to 

»  Parma  to  Philip  TI.  4  Ang.   1586.    record  it. 
(Arch,    de    Slmaacas,   M&)     Compare       *  North  to  Burghley,  26  July,  1586.  (S. 
Strada,  IL  434.  P.  Office  MS.)       #  *   Ibid. 


1586. 


HE  BESIEGES  AND  ASSAULTS  NEUSZ. 


27 


each  claimed  the  honour  of  having  first  mounted  the 
breach.  Both  being  deemed  equally  worthy  of  reward, 
Parma,  after  the  city  had  been  won,  took  from  his  own 
cap  a  sprig  of  jewels  and  a  golden  wheat-ear  ornamented 
with  a  gem,  which  he  had  himself  worn  in  place  of  a 
plume,  and  thus  presented  each  with  a  brilliant  token  of 
his  regard.^  The  wall  was  then  strengthened  against 
the  inner  line  of  fortification,  and  all  night  lono-  a  des- 
perate conflict  was  maintained  in  the  dark  upon  the 
naiTow  space  between  the  two  barriers.  Before  day- 
light Kloet,  who  then,  as  always,  had  led  his  men  in  the 
most  desperate  adventures,  was  carried  into  the  town, 
wounded  in  five  places,  and  with  his  leg  almost  severed 
at  the  thigh.*  ♦*  'Tis  the  bravest  man,"  said  the  enthu- 
siastic Lord  North,  **  that  was  ever  heai-d  of  in  the 
world.""  *'  He  is  but  a  boy,"  said  Alexander  Famese, 
"  but  a  commander  of  extraordinaiy  capacity  and 
valour."  * 

Early  in  the  morning,  when  this  mishap  was  known, 
an  officer  was  sent  to  the  camp  of  the  besiegers  to  treat, 
llie  soldiers  received  him  with  furious  laughter,  and 
denied  him  access  to  the  general.  "  Commander  Kloet 
had  waked  from  his  nap  at  a  wrong  time,"  they  said, 
"and  the  Prince  of  Parma  was  now  sound  asleep,  in 
his  turn."  *  There  was  no  possibility  of  commencing  a 
negotiation.  The  Spaniards,  heated  by  the  conflict, 
maddened  by  opposition,  and  inspired  by  the  desire  to 
sack  a  wealthy  city,  overpowered  all  resistance.  "  My 
little  soldiers  were  not  to  be  restrained,"  *  said  Famese, 
and  so  compelling  a  reluctant  consent  on  the  part  of  the 
conimander-in -chief  to  an  assault,  the  Italian  and  Spanish 
legions  poured  into  the  town  at  two  opposite  gates, 
which  were  no  longer  strong  enough  to  withstand  the 
enemy.  The  two  streams  met  in  the  heart  of  the  place, 
and  swept  every  living  thing  in  their  path  out  of 
existence.  The  garrison  was  butchered  to  a  man,  and 
subsequently  many  of  the  inhabitants— men,  women, 
and  children — also,  although  the  women,  to  the  honour 
of  Alexander,  had  been  at  first  secured  from  harm  in 

»  Strada,  ii.  435.  »  Strada,  ii.  437. 

»  Ibid.  436.    North  to  Burghley,  MS.  «  Parma  to  PhlUp,  4  Aug.  1586.  (Aich. 

*  North  to  Burghley,  MS.  de  Slmancas,  MS.) 

*  Parma  to  Philip,  4  Aug.  1586.  MS. 


28 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  IX. 


some  of  the  cliiirches,  where  they  had  been  ordered  to 
take  refuge.  The  first  blast  of  indignation  was  against 
the  commandant  of  the  place.  Alexander,  who  had 
admired  his  courage,  was  not  unfavourably  disposed 
towards  him,  but  Archbishop  Ernest  vehemently  de- 
manded his  immediate  death,  as  a  personal  favour  to 
himself.^  As  the  churchman  was  nominally  sovereign 
of  the  city,  although  in  reality  a  beggarly  dependant  on 
Philip's  alms,  Farnese  felt  bound  to  comply.  The 
manner  in  which  it  was  at  first  supposed  that  the 
Bishop's  Christian  request  had  been  complied  with,  sent 
a  shudder  through  every  heart  in  the  Netherlands. 
"They  took  Kloet,  wounded  as  he  was,"  said  Lord 
North,  *'  and  first  stnmgled  him,  then  smeared  him  with 
pitch,  and  burnt  him  with  gunpowder ;  thus,  with  their 
holiness,  they  made  a  tragical  end  of  an  heroical  service. 
It  is  wondered  that  the  Prince  would  suffer  so  gieat  an 
outrage  to  be  done  to  so  noble  a  soldier,  who  did  but  his 
duty." " 

But  this  was  an  error.  A  Jesuit  priest  •  was  sent  to 
the  house  of  the  commandant,  for  a  humane  effort  wae 
thought  necessary  in  order  to  save  the  soul  of  the  man 
whose  life  was  forfeited  for  the  crime  of  defending  his 
city.  The  culprit  was  found  lying  in  bed.  His  wife, 
a  woman  of  remarkable  beauty,*  with  her  sister,  was  in 
attendance  upon  him.  The  spectacle  of  those  two  fair 
women,  nursing  a  wounded  soldier  fallen  upon  the 
field  of  honour,  might  have  softened  devils  with  sym- 
pathy.    But  the  Jesuit  was  closely  followed  by  a  band 


1  The  Jesuit  Strada,  H.  438,  Is  the 
anthority  for  the  Btatement,  founded  upon 
Alexander's  own  letters ;  more  of  which 
were  before  him  than  can  now  be  found 
in  any  single  collection  of  documents.  I 
have  noticed  very  few  of  the  Simancas 
letters  relating  to  Farnese  that  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  at  Strada's  disposal — 
although,  of  course,  he  only  gives  a  very 
brief  epitome  of  them  in  the  LAtin  lan- 
guage—while he  has  used  many  others  of 
which  there  are  no  copieii  at  Simancas. 


te  July 
a  Aug.' 


1586. 


»  North     to    Burghley, 

S.  P.  OfBce  MS.)  Leicester's  account  was 
still  more  horrible !—"  After  Kloet  was 
brought  to  the  market-place/'  he  wrote 


to  Walslnghara,  "  being  sore  wounded 
before,  they  laid  him  upon  a  table,  and 
bound  him,  and  anointed  him  with  tar 
all  over  his  body,  and  half-strangling 
him,  burnt  him  cruelly."   Brace's '  Leya 

Corresp.'  369,  ?^,  1586. 

*^  8  Aug. 

Other  English  letters  described  the 
fate  of  the  commandant  in  a  similar 
manner,  but  the  crime,  although  odious, 
was  not  quite  so  atrocious  as  it  was  at 
first  believed  to  be. 

'  "Ad  quem  lecto  Jacentem  misso 
Socletatls  Jesu  sacerdote,  ci^us  operft  in 
eo  saltern  mortis  articulo  &  secunda  se 
morte  prajriperat,"  &c.    Strada,  ii  438. 

<  Strada,  ii.  MS.  lastdted. 


1586.      HORRIBLE  FATE  OF  THE  GARRISON  AND  CITY.        29 

of  soldiers,  who,  notwithstanding  the  supplications  of 
the  women,  and  the  demand  of  Kloet  to  be  indulged 
with  a  soldier's  death,  tied  a  rope  round  the  comman- 
dant's neck,  dragged  him  from  his  bed,  and  hanged  him 
from  his  own  window.  The  Calvinist  clergyman, 
Fosserus  of  Oppenheim,  the  deacons  of  the  congregation, 
two  military  officers,  and — said  Parma — "forty  other 
rascals,"  were  murdered  in  the  same  way  at  the  same 
time.*  The  bodies  remained  at  the  window  till  they 
were  devoured  by  the  flames,  which  soon  consumed  the 
house.  For  a ,  vast  conflagration,  caused  none  knew 
whether  by  accident,  by  the  despair  of  the  inhabitants, 
by  the  previous  arrangements  of  the  commandant,  by 
the  latest-arrived  bands  of  the  besiegers  enraged  that 
the  Italians  and  Spaniards  had  been  beforehand  with 
them  in  the  spoils,  or — as  Farnese  more  naturally 
believed — by  the  special  agency  of  the  Almighty, 
oflfended  with  the  burning  of  Saint  Quirinus,*  now  came 
to  complete  the  horror  of  the  scene.  Three  quarters  Oi 
the  town  were  at  once  in  a  blaze.  The  churches,  where 
the  affrighted  women  had  been  cowering  during  the  sack 
and  slaughter,  were  soon  on  fire,  and  now,  amid  the 
crash  of  Mling  houses  and  the  uproar  of  the  drunken 
soldiery,  those  unhappy  victims  were  seen  flitting  along 
the  flaming  streets,  seeking  refuge  against  the  fury  of 
the  elements  in  the  more  horrible  cruelty  of  man.  The 
fire  lasted  all  day  and  night,  and  not  one  stone  would 
have  been  left  upon  another,  had  not  the  body  of  a 
second  saint,  saved  on  a  former  occasion  from  the  heretics 
by  the  piety  of  a  citizen,  been  fortunately  deposited  in 
his  house.  At  this  point  the  conflagration  was  stayed — 
for  the  flames  refused  to  consume  these  holy  relics* — 
but  almost  the  whole  of  the  town  was  destroyed,  while 
at  least  four  thousand  people,  citizens  and  soldiers,  had 
perished  by  sword  or  fire."  * 

Three  hundred  survivors  of  the  garrison  took  refuge 
in  a  tower.     Its  base  was  surrounded,  and,  after  brief 
parley,   they    descended    as    prisoners.      The  4th  August, 
Prince  and  Haultepenne  attempted  in  vain  to      ^^^** 

*  •*  Se  ahorcaron  con  el  comandante,  el  236.    Hoofd   Vervolgh,  119,  180.     Bor, 

fiiinistro,  los  cousistoriantes,  y  quaranta  ii.  738. 
otros  vellacos,"  &c.    Parma  to  l*hilip,  4       «  Strada,  U.  441,  442. 
Aug.  1586.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.)       »  Ibid.  440. 
Coofua  strada.  ii.  438.    Meteren,  xiii.       *  Ibid.  442. 


30 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


protect  them  against  the  fury  of  the  soldiers,  and  every 
man  of  them  was  instantly  put  to  death. ^ 

The  next  day,  Alexander  gave  orders  that  the  wife 
and  sister  of  the  commandant  should  be  protected — for 
they  had  escaped,  as  if  by  miracle,  from  all  the  horrors 
of  that  day  and  night— and  sent,  under  escort,  to  their 
friends.*  Neusz  had  nearly  ceased  to  exist,  for,  accord- 
ing to  contemporaneous  accounts,  but  eight  houses  had 
escaped  destruction.* 

And  the  reflection  was  most  painful  to  Leicester  and 
to  every  generous  Englishman  or  Netherlander  in  the 
countr}%  that  this  importiint  city  and  its  heroic  defenders 
might  have  been  preserved,  but  for  want  of  harmony 
and  want  of  money/  Twice  had  the  Earl  got  together 
a  force  of  four  thousand  men  for  the  relief  of  the  place, 
and  twice  had  he  been  obliged  to  disband  them  again 
for  the  lack  of  funds  to  set  them  in  the  field.  He  had 
pawned  his  plate  and  other  valuables,*  exhausted  his 
credit,  and  had  nothing  for  it  but  to  wait  for  the  Queen's 
tardy  remittances,  and  to  wrangle  with  the  States ;  .for 
the  leaders  of  that  body  were  unwilling  to  accord  large 
supplies  to  a  man  who  had  become  personally  suspected 
by  them,   and  was   the  representative   of  a    deeply- 


»  Strada,  ii.  439.  «  Ibid.  438. 

'  Bor,  ii,  738.      Stowe,  734.     Hoofd 

Vervolgh,  179,  180.    Metercn.    xllL  236 

seq.  Strada.  il.  436-442.  Parma  to  Philip 

II.  4  A\xg.  1686,    (Aich.  de  Simancai), 

MS.) 

86  Juir 
North  to  Burghley,  -r—  ,  1686.  Same 


to  same,  -  Aug. 


Burghley. 
July. 


29  July 


8  Aug 

B.  Gierke  to  same, 


'sAug. 

1686.     Leicester    to 
T.  Cecil  to  same,  — 

81 


24  Julf 


w. 


a  Aug.' 
Knollys  to  same,  —  Aug.    T.  Doyley  to 

BMne,  ^  Aug.    (S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 


shrew  he  knoweth  not"  He  was  much 
disgusted  with  the  perpetual  discord 
which  had  succeeded  the  brief  enthu- 
siasm upon  Leicester's  arrival.  The 
wrangling  between  Leicester  and  his 
officers,  and  between  them  all  and  the 
States,  offended  the  young  soldier  so 
much  that  he  was  anxious  to  leave  the 
Netherlands.  ♦'Bravely  was  Nuys  de- 
fended by  Kloet,  but  evil  relieved  by 
us,"  he  wrote  to  his  father.  "Our 
affairs  here  be  such  as  that  which  we 
conclude  overnight  is  broke  in  the 
monilng;  we  agree  not  one  with  an- 
other, but  we  are  divided  in  many  fac- 
tions, 80  as  if  the  enemy  were  as  strong 
as  we  are  factious  and  Irresolute,  I 
tliiiik  we  should  make  shipwreck  of 
the  cause  this  summer."    Sir  T.  Cecil 


il 


*  Sir  lliomas  Cecil,  eldest  son  of  the 
Lord  Treasurer,  was  then  governor  of  the 
cautionary  town  of  Brill.    It  had  been  j, 

proposed  to  him  to  change  this  govern-    ^  ^^^  Burghley,  -  July,  1686.     (S.  P 
ment  for  that  of  Harllngen  in  Frieslund,    Office  MS.) 
where  Lord  North  was    then  installed. 
But  Cecil  observed  that  he  was  "  resolved 
to  keep  the  Brill  still,  as  one  that  would    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
rather  keep  a  shrew  he  knoweth  than  a 


«  Leicester  to  Burghley,  -  Aug.  1586. 


1586.     WHICH  LEICESTER  WAS  UNABLE  TO  RELIEVE.         31 

suspected  government.  Meanwhile,  one-third  at  least 
of  the  money  which  really  found  its  way  from  time  to 
time  out  of  England,  was  filched  from  the  "  poor  starved 
wretches,"  as  Leicester  called  his  soldiers,  by  the 
dishonesty  of  Norris,  uncle  of  Sir  John  and  army-trea- 
surer. This  man  was  growing  so  rich  on  his  pecula- 
tions, on  his  commissions,  and  on  his  profits  from  paying 
the  troops  in  a  depreciated  coin,  that  Leicester  declared 
the  whole  revenue  of  his  own  landed  estates  in  England 
to  be  less  than  that  functionary's  annual  income.'  Thus 
it  was  difficult  to  say  whether  the  "  ragged  rogues  "  of 
Elizabeth  or  the  maimed  and  neglected  soldiers  of 
Philip  were  in  the  more  pitiable  plight. 

The  only  consolation  in  the  recent  reduction  of  Keusz 
was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Parma  had  only  gained 
a  position,  for  the  town  had  ceased  to  exist ;  and  in  the 
fiction  that  he  had  paid  for  his  triumph  by  the  loss  ot 
six  thousand  soldiers,  killed  and  wounded.*  In  realit}' 
not  more  than  five  hundred  of  Famese's  aimy  lost  their 
lives  ;*  and  although  the  town,  excepting  some  churches, 
had  certainly  been  destroyed,  yet  the  Prince  was  now 
master  of  the  Khine  as  far  as  Cologne,  and  of  the  Meuse 
as  far  as  Grave.  The  famine  which  pressed  so  sorely 
upon  him  might  now  be  relieved,  and  his  military  com- 
munications with  Germany  be  considered  secure. 

The  conqueror  now  turned  his  attention  to  Rheinberg, 
twenty-five  miles  farther  down  the  river.* 

Sir  Philip  Sidney  had  not  been  well  satisfied  by  the 
comparative  idleness  in  whicli,  from  these  various  cir- 
cumstances, he  had  been  compelled  to  remain.  Early 
in  the  spring  he  had  been  desirous  of  making  an  attack 
upon  Flanders  by  capturing  the  town  of  Steenberg.  The 
faithful  Roger  Williams  had  strongly  seconded  the  pro- 
posal. "  We  wish  to  show  your  Excellency,"  said  he  to 
Leicester,  "  that  we  are  not  sound  asleep."  *  The  Welsh- 

»  Brace's  *  Leyc.  Corresp.'  260, 264, 299, 
303. 

=*  Bruce,  'Leyc.  Corresp.'  363.  "He 
has  lost  3000  of  his  soldiers  and  as 
niany  hurt."  (!)  Leicester  to  Walsing- 
ham,  27  July,  1586.  "  Of  the  enemy  not 
less  than  3000  slain,"  said  North,  26 
July,  MS.  ubi  supra.  "The  town  is 
gone,  clean  burnt  to  the  ground,"  WTote  ^'^^^-  (J^^^  ^^^'  Galba,  C.  Ix.  p.  86, 
l^lcester  to  Burghley,  "  and  to  the  num-  ^S.) 
ber  of  40CO  dead  in  the  ditdtes  '    Jitter 


.   29  July    --„       .  . 

of   — - — ,  MS.  libi  supra. 

8  Aug.  ^ 

»  North  to  Burghley,  ^  Aug.  MS. 

*  Bor,  Hoofd,   Meteren,   Strada,    u6i 
supra.  * 

*  Williams    to    Leicester,     —    Feb. 


32 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


jaan  was  not  likely  to  be  accused  of  somnolence,  but  on 
this  occasion  Sidney  and  himself  had  been  overruled.  At 
a  later  moment,  and  during  the  siege  of  Neusz,  Sir 
Philip  had  the  satisfaction  of  making  a  successful  foray 
into  Flanders. 

The  expedition  had  been  planned  by  Prince  Maurice 
of  Nassau,  and  was  his  earliest  military  achievement. 
He  proposed  carrying  by  surprise  the  city  of  Axel,  a 
well-built,  strongly-fortified  town  on  the  south-westeni 
edge  of  the  great  Scheldt  estuary,  and  very  important 
from  its  position.  Its  acquisition  would  make  the  hold 
of  the  patriots  and  the  English  upon  Sluys  and  Ostend 
more  secure,  and  give  them  many  opportunities  of  annoy 
ing  the  enemy  in  Flanders. 

Early  in  July,  Maurice  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
communicating  the  particulars  of  his  scheme,  but  begging 
that  the  affair  might  be  "  very  secretly  handled,'*  and 
kept  from  every  one  but  Sidney.  Leicester  accordingly 
sent  his  nephew  to  Maurice,  that  they  might  consult 
together  upon  the  enterprise,  and  make  sure  *'  that  there 
was  no  ill  intent,  there  being  so  much  treachery  in  the 
world."  *  Sidney  found  no  treachery  in  young  Maurice, 
but  only  a  noble  and  intelligent  love  of  adventure,  and 
the  two  arranged  their  plans  in  harmony. 

Leicester,  then,  in  order  to  deceive  the  enemy,  came 
to  Bergen-op-Zoom,  with  five  hundred  men,  where  ho 
18, 17.  July,  remained  two  days,  not  sleeping  a  wink,  as  he 
1686.  averred,  during  the  whole  time.  In  the  night 
of  Tuesday,  16th  of  July,  the  five  hundred  English  sol- 
diers were  despatched  by  water,  under  charge  of  Lord 
Willoughby,  *'  who,"  said  the  Earl,  "  would  needs  go 
with  them."  Young  Hatton,  too,  son  of  Sir  Christopher, 
also  volunteered  on  the  service,  "  as  his  first  nursling."  * 
Sidney  had  five  hundred  of  his  own  Zeeland  regiment 
in  readiness,  and  the  rendezvous  was  upon  the  broad 
waters  of  the  Scheldt,  opposite  Flushing.*  The  plan 
was  neatly  carried  out,  and  the  united  flotilla,  in  a  dark, 
calm,  midsummer's  night,  rowed  across  the  smooth  es- 
tuary and  landed  at  Ter  Neuse.  about  a  league  from 

,  ,  .      ^       *     .1.      ,^_  8    T  1  '  "Before  Flushing,  upon  the  water. 

1  Leicester    to   the    Queen.  -  July.    ^^^  ^^  ^,gj^^  ^  j^^  ^^^^.,    ^.^^^ 

1586.    (S.  P.  C)fflce  MS.)  to  the  Queen,  MS.  before  cited. 

«  Bruoe's  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  338. 


1586.        AXEL  SURPRISED  BY  MAURICE  AND  SIDNEY.         33 

Axel.     Here  they  were  joined  by  Maurice  with  some 
^  etherland  companies,  and  the  united  troops,  between 
two  and  three  thousand  strong,  marched  at  once  to  the 
place  proposed.     Before  two  in  the  morning  they  had 
reached  Axel,  but  found  the  moat  veiy  deep.     Forty 
soldiers  immediately  plunged  in,  however,  carrying  their 
ladders  with  them,  swam  across,  scaled   the   rampart, 
killed  the  guard,  whom  they  found  asleep  in  their  beds 
and  opened  the  gates  for  their  comrades.     The  whole 
force  then  marched  in,  the  Dutch  companies  under  Co- 
lonel Pyron  being  first.  Lord  Willoughby's  men  being 
second,  and  SirThilip  with  his  Zeelanders  bringing  up 
the  rear.»     The  garrison,  between  five  and  six  hundred 
m  number,  though  surprised,  resisted  gallantlv,  and  were 
all  put  to  the  sword.     Of  the  invaders,  not  a'single  man 
lost  his  life.     Sidney  most  generously  rewarded  from 
his  own  purse  the  adventurous  soldiers  who  had  swum 
the  moat ;  and  it  was  to  his  care  and  intelligence  that 
the  success  of  Prince  Maurice's  scheme  was  generally 
attnbuted.     The   achievement  was   hailed  with  great 
satisfaction,  and  it  somewhat  raised  the  drooping  spirits 
of  the  patriots  after  their  severe  losses  at  Grave  and 
Venlo.     "  This  victory  hath  happened  in  good  time," 
wrote  Thomas  Cecil  to  his  father,  "  and  hath  made  us 
somewhat  to  lift  up  our  heads."  *    A  garrison  of  eight 
hundred,  under  Colonel  Pyron,  was  left  in  Axel,  and  the 
dykes  around  were  then  pierced.     Upwards  of  two  mil- 
lions' worth  of  property  in  grass,  cattle,  com,  was  thus 
immediately  destroyed '  in  the  territory  of  the  obedient 
.^  etherlands. 

Aft^r  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  surprise  Gravelines  * 
the  governor  of  which  place,  the  veteran  La  Motte,  was 
not  so  easily  taken  napping,  Sir  Philip,  having  gained 
much  reputation  by  this  conquest  of  Axel,  then  joined 


»  sir  T.  Cecil  to  Lo«l  Burghley.  - 
July,  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

Leicester,  however,  says,  "  My  nephew 
Sidney,  with  his  band,  would  needs  have 
the  first  entry,  as  the  messenger  told  me," 
(Utt^'r  to  the  Qu^n.  vbi  sup.);  but 
the  messenger  seems  to  have  been  mis- 
taken. 

*  Cecil  to  Burghley,  ubi  supra. 
VOL.    U. 


3  Leicester  to  Burghley,  ^±!!l,  isge. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  *'^"*' 

"  Your  Lordship  will  not  believe  how 
the  town  of  Axel  is  is  like  to  annoy  these 
parts.  There  Is  already  so  much  corn, 
cattle,  and  grass  destroyed,  as  Is  worth 
two  millions  of  florins." 

*  Moteren,  xlii.  236*". 


84 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


tlie  main  body  of  the  army,  under  Leicester,  at  Am- 
lieim.* 

Yet,  after  all,  Sir  Philip  had  not  grown  in  favour  with 
her  Majesty  during  his  service  in  the  Low  Countries. 
He  had  also  been  disappointed  in  the  government  of 
Zeeland,  to  which  post  his  uncle  had  destined  him.  The 
cause  of  Leicester's  ambition  had  been  frustrated  by  the 
policy  of  Bameveld  and  Buys,  in  pursuance  of  which 
Count  or  Prince  Maurice — as  he  was  now  purposely  de- 
signated, in  order  that  his  rank  might  surpass  that  of  the 
Earl  • — had  become  stadholder  and  captain-general  both 
of  Holland  and  Zeeland.  The  Earl  had  given  his 
nephew,  however,  the  colonelcy  of  the  Zeeland  regi- 
ment, vacant  by  the  death  of  Admiral  Haul  tain  on  the 
Kowenstyn  Dyke.  This  promotion  had  excited  much 
anger  among  the  high  officers  in  the  Netherlands,  who, 
at  the  instigation  of  Count  Hohenlo,  had  presented  a  re- 
monstrance upon  the  subject  to  the  governor-general. 
It  had  always  been  the  custom,  they  said,  with  the  late 
Prince  of  Orange,  to  confer  promotion  according  to  se- 
niority, without  regard  to  social  rank,  and  they  were 
therefore  unwilling  that  a  young  foreigner,  who  had 
just  entered  the  service,  should  thus  be  advanced  over 
the  heads  of  veterans  who  had  been  campaigning  there 
so  many  weary  years.'  At  the  same  time  the  gentlemen 
who  si^ed  thi  paper  protested  to  Sir  Philip,  in  another 
letter,  **  with  all  the  same  hands,"  that  they  had  no  per- 
sonal feeling  towards  him,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
they  wished  him  all  honour.* 

Young  Maurice  himself  had  always  manifested  the 
most  friendly  feelings  towards  Sidney,  although  influ- 
enced in  his  action  by  the  statesmen  who  were  already 


>  Letters  of  Leicester  and  of  Sir  T. 
Cecil  above  cited.  Compare  Meteren,  xitl. 
236.  Brooke's  Life  of  Sidney,  ii.  15. 
Hoofd  Vervolgh,  181,  182 ;  Bor,  ii.  738 ; 
Wagenaar,  vlil.  134,  Brace's  '  Leyc. 
Corresp.'  337,  338. 

•  His  elder  brother  Philip  William,  son 
of  William  the  Silent,  by  his  Brst  wife 
Anna  de  Buren,  was  IMnce  of  Orange,  but 
was  still  detained  captive  In  Spain.  The 
title  of  IMnce  was  given  by  courtesy  to 
Maurice,  on  the  ground  that  in  Germany 
All  the  sons  succeodfd  to  the  father's  title. 

As  the  principality  of  Orange  was  not 


in  Germany,  and  as  the  title  of  William 
In  that  country  was  only  that  of  Count, 
it  was  difBcult  to  see  any  claim  of  Mau* 
rice  to  be  entitled  Prince  so  long  as  his 
brother  was  alive.  Leicester  always 
considered  bis  assumption  of  this  su- 
perlor  ranlc  as  a  personal  affront  to 
himself. 

3  Sidney  to  Davison.  24  Feb.  15«6. 
(Brit.  Mus.  Gall^  C.  ix.  75,  MS.)  Com- 
pare letters  of  Hohenlo  In  Bt>r,  iii.  123 
teq.  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  156,  157.  Wage- 
naar,  viil.  129. 

♦  Sidney  to  Davison,  itbi  tupra. 


1586.       THE  ZEELAND  REGIMENT  GIVEN  TO  SIDNEY.  35  " 

organizing  a  powerful  opposition  to  Leicester.  "  Count 
Maunce  showed  himself  constantly  kind  in  the  matter 
of  the  regiment,"  said  Sir  Philip,  "  but  Mr.  Paul  Buss 
has  so  many  busses  in  his  head,  such  as  you  shall  find 
he  will  be  to  God  and  man  about  one  pitch.  Happy  is 
the  communication  of  them  that  join  in  the  fear  of  God."' 
Hohenlo,  too,  or  Hollock,  as  he  was  called  by  the 
French  and  English,  was  much  governed  by  Buys  and 
Olden-Bameveld.  Reckless  and  daring,  but  loose  of 
life  and  uncertain  of  purpose,  he  was  most  dangerous 
unless  under  safe  guidance.  Roger  Williams— who 
vowed  that  but  for  the  love  he  bore  to  Sidney  and 
Leicester,  he  would  not  remain  ten  days  in  the  Nether- 
lands—was much  disgusted  by  Hohenlo's  conduct  in 
regard  to  the  Zeeland  regiment.  "Tis  a  mutinous 
request  of  Hollock,"  said  he,  "  that  strangers  should  not 
command  Netherlanders.  He  and  his  Alemaynes  are 
farther  bom  from  Zeeland  than  Sir  Philip  is.  Either 
you  must  make  Hollock  assured  to  you,  or  you  must 
disgrace  him.  If  he  will  not  be  yours,  I  will  show  you 
means  to  disinherit  him  of  all  his  commands  at  small 
danger.  What  service  doth  he,  Count  Solms,  Count 
Overstein,  with  their  Alemaynes,  but  spend  treasure 
and  consume  great  contributions  ?  "  * 

It  was  very  natural  that  the  chivalrous  Sidney,  who 
had  come  to  the  Netherlands  to  win  glory  in  the  field, 
should  be  desirous  of  posts  that  would  bring  danger  and 
distinction  with  them.  He  was  not  there  merely  that 
he  might  govern  Flushing,  important  as  it  was,  particu- 
larly as  the  garrison  was,  according  to  his  statement, 
about  as  able  to  maintain  the  town,  "  as  the  Tower  was 
to  answer  for  London."  He  disapproved  of  his  wife's 
mchnation  to  join  him  in  Holland,  for  he  was  likely— 
so  he  wrote  to  her  father,  Walsingham— "  to  run  such  a 
course  as  would  not  be  fit  for  any  of  the  feminine 
gender."  »  He  had  been,  however,  grieved  to  ihe  heart, 
by  the  spectacle  which  was  perpetually  exhibited  of  the 
Queen's  parsimony,  and  of  the  consequent  suffering  of 
the  soldiers.  Twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  Englishmen 
were  serving  in  the  Netheriands— more  than  two-thirds 

»  Sidney  to  Davison,  ubi  supra.  1586.     (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  C.  ix.  85,  MS.) 

•  II.  Williams   to   Leicester,  -  Feb        '  Letters  in  Gray's  Life  of  Sydaey, 

V         '    291, 

D  2 


36 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Ciup.  IX* 


of  them  in  her  Majesty's  immediate  emplojTnent.  No 
troops  had  ever  fought  better,  or  more  honourably 
maintained  the  ancient  glory  of  England.  But  rarely 
had  more  ragged  and  wretched  warriors  been  seen  than 
they,  after  a  few  months*  campaigning. 

The  Irish  Kernes — some  fifteen  hundred  of  whom 
were  among  the  auxiliaries — were  better  off,  for  they 
habitually  dispensed  with  clothing ;  an  apron  from  waist 
to  knee  being  the  only  protection  of  these  wild  Kelts, 
who  fought  with  the  valour,  and  nearly  in  the  costume 
of  Homeric  heroes.  Fearing  nothing,  needing  nothing, 
sparing  nothing,  they  stalked  about  the  fens  of  Zeeland 
upon  their  long  stilts,  or  leaped  across  running  rivers, 
scaling  ramparts,  robbing  the  highways,  burning, 
butchering,  and  maltreating  the  villages  and  their 
inhabitants,  with  as  little  regard  for  the  laws  of 
Christian  warfare  as  for  those  of  civilized  costume.* 

Other  soldiers,  more  sophisticated  as  to  apparel,  were 
less  at  their  ease.  The  generous  Sidney  spent  all  his 
means,  and  loaded  himself  with  debt,  in  order  to  relieve 
the  necessities  of  the  poor  soldiers.  He  protested  that 
if  the  Queen  would  not  pay  her  troops,  she  would  lose 
her  troops,  but  that  no  living  man  should  say  the  fault 
was  in  him.  "  \V  hat  relief  I  can  do  them  I  will,"  he 
wrote  to  his  father-in-law ;  "I  will  spare  no  danger,  if 
occasion  serves.  I  am  sure  that  no  creature  shall  lay 
injustice  to  my  charge."  * 

Very  soon  it  was  discovered  that  the  starving  troops 
had  to  contend  not  only  with  the  Queen's  niggardliness 
but  with  the  dishonesty  of  her  agents.  Treasurer 
Norris  was  constantly  accused  by  Leicester  and  Sidney 
of  gross  peculation.  Five  per  cent.,  according  to  Sir 
Philip,  was  lost  to  the  Zeeland  soldiers  in  every  pay- 
ment, "and  God  knows,"  he  said,  "they  want  no  such 
hindrance,  being  scarce  able  to  keep  life  with  their 
entire  pay.  Tnily  it  is  but  poor  increase  to  her  Majesty, 
considering  what  loss  it  is  to  the  miserable  soldier." 
Discipline  and  endurance  were  sure  to  be  sacrificed,  ic 
the  end,  to  such  short-sighted  economy.  "  When 
soldiers,"  said  Sidney,  "  gi'ow  to  despair,' and  give  up 


*  Reyd,  v.  101.    Hoofd  Vervolgh.  220.    Strada,  ii.  446 
2  Letters,  lu  Gray,  200. 


1586. 


LEICESTER  TAKES  THE  FIELD. 


37 


towns,  then  it  is  too  late  to  buy  with  hundred  thousands 
what  might  have  been  saved  with  a  trifle."  * 

This  plain  dealing,  on  the  part  of  Sidney,  was  any- 
thing but  agreeable  to  the  Queen,  who  was  far  from 
feeling  regret  that  his  high-soaring  expectations  had 
been  somewhat  blighted  in  the  Provinces.  He  often 
expressed  his  mortification  that  her  Majesty  was  dis- 
posed to  interpret  everything  to  his  disadvantage.  "  I 
understand,"  said  he,  "  that  I  am  called  ambitious  and 
very  proud  at  home,  but  certainly,  if  they  knew  my 
heart,  they  would  not  altogether  so  judge  me."  *  Eliza- 
beth had  taken  part  with  Hoheulo  against  Sir  Philip  in 
the  matter  of  the  Zeeland  regiment,  and  in  this  perhaps 
she  was  not  entirely  to  be  blamed.  But  she  inveighed 
needlessly  against  his  ambitious  seeking  of  the  office, 
and— as  Walsingham  observed — "she  was  very  apt, 
upon  every  light  occasion,  to  find  fault  with  him."  *  It 
is  probable  that  his  complaints  against  the  army- 
treasurer,  and  his  manful  defence  of  the  "  miserable 
soldiers,"  more  than  counterbalanced,  in  the  Queen's 
estimation,  his  chivalry  in  the  field. 

Nevei-theless  he  had  now  the  satisfaction  of  having 
gained  an  important  city  in  Flanders ;  and  on  subse- 
quently joining  the  army  under  his  uncle,  he  indulged 
the  hope  of  earning  still  greater  distinction. 

Martin  Schenk  had  meanwhile  been  successfully 
defending  Rheinberg,  for  several  weeks,  against  Parma's 
forces.  It  was  necessary,  however,  that  Leicester,  not- 
withstanding the  impoverished  condition  of  his  troops, 
should  make  some  diversion,  while  his  formidable 
antagonist  was  thus  carrying  all  before  him. 

He  assembled,  accordingly,  in  the  month  of  August, 
all  the  troops  that  could  be  brought  into  the  field,  and 
reviewed  them,  with  much  ceremony,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Amheim.  His  army  barely  numbered  seven 
thousand  foot  and  two  thousand  horse,*  but  he  gave  out, 
very  extensively,  that  he  had  fourteen  thousand  under 
his  command,*  and  he  was  moreover  expecting  a  force 


»  Letters,  in  Gray,  214,  321. 
«  Ibid.  290.    Bruce's  '  Leyc  Correqj 
345. 
»  Letters,  In  Gray,  &c,  just  cited. 


to  Burghley,  6  Sept  1586.    (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

*  Ibid.     Compare  Strada,  who  states 
the  number  of  Leicester's  forces  at  13,000 


<  Leicester    to    the   Queen,    11    Oct.    foot  and  2000  horse,  besides  relnforce- 
1586.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.)     Huddleston    ments  of  1000  English  and  Scotch  who 


38 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  UL 


I 


I 


of  three  thousand  reiters,  and  as  many  pikemen  recently 
levied  in  Germany.  Lord  Essex  was  general  of  the 
cavalry,  Sir  William  Pelham  ' — a  distinguished  soldier, 
who  had  recently  arrived  out  of  England,  after  the  most 
urgent  solicitations  to  the  Queen,  for  that  end,  by 
Leicester — was  lord-marshal  of  the  camp,  and  Sir  John 
Norris  was  colonel-general  of  the  infantry. 

After  the  parade,  two  sermons  were  preached  upon 
the  hill-side  to  the  soldiers,  and  then  there  was  a  council 
of  war.  It  was  decided — notwithstanding  the  Earl's 
announcement  of  his  intentions  to  attack  Parma  in  per- 
son— that  the  condition  of  the  army  did  not  warrant 
such  an  enterprise.  It  was  thought  better  to  lay  siege 
to  Zutphen.  This  step,  if  successful,  would  place  in 
the  power  of  the  republic  and  her  ally  a  city  of  great 
importance  and  strength.     In  every  event  the  attempt 


were  shortly  expected.     Bor,    IL    TS8. 
WAgeuiar.  tIU.  135. 

*  Sir  William  Pelham  had  been  out  of 
favour  with  the  Queen  for  many  months. 
He  had  been  held  responsible  for  some 
abnses  in  the  Ordnance  Office,  and  a  heavy 
claim  made  ixpoa  him  by  the  crown  had 
reduced  him  to  Insolvency.  The  Queen 
was  excessively  indignant  at  his  conduct, 
•od  refused  for  a  long  time  to  allow  him 
to  accept  the  responsible  post  under  Lei- 
cester which  the  Earl  was  anxioiB  to 
confer  np<m  him.  Ldoestmr,  who  was  the 
mo6t  generous  of  nen,  sent  him  large 
sums  of  money  to  extricate  him  fh>m  his 
dlflRcultles,  bat  it  was  many  months  be- 
fore the  Quem  relented.  The  Earl  had  an 
exalted  opinion  of  Pelham's  military  ca- 
pacity, knew  him  to  be  one  of  his  own 
most  devoted  adherents,  and  earnestly 
desired  his  suppcni  to  keep  down  the 
hostility  and  insubordination  of  Sir  John 
Norris  and  his  brothers.  "  I  begin  to  be 
prettily  accompanied  now  with  men,"  he 
wrote  to  the  Queen,  "  only  lacking  gover- 
nors and  leaders,  especially  a  marshal.  I 
must  still  saj  to  your  Mijesty  it  had  been 
better  to  have  wanted  the  nse  of  20,000 
than  the  service  of  Sir  W.  Pelham  here 
tills  long,  it  is.  not  only  an  insufferable 
want  to  all  our  people,  but  the  enemy 
hath  bragged  of  It.  I  do  assure  your 
Mi^esty,  by  the  allegiance  I  owe  you,  I 
know  the  Prince  of  Parma  hath  spoken  it 
some  months  past,  that  he  was  sure  nei- 
ther Peliuun  Qor  the  Lord  Gray  ihoold 


come,  nor  that  any  more  men  by  your 
licence  or  mutter  Aotdd  pau,  which  falls 
out  somerchat  to  be  true,  to  our  discomfort. 
But  if  either  Pelham  or  Lord  Gray,  or  ra- 
ther both,  may  come,  I  trust  your  MiO^s^J 
shall  reap  the  greatest  honour  and  good  by 
it ;  but  first  Sir  William,  for  he  is  readiest. 
For  God't  take  and  your  honour't  sake, 
let  him  come.  We  have  now  some  num- 
bers increased,  but  no  man  fit  for  such  a 
government  as  Sir  W.  Pelham  is.  I  be- 
seech your  MtOesty  trust  me,  and  bdiete 
me  there  is  not  one,  no,  not  one  for  it, 
whatsoever  you  have  heard  or  may  hear, 
or  of  whomsoever,  that  I  know  to  be  em- 
ployed at  this  time  here.  1  find  it,  I  feel 
it,  to  my  great  hindrance  and  no  lean 
danger  every  day.  I  know  here  be  wor- 
thy and  very  valiant  gentlemen,  but  for 
so  great  a  charge,  believe  me,  there  is  not 
one  yet  here  for  it.  I  am  loath  to 
hinder  any  man.  It  hath  not  been  my 
custom  to  your  Majesty.  I  beseech  you 
that  all  men  may  have  their  deserts,  and 
your  poor  army  here  comforted.  Let  all 
the  haste  possible  be  used  with  Sir  W. 
Pelham,  on  whose  coming  with  that 
worthy  gentleman  Sir  W.  Stanley,  I  trust 
your  MiOeBty  shall  hear  well  of  us,"  &c 
&C.  It  was  natural  that  Sir  John  Norris 
should  be  taidignant  a^  being  supplanted 
by  Pelham,  and  their  mutual  rivalry  did 
Infinite  mischief.  Leicester  to  the  Queen, 

2  June,    1S86.        (S.    P.   Office    MS.) 

OonqMure  •  LeycCorresp.'  37. 45, 55. 125. 


1586. 


HE  REDUCES  DOESBURG. 


39 


would  probably  compel  Famese  to  raise  the  siege  of 

Berg. 

Leicester,  accordingly,  with  "  his  brave  troop  of  able 
and  likely  men  "»— five  thousand  of  the  infantry  being 
English*— advanced  as  far  as  Doesburg.      This   city, 
seated  at  the  confluence  of  the  ancient  canal  of  Drusus 
and  the  Yssel,  five  miles  above  Zutphen,  it  was  necessary, 
as  a  preliminary  measure,  to  secure.     It  was  30th  Aug. 
not  a  very  strong  place,  being  rather  slightly  oth  Sept. 
walled  with  brick,  and  with  a  foss  drawing 
not  more  than  three  feet  of  water.'   By  the  30th  August 
it  had  been  completely  invested. 

On  the  same  night,  at  ten  o'clock.  Sir  William  Pelham 
came  to  the  Earl  to  tell  him  **  what  beastly  pioneers  the 
Dutehmen  were."  Leicester  accordingly  determined, 
notwithstanding  the  lord-marshal's  entreaties,  to  proceed 
to  the  trenches  in  person.  There  being  but  faint  light, 
the  two  lost  their  way,  and  soon  found  themselves  nearly 
at  the  gate  of  the  town.  Here,  while  groping  about  in 
the  dark,  and  trying  to  effect  their  retreat,  they  were 
saluted  with  a  shot,  which  struck  Sir  William  in  the 
stomach.  For  an  instant,  thinking  himself  mortaUy  in- 
jured, he  expressed  his  satisfaction  that  he  had  been 
between  the  commander-in-chief  and  the  blow,  and  made 
other  "  comfortable  and  resolute  speeches."  Very  for- 
tunately, however,  it  proved  that  the  marshal  was  not 
seriously  hurt,  and,  after  a  few  days,  he  was  about  his 
work  as  usual,  although  obliged— as  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
expressed  it—"  to  carry  a  bullet  in  his  belly  as  long  as: 

he  should  live."  * 

Roger  Williams  too,  that  valiant  adventurer— **  but  no 
more  valiant  than  wise,  and  worth  his  weight  in  gold," 
according  to  the  appreciative  Leicester— was  shot  through 
the  arm.  For  the  dare-devil  Welshman,  much  to  the 
Earl's  regret,  persisted  in  running  up  and  down  the 
trenches  **  with  a  great  plume  of  feathers  in  his  gilt 
morion,"  and  in  otherwise  making  a  very  conspicuous 
mark  of  himself  "  within  point-blank  of  a  caliver.    * 

Notwithstanding  these  mishaps,  however,  the  siege 
went  successfully  forward.  Upon  the  2nd  September 
the  Earl  began  to  batter,  and  after  a  brisk  cannonade. 


I  Hoddleston  to  Burghley,  MS.  before  cited. 
*  Bmoe's  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  401,  407. 


«  Ibid. 


•  mi. 


, 


»  Ibid. 


40 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX 


1586. 


HE  LAYS  SIEGE  TO  ZUTPHEN. 


41 


from  dawn   till  two  in  the  afternoon,   he  had   consi- 

Fri(iay.     dcrablv  damaged  the  wall  in  two  places.     One 

^  Sept.    of  the  breaches  was  eighty  feet  wide,  the  other 

1586.      half  as  large,  but  the  besieged  had  stuffed  them 

full  of  beds,  tubs,  logs  of  wood,  boards,  and  **  such  like 

trash,"  by  means  whereof  the  ascent  was  not  so  easy  as 

it  seemed.*     The  soldiers  were  excessively  eager  for  the 

assault.     Sir  John  N orris  came  to  Leicester  to  receive 

his  orders  as  to  the  command  of  the  attacking  party. 

The  Earl  referred  the  matter  to  him.     "There  is  no 

man,"  answered  Sir  John,  **  fitter  for  that  purpose  than 

myself;  for  I  am  colonel-general  of  the  infantry."  * 

But  Leicester,  not  willing  to  indulge  so  unreasonable 
a  proposal,  replied  that  he  would  reserve  him  for  service 
of  less  hazard  and  greater  importance.  Norris  being,  as 
usual,  **  satis  prodigus  magnae  animae,"*  was  out  of 
humour  at  the  refusal,  and  ascribed  it  to  the  Earl's  per- 
sistent hostility  to  him  and  his  family.  It  was  then 
arranged  that  the  assault  upon  the  principal  breach 
should  be  led  by  younger  officers,  to  be  supported  by 
Sir  John  and  other  veterans.  The  other  breach  was 
assigned  to  the  Dutch  and  Scotch — black  Norris  scowling 
at  them  the  while  with  jealous  eyes ;  fearing  that  they 
might  get  the  start  of  the  English  party,  and  be  first  to 
enter  the  town.*  A  party  of  noble  volunteers  clustered 
about  Sir  John — Lord  Bui^h,  Sir  Thomas  Cecil,  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  and  his  brother  Robert  among  the  rest — 
most  impatient  for  the  signal.  The  race  was  obviously 
to  be  a  sharp  one.  The  governor-general  forbade  these 
violent  demonstrations,  but  Lord  Burgh,  **  in  a  most 
vehement  passion,  waived  the  countermand,"'  and  his 
insubordination  was  very  generally  imitated.  Before 
the  signal  was  given,  however,  Leicester  sent  a  trumpet 
-Se  L1586  ^  summon  the  town  to  surrender,  and  could 
"  '  with  difficulty  restrain  his  soldiers   till  the 

answer  should  bo  returned.  To  the  universal  disappoint- 
ment, the  garrison  agreed  to  surrender.  Norris  himself 
then  stepped  forward  to  the  breach,  and  cried  aloud  the 
terms,  lest  the  returning  herald,  who  had.  been  sent 
back  by  Leicester,  should  offer  too  favourable  a  capitu- 


lation.* It  was  arranged  that  the  soldiers  should  retire 
without  arms,  with  white  wands  in  their  hands — the 
officers  remaining  prisoners — and  that  the  burghers,  their 
lives,  and  property,  should  be  at  Leicester's  disposal.* 
The  Earl  gave  most  peremptory  orders  that  persons  and 
goods  should  be  respected,  but  his  commands  were  dis- 
obeyed. Sir  William  Stanley's  men  committed  frightful 
disorders,  and  thoroughly  rifled  the  town." 

"  And  because,"  said  Norris,  "  I  found  fault  herewith, 
Sir  William  began  to  quarrel  with  me,  hath  braved  me 
extremely,  refuseth  to  take  any  direction  from  me,  and 
although  I  have  sought  for  redress,  yet  it  is  proceeded 
in  so  coldly,  that  he  taketh  encouragement  rather  to  in- 
crease the  quarrel  than  to  leave  it."  * 

Notwithstanding  therefore  the  decree  of  Leicester, 
the  expostulations  and  anger  of  Norris,  and  the  energetic 
efforts  of  Lord  Essex  and  other  generals,  who  went 
about  smiting  the  marauders  on  the  head,  the  soldiers 
sacked  the  city,  and  committed  various  disorders,  in 
spite  of  the  capitulation.* 

Doesburg  having  been  thus  reduced,  the  Earl  now 
proceeded  toward  the  more  important  city  which  he  had 
determined  to  besiege.  Zutphen,  or  South-Fen,  an 
antique  town  of  wealth  and  elegance,  was  the  capital  of 
the  old  Landgraves  of  Zutphen.  It  is  situate  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Yssel,  that  branch  of  the  Rhine  which 
flows  between  Gelderland  and  Overyssel  into  the  Zuyder 
Zee. 

The  ancient  river,  broad,  deep,  and  languid,  glides 
through  a  plain  of  almost  boundless  extent,  till  it  loses 
itself  in  the  flat  and  misty  horizon.  On  the  other  side 
of  the  stream,  in  the  district  called  the  Veluwe,*  or  bad 


I  Huddleston  to  Barghley,-  Sept.  IS86. 
S.  r.  Office  MS.) 


«  MS.  last  cited. 

*  Ibid. 

•  ibid. 


»  Ibid. 


1  "Lest  the  trumpet  should  offer  too 
largely,  I  stepped  to  the  breach  myself 
and  proposed  the  conditions,"  &c.     Sir 

John  Norris  to  Mr.  Wilkes,  -  Sept  1586. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  Leicester  to   the   Privy  Council,  — 

S-pt.  1586.    Sir  J.  Norris  to  Wilkes,  ubi 
tup.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
»  Norris  to  Wilkes.  MS. 

*  Hnddleston  to  Burghley,  3  Sept. 
1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Leicester  to 
Privy  Council,  6  Sept.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.)    Sir  John  Norris  to  Wilkes,  6  Sept. 


1588.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Compare  Hoofd 
Vervolgh,  184.  Bor,  ii.  750.  Stowe, 
736.    Bruce's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  406,  407. 

The  town  was  "  rifled,"  but  It  was  •*  but 
poor,  with  nothing  to  answer  the  need 
and  greediness  of  the  soldiers,"  said  Hud- 
dleston, adding  that,  "  divers  disorders 
were  committed,  as  In  such  cases  It  hap- 
peneth,  though  (God  be  thanked)  none 
specially  notorious." 

*  Veluwe,  '  bad  meadow,'  In  opposition 
to  Betuwe  (Batavia),  *good  meadow.' 
Bet  Is  the  positive,  now  obsolete  In  Ger- 
man, Dutch,  and  English,  of  the  compa- 
rative, better. 


i< 


I 


42 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


158G. 


WHICH  PARMA  PREPARES  TO  PJILIEVE. 


43 


meadow,  were  three  sconces,  one  of  them  of  remarkable 
strength.  An  island  between  the  city  and  the  shore  was 
likewise  well  fortified.  On  the  landward  side  the  town 
was  protected  by  a  wall  and  moat  sufficiently  strong  in 
those  infant  days  of  artillery.  Near  the  hospital-gate, 
on  the  east,  was  an  external  fortress  guarding  the  road 
to  Wamsfeld.  This  was  a  small  village,  with  a  solitary 
slender  church-spire,  shooting  up  above  a  cluster  of 
neat  one-storied  houses.  It  was  about  an  English  mile 
from  Zutphen,  in  the  midst  of  a  wide,  low,  somewhat 
fenny  plain,  which,  in  winter,  became  so  completely  a 
lake,  that  peasants  were  not  unfrequently  drowned  in 
attempting  to  pass  from  the  city  to  the  village.  In  sum- 
mer, the  vague  expanse  of  country  was  fertile  and  cheerful 
of  aspect.  Long  rows  of  poplars  marking  the  straight 
highways,  clumps  of  pollard  willows  scattered  around 
the  little  meres,  snug  farm-houses,  with  kitchen-gardens 
and  brilliant  flower-patches  dotting  the  level  plain, 
verdant  pastures  sweeping  off  into  seemingly  infinite 
distance,  where  the  innumerable  cattle  seemed  to  swarm 
like  insects,  windmills  swinging  their  arms  in  all 
directions,  like  protective  giants,  to  save  the  country 
from  inundation,  the  lagging  sail  of  market-boats  shining 
through  rows  of  orchard  trees — all  gave  to  the  environs 
of  Zutphen  a  tranquil  and  domestic  charm. 

Deventer  and  Kampen,  the  two  other  places  on  the 
river,  were  in  the  hands  of  the  States.*  It  was,  there- 
fore, desirable  for  the  English  and  the  patriots,  by 
gaining  possession  of  Zutphen,  to  obtain  control  of  the 
Yssel ;  driven,  as  they  had  been,  from  the  Meuse  and 
Bhine. 

Sir  John  Norris,  by  Leicester's  direction,  took  posses- 
sion of  a  small  rising-ground,  called  *'  Gibbet  Hill,"  on 
the  land-side,  where  he  established  a  fortified  camp,  and 
proceeded  to  invest  the  city.  With  him  were  Count 
Lewis  William  of  Nassau,  and  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  while 
the  Earl  himself,  crossing  the  Yssel  on  a  bridge  of  boats 
which  he  had  constructed,  reserved  for  himself  the  re- 
duction of  the  forts  upon  the  Veluwe  side. 

Famese,  meantime,  was  not  idle ;  and  Leicester's  cal- 
culations proved  correct.  So  soon  as  the  Prince  w^as 
informed  of  this  important  demonstration  of  the  enemy 
he  broke  up — after  brief  debate  with  his  officers — his 


camp  before  Rheinberg,  and  came  to  Wesel.*  At  this 
place  he  built  a  bridge  over  the  Ehine,  and  fortified  it 
with  two  block-houses.  These  he  placed  under  com- 
mand of  Claude  Berlot,  who  was  ordered  to  watch  strictly 
all  communication  up  the  river  with  the  city  of  Ehein- 
berg,  which  he  thus  kept  in  a  partially  beleaguered 
state.  Alexander  then  advanced  rapidly  by  way  of 
Groll  and  Burik,  both  which  places  he  took  possession 
of,  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Zutphen.  He  was  deter 
mined,  at  every  hazard,  to  relieve  that  important  city ; 
and  although,  after  leaving  necessary  detachments  on 
the  way,  he  had  but  five  thousand  men  under  his  com- 
mand, besides  fifteen  hundred  under  Verdugo — making 
sixty-five  hundred  in  all — he  had  decided  that  the  neces- 
sity of  the  case,  and  his  own  honour,  required  him  to 
seek  the  enemy,  and  to  leave,  as  he  said,  ilie  issue  with 
the  God  of  battles,  whose  cause  it  was.* 

Tassis,  lieutenant-governor  of  Gelderland,  was  ordered 
into  the  city  with  two  comets  of  horse  and  six  hundred 
foot.  As  large  a  number  had  already  been  stationed 
there.  Verdugo,  who  had  been  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
the  Prince  at  Borkelo,  a  dozen  miles  from  Zutphen,  with 
four  hundred  foot  and  two  hundred  horse,  now  likewise 
entered  the  city.* 

On  the  night  of  29th  August  (St.  Nov.)  Alexander 
himself  entered  Zutphen,  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging 
the  garrison  by  promises  of  relief,  and  of  ascer-  29th  Aug. 
taining  the  position  of  the  enemy  by  personal  ^^^*- 
observation.  His  presence,  as  it  always  did,  inspired 
the  soldiers  with  enthusiasm,  so  that  they  could  with 
difficulty  be  restrained  from  rushing  forth  to  assault  the 
besiegers.*  In  regard  to  the  enemy,  he  foimd  that  Gibbet 
Hill  was  still  occupied  by  Sir  John  Norris,  **  the  best 
soldier,  in  his  opinion,  that  they  had,"*  who  had  en- 
trenched himself  very  strongly,  and  was  supposed  to 
have  thirty-five  hundred  men  under  his  command.  His 
position  seemed  quite  impregnable.  The  rest  of  the 
English  were  on  lie  other  side  of  the  river,  and  Alex- 
ander observed,  with  satisfaction,  that  they  had  aban- 
doned a  small  redoubt,  near  the  leper-house,  outside  the 


«  Strada,  il.  448, 
»  Parma  to  Philip,  30OcL  1586. 
de  Slmaacas.  MS.) 


(Arch. 


>  Ibid.    Compare  Strada,  IL  448, 450. 
*  Letter  to  Philip,  ubi  $up. 


I 


»Ibid. 


44 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


1586. 


THE  ENGLISH  INTERCEPT  THE  CONVOY. 


45 


Loor-Gate,  through  which  the  reinforcements  must  enter 
the  city.  The  Prince  determined  to  profit  by  this  mis- 
take, and  to  seize  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  of  sending 
those  much-needed  supplies.  During  the  night  the 
enemy  were  found  to  be  throwing  up  works  "  most  fu- 
riously," *  and  skirmishing  parties  were  sent  out  of  the 
town  to  annoy  them.  In  the  darkness  nothing  of  conse- 
quence was  effected,  but  a  Scotch  officer  was  captured, 
who  informed  the  Spanish  commander  that  the  enemy 
was  fifteen  thousand  strong— a  number  which  was  nearly 
double  that  of  Leicester's  actual  force.  In  the  morning 
Alexander  returned  to  his  camp  at  Berkelo— leaving 
Tassis  in  command  of  the  Veluwe  Forts,  and  Verdugo 
in  the  city  itself— and  he  at  once  made  rapid  work  in 
collecting  victuals.  He  had  soon  wheat  and  other  sup- 
plies in  readiness,  sufficient  to  feed  four  thousand  mouths 
for  three  months,  and  these  he  determined  to  send  into 
the  city  immediately,  and  at  every  hazard. 

The  great  convoy  which  was  now  to  bo  dispatched 
required  great  care  and  a  powerful  escort.  Twenty-five 
hundred  musketeers  and  pikemen,  of  whom  one  thou- 
sand were  Spaniards,  and  six  hundred  cavalry,  Epirotes, 
1  Oct..  N.8.  Spaniards,  and  Italians,  under  Hannibal  Gon- 
1588.  zaga,  George  Crescia,  Bentivoglio,  Sesa,  and 
others,  were  accordingly  detailed  for  this  expedition.* 
The  Marquis  del  Vasto,  to  whom  was  entrusted  the  chief 
command,  was  ordered  to  march  from  Berkelo  at  mid- 
night on  Wednesday,  October  1  (St.  Nov.).  It  was  cal- 
culated that  he  would  reach  a  certain  hillock  not  far 
from  Wamsfeld  by  dawn  of  day.  Here  he  was  to  pause, 
and  send  forward  an  officer  towards  the  town,  communi- 
cating his  arrival,  and  requesting  the  cooperation  of 
Verdugo,  who  was  to  make  a  sortie  with  one  thousand 
men,  according  to  Alexander's  previous  arrangements. 
The  plan  was  successfully  carried  out.  The  Marquis 
arrived  by  daybreak  at  the  spot  indicated,  and  dispatched 
Captain  de  Vega,  who  contrived  to  send  intelligence  of 
the  fact.  A  trooper,  whom  Parma  had  himself  sent  to 
Verdugo  with  earlier  information  of  the  movement,  had 

»  Parnia   to   Philip,  "a  ftiria."    MS.  one    from    another.     Leicester   declared 

before  cited.  that  Crescia  told  him  "  upon  his  honow, 

«  Theae    are    Parma's    own    figarea.  that  there  were  fifteen  comets  of  horse 

(Letter   to   Philip,   as   above.)    Every  and  3000  foot"     Bruce's '  Leyc.  Corresp.* 

historian   gives  a    different   statement  417. 


been  captured  on  the  way.  Leicester  had,  therefore, 
been  apprized,  at  an  early  moment,  of  the  Prince's  in- 
tentions, but  he  was  not  aware  that  the  convoy  would 
be  accompanied  by  so  strong  a  force  as  had  really  been 
detailed. 

He  had  accordingly  ordered  Sir  John  Norris,  who 
commanded  on  the  outside  of  the  town  near  the  road 
which  the  Spaniards  must  traverse,  to  place  an  ambus- 
cade in  his  way.  Sir  John,  always  ready  for  adventu- 
rous enterprises,  took  a  body  of  two  hundred  cavalrj-, 
all  picked  men,  and  ordered  Sir  William  Stanley,  with 
three  hundred  pikemen,  to  follow.  A  much  stronger 
force  of  infantry  was  held  in  reserve  and  readiness,  but 
it  was  not  thought  that  it  would  be  required.  The  am„ 
buscade  was  successfully  placed,  before  the  da\\Ti  of 
Thursday  morning,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  oct.2.K.s. 
Wamsfeld  church.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ^^^^-^ 
Earl  of  Leicester  himself,  anxious  as  to  the  result,  came 
across  the  river  just  at  daybreak.  He  was  accompanied 
by  the  chief  gentlemen  in  his  camp,  who  could  never  be 
restrained  when  blows  were  passing  current. 

The  business  that  morning  was  a  commonplace  and 
practical,  though  an  important,  one — to  "impeach"  a 
convoy  of  wheat  and  barley,  butter,  cheese,  and  beef — 
but  the  names  of  those  noble  and  knightly  volunteers, 
familiar  throughout  Christendom,  sound  like  the  roll- 
call  for  some  chivalrous  tournament.  There  were  Essex 
and  Audley,  Stanley,  Pelham,  Russell,  both  the  Sidneys, 
all  the  Norrises,  men  whose  valour  had  been  proved  on 
many  a  hard-fought  battle-field.  There,  too,  was  the 
famous  hero  of  British  ballad,  whose  name  was  so  often 
to  ring  on  the  plains  of  the  Netherlands — 

"  The  brave  Lord  Willoughby, 
Of  courage  fierce  and  fell, 
Who  would  not  give  one  inch  of  way 
For  all  the  devils  in  hell." 

Twenty  such  volunteers  as  these  sat  on  horseback  that 
morning  around  the  stately  Earl  of  Leicester.  It 
seemed  an  incredible  extravagance  to  send  a  handful  of 
such  heroes  against  an  army. 

But  the  English  commander-in-chief  had  been  listen- 

1  Thursday.  ^S^.  1S86. 


« 


1 


46 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


1586. 


BATTLE  OF  WARNSFELD. 


47 


fr 

list 


f 


,1 

il 


III' 


ing  to  the  insidious  tongue  of  Roland  York — that  bold, 
plausible,  unscrupulous  partisan,  already  twice  a  rene- 
gade, of  whom  more  was  ere  long  to  be  heard  in  the 
Netherlands  and  England.  Of  the  man's  courage  there 
could  be  no  doubt,  and  he  was  about  to  fight  that  morn- 
ing in  the  front  rank  at  the  head  of  his  company.  But 
he  had  for  some  mysterious  reason,  been  bent  upon  per- 
suading the  Earl  that  the  Spaniards  were  no  match  for 
Englishmen  at  a  hand-to-hand  contest.  When  they  could 
ride  freely  up  and  down,  he  said,  and  used  their  lances 
as  they  liked,  they  were  formidable.  But  the  English 
were  stronger  men,  better  riders,  better  mounted,  and 
better  armed.  The  Spaniards  hated  helmets  and  proof 
armour,  while  the  English  trooper,  in  casque,  cuirass, 
and  greaves,  was  a  living  fortress,  impregnable  to  Spanish 
or  Italian  light  horsemen.  And  Leicester  seemed  almost 
convinced  by  his  reasoning.' 

It  was  five  o'clock  of  a  chill  autumn  morning.  It  was 
time  for  day  to  break,  but  the  fog  was  so  thick  that  a 

Oct.  2nd,  man  at  the  distance  of  five  yards  was  quite 
16m.  invisible.  The  creaking  of  waggon-wheels  and 
the  measured  tramp  of  soldiers  soon  became  faintly 
audible,  however,  to  Sir  John  Norris  and  his  five  hun- 
dred as  they  sat  there  in  the  mist.  Presently  came 
galloping  forward  in  hot  haste  those  nobles  and  gentle- 
men, with  their  esquires,  fifty  men  in  all — Sidney, 
Willoughby,  and  the  rest — whom  Leicester  had  no 
longer  been  able  to  restrain  from  taking  part  in  the 
adventure. 

A  force  of  infantry,  the  amount  of  which  cannot  be 
satisfactorily  ascertained,  had  been  ordered  by  the  Earl 
to  cross  the  bridge  at  a  later  moment.  Sidney's  comet 
of  horse  was  then  in  Deventer,  to  which  place  it  had 
been  sent  in  order  to  assist  in  quelling  an  anticipated 
revolt,  so  that  he  came  like  most  of  his  companions,  as  a 
private  volunteer  and  knight-errant. 

The  arrival  of  the  expected  convoy  was  soon  more 


»  Reyd,  v.  82,  83.  Bor,  IL  750.  751. 
Compare  Meteren.  xili.  237,  who  aays 
that  York  was  suspected  of  being  secretly 
in  league  with  Famese,  to  amtrive  this 
ambuscade,  and  thus  to  bring  so  many 
English  nobles  of  distinction  to  death 
or  captivity.    There  Is  no  doubt   that 


when  he  deserted  the  Spanish  for  the 
English  party,  he  pledged  himself  to 
Piirma  to  do  him  good  service,  and 
that  he  was  always  secretly  In  leaguA 
with  the  enemy.  We  shall  sec  at  a  later 
day  whether  he  was  ready  to  redeem  hU 
pledge. 


distinctly  heard,  but  no  scouts  or  outposts  had  been 
stationed  to  give  timely  notice  of  the  enemy's  move- 
ments.* Suddenly  the  fog,  which  had  shrouded  the 
scene  so  closely,  rolled  away  like  a  curtain,  and  in  the 
full  light  of  an  October  morning  the  Englishmen  found 
themselves  face  to  face  with  a  compact  body  of  more 
than  three  thousand  men.  The  Marquis  del  Vasto  rode 
at  the  head  of  the  force,  surrounded  by  a  band  of  mounted 
arquebus  men.  The  cavalry,  under  the  famous  Epirote 
chief  George  Crescia,  Hannibal  Gonzaga,  Bentivoglio, 
Sesa,  Conti,  and  other  distinguished  commanders, 
followed;  the  columns  of  pikemen  and  musketeers 
lined  the  hedgerows  on  both  sides  the  causeway; 
while  between  them  the  long  train  of  waggons  came 
slowly  along  under  their  protection.*  The  whole  force 
had  got  in  motion  after  having  sent  notice  of  their 
arrival  to  Verdugo,  who,  with  one  or  two  thousand  men, 
was  expected  to  sally  forth  almost  immediately  from  the 
city-gate. 

There  was  but  brief  time  for  deliberation.  Notwith- 
standing the  tremendous  odds  there  was  no  thought  of 
retreat.  Black  Norris  called  to  Sir  William  Stanley, 
with  whom  he  had  been  at  variance  so  lately  at 
Doesburg : — 

"There  hath  been  ill-blood  between  us,"  he  said. 
"  Let  us  be  friends  together  this  day,  and  die  side  by 
side,  if  need  be,  in  her  Majesty's  cause." 

**  If  you  see  me  not  serve  my  prince  with  faithful 
courage  now,"  replied  Stanley,  "  account  me  for  ever  a 
coward.  Living  or  dying  I  will  stand  or  lie  by  you  in 
friendship." 

As  they  were  speaking  these  words  the  young  Earl 
of  Essex,  general  of  the  horse,  cried  to  his  han&il  of 
troopers  : —  * 

*'  Follow  me,  good  fellows,  for  the  honour  of  England 
and  of  England's  Queen  !"» 

As  he  spoke  he  dashed,  lance  in  rest,  upon  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  overthrew  the  foremost  man,  horse  and  rider, 
shivered  his  own  spear  to  splinters,  and  then,  swinging 
his  curtel-axe,  rode  merrily  forward."*     His  whole  little 

>  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  1P6.  da,  li.  450,  452.   Bentivoglio,  p.  U.  1.  Iv. 

2  Parma  to  Philip  II.  30  Oct  1586.    311.    Bor.  11.  750.  761. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.)  Compare  Stra-       ^  Archer,  in  Stowe,  736.  *  Ibid. 


fji'* 


48 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


troop,  compact  as  an  arrow-head,  flew  with  an  irresistible 
shock  against  the  opposing  columns,  pierced  clean 
through  them,  and  scattered  them  in  all  directions.  At 
the  verj'  first  charge  one  hundred  English  horsemen 
drove  the  Spanish  and  Albanian  cavalry  back  upon  the 
musketeers  and  pikemen.  \Vheeling  with  rapidity, 
they  retired  before  a  volley  of  musket-shot,  by  which 
many  horses  and  a  few  riders  were  killed,  and  then 
formed  again  to  renew  the  attack.  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
on  coming  to  the  field,  having  met  Sir  William  Pelham, 
the  veteran  lord  marshal,  lightly  armed,  had  with 
chivalrous  extravagance  thrown  ofi"  his  own  cuishes, 
and  now  rode  to  the  battle  with  no  armour  but  his 
cuirass.'  At  the  second  charge  his  horse  was  shot  under 
him,  but,  mounting  another,  he  was  seen  everywhere  in 
the  thick  of  the  fight,  behaving  himself  with  a  gallantry 
which  extorted  admiration  even  from  the  enemy. 

For  the  battle  was  a  series  of  personal  encounters  in 
which  high  officers  were  doing  the  work  of  private 
soldiers.  Lord  North,  who  had  been  lying  *' bed-rid" 
with  a  musket-shot  in  the  leg,  had  got  himself  put  on 
horseback,  and  "with  one  boot  on  and  one  boot  off," 
bore  himself  **  most  lustily  "  through  the  whole  affair.* 
*'  I  desire  that  her  Majesty  may  know,"  he  said,  *'  that 
I  live  but  to  serve  her.  A  better  barony  than  I  have 
could  not  hire  the  Lord  North  to  live  on  meaner  terms."  * 
Sir  William  Russel  laid  about  him  with  his  curtel-axe  to 
such  purpose  that  the  Spaniards  pronounced  him  a  devil 
and  not  a  man.  "  Wherever,"  said  an  eye-witness,  *'  he 
saw  five  or  six  of  the  enemy  together,  thither  would  he  ; 
and  with  his  hard  knocks  soon  separated  their  friend- 
ship."* Lord  Willoughby  encountered  George  Crescia, 
general  of  the  famed  Albanian  cavalry,  unhorsed  him  at 
the  first  shock,*  and  rolled  him  into  the  ditch.  "  I  yield 
me  thy  prisoner,"  called  out  the  Epirote  in  French,  *'  for 
thou  art  a  preux  chevalier ;"  while  Willoughby,  trusting 
to  his  captive's  word,  galloped  onward,  and  with  him 
the  rest  of  the  little  troop,  till  they  seemed  swallowed 


1  Brooke's  Sidney,  li.  31.  32. 
*  Archer,  in  Stowe,  ubi  sup. 
'  Leyc.  Corresp.'  417. 


»  North  to  Burghley, 


1»  May 
8  Juiw 


(S.  p.  Office  MS.) 
Brace's       *  Archer  in  Stowe,  737. 

*  Ibid.    Leicester  to  Burghley,  Sept 


1586. 


1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1586. 


SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY  WOUNDED. 


49 


up  by  the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy.  His  horse 
was  shot  under  him,  his  basses  were  torn  from  his  legs, 
and  he  was  nearly  taken  a  prisoner,  but  fought  his  way 
back  with  incredible  strength  and  good  fortune.  Sir 
William  Stanley's  horse  had  seven  bullets  in  him,  but 
bore  his  rider  unhurt  to  the  end  of  the  battle.  Leicester 
declared  Sir  William  and  "oldEeade"  to  be  *' worth 
tlieir  weight  in  pearl."  ^ 

Hannibal  Gonzaga,  leader  of  the  Spanish  cavalry,  fell 
mortally  wounded.*  The  Marquis  del  Vasto,  commander 
of  the  expedition,  n^early  met  the  same  fate.  An  English- 
man was  just  cleaving  his  head  with  a  battle-axe,  when 
a  Spaniard  transfixed  the  soldier  with  his  pike.'*  The 
most  obstinate  struggle  took  place  about  the  train  of 
waggons.  The  teamsters  had  fled  in  the  beginning  of 
the  action,  but  the  English  and  Spanish  soldiers, 
struggling  with  the  horses,  and  pulling  them  forvN^ard 
and  backward,  tried  in  vain  to  get  exclusive  possession 
of  the  convov  which  was  the  cause  of  the  action.*  The 
carts  at  last  forced  their  w^ay  slowly  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  town,  while  the  combat  still  went  on,  warm  as 
ever,  between  the  hostile  squadrons.  The  action  lasted 
an  hour  and  a  half,  and  again  and  again  the  Spanish 
horsemen  wavered  and  broke  before  the  handful  of 
English,  and  fell  back  upon  their  musketeers.  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  in  the  last  charge,  rode  quite  through 
the  enemy's  ranks  till  he  came  upon  their  entrenchments, 
when  a  musket-ball  from  the  camp  struck  him  upon  the 
thigh,  three  inches  above  the  knee.  Although  despe- 
rately wounded  in  a  part  which  should  have  been 
protected  by  the  cuishes  which  he  had  thrown  aside,  he 
was  not  inclined  to  leave  the  field  ;  but  his  own  horse 
had  been  shot  under  him  at  the  beginning  of  the  action, 
and  the  one  upon  which  he  was  now  mounted  became 
too  restive  for  him,  thus  crippled,  to  control.  He  turned 
reluctantly  away,  and  rode  a  mile  and  a  half  back  to  the 


'  "  I  will  leave  no  lalx)ur  nor  dungcr," 
said  Lord  North,  "but  serve  as  a  private 
soldier,  and  have  thrust  myself  tor  ser- 
vice on  foot  under  Captain  Reade,  whom 
I  find  a  noble  and  notable  soldier." 
(North  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited.) 
This  is  the  mettle  the  pallants  of  Eliza- 
beth's court  were  made  of.  Compare 
VOL.  n. 


•  Leyc.  Corresp.'  417. 

2  "  The  Count  Hannibal  Gonzapa  was 
killed,  with  three  others  whose  names  we 
know  not,  but  they  had  cassocks  all  em- 
broidered and  laced  with  silver  and  gold." 
Leicester  to  Burghley,  Sept.  1586.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

3  Strada,  ii.  462.  *  Ibid, 

E 


60 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CuAr.  IX. 


entrenchments,  suffering  extreme  pain,  for  Lis  leg  was 
dreadfully  shattered.  As  he  passed  along  the  edge  of  the 
battle-field  his  attendants  brought  him  a  bottle  of  water 
to  quench  his  raging  thirst.  At  that  moment  a  wounded 
English  soldier,  "  who  had  eaten  his  last  at  the  same 
feast,"  looked  up  wistfully  in  his  face,  when  Sidney 
instantly  handed  him  the  flask,  exclaiming,  "  Thy 
necessity  is  even  greater  than  mine."'  He  then  pledged 
his  dying  comrade  in  a  draught,  and  was  soon  afterwards 
met  by  his  uncle.  "  Oh,  Philip,"  cried  Leicester,  in 
despair,  *'  I  am  truly  grieved  to  see  thee  in  this  plight." 
But  Sidney  comforted  him  with  manful  words,  and 
assured  him  that  death  was  sweet  in  the  cause  of  his 
Queen  and  country.  Sir  ^Villiam  Russell,  too,  all  blood- 
stained from  the  fight,  threw  his  aims  around  his  friend, 
wept  like  a  child,  and,  kissing  his  hand,  exclaimed, 
"  Oh !  noble  Sir  Philip,  never  did  man  attain  hurt  so 
honourably  or  serve  so  valiantly  as  3'ou."  *  Sir  William 
Pelham  declared  "  that  Sidney's  noble  courage  in  the 
face  of  our  enemies  had  won  him  a  name  of  continuing 
honour." ' 

The  wounded  gentleman  was  borne  back  to  the  camp, 
and  thence  in  a  barge  to  Amheim.  The  fight  was  over. 
Sir  John  NoiTis  bade  Lord  Leicester  *'  be  men-y,  for," 
said  he,  "you  have  had  the  honourablestday.  A  hand- 
ful of  men  has  driven  the  enemy  three  times  to  retreat."* 
But,  in  truth,  it  was  now  time  for  the  English  to  retire 
in  tlieir  turn.  Their  reserve  never  arrived.  The  whole 
force  engiiged  against  the  thirty-five  hundred  Spaniards 
had  never  exceeded  two  hundred  and  fifty  horse  and 
three  hundred  foot,  and  of  this  number  the  chief  work 
had  been  done  by  the  fifty  or  sixty  volunteers  and  their 
followers.'*  The  heroism  which  had  been  displayed  was 
fruitless,  except  as  a  proof— and  so  Leicester  wrote  to 


1  Brooke's  Sidney,  ii.  32.  It  Is  to  be 
rejtn-tted  tiuit  Lord  Brooke  does  not  give 
the  auihorlty  for  thia  beautiful  and  uni- 
versiilly  cherished  anecdote.  I  have 
s«*ttrched  in  vain  for  Its  confirmation 
through  many  contemporary  letters  and 
chronicles.  There  is  no  reason  for  reject- 
ing Its  authenticity,  but  it  would  have 
been  an  exquisite  pleasure  to  find  It 
reconled,  fur  Instance.  In  a  letter  from 
I^lbam,  or  North,  or  Norrls,  or  Leicester 


—all  of  whom  speak  of  Sidney's  gallantry 
in  the  action,  but  not  one  of  whom  was 
acquainted  with,  or  thought  it  worth 
while  to  mention,  the  characteristic  and 
touching  trait. 
2  Stowe,  737. 


'  Pelham  to  Walsingham. ^ 

eoct. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
*  Stowe,  tibi  sup. 
»  Bruce  s  '  Leyc.  Corresp."  417. 


1586. 


1^86. 


RESULTS  OF  THE  ENCOUNTER. 


51 


the  Palatine  John  Casimir — "that  Spaniards  were  not 
invincible."^  Two  thousand  men  now  sallied  from  the 
Loor-Gate,  under  Verdugo  and  Tassis,*  to  join  the  force 
under  Vasto,  and  the  English  were  forced  to  retreat. 
The  whole  convoy  was  then  carried  into  the  city,  and 
the  Spaniards  remained  masters  of  the  field.-* 

Thirteen  troopers  and  twenty-two  foot-soldiers,  upon 
the  English  side,  were  killed.  The  enemy  lost  perhaps 
two  hnndred  men.  They  were  thrice  turned  gept.  22 
from  their  position,  and  thrice  routed,  but  OcTTT' 
they  succeeded  at  last  in  their  attempt  to  carry  ^^^^• 
their  convoy  into  Zutphen.  Upon  that  day  and  the 
succeeding  ones  the  town  was  completely  victualled. 
Very  little,  therefore,  save  honour  was  gained  by  the 
display  of  English  valour  against  overwhelming  numbers 
— five  hundred  against  near  four  thousand.  Never  in 
the  whole  course  of  the  war  had  there  been  such  fight- 
ing, for  the  troops  npon  both  sides  were  picked  men  and 
veterans.  For  a  long  time  afterwards  it  was  the  custom 
of  Spaniards  and  N  etherlanders,  in  characterising  a 
hardly -contested  action,  to  call  it  as  warm  as  the  fight 
at  Zutphen.* 


»  Reyd,  v.  83. 

2  Parma  to  PLilip,  30  Oct.  1586. 
MS. 

'  Ibid.  Leicester  observes  in  his  letter 
to  Burghley  (Sept.  — ,  1586,  S.  P.  Offl«e 
MS.)  that,  "  notwithstanding  all  these 
troops,  the  Prince  did  not  put  in  one  wag- 
gon, save  thirty  which  got  in  in  the 
night"  Alesaud'%  however,  states  ex- 
pressly the  reverse,  and  congratulates 
Phlllf)  on  the  entire  success  of  the  under- 
taking : — 

"  Pero  no8  debemos  contentar  con  ]o 
succdido,  pues  allende  de  haber  quedado 
la  campana  por  n«sotros,  y  salido  con 
nuestra  pretension,  y  a  la  barba  de  tan 
bu€n  numeio  con  tanta  poca  gente  (.') 
haber  metido  y  sacado  tanto  carnage," 
&c.      I>etter  to  Philip,  30  Oct.  1586.  MS. 

ITiere  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that 
the  lYince  was  entirely  correct  in  his 
statement  The  result  proves  it,  if  there 
f»uld  be  any  question  of  it  before.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  Leicester  could  be 
mi-^taken,  but  he  ha<i  a  temptation  to 
nilsrepresent  an  alfair  in  which  his  own 
bad  generalship  had  been  as  signal  as  the 


heroism  which  it  had  called  forth.  Cer- 
tainly Zutphen,  on  that  and  Uie  succecd- 
days,  was  thoroughly  relle\ed.  The 
errors,  wilful  or  otherwise,  as  to  th« 
numbers  engaged  and  respectively  lost 
were  greater  on  both  sides  tlid»i  usual  on 
such  occa.sions,  Uit  this  kind  of  misstate- 
ment has  always  Ix'en  universal. 

Compare  Sidney  Papers,  i.  104,  con- 
taining a  letter  of  Leicester  to  Heneage ; 
I  have  not  found  the  original.  Straila,  ii. 
450,  452.  Bor,  ii.  750,  751.  Stowe,  737, 
738.  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  186,  1h7.  Keyd, 
V.  83,  84.  Meteren,  xliL  237.  Lenti- 
vogllo,  p.  ii.  1.  Iv;  'iU,et  vudt.  al. 

See  also  R.  W.  TaAima, '  Gesehledenlii 
der  Stad  Zutphen '  ( Arnhcim  en  Zutplten, 
1856),  an  interesting  work,  carelully 
written,  and  of  great  research ;  compose*.! 
mainly  from  original  unpublished  docu- 
ments. I  desire  to  express  my  thanks  to 
the  learned  author  for  the  kindness  with 
which  he  guided  me  over  Zutphen  and 
its  neighbourhood,  pointUig  out  every- 
thing connected  with  the  battle  and  tlie 
bioge. 

*  Strada,  Ii.  451. 

£  2 


52 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


**  I  think  I  may  call  it,"  said  Leicester,  "  the  most 
notable  encounter  that  hath  been  in  our  age,  and  it 
will  remain  to  our  posterity  famous."' 

Nevertheless  it  is  probable  that  the  encounter  would 
have  been  forgotten  by  posterity  but  for  the  melancholy 
close  upon  that  field  to  Sidney's  bright  career.  And 
perhaps  the  Queen  of  England  had  as  much  reason  to 
blush  for  the  incompetency  of  her  general  and  favourite 
as  to  be  proud  of  the  heroism  displayed  by  her  officers 
and  soldiera. 

"  There  were  too  many  indeed  at  this  skirmish  of  the 
better  surt,"  said  Leicester;  "only  a  two  hundred  and 
fifty  horse,  and  most  of  them  the  best  of  this  camp,  and 
unawares  to  me.  I  was  offended  when  I  knew  it,  but 
could  not  fetch  them  back ;  but  since  they  all  so'well 
escaped  (save  my  dear  nephew),  1  would  not  for  ten 
thousand  pounds  but  they  had  been  there,  since  they 


>  Bnice's '  l^yc.  Corresp.'  416:—"  That 
Thursday  may  run  amongst  any  of  our 
Thursilays,"  said  the  Earl,  (*  Ix-yc.  Cor- 
resp.'  -^30).  addirip,  with  a  mostlng«>nuous 
reference  to  himself,  "  In  my  fonner  let- 
ters I  forgot  one,  who  not  only  on  that 
day  but  at  every  day's  servic  liath  been 
u  principal  actor  himstlf.  A  tall,  vise, 
rare  servant  he  is,  as  any  I  know,  and  of 
marvellous  good  government  and  Judge- 
ment. That  gentleman  may  take  a  great 
tharge  upon  him,  I  warrant  you."  Self- 
depreciation  was  not  the  Karl's  foible. 

There  is  hardly  a  battle  on  record 
about  which  the  accounts  are  so  hope- 
lessly conflicting  as  are  thoie  which 
relate  to  the  btittle  of  Zutphon.  The 
reason  la  obvious.  'I'he  skirmish  was 
a  comparatively  unimiK)rtant  one.  The 
fate  of  Sidney  has  invested  It  with  un- 
dying Interest,  but  it  was  not  supjwsed 
•It  that  lime  that  he  was  mortally 
wouuiled.  I^nl  North,  whose  letters 
are  always  spirlte«l,  went  Into  the  fleld 
In  such  a  distibled  condition  that  it  was 
not  in  hia  power  to  send  any  account 
of  the  action,  as  ho  doubtless  would 
otherwise  have  done,  to  Lord  Burghlcy. 
Pel  ham,  Xorris,  and  I^eicester,  are  all 
meagre  on  this  occasion  in  d.tail.s. 
Archer,  in  Stowe,  is  fuller,  l)ut  I'arma. 
in  hb  letters  to  Philip,  though  ctipious, 
Is  confused.  As  a  siK«cinien  of  con- 
Hictiiig  statistics   It   may  be   observed 


that  the  number  of  English  actually 
engaged,  according  to  the  statement  of 
the  comnumderln  chief  to  his  govern- 
ment, was  550,  horse  and  foot  together. 
The  Spanish,  according  to  Famese's  let- 
ter to  Philip,  were  about  3100  In  all, 
Strada  gives  the  same  numL>er,  WTltlng 
from  other  letters  of  Piutna,  and  puts  the 
EnglUh  at  3000  foot  ajvl  Ho  horse, 
exactly  the  same  numlxr  tli  is  given 
in  the  MS.  letters  of  Simaiic.o,  i\iid  about 
seven  times  as  many  as  were  really  in 
the  fleld.  Leicester  puts  the  Spaniards 
at  1200  horse  and  3000  fogt— about 
1000  more  than  the  actual  numbers. 
No  doubt  the  numbers  engaged  on  each 
side  should  be  taken  as  correctly  stated 
by  the  respective  generals.  There  were 
therefore  about  3100  Spaniards  to  550 
English. 

Leicester  gives  the  number  of  killed 
and  wounded  as  33  English  and  Irom  260 
to  350  Spaniards. 

Parma  states  the  number  of  Spaniards 
killed  as  9  (!).  wounded  29,  while  he 
reports  200  English  killed. 

It  seems  Impossible  that  there  could 
have  been  less  than  150  or  200  Spaniards 
killed,  which  is  not  more  than  half  the 
niunbiT  claimed  by  Leicester  on  the 
authority  of  Spaniards  themselves.  But 
It  Is  a  waste  of  time  to  indulge  in  ihetjc 
fruitless  calculations. 


1586. 


SIDNEr  AT  ARNHEIM. 


53 


have  all  won  that  honour  they  have.  Your  Lordship 
never  heard  of  such  desperate  charges  as  they  gave  upon 
the  enemies  in  the  face  of  their  muskets."^ 

He  described  Sidney's  wound  as  "  very  dangerous,  the 
bone  being  broken  in  pieces  ;*'  but  said  that  the  surgeons 
were  in  good  hope.  *'  I  pray  God  to  save  his  life,"  said 
the  Earl,  •'  and  1  care  not  how  lame  he  be.'*  Sir  Philip 
was  carried  to  Amheim,  where  the  best  surgeons  were 
immediately  in  attendance  upon  him.  He  submitted  to 
their  examination  and  the  pain  which  they  inflicted, 
with  great  cheerfulness,  although  himself  persuaded 
that  his  wound  was  mortal.  For  many  days  the  result 
was  doubtful,  and  messages  were  sent  day  by  day  to 
England  that  he  was  convalescent — intelligence  which 
was  hailed  by  the  Queen  and  people  as  a  matter  not 
of  private  but  of  public  rejoicing.  He  soon  began  to 
fail,  however.  Count  Hohenlo  was  badly  wounded  a 
few  days  later  before  the  great  fort  of  Zutphen.  A 
musket-ball  entered  his  mouth,  and  passed  throTigh  his 
cheek,  carrying  off  a  jewel  which  hung  in  his  ear.'' 
Notwithstanding  his  own  critical  condition,  however, 
Hohenlo  sent  his  surgeon,  Adrian  van  den  Spiegel,  a 
man  of  great  skill,  to  wait  upon  Sir  Philip,^  but  Adrian 
soon  felt  that  the  case  was  hopeless.  Meantime  fever 
and  gangrene  attacked  the  Count  himself;  and  those  in 
attendance  upon  him,  fearing  for  his  life,  sent  for  hi.s 
surgeon.  Leicester  refused  to  allow  Adrian  to  depart, 
and  Hohenlo  very  generously  acquiescing  in  the  decree, 
but  also  requiring  the  surgeon's  personal  care,  caused 
himself  to  be  transported  in  a  litter  to  Arnheim."* 

Sidney  was  first  to  recognise  the  sjTnptoms  of  morti- 
fication, which  made  a  fatal  result  inevitable.  His 
demeanour  during  his  sickness  and  upon  his  death-bed 
was  as  beautiful  as  his  life.  He  discoursed  with  his 
friends  concerning  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  com- 
paring the  doctrines  of  Plato  and  of  other  ancient 
philosophers,  whose  writings  were  so  familar  to  him, 
with  the  revelations  of  Scripture  and  with  the  dictates 
of  natural  religion.  He  made  his  will  with  minute  and 
elaborate  provisions,  leaving  bequests,  remembrances, 


* 


I 


1  letter    to    Barghley,    MS.    before 
cited. 
a  Stowe,  738.    Bor,  ii.  728. 


3  Letter  of  Hohenlo  in  Bor,  iii.  123. 
♦  Ibid. 


54 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


1586. 


DEATH  OF  SIDNEY. 


55" 


and  rings,  to  all  his  friends.  Then  he  indulged  himself 
with  music,  and  listened  particularly  to  a  strange  son"- 
which  he  had  himself  composed  during  his  illness,  and 
which  he  had  entitled  '  La  Cuisse  rompue.'  He  took 
leave  of  the  friends  around  him  with  perfect  calmness, 
saying  to  his  brother  Eobert,  "Love  my  memory! 
Cherish  my  friends.  Above  all,  govern  your  will  and 
affections  by  the  will  and  word  of  your  Creator ;  in  me 
beholding  the  end  of  this  world  with  all  her  vanities." 

And  thus  this  gentle  and  heroic  spirit  took  its  flight. 

Parma,  after  thoroughly  victualling  Zutphen,  turned 
his  attention  to  the  German  levies  which  Leicester  was 
expecting  under  the  care  of  Count  Meurs.     *'  If  the 
enemy  is  reinforced  by  these  six  thousand  fresh  troops,'* 
said  Alexander,  "  it  will  make  him  master  of  the  field."  - 
And  well  he  might  hold  this  opinion,  for,  in  the  meagre 
state  of  both  the  Spanish  and  the  liberating  armies,  the 
addition  of  three  thousand  fresh  reiters  and  as  many 
infantry  would  be  enough  to  turn  the  scale.     The  Duke 
of  Parma— for,  since  the  recent  death   of  his  father, 
Farnese  had  succeeded  to  his  title  *— determined  in  per- 
son to  seek  the  German  troops,  and  to  destroy  them  if 
possible.     But  they  never  gave  him  the  chance.*    Their 
muster-place  was  Bremen,  but  when  they  heard  that 
the  terrible  "  Holofernese  "  was  in  puruit  of  them,  and 
that  the  commencement   of  their  service  would  be  a 
pitched  battle  with  his  Spaniards  and  Italians,  they 
broke  up  and  scattered  about  the  country.*    Soon  after- 
wards the  Duke  tried  another  method   of  effectually 
dispersing  them,  in  case  they  still  retained  a  wish  to 
fulfil  their  engagement  with  Leicester.     He  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  treat  with  them,  and  in  consequence  two  of 
their  *'  rittmeisters  "  paid  him  a  visit.     He  offered  to 
give  them  higher  pay,  and  "  ready  money  in  place  of 
tricks  and  promises."     The  mercenary  heroes  listened 
ver>^  favourably   to  his  proposals,  although  they  had 


t  Brooke's  Sidney,  li.  32,  40.  Sidney 
Papera,  104  seq. 

«  Parma  to  Philip,  30  Oct.  1586.  Arch, 
de  Slmancas,  MS. 

»  Philip  II.  to  Parma,  19  Oct.  1586. 
(Archiv.  de  Simancas,  MS.)  "Hence- 
forth,"  said  the  King.  "I  wlU  be  both 
father  and  mother  to  you." 

«  Bentlvoglio  is  much  mistaken  (p.  11. 


L  iv.  311)  In  giving  an  account  of  a 
pitched  battle  between  Alexander  and 
these  mercenaries.  In  which  they  are 
represented  as  having  been  utterly  de- 
feated. The  victory  was  quite  bloodless, 
and  it  cost  the  victor  only  a  couple  of 
gold  chains. 

»  Parma  to  Philip,  30  Oct,  1586.     MS. 
last  cited. 


already  received— besides   the  tricks  and  promises—- 
at  least  one  hundred  thousand  florins  out  of  the  States' 

treasury.^ 

After  proceeding  thus  far  in  the  negotiation,  however, 
Parma  concluded,  as  the  season  was  so  far  advanced, 
that  it  was  sufficient  to  have  dispersed  them,  and  to 
have  deprived  the  English  and  patriots  of  their  ser- 
vices. So  he  gave  the  two  majors  a  gold  chain  a-piece, 
and  they  went  their  way  thoroughly  satisfied.  "  I  have 
got  them  away  from  the  enemy  for  this  year,"  said  Alex- 
ander ;  *'  and  this  I  hold  to  be  one  of  the  best  services 
that  has  been  rendered  for  many  a  long  day  to  your 

Majesty."  * 

During  the  period  which  intervened  between  the 
action  at  Warnsfeld  and  the  death  of  Sidney,  the  siege- 
operations  before  Zutphen  had  been  continued.  The 
city,  strongly  garrisoned  and  well  supplied  with  provi- 
sions, as  it  had  been  by  Parma's  care,  remained  impreg- 
nable ;  but  the  sconces  beyond  the  river  and  upon  the 
island  fell  into  Leicester's  hands.*     The  great  fortress 


1  Meteren,  xill,  236. 

2  Parma  to  Philip,  MS.  last  cited. 
According  to  Meteren  (uhi  sup.)  this 

mysterious  dispersion    of   the    German 
troops  was  owing  to   the   intrigues   of 
Ivelcester's  English  advisers,  who  were 
unwilling  tliat  he  should  send  the  money 
of  the  states  anywht-re  but  to  England, 
and  who  therefore  by  their  machinations 
contrived  to  spirit  away  this  auxiliary 
Jorce  Just  at  the  moment  when  by  Its 
function  with  his  own  army  the  Earl  was 
abo\it  to  have   Farnese   in  his   power. 
"From  this  time  forth,"  says  Meteren, 
"it    was    obvious    that    Leicester    was 
governed  entirely  by  English  counsels," 
and  80  on.    It  has  Just  been  shown  by 
the  Duke's  private  letters  that  the  gener- 
ally most  accurate  chronicler  was  mis- 
taken in  this  Instance,  and  that  the  deed 
was  accomplished  by  Ale.xander's  clever 
management  alone.  Some  of  the  German 
princes  In  whose  territories  these  levies 
had  been  made,  were  honourably  indig- 
nant at  the  treachery  which  had  been 
thus  practised  on  the  States.    Some  of 
the  officers  were  punished  with  imprison- 
ment, degradation,  and  loss  of  nobility 
and  armorial  bearings,  and   the  money 
paid    as    their  "waartgeld"    was   sent 


back  to  Holland.       (Le  Petit,  'Grand 
Chronlque,'  il.  536.) 

Reyd  Is  still  more  severe.  He  main- 
tains that  Leicester  withheld  the  pay 
which  the  States  had  furnished  for  those 
important  levies,  whose  arrival  at  tb." 
time  agreed  upon  would  have  changed 
the  fortune  of  the  war;  and  that  he 
secretly  prevented  their  coming,  from  a 
fear  that  they  would  adhere  too  closely 
to  Hohenlo  and  Count  William  Ixjwls. 
Count  YsselsUMH,  who  had  been  sent  by 
the  Earl  to  deal  with  these  mercenaries 
and  to  promise  their  money,  was  furious 
at  the  treachery  of  which  he  conceiv.-d 
Leicester  guilty,  and  did  not  scruple 
to  say  In  large  companies:  " Leicest/^v 
has  done  two  great  things  In  his  life.  He 
has  made  my  old  page,  Martin  Schenk,  a 
knight,  and  myself  a  liar."  (Reyd, 
•  Nederl.  Gesch.'  v.  86.) 

the  suspicion,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
quite  groundless,  and  Ysselstein  and 
the  historian  (who  was  private  secretary 
to  Count  William  Lewis)  very  much 
niistaken. 

3  Strada.  il.  453,  454.  Hoofd  >  er- 
volgh.  188.  Bor,  II.  752.  Wagenaar. 
viii.  136. 


i 


56 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  IX. 


which  commanded  the  Velnwe,  and  which  was  strone: 
enough  to  have  resisted  Connt  Hohonlo  on  a  forme? 
W  rhtW  T  ^' ""  ^¥e/ear,  was  the  scene  of  much 

nf  FdlorH  ^4f.  V'^'P'?'^  ^*  ^*'*  ^>"*''«  "S"^l  valour 
of  Ed wa.d  Stanley,  lieutenant  to  Sir  ANilliam.     That 

offi.^er,  at  the  commencement  of  an  assault  upon  a  not 
veo^  practicable  breach,  sprang  at  the  long  pike  of  a 
Spanish  soldier,   who  was  endeavouring  to  thnist  him 
from  the  wal  ,  and  seized  it  with  both  hands.     The  Spa- 
niard struggled  to  maintain  his  hold  of  the  weapon 
Stanley  to  wrest  it  from  his  grasp.      A   dozen   oVw 
soldiers  broke  their  pikes  «pon%if -cuiL  or  sho  Tt 
urn    w.  h   their   muskets.     Conspicuous  by  his  dress 
being  all  m  yel  low  but  his  corslet,  he  was  in  full  si<rht  of 
Leicester  and  of  five  thousand  men.     The  earth  was  so 
shifty  and  sandy  that  the  soldiers  who  were  to  follow 
him  were  not  able  to   climb  the  wall.     Still  Stanley 
grasped  his  adversar/s  pike,  but,  suddenly  chang  n^ 
^  oifnd"'  ^;*"°^«4  tl^«  SvanM  to  lift  him  from°thl 
fl  r      11   ^     "•  r"^'?S  himself  with  his  feet  against 

,  .r.  1  '^  •  T"^  *"  *^  astonishment  of  the  spectators, 
sc.aral.led  quite  over  the  parapet,  and  dashed  sword  in 
hand  among  the  defenders  of  the  fort.  Had  he  been  en" 
dowed  with  a  hundred  lives  it  seemed  impossible  for  him 
to  escape  death.  But  his  followers,  stimulated  by  ],S 
exainple,  made  ladders  for  themselWs  of  each  other's 

he"w;  '"T"''^  "'  ''*«*  ^-^'^  S'^^'  e.xert  on  over 
the  broken  wall   overpowered  the  garrison,  and   made 
themselves  masters   of  the   sconce      Leicester    trans 
ported  with  enthusiasm  for  this  noble  deed  o?'dal' 
knighted  Edward  Stanley  upon  the  spot,  besides   01°: 
senting  hini  next  day  with  forty  pound^  in  gold  and 
an   annuity   of  one   hundred  mirks   sterling  for  life 
"  femce  I  was  bom,  I  did  never  see  any  mfn  behave 

it.  It  1  live  a  thousand  years,  and  he  shall  have  a  nart  of 
myliving  for  it  as  long  as  I  live." '  ^ 

The  occupation  of  these  foHs  terminated  the  military 

tT:  winter  Id"  '"""•  /■"■  *V  '•"•■"•>•  ^<^---  P~r  7f 
tiie  winter,  had  now  set  in.  Leicester-leaving  Sir  Wil- 


1586. 


GALLANTRY  OF  EDWARD  STANLEY. 


57 


liam  Stanley,  witli  twelve  huudred  English  and  Irish 
horse,  in  command  of  Deventer ;  Sir  John  Burro wes, 
with  one  thousand  men,  in  Doeshurg ;  and  Sir  Robert 
Yorke,  with  one  thousand  more,  in  the  great  sconce 
before  Zutphen — took  his  departure  for  the  Hague.* 
Zutphen  seemed  so  surrounded  as  to  authorise  the 
governor  to  expect  ere  long  its  capitulation.  Never- 
theless, the  results  of  the  campaign  had  not  been  encou- 
raging. The  States  had  lost  ground,  having  been  driven 
from  the  Meuse  and  Khine,  while  they  had  with  diffi- 
culty maintained  themselves  on  the  Flemish  coast  and 
upon  the  Yssel. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  glance  at  the  internal  politics 
of  the  Republic  during  the  period  of  Leicester's  admi- 
nistration, and  to  explain  the  position  in  which  he  found 
himself  at  the  close  of  the  year. 

1  Hot,  U.  763. 


'    II 


58 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap,  X. 


CHAPTER   X. 

Should  Elizabeth  accept  tho  Sovreigntyf  —  The  Effects  of  her  Anger  — 
Quarrels  between  the  Earl  and  States  —  The  Earl's  three  CounsK'llors  — 
Leicester's  Finance-Chamber  —  Discontent  of  the  Mercantile  Classes  — 
Paul  Buys  and  the  Opposition  —  Keen  Insight  of  Paul  Buys  —  Truchsess 
becomes  a  spy  upon  him  —  Intrigues  of  Buys  with  Denmark  —  Hl.< 
Imprisonment  —  The  F:arr8  Unpopularity  —  His  Quarrels  with  the  States 
—  And  with  the  Norrlses  —  His  Counsellors  Wilkes  and  Clerke  —  letter 
from  the  Queen  to  Leicester  —  A  Supper  Party  at  Hohenlo's  —  A  drunk,  n 
Quarrel  —  Hoheulo's  Assault  upon  Edward  Norrla  —  111  ECfecta  of  the 
Blot. 

The  brief  period  of  sunshine  had  been  swiftly  followed 
by  storms.  The  Governor  Absolute  had,  from  the  outset, 
been  placed  in  a  false  position.  Before  he  came  to  the 
Netherlands  the  Queen  had  refused  the  sovereignty. 
Perhaps  it  was  wise  in  her  to  decline  so  magnificent  an 
offer;  yet  certainly  her  acceptance  would  have  been 
perfectly  honourable.  Tlio  constituted  authorities  of 
the  Provinces  formally  made  the  proposition.  There  is 
no  doubt  whatever  that  the  whole  population  ardently- 
desired  to  become  her  subjects.  So  far  as  the  Nether- 
lands were  concerned,  then,  she  would  have  been  fully 
justified  in  extending  her  sceptre  over  a  free  people, 
who,  under  no  compulsion  and  without  any  diplomatic 
chicane,  had  selected  her  for  their  hereditary  chief.  So 
far  as  regarded  England,  the  annexation  to  that  country 
of  a  continental  cluster  of  states,  inhabited  by  a  race 
closely  allied  to  it  by  blood,  religion,  and  the  instinct 
for  political  freedom,  seemed,  on  the  whole,  desirable. 

In  a  financial  point  of  view,  England  would  certainly 
lose  nothing  by  the  union.  The  resources  of  the  Pro- 
vinces were  at  least  equal  to  her  own.  We  have  seen 
the  astonishment  which  the  wealth  and  strength  of  the 
Netherlands  excited  in  their  English  visitors.  They 
were  amazed  by  the  evidences  of  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing prosperity,  by  the  spectacle  of  luxury  and  ad- 
vanced culture  which  met  them  on  every  side.  Had 
the  Queen— as  it  had  been  generally  supposed— desired 
to  learn  whether  the  Provinces  were  able  and  willing  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  their  own  defence  before  she  should 


1586.     SHOULD  ELIZABETH  ACCEPT  THE  SOVEREIGNTY  ?     59 

definitely  decide  on  their  offer  of  sovereignty,  she  was 
soon  thoroughly  enlightened  upon  the  subject.^  Her 
confidential  agents  all  held  one  language.  If  she  would 
only  accept  the  sovereignty,  the  amount  which  the  Pro- 
vinces w^ould  pay  was  in  a  manner  boundless.  She  was 
assured  that  the  revenue  of  her  own  hereditary  i  ealm 
was  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  possessions  thus  offered 
to  her  sway.* 

In  regard  to  constitutional  polity,  the  condition  of  the 
Netherlands  was  at  least  as  satisfactory  as  that  of  Eng- 
land. The  great, amount  of  civil  freedom  enjoyed  by 
those  countries— although  perhaps  an  objection  in  the 
eyes  of  Elizabeth  Tudor— should  certainly  have  been  a 
recommendation  to  her  liberty-loving  subjects.  The 
question  of  defence  had  been  satisfactorily  answered. 
The  Provinces,  if  an  integral  part  of  the  English  empire, 
could  protect  themselves,  and  would  become  an  addi- 
tional element  of  strength,  not  a  troublesome  encum- 
brance. 

The  difference  of  language  was  far  less  than  that 
which  already  existed  between  the  English  and  their 
Irish  fellow-subjects,  while  it  was  counterbalanced  by 
sympathy,  instead  of  being  aggravated  by  mutual  hos- 
tility in  the  matter  of  religion. 

With  regard  to  the  great  question  of  abstract  sove- 
reionty,  it  was  cei*tainly  impolitic  for  an  absolute  monarch 
to  recognize  the  right  of  a  nation  to  repudiate  its  natural 


1  Hooffl,  xxlll.  1039, 1042.  Wagenaar, 
Vlll.  102,  104  ;  141,  142. 

2  "  Neither  do  I  easily  see,"  wrote 
Richard  Cavendish,  "  how  the  cause  may 
be  remedied,  unless  It  may  please  her 
most  excellent  Majesty  to  take  that  upon 
her  which  the  whole  people  (and  specially 
they  of  the  wiser  sort)  both  crave  and  cry 
for,  namely,  the  sovereignty 

That  u  no  doubt  but  the  reventui  tvill 
tuffice  to  the  driving  of  the  enemy  out  of 
these  countries  for  ever  and  afterward 
in  clear  profit  unto  her  Majetbj  far  sur- 
mount the  receipts  at  home."  Cavendish 
to  Burghley,  9  April,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

"The  people,"  said  Leicester,  "still 
pray  God  that  her  Majesty  will  be  their 
sovereign.  She  would  then  see  what  a 
contribution  they  wiU  all  bring  forth." 


Ixicester  to  Burghley,  18  June,   1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

"  I  may  safely  say  to  your  Majesty," 
said  he  at  about  the  same  period,  "  that 
if  your  aid  had  been  in  such  apparent 
sort  to  the  countries  that  they  might 
assure  themselves  of  any  certain  time 
of  continuance  of  the  same,  and  that  you 
had  taken  their  cause  indeed  to  heart, 
I  am  verily  persuaded  that  they  would 
have  given  very  good  testimonies  by 
their  very  large  contributions  to  main- 
tain their  wars  for  such  certain  nimiber 
of  years  to  be  set  down  as  your  Majesty 
should  appoint,  and  no  prince  nor  prac- 
tice of  any  person  living  able  to  draw 
them  from  you."  Leicester  to  the 
Queen,  27  June,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 


II 


ii 


i 


60 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  HEK  ANGER. 


61 


allegiance.  But  Elizabeth  liad  already  countenanced 
that  step  by  assisting  the  rebellion  against  Philip.  To 
allow  the  rebels  to  transfer  their  obedience  from  the 
King  of  Spain  to  herself  was  only  another  step  in  the 
same  direction.  The  Queen,  should  she  annex  the  Pro- 
vinces, would  certiiinly  bo  accused  by  the  world  of  am- 
bition ;  but  the  ambition  was  a  noble  one,  if,  by  thus 
consenting  to  the  urgent  solicitations  of  a  free  people, 
she  extended  the  region  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
and  raised  up  a  permanent  bulwark  against  sacerdotal 
and  royal  absolutism. 

A  war  between  herself  and  Spain  was  inevitable  if  she 
accepted  the  sovereignty,  but  peace  had  been  already 
rendered  impossible  by  the  treaty  of  alliance.  It  is  tine 
that  the  Queen  imagined  the  possibility  of  combining 
her  engagements  towards  the  States  with  a  conciliatoiy 
attitude  towards  their  ancient  master,  but  it  was  here 
that  she  committed  the  gravest  error.  The  negotiations 
of  Parma  and  his  sovereign  with  the  English  court  were 
a  masterpiece  of  deceit  on  the  part  of  Spain.  We  have 
shown,  by  the  secret  correspondence,  and  we  shall  in  the 
sequel  make  it  still  clearer,  that  Philip  only  intended  to 
amuse  his  antagonists ;  that  he  had  already  prepared  his 
plan  for  the  conquest  of  England,  down  to  the  minutest 
details ;  that  tlie  idea  of  tolerating  religious  liberty  had 
never  entered  his  mind ;  and  that  his  fixed  purpose  was 
not  only  thorouglily  to  chastise  the  Dutch  rebels,  but 
to  deprive  the  heretic  Queen  who  had  fostered  their 
rebellion  both  of  throne  and  life.  So  far  as  regarded 
the  Spanish  King,  then,  the  quarrel  between  him  and 
Elizabeth  was  already  mortal ;  while,  in  a  religious, 
moral,  political,  and  financial  point  of  view,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  show  that  it  was  wrong  or  imprudent  for 
England  to  accept  the  sovereignty  over  his  ancient 
subjects.  The  cause  of  human  freedom  seemed  likely 
to  gain  by  the  step,  for  the  States  did  not  consider 
themselves  strong  enough  to  maintain  the  independent 
republic  which  had  already  risen. 

It  might  be  a  question  whether,  on  the  whole,  Eliza- 
beth made  a  mistake  in  declining  the  sovereignty.  She 
was  certainly  wrong,  however,  in  wishing  the  lieu- 
tenant-general of  her  six  thousand  auxiliary  troops  to 
be  clothed,  as  such,  with  viceregal  powers.     The  States- 


General,  in  a  moment  of  enthusiasm,  appointed  him 
governor  absolute,  and  placed  in  his  hands,  not  only  the 
command  of  the  forces,  but  the  entire  control  of  their 
revenues,  imposts,  and  customs,  together  with  the  ap- 
pointment of  civil  and  military  officers.  Such  an  amount 
of  power  could  only  be  delegated  by  the  sovereign. 
Elizabeth  had  refused  the  sovereignty :  it  then  rested 
with  the  States.  They  only,  therefore,  were  competent 
to  confer  the  power  which  Elizabeth  wished  her  favourite 
to  exercise  simply  as  her  lieutenant-general. 

Her  wrathful  aiid  vituperative  language  damaged  hor 
cause  and  that  of  the  K  etherlands  more  severely  than 
can  now  be  accurately  estimated.  The  Earl  was  placed 
at  once  in  a  false,  a  humiliating,  almost  a  ridiculous  po- 
sition. The  authority  which  the  States  had  thus  a 
second  time  offered  to  England  was  a  second  time  and 
most  scornfully  thrust  back  upon  them.  Elizabeth  was 
indignant  that  "  her  own  man  "  should  clothe  himself  in 
the  supreme  attributes  which  she  had  refused.  The 
States  were  forced  by  the  violence  of  the  Queen  to  take 
the  authority  into  their  own  hands  again,  and  Leicester 
was  looked  upon  as  a  disgraced  man. 

Then  came  the  neglect  with  which  the  Earl  was  treated 
by  her  Majesty  and  her  ill-timed  parsimony  towards  the 
cause.  No  letters  to  him  in  four  months,  no  remittances 
for  the  English  troops,  not  a  penny  of  salary  for  him. 
The  whole  expense  of  the  war  was  thrown  for  the  time 
upon  their  hands,  and  the  English  soldiers  seemed  only 
a  few  thousand  starving,  naked,  dying  vagrants,  an  in- 
cumbrance instead  of  an  aid.^ 

The  States,  in  their  turn,  drew  the  purse-strings.  The 
two  hundred  thousand  florins  monthly  were  paid.  The 
four  hundred  thousand  florins  which  had  been  voted  as 
an  additional  supply  were  for  a  time  held  back,  as  Lei 
cester  expressly  stated,  because  of  the  discredit  which 
had  been  thrown  upon  him  from  home.* 

1  ••  I  find  the  most  part  of  the  bands    graves,  yet  the  rest  are  so  111  contented  of 


that  came  over  in  August  and  Septem 
ber,"  said  Quartermaster  Diggos,  "  more 
than  half  wasted,  dead  and  gone,  and 
many  of  the  remainder  sick,  lame,  and 
shrewdly  enfeebled,  fitter  to  be  relieved 
at  home  in  hospitals  than  to  take  her 

MjvJcsty's  pay  here  for  soldiers ±  JIarch.  1586 

Our  soldiers,  notwithstanding  great  num.-    J3 

bers  of  them  be  jwid  vnth  earth  in  their       ^  Strangely    enough. 


their  due  for  the  time  past,  that,  If  pay 
come  not  speedily,  before  they  be  drawn 
to  deal  with  the  enemy,  I  doubt  some 
worse  adventure  than  I  will  divine  be- 
forehand." '  Advertisement  of  tae  present 
state  of  these  Low  Countries,  byT.  Dlgges,' 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

Elizaljeth    woa 


I 

t 


62 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


The  military  operations  were  crippled  for  want  of 
funds,  but  more  fatal  than  everything  else  were  the 
secret  negotiations  for  peace.  Subordinate  individuals, 
like  Grafigny  and  De  Loo,  went  up  and  down,  bringing 
presents  out  of  England  for  Alexander  Farnese,*  and 
bragging  that  Parma  and  themselves  could  have  peace 
whenever  they  liked  to  make  it,  and  affirming  that  Lei- 
cester's opinions  were  of  no  account  whatever.  Eliza- 
beth's coldness  to  the  Earl  and  to  the  Netherlands  was 
affirmed  to  be  the  Prince  of  Parma's  sheet-anchor; 
while  meantime  a  house  was  ostentatiously*  prepared 
in  Brussels  by  their  direction  for  the  reception  of  an 
English  ambassador,  who  was  every  moment  expected 
to  arrive.^  Under  such  circumstances  it  was  in  vain 
for  the  governor-general  to  protest  that  the  accounts  of 
secret  negotiations  were  false,  and  quite  natural  that 
the  States  should  lose  their  confidence  in  the  Queen. 
An  unfriendly  and  suspicious  attitude  towards  her 
representative  was  a  necessary  result,  and  the  demon- 


under  the  impression  that  the  extra 
prant  of  400,000  fifrrins  (40,000^)  for 
four  monthii  was  four  hundred  thousand 
jjvunds  sterling!  ....  "The  rest  that 
was  granted  by  the  States,  as  extra- 
ordinary to  levy  an  army,  which  was 
400,000  florins,  not  pouuds,  as  1  hear 
your  Majesty  taketh  It.  It  is  forty 
thousand  ixmnds,  and  to  be  paid  in  March, 
April,  May,  and  June  last,'"  &c.  Ijcices- 
ter  to  the  Queen,  11  Oct.  1586.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

She  had  corlalnly  formed  already  an 
exalted  idea  of  the  capacity  of  the  Pro- 
vinces to  protf-ct  themselves.  She  had 
in  a  year  paid  but  seventy  thousand 
pounds  herself  and  believed  the  States 
able,  over  and  above  their  regular  con- 
tributions, to  furnish  an  extraordinary 
supply  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
a  month. 

*  Leicfster  to  the  Queen,  6  June,  1586. 
/,S.  r.  Omce  MS.) 

*  "  Amongst  all  the  enemy's  means 
to  persuade  his  discoiitente<l  and  ill 
fed  companions,"  said  Cavendish,  "  this 
seemeth  to  1k^  his  sheet-anchor,  namely, 
that  where  the  only  comfort  of  this 
people  dependeth  wholly  upon  her 
JIaj.'s  most  gracious  relief  and  sup- 
port, now  is  the  disposition  thereof  iu 


her  so  cooled,  as  she  very  faintly 
stretched  forth  her  hand  thereunto, 
which  evidently  appears,  as  well  by 
the  many  disgraces  which  hen*  my 
Lord  hath  received  from  her  Maj.,  to 
the  great  blemish  of  his  authority,  as 
also  by  the  slack  payment  of  her 
troops  .  .  .  .'  and  so  l«ng  as  my  Lord 
shall  be  unable  to  front  him  in  the 
field,  so  long  will  this  people  be  with- 
out hope,  and  the  enemy  Inflamed  with 
assured  hope  of  victory."  Cavendish 
to  Burghley,  15  June,  15d6.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

3  "It  is  certainly  known  that  the 
enemy  hath  not  a  little  prevailed  with 
that  stratagem,  caushig  to  be  published 
that  there  was  a  treaty  of  peace  between 
her  Majesty  and  him,  and  that  the 
same  should  be  shortly  concludid; 
and  to  make  this  device  to  carrj' 
the  more  show  of  truth,  he  caused 
a  house  to  be  prepan-d  In  Brussels, 
saying  that  it  was  for  an  ambassa- 
dor coming  out  of  England  to  conclude 
tlie  peace,  by  which  means  he  hath 
contained  divers  towns  In  terms  of 
olxHiience  that  were  ready  to  revolt, 
in  respect  of  their  misery,  jwverty,  and 
famine."  Wilkes  to  Uurghley,  7  Aug. 
15t<6.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1586.     QUARRELS  BETWEEN  THE  EARL  AND  THE  STATES.      63 

strations  against  the  common  enemy  became  still  more 
languid.  But  for  these  underhand  dealings,  Grave, 
A^enlo,  and  Neusz,  might  have  been  saved,*  and  the 
current  of  the  Meuse  and  Ehine  have  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  patriots. 

The  Earl  was  industrious,  generous,  and  desirous  of 
playing  well  his  part.  His  personal  courage  was  un- 
doubted, and,  in  the  opinion  of  his  admirers — them- 
selves, some  of  them,  men  of  large  military  experience 
— his  ability  as  a  commander  was  of  a  high  order.*  The 
valour  displayed  by  the  English  nobles  and  gentlemen 
who  accompanied  him  was  magnificent,  worthy  the 
descendants  of  the  victors  at  Crecy,  Poictiers,  and  Agin- 
court ;  and  the  good  behaviour  of  their  followers — with 
a  few  rare  exceptions — had  been  equally  signal.  But 
now  the  army  was  dwindling  to  a  ghastly  array  of  scare- 
crows, and  the  recruits,  as  they  came  from  England, 
were  appalled  by  the  spectacle  presented  by  their  pre- 
decessors.* "  Our  old  ragged  rogues  here  have  so  dis- 
couraged our  new  men,"  said  Leicester ;  "  as  I  protest 
to  you  they  look  like  dead  men."  *  Out  of  eleven  hun- 
dred freshly- arrived  Englishmen,  five  hundred  ran 
away  in  two  days.*  Some  were  caught  and  hanged,  and 
all  seemed  to  prefer  hanging  to  remaining  in  the  ser- 
vice, while  the  Earl  declared  that  he  would  be  hanged 
as  well  rather  than  again  undertake  such  a  charge 
without  being  assured  payment  for  his  troops  before- 
hand." 

The  valour  of  Sidnev  and  Essex,  Willou«:hbv  and  Pel- 

V  *  CD  \ 

ham,  Koger  Williams  and  Martin  Schenk,  was  set  at 
nought  by  such  untoward  circumstances.  Had  not  Philip 
also  left  his  army  to  stirve  and  Alexander  Famese  to 
work  miracles,  it  would  have  fared  still  worse  with 
Holland  and  England,  and  with  the  cause  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  in  the  year  158H. 

The  States  having  resumed,  as  much  as  possible,  their 
former  authority,  were  on  very  unsatisfactory  terms  with 
tlie  governor-general.     Before  long,  it  was  impossible 


>  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  20  June,  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  North  to  Burghley,  23  May,  15«6. 
Same  to  same,  29  May,  15>j6.  Heneage 
to  Walsins^ham,  25  May,  15»6.  (S.  P. 
Office  M.SS.) 


5  Ijeicester  to  Burghley,  18  June,  15S6. 
(S.  P.  Office  M  S.)  Brace's '  Leyc.  Corresp.' 
338. 

*  Bruce's  '  Ijeyc  Corresp.'  .338. 

*  Iveicester  U>  Burghley,  MS.  List  cited. 
Bruce,  ubi  sujj  «  Ibid. 


t 


64 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


15S6. 


THE  EARL'S  THREE  COUNSELLORS. 


65 


for  the  twenty  or  thirty  individuals  called  the  States  to 
be  in  the  same  town  with  the  man  whom  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year  they  had  greeted  so  warmly.' 
The  hatred  between  the  Leicester  faction  and  the  muni- 
cipalities became  intense,  for  the  foundation  of  the  two 
great  parties  which  were  long  to  divide  the  Netherland 
commonwealth  was  already  laid.  The  mercantile  patri- 
cian interest,  embodied  in  the  states  of  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  and  inclined  to  a  largo  toleration  in  the  matter 
of  religion,  which  afterwards  took  the  form  of  Arminian- 
ism,  was  opposed  by  a  strict  Calvinist  party,  which 
desired  to  subject  the  political  commonweath  to  the 
reformed  church ;  which  nevertheless  indulged  in  very 
democratic  views  of  the  social  compact ;  and  which  was 
controlled  by  a  few  refugees  from  Flanders  and  Bra- 
bant, who  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  confidence  of 
Leicester. 

Thus  the  Earl  was  the  nominal  head  of  the  Calvinist 
democratic  party ;  while  young  Maurice  of  Nassau,  stad- 
holder  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  and  guided  by  Bame- 
veld,  Buys,  and  other  leading  statesmen  of  these  Pro- 
vinces, was  in  an  attitude  precisely  the  reverse  of  the 
one  which  he  was  destined  at  a  later  and  equally 
memorable  epoch  to  assume.  The  chiefs  of  the  faction 
which  had  now  succeeded  in  gaining  the  confidence 
of  Leicester  were  Keingault,  Burgrave,  and  Doventer, 
all  refugees. 

The  laws  of  Holland  and  of  the  other  United  States 
were  very  strict  on  the  subject  of  citizenship,  and  no 
one  but  a  native  was  competent  to  hold  office  in  each 
Province.  Doubtless,  such  regulations  were  narrow- 
spirited  ;  but  to  fly  in  the  ftice  of  them  was  the  act  of  a 
despot,  and  this  is  w^hat  Leicester  did.  Keingault  was 
a  Fleming.  He  was  a  bankrupt  meichant,  who  had 
been  taken  into  the  protection  of  Lamoral  Egmont,  and 
by  that  nobleman  recommended  to  Granvelle  for  an 
office  under  the  Cardinal's  government.  The  refusal  of 
this  fiivour  was  one  of  the  original  causes  of  Egmont's 
hostility  to  Granvelle.  Keingault  subsequently  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Cardinal,  however,  and 
rewarded  the   kindness   of   his  former  benefactor  by 

*  Doyley  to  Burghley,  8  Aug.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)    Compare  Wugenaar 
TilL  142, 143. 


great  exertions  in  finding,  or  inventing,  evidence  to 
justify  the  execution  of  that  unfortunate  nobleman.  He 
was  afterwards  much  employed  by  the  Duke  of  Alva 
and  by  the  Grand  Commander  Kequesens ;  but  after  the 
pacification  of  Ghent  he  had  been  completely  thrown  out 
of  service.  He  had  recently,  in  a  subordinate  capa- 
city, accompanied  the  legations  of  the  States  to  France 
and  to  England,  and  had  now  contrived  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  He  affected  great 
zeal  for  the  Calvinistic  religion — an  exhibition  which, 
in  the  old  servant  of  Granvelle  and  Alva,  was  far  from 
edifying — and  would  employ  no  man  or  maidservant  in 
his  household  until  their  religious  principles  had  been 
thoroughly  examined  by  one  or  two  clergymen.  In 
brief,  he  was  one  of  those,  who,  according  to  a  homely 
Flemish  proverb,  are  wont  to  hang  their  piety  on  the 
bell-rope ;  but,  with  the  exception  of  this  brief  inter- 
lude in  his  career,  he  lived  and  died  a  Papist.^ 

Gerard  Proninck,  called  Deventer,  was  a  respectable 
inhabitant  of  Bois-le-Duc,  who  had  left  that  city  after 
it  had  again  become  subject  to  the  authority  of  Spain. 
He  was  of  decent  life  and  conversation,  but  a  restless 
and  ambitious  demagogue.  As  a  Brabantine,  he  was 
unfit  for  office  ;  and  yet,  through  Leicester's  influence 
and  the  intrigues  of  the  democratic  party,  he  obtained 
the  appointment  of  burgomaster  in  the  city  of  Utrecht. 
The  States-General,  however,  always  refused  to  allow 
him  to  appear  at  their  sessions  as  representative  of  that 
city.* 

Daniel  de  Burgrave  was  a  Flemish  mechanic,  who, 
by  the  exertion  of  much  energy  and  talent,  had  risen  to 
the  post  of  procureur-general  of  Flanders.  After  the 
conquest  of  the  principal  portion  of  that  Province  by 
Parma,  he  had  made  himself  useful  to  the  English 
govemor-geneml  in  various  ways,  and  particularly  as  a 
linguist.  He  spoke  English — a  tongue  with  which  few 
Netherlanders  of  that  day  were  familiar — and  as  the 
Earl  knew  no  other,  except  (very  imperfectly)  Italian, 
he  found  his  services  in  speaking  and  >vriting  a  variety 
of  languages  very  convenient.  He  was  the  governor  s 
private  secretary,  and,  of  course,  had  no  entrance  to  the 
council   of  state,   but   he   was   accused   of  frequently 

»  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  U2, 143.    Reydani,  V.  89,  90.     «  Hoofd  Vervolgh,  kc  just  cited. 
VOL.  II.  F 


I 


I 


66 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


thrusting  himself  into  their  hall  of  sessions,  where. 
Tinder  pretence  of  arranging  the  Earl's  table,  or  port- 
folio, or  papers,  he  was  much  addicted  to  whispering 
into  his  master's  ear,  listening  to  conversation, — to 
eaves-dropping,  in  short,  and  general  intnisiveness.^ 

*'  A  most  faithful,  honest  servant  is  Burgrave,"  said 
Leicester  ;  *'  a  substantial,  wise  man."  'Tis  as  sufficient 
a  man  as  ever  I  met  withal  of  any  nation ;  very  well 
learned,  exceeding  wise,  and  sincere  in  religion.  I 
cannot  commend  the  man  too  much.  He  is  the  only 
comfort  I  have  had  of  any  of  this  nation."  • 

These  three  personages  were  the  leaders  of  the  Lei- 
cester faction.  They  had  much  influence  with  all  the 
refugees  from  Flanders,  Brabant,  and  the  Walloon 
Provinces.  In  Utrecht,  especially,  where  the  Earl 
mainly  resided,  their  intrigues  were  very  successful. 
De venter  was  appointed,  as  already  stated,  to  the 
important  post  of  burgomaster  ;  many  of  the  influential 
citizens  were  banished,  without  cause  or  trial ;  the 
upper  branch  of  the  municipal  government,  consisting 
of  the  clerical  delegates  of  the  colleges,  was  in  an 
arbitrary^  manner  abolished ;  and  finally,  the  absolute 
sovereignty  of  the  Province,  without  condition,  was 
offered  to  the  Queen  of  England.* 

Leicester  was  now  determined  to  cany  out  one  of 
the  great  objects  which  the  Queen  had  in  view  when 
she  sent  him  to  the  Netherlands.  She  desired  tho- 
roughly to  ascertain  the  financial  resources  of  the 
Provinces,  and  their  capacity  to  defend  themselves.* 
It  was  supposed  by  the  States,  and  hoped  by  the  Earl 
and  by  a  majority  of  the  Netherland  people,  that  she 
would,  in  case  the  results  were  satisfactory,  accept,  after 
all,  the  sovereignty.  She  certainly  was  not  to  be  blamed 
that  she  wished  to  make  this  most  important  investi- 
gation, but  it  was  her  own  fault  that  any  new  machinery 
had  been  rendered  necessary.  The  whole  control  of  the 
finances  had,  in  the  beginning  of  tlie  year,  been  placed 
in  the  EarFs  hands,"  and  it  was  only  by  her  violently 


*  Hoofd.  Reyd,  ubi  tup. 

2  Brace's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  363,  422. 
'  Leicester  ti>  Walslngham,  27  July, 
1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  Bor,  U.  722- 


»  Hoofd.  1039.  1042.  Wagenaar,  vlii. 
143. 

•Brace's  'Leya  Corresp.'  1585; 
"And,"  said  he  to  the  Ix>rd  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  of  London,  "  you  may  all  sleep 


1586. 


LEICESTER'S  FINANCE-CHAMBER. 


67 


depriving  him  of  his  credit  and  of  the  confidence  of  the 
country  that  he  had  not  retained  it.  He  now  established 
a  finance-chamber,  under  the  chief  control  of  Eeingault, 
who  promised  him  mountains  of  money,  and  who  was  to 
be  chief  treasurer.'  Paul  Buys  was  appointed  by  Lei- 
cester to  fill  a  subordinate  position  in  the  new  council. 
He  spumed  the  ofier  with  great  indignation,  saying  that 
Eeingault  was  not  fit  to  be  his  clerk,  and  that  he  was 
not  likely  himself,  therefore,  to  accept  a  humble  post 
under  the  administration  of  such  an  individual.  This 
scornful  refusal  filled  to  the  fall  the  hatred  of  Leicester 
against  the  ex-AdvOcate  of  Holland.* 

The  mercantile  interest  at  once  took  the  alarm,  be- 
cause it  was  supposed  that  the  finance-chamber  was 
intended  to  crush  the  merchants.  Eaily  in  April  an 
Act  had  been  passed  by  the  state- council,  prohibiting 
commerce  with  the  Spanish  possessions.     The  embargo 


quietly  in  England,  so  long  as  these 
countries  may  be  held  In  their  earnest 
good-will." 

I  Bor,  11.  722. 

Leicester  to  Burghley,  28  June,  1586. 
Cavendish  to  same,  19  June,  1586.  I^i- 
cester  to  the  t^ueen,  26  June,  1586. 
Same  to  same,  27  June,  1586.  Willces  to 
Lords  of  Council  20  Aug.  1586.  (S.  P. 
Office  MSS.) 

"  The  Prince  of  Orange."  said  Caven- 
dish (MS.  uU  sup.),  "  being  not  ignorant 
of  th\»  frauds  of  the  States,  often  levelled 
at  this  matter  (a  finance-council),  but 
was  never  able  to  hit  it,  because  they 
knew  he  was  poor,  and  had  no  way  else 
to  live  but  upon  their  alms-basket.  .  .  . 
Amongst  other  things,  there  is  one  im- 
post granu-dby  favour  to  some  parties 
for  iQOl.  by  the  year,  which  is  indeed 
worth  SOOOi.  With  these  tricks  have 
they  enriched  themselves,  all  which  de- 
vices must  now  quail"  If  such  stories, 
which  were  daily  whispered  into  Leices- 
ter's ears,  had  a  shadow  of  foundation,  it 
was  not  surprising  that  he  should  expect 
to  increase  the  revenue  by  a  more  judi- 
cious farming.  But  he  never  found  his 
"mounUlns  of  gold,"  nor  any  collector 
wIm>  could  turn  a  hundred  pounds 
Into  eight  thousand.  "  1  have,"  said 
Leicester  (Letters  to  the  (jueen,  ubi 
tup.),  "  established,  against,  the  wills  of 
•owe  here,  a   chamber  of   finance,    by 


which  I  shall  be  sure  to  be  privy  to  the 
levying  and  bestowing  of  all  their 
revenues— a  matter  your  Majesty  hath 
often  sought  to  understand  thereof, 
but,  with  all  the  wit  and  means  I  could 
use,  could  never  certainly  bring  it  to  pass, 
nor  never  will,  but  by  this  only  way.  1 
trust  shortly  to  have  very  assured  know 
ledge  to  satisfy  your  Majesty  of  the 
States'  ability,  which  thing  1  have  gone 
about  from  the  beginning.  I  hope, 
within  twenty  days,  to  give  your  Jlajesty 
some  near  reckoning  of  all  their  revenues 
every  way.  Your  Majesty  doth  suppose 
I  deal  weakly  with  these  men,  but  I 
would  you  knew  how  I  have  dealt  with 
them  of  late,  to  bring  the  office  of  financ*! 
to  pass.  I  had  a  good  will  to  have  dealt 
long  since  roundly  with  them,  I  confess, 
but  my  case  was  too  well  known  to  them. 
But  as  soon  as  my  heartening  came  from 
mine  old  supporter,  1  was  found  a  more 
shrew  than  your  Majesty  will  believe  ;  for 
mine  old  patience  hath  been  too  much 
tried  since  1  came  from  my  quiet  home  to 
this  A'ayward  goneratlon." 

"  I  find  that  until  the  time  of  my 
coming  hither,"  said  Wilkes  (Letter  to 
Council,  ubi  sup.),  "  the  Slates  have  been 
contented  to  disguise  and  conceal  the  truth 
of  many  particularities,  which  now  they 
profess  to  discover,  meaning,  as  they  say, 
to  anatomise  unto  her  Majesty  the  whole 
state  of  their  strength."        *  Bor,  iL  722. 

F  2 


f 


68 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


I 


was  intended  to  injure  the  obedient  Provinces  and  their 
sovereign,  but  it  was  shown  thai  its  effect  would  be  to 
blast  the  commerce  of  Holland.  It  forbade  the  exporta- 
tion from  the  republic  not  only  of  all  provisions  and 
munitions  of  war,  but  of  all  goods  and  merchandize 
whatever,  to  Spain,  Portugal,  the  Spanish  Netherlands, 
or  any  other  of  Philip's  territories,  either  in  Dutch  or 
neutral  vessels.*  It  would  certainly  seem,  at  first  sight, 
that  such  an  act  was  reasonable,  although  the  result 
would  really  be,  not  to  deprive  the  enemy  of  supplies, 
but  to  throw  the  whole  Baltic  trade  into  the  hands  of 
the  Bremen,  Hamburg,  and  "Osterling"  merchants. 
Leicester  expected  to  derive  a  considerable  revenue  by 
granting  passports  and  licences  to  such  neutral  traders, 
but  the  edict  became  so  unpopular  that  it  was  never 
thoroughly  enforced,  and  was  before  long  rescinded.* 

The  ociinm  of  the  measure  was  thrown  upon  the 
governor-general,  yet  he  had  in  tnith  opposed  it  in  the 
state-council,    and   was    influential    in    procuring    its 

repeal.' 

Another  important  Act  had  been  directed  against  the 
mercantile  interest,  and  excited  much  general  discontent. 
The  Netherlands  wished  the  staple  of  the  English  cloth 
manufacture  to  be  removed  from  Emden— the  petty 
sovereign  of  which  place  was  the  humble  servant  of  Spain 
—to  Amsterdam  or  Delft.  The  desire  was  certainly 
natural,  and  the  Dutch  merchants  sent  a  committee  to 
confer  with  Leicester.  He  was  much  impressed  with 
their  views,  and  with  the  sagacity  of  their  chairman, 


1  Bor.  ii.  703  seq.,  who  is,  however, 
mistaken  In  ascribing  the  measure  to  the 
inspirution  of  I>eicester. 

*  Bor,  li.  703  s^q.  Wagenaar,  viil.  147, 
seq.,  who  Is  In  this  matter  even  niore 
ui\ju8t  to  the  Earl  than  contemporary 
auibortties. 

'  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  11  Oct  1586, 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

"  I  have  very  good  testimony  of  all  the 
council  here,"  said  the  Earl,  "that  I 
only  in  council  stood  against  the  placard, 
insomuch  it  lay  a  month  by,  for  indeed 
1  thought  it  unreasonable  and  that  it 
would  give  all  princes  Just  cause  of 
offence  toward  this  country,  and,  by  all 
duty  to  your  Majesty,  I  did  refute  to  Ut 
U  pau.    At  length,   both   States  and 


council  renewed  the  matter  again  to  me, 
and  showed  me  presently  how  the  like  had 
been  done,  and  what  profit  it  would  bring, 
pressing  me  to  give  it  some  consideration 
in  council  to  be  del)ated.  It  went  so 
through  them  all  as  there  was  not  a  man 
spake  against  It,  yet  my  resolution  being 
to  be  had.  I  would  give  no  consent  till  I 
had  advertised  your  Mi^esty  thereof, 
which  they  all  liked  well.  And  after  it 
was  agreed  and  published,  it  was  again 
by  my  means  revoked  and  qualified,  us 
doth  appear  by  record." 

Compare  Meteren,  xlii.  234«',  Waue- 
naar,  ubi  sup.  Bor,  ubi  sup.,  who  seems 
to  be  mistaken  on  this  point. 

The  real  author  of  the  edict  was  Retai- 
gault    (Meteren,  ttW«/jj.) 


1586.        DISCONTENT  OF  THE  MERCANTILE  CLASSES.         69 


one  Mylward,  "  a  wise  fellow  and  well  languaged,  an 
ancient  man  and  very  religious,"  as  the  Eaii  pronounced 
him  to  be.* 

Notwithstanding  the  wisdom  of  this  well -languaged 
fellow,  however,  the  Queen,  for  some  strange  reason, 
could  not  be  induced  to  change  the  staple  from  Emden, 
although  it  was  shown  that  the  public  revenue  of  the 
Netherlands  would  gain  twenty  thousand  pounds  a 
year  by  the  measure.  "  All  Holland  will  cry  out  for 
it,"  said  Leicester ;  but  I  had  rather  they  cried  than 
that  England  should  weep."  * 

Thus  the  mercantile  community,  and  especially  the 
patrician  families  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  all  engaged 
in  trade,  became  more  and  more  hostile  to  the  governor- 
general  and  to  his  financial  trio,  who  were  soon  almost  as 
unpopular  as  the  famous  Consulta  of  Cardinal  Granvelle 
had  been.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  States  to  consider  the 
men  who  surrounded  the  Earl  as  needy,  unprincipled 
renegades  and  adventurers.  It  was  the  policy  of  his 
advisers  to  represent  the  merchants  and  the  States — • 
which  mainly  consisted  of,  or  were  controlled  by,  mer- 
chants— as  a  body  of  corrupt,  selfish,  greedj^  money- 
getters.' 


I  Ijcicester  to  Burghley,  29  July,  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

>  Leicester  to  Burghley,  10  Aug.  1686. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  "The  wonderful  cunning  dealing 
of  those  fellows  here  called  the  states 
concerning  the  finances  and  the  receipt  of 
revenue,  whereupon  the  people  rest 
greatly  grieved,  and  themselves,  as  is 
t bought,  no  less  enriched."  Cavendish 
to  Burghley,  9  April,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

"The  States  be  sly  persons,"  said 
I»rd  North,  "  inconstant  and  treacherous, 
the  most  of  them  Papists  (!),  and 
so  rich  as  they  will  do  any  turn  to 
serve  themselves.  If  they  again  find 
that  her  Mtjesty  likes  not  of  my 
liord's  authority,  they  will  doubt  of 
their  own  safety,  practise  their  own 
peace,  and  leave  my  Lord  and  all  his 
to  the  spirit  of  the  enemy."  North  to 
Burghley,  23  May,  1586.    (S.  P.  Office 

Ma) 

"These  be  daltiy  and  dangerous 
people  to  deal  withal,"  said  Leicester, 


"specially  when  they  shall  be  des- 
perate of  their  hope,  and  disappointed 
of  their  help.  1  must  say  truly  to 
your  Majesty  I  do  find  some  of  the 
best  sort  as  honest  and  as  thankful  as 
ever  I  knew  men,  and  some  others  as 
perverse  and  as  Ingrate  as  might  well 
l>e  spared  out  of  all  good  company. 
There  are  also  men  who  are  able,  and 
do  most  hurt.  .  .  .  These  men  begin 
utterly  to  despah-  of  your  Majesty's 
good  assistance,  and  an  apt  time  is 
offered  now  for  the  lewd  and  bad  dis- 
posed persons  to  work  their  feat."  Lei- 
cester to  the  Queen,  6  June,  1586.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

"The  whole  people,"  said  Caven- 
dish, "  are  here  so  addicted  to  her  Ma- 
jesty, and  in  respect  of  her  to  my  Lord, 
in  whom  they  find  such  incessant 
travail  ana  care  for  her  service  and 
their  general  good,  and  in  respect  of 
whom  they  would  willingly  cashier  or 
rather  hang  all  those  called  Sutes. 
Your  Ijordshlp  may  thmk  I  write  vehe- 
mently, but  I   know    1  write    truly." 


! 


k 


70 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


PAUL  BUYS  AND  THE  OPPOSITION. 


71 


|i 


The  calumnies  put  in  circulation  against  the  States 
by  Eeingault  and  his  associates  grew  at  last  so  out^ 
rageous,  and  the  prejudice  created  in  the  mind  of  Lei- 
cester and  his  immediate  English  adherents  so  intense, 
that  it  was  rendered  necessary  for  the  States  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland  to  write  to  their  agent  Ortell  in  London, 
that  he  might  forestall  the  effect  of  these  perpetual  mis- 
representations on  her  Majesty's  government.*  Leicester, 


Cavendish  to  Burghley,  19  June,  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

"It  will  be  a  harder  matter,"  Raid 
Leicester  again,  '•  than  you  can  imagine, 
io  bring  this  State  in  that  tune  it  was 
three  months  past.  It  will  require  a 
whole  and  full  countenance  from  her 
Majesty  and  with  all  speed  possible.  If 
you  will  have  It  kept  from  the  enemy. 
And  beware  these  fellows  do  not  prevent 
her  Majesty.  If  they  do  you  can  con- 
sider how  harmful  It  is  like  to  prove,  and 
though  they  be  counted  dullards  and 
drunkards,  Uiey  have  shrewd  and  subtle 

heads  as  ever  I  found  anywhere 

The  best  man  in  England  uere  not  too 
good,  as  matters  stand,  to  be  ernploytd 
hither,  eitiur  to  encourage  them 
thoroughly,  or  to  understand  their 
estate  nuire  deeply."  Ijeicester  to  Burgh- 
ley, 20  July,  1586.    (S.  P.  OfBce  MS.) 

"1  did  never  see  such  heady  people 
as  these  States  are,"  said  the  Earl,  once 
more,  "  I  cannot  blame  the  common  sort 
to  mlslike  them,  for  there  is  no  reason- 
ing against   their  resolutions 

There  must  be  very  wi^e  and  gi>od 
handling  had  in  these  causes.  There  Is 
no  more  such  people  to  deal  withal  again. 
I  mean  these  that  be  rich  and  politic 
fellows.  They  hunt  after  their  own 
wealth  and  surety,  and  without  an 
assurance  of  a  strange  assistance  they 
will  be  sudilenly  gone,  and  It  Is  high  lime 
to  look  into  the  course  her  Majesty  will 
take  hereafter."  Simie  to  same,  29  July, 
1586.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

"  They  have  given  to  my  Ix)rd  of  Ijei- 
cester," said  Wilkes,  "a  government 
with  the  word  absolute,  but  with  so 
many  restrictions  that  his  authority  Is 
limited  almost  to  nothing,  and  he  Is  in 
truth  for  the  politic  government  but 
their  servant ;  having  reserved  to  them- 
selves, besides  the  sovereignty,  the  dis- 
potilng  of  all  the  contributions  (saving  the 


monthly  allowance),  the  church  goods, 
contiscatlons,  choice  of  officers  ....  and 
to  keep  themselves  from  rendering 
account  of  anything,  they  do  impugn  his 
court  of  finances  now  erected,  alleging 
that  he  hath  not  authority  to  erect  any 
such  court,  or  to  establish  offices  without 
their  licence."  Wilkes  to  Lords  of 
Council.  20  Aug,   1586.      (S.  P.  Office 

"The  exactions  and  excises  are  Incre- 
dible that  are  laid  on  this  people,"  said 
Digges, "  and  such  as  in  all  probability  do 
amount  to  three  times  as  much  (.')  at  the 
200,000  florin s  monthly  which  they  allow 
his  Excellency  to  prosecute  the  war. 
The  rest  they  divide  among  themselTes 
.  .  .  giving  great  stipends  to  Count  Hol- 
lock, Count  Maurice,  Count  Meurs,  Count 
William,  and  many  Colonels.  But  for  all 
this,  the  States  offer  that  there  shall 
be  new  Impositions  to  levy  more."  T. 
Digges 's  *  Advertisement  of  present  state 

of  the  Low  Countries,'  —  March,  1586. 

'     18  ' 

(S.  p.  Office  MS.) 

1  "  You  have  doubtless  understood," 
said  the  States,  "  of  the  erection  of  the 
finance-council  for  the  better  husbanding 
of  the  money  furnished  by  these  coun- 
tries, of  the  which  Jacques  Klngault  Is 

ordained  treasurer Stephen  Perret 

(a  seditious  person,  often  imprisoned,  and 
a  friiudulent  bankrupt),  being  come  out 
of  Antwerp  after  the  yielding  up  of  the 
same,  hath  kept  correspondence  with  Kln- 
gault, whilst  he  was  in  England.  Very 
shortly  after  the  coming  of  his  Excel- 
lency into  these  countries,  he  hath  sought 
by  all  possible  means  to  bring  him  iu 
suspicion  and  Jealousy  by  the  Estates  of 
the  country,  and  propounded  manifold 
novelties  unto  his  Excellency  whereby  to 
levy  money,  and  in  the  propounding 
thereof  ahainefully  slanda-ed  the  Estatts 
with  injurious,  seditious,   and   untrut 


on  the  other  hand,  under  the  inspiration  of  his  artful 
advisers,  was  vehement  in  his  entreaties  that  Ortell 
ishould  be  sent  away  from  England.^ 

The  ablest  and  busiest  of  the  opposition  party,  the 
"nimblest  head"*  in  the  States-General,  was  the  ex- 
Advocate  of  Holland,  Paul  Buys.  This  man  was  then 
the  foremost  statesman  in  the  Netherlands.  He  had 
been  the  firmest  friend  to  the  English  alliance  ;  he  had 
resigned  his  office  when  tlie  States  were  offering  the 
sovereignty  to  France,  and  had  been  on  the  point  of 
taking  service  in  Denmark.  He  had  afterwanis  been 
prominent  in  the  legation  which  offered  the  sovereignty 
to  Elizabeth,  and,  for  a  long  time,  had  been  the  most 
firm,  earnest,  and  eloquent  advocate  of  the  English 
policy.  Leicester  had  originally  courted  him,  caressed 
him,  especially  recommended  him  to  the  Queen's  favour, 
given  him  money — as  he  said,  "  two  hundred  pounds 


reports   and    drifts.      After  Rlngault's 
arrival  here,  he  hath  found  means  to  get 
In  better  credit  by  his  Excellency,  and, 
laying  their  beads  together,  and  tWier 
being  set  avoork  by  the  enemy  or  else 
thinking  to  enrich  themselr^  out  of  the 
calamity  and  misery  of  these  countries, 
have  made  agreement  between  them  in 
April  last  that  all  that  which  they,  by 
means  of  any  new  invention  by  them 
already  propounded  or  yet  to  be  pro- 
pounded unto  his  Excellency,  should  get 
or  enjoy,  that  the  same  sliould  be  divided 
between  them.    And  after  that  he  sought 
of  his  Excellency  the  20th  penny  of  all 
that  which  should  proceed  of  his  pretend- 
ed Inventions.     To  which  end  Rlngault, 
with  his  own  hand,  has  drawn  an  octroi, 
or  warrant,  and  got  his  Excellency  to 
sign  the  same,  without  knowledge  of  the 
council,  or  any  of  the  secretaries,  namely, 
that  he  should  have  the  30th  penny.  They 
have  also  taken  great  pains  to  change  the 
course  of   the  common  means,  which  so 
laudably  and  with  such  great  travail  his 
Exa'llencyof  worthy  memory  (William  of 
Orange)  brought  in  train,  and  so  to  bring 
It  into  coUectation,  thereby  to  intrude 
themselves  and  such  other  (having  no 
credit)  to  farm  any  of  the  said  general 
means  in  the  coUectation.    The  foresaid 
Perret  and  Klngault  have  also  travailed 
by  all  means  to  set  misunderstanding 
between  his  Excellency  and  the  Estates 


and  the  council  of  state,  and  practised 
many  unlawful  devices  to  alter  Uie  estate 
of  the  countries,  and  to  get  Ills  Excel- 
lency to  do  all  that  which  they  Imagined 
to  serve  to  their  intent  To  which  end 
they  have  used  many  unheard-of  and 
indecent  proceedings  without  order  of 
law,  and  against  the  privileges  and  cus- 
toms of  these  countries,  and  against  the 
estate  and  welfare  of  the  same,  through 
a  company  of  inconstant  and  base  persons, 
for  the  greater  part  being  strangers,  apply- 
ing unto  themselves  and  their  friends  (a 
company  of  strangers)  many  offices  and 
receipts,  thinking  to  deal  with  the  same 
according  to  their  own  pleasure  and 
appetite.  All  which  we  have  at  large 
imparted  to  Mr.  Wilkes,  shoioed  him  the 
original  pieces,  and  given  him  good 
instruction  by  writing  thereof,  to  the  end 
he  may  give  her  Majesty  and  her  honour- 
able coimcil  to  understand  the  personage 
of  these  two  spirits."  States  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland  to  Ortell,  12  Sept.  1586.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

1  "  You  have  there  his  (Paul  Buys's) 
agent,  Ortell.  It  were  well  he  were 
thence.  I  did  send  twice  for  him,  but  he 
excuseth  himself."  Leicester  to  Burgh- 
ley, 20  July,  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
Compare  *  Lej'c.  Corresp.'  311. 

2  Bart.  Clerk  to  Burghley,  24  July, 
1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


12 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X, 


i|> 


sterlinf*"  thick  at  a  time  " — and  openly  pronounced  him 
to  be  '''in  ability  above  all  men."  *  "  ^'o  man  hath  ever 
sought  a  man,"  he  said,  "  as  I  have  sought  P.  B."  * 

The  period  of  their  friendship  was,  however,  very 
brief.  Before  many  weeks  had  passed  there  was  no 
vituperative  epithet  that  Leicester  was  not  in  the  daily 
habit  of  bestowing  upon  Paul.  The  Earl's  vocabulary 
of  abuse  was  not  a  limited  one,  but  he  exhausted  it  on 
the  head  of  the  Advocate.  He  lacked  at  last  words  and 
breath  to  utter  what  was  like  him.  He  pronounced  his 
former  friend  *'  a  very  dang'erous  man,  altogether  hated 
of  the  people  and  the  States ;"  "  a  lewd  sinner,  nursled 
in  revolutions ;"  "  a  most  covetous,  bribing  fellow,  caring 
for  nothing  but  to  bear  the  sway  and  grow  rich;"  "a  man 
who  had  played  many  parts,  both  lewd  and  audacious  ;*' 
"  a  very  knave,  a  traitor  to  his  country ;"  "  the  most 
ungrateful  wretch  alive,  a  hater  of  the  Queen  and  of  all 
the  English  ;  a  most  unthankful  man  to  her  ^lajesty ;  a 
practiser  to  make  himself  rich  and  great,  and  nobody 
else ;"  "  among  all  villains  the  greatest ;"  "  a  bolsterer 
of  all  papists  and  ill  men,  a  dissembler,  a  devil,  an 
atheist,"  a  **  most  naughty  man,  and  a  most  notorious 
dninkard  in  the  worst  degree." 

Where  the  Earl  hated,  his  hatred  was  apt  to  be  deadly,, 
and  he  was  determined,  if  possible,  to  have  the  life  of 
the  detested  Paul.  "You  shall  see  I  will  do  well  enough 
with  him,  and  that  shortly,"  he  said.  "  I  will  course 
him  as  he  was  not  so  this  twenty  year.  I  will  warrant 
him  hanged  and  one  or  two  of  his  fellows,  but  you  must 
not  tell  your  shirt  of  this  yet ;"  and  when  he  was  con- 
gi-atulating  the  government  on  his  having  at  length  pro- 
cured the  execution  of  Captain  Hemart,  the  surrenderer 
of  Grave,  he  added  pithily,  *'  and  you  shall  hear  that 
Mr.  P.  B.  shall  follow.' "» 

Yet  the  Earl's  real  griefs  against  Buys  may  be  easily 
summed  up.     The  lewd  sinner,  nursled  in  revolutions, 


1  Leicester  to  Burghley,  10  Aug.  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  Ibid. 

»  Ijeicester  to  Burghley,  20  June, 
1586.  Same  to  same,  10  Aug.  1586. 
Same    to    same,    20    July.    1586.     B. 


Brace's  •  Ijeyc.  Corresp.'  130,291,303, 
310,  311,  312,  352.  Cavendish  ob- 
served that  "  there  were  many  false 
brethren  in  the  higher  form  among  the 
people,  of  whom  he  feared  that  Paul 
Bays  would  not  prove  the  puUne."  Cav- 


Cterk  to  same,  24  July.    (S.  P.  Office    eod«h  ^  Burghley,  15  June,  1586.  (a  P 


MSS.) 


Office  M&) 


\S 


1586. 


KEEN  INSIGHT  OF  PAUL  BUYS. 


73 


had  detected  the  secret  policy  of  the  Queen's  govern- 
ment, and  was  therefore  perpetually  denouncing  the 
intrigues  going  on  with  8pain.  He  complained  that 
her  Majesty  was  tired  of  having  engaged  in  the  Nether- 
land  enterprise  ;  he  declared  that  she  would  be  glad 
to  be  fairly  out  of  it ;  that  her  reluctance  to  spend  a 
farthing  more  in  the  cause  than  she  was  obliged  to  do 
was  hourly  increasing  upon  her ;  that  she  was  deceiving 
and  misleading  the  States-General ;  and  that  she  was 
hankering  after  a  peace.  He  said  that  the  Earl  had  a 
secret  intention  to.  possess  himself  of  certain  towns  in 
Holland,  in  which  case  the  whole  question  of  peace  and 
war  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Queen,  who  would 
also  have  it  thus  it  in  her  power  to  reimburse  herself  at 
once  for  all  exj)onses  that  she  had  incurred.* 

It  would  be  difficult  to  show  that  there  was  anything 
very  calumnious  in  these  charges,  which,  no  doubt,  Paul 
was  in  the  habit  of  making.  As  to  the  economical  ten- 
dencies of  her  Majesty,  sufficient  evidence  has  been 
given  already  from  Leicester's  private  letters.  **  Eather 
than  spend  one  hundred  pounds,"  said  Walsingham, 
"she  can  be  content  to  be  deceived  of  five  thousand."* 
That  she  had  been  concealing  from  the  States,  from  Wal- 
singham, from  Leicester,  during  the  whole  summer,  her 
secret  negotiations  with  Spain,  has  also  been  made  ap- 
parent. That  she  was  disgusted  with  the  enterprise  in 
which  she  had  embarked,  Walsingham,  Burghley,  Hatton, 
and  all  the  other  statesmen  of  England,  most  abundantly 
testified.  W  hether  Leicester  had  really  an  intention  to 
]  ossess  himself  of  certain  cities  in  Holland — a  charge 
made  by  Paul  Buys,  and  denounced  as  especially  slan- 
derous by  the  Earl — may  better  appear  from  his  own 
private  statements. 

"  This  1  vnll  do,'*  he  wrote  to  the  Queen,  "  and  I  hope 
not  to  fail  of  it,  to  get  into  my  hands  three  or  four  most  prin- 
cipal places  in  North  Holland,  which  mil  he  such  a  strength  and 
assurance  for  your  Majesty,  as  you  shall  see  you  shall  both  rule 
these  men,  and  make  war  or  peace  as  you  list,  always  provided 
— whatsoever  you  Jiear^  or  is — part  not  with  the  Birill ;  and 

1  "  Paul  Buys  —  still  giving  out  slan-  should  hereby  be  able  to  compel  them  to 

doroos  speeches—  for  that  I  only  sought  what  end  she  should  think  good."     Lei- 

Xo  ...  get  their  totms  ....  that  there-  coster  to  Walsingham,  20  July,  1586,  In 

by,    whensoever    her    Majesty    should  Bruce,  376. 

think  good  to  treat  fir  peace,  ....  I  •  Bruce" s '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  273. 


74 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


il 


having  these  places  in  your  hands,  whatsoever  should  chance  to 
these  countries^  your  Majesty,  J  will  warrant  sure  enough  to 
make  whaJt  peace  you  will  in  an  hour,  and  to  have  your  debts  and 
cfiarges  readily  answered.''  ^  At  a  somewhat  later  moment 
it  will  be  seen  what  came  of  these  secret  designs.  For 
the  present,  Leicester  was  very  angry  with  Paul  for 
daring  to  suspect  him  of  such  treachery-. 

The  Earl  complained,  too,  that  the  influence  of  Buys 
with  Hohenlo  and  young  Maurice  of  Nassau  was  most 
pernicious.  Hohenlo  had  foimerly  stood  high  in  Lei- 
cester's opinion.  He  was  a  "  plain,  faithful  soldier,  a 
most  valiant  gentleman,"  and  he  was  still  more  im- 
portant, because  about  to  marry  Mary  of  Nassau,  eldest 
daughter  of  William  the  Silent,  and  coheiress  with 
Philip  William  to  the  Buren  property.  But  he  had 
been  tampered  with  by  the  intriguing  Paul  Buys,  and 
had  then  wished  to  resign  his  office  under  Leicester. 
Being  pressed  for  reasons,  he  had  "grown  solemn,"  and 
withdrawn  himself  almost  entirely. 

JMaurice,  with  his  *'  solemn  sly  wit,"  also  gave  the 
Earl  much  trouble,  saying  little,  but  thinking  much,  and 
listening  to  the  insidious  Paul.  He  "  stood  much  on 
making  or  marring,"  so  Leicester  thought,  "  as  he  met 
witli  good  counsel."  He  had  formerly  been  on  inti- 
mate terms  with  the  governor-general,  who  affected  to 
call  him  his  son ;  but  he  had  subsequently  kept  aloof, 
and  in  three  months  had  not  come  near  him.*  The  Earl 
thought  that  money  might  do  much,  and  was  anxious  for 
Sir  Francis  Brake  to  come  home  from  the  Indies  with 
millions  of  gold,  that  the  Queen  might  make  both 
Hohenlo  and  Maurice  a  handsome  present  before  it 
should  be  too  late.* 

Meantime  he  did  what  he  could  with  Elector  Truch- 


J  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  27  June, 
16M.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  "  The  Count  Maurice  bath  not  been 
three  months  with  hia  Lordship.  He  is 
utterly  discontented,  and  much  advised 
by  Ste.  Aldt'gonde,  who  is  assuredly  the 
King  of  Spain's,  and  practiseth  (as  an 
instrument  of  sedititm)  to  animate  the 
Count,  by  all  means  possible,  to  thwart 
my  Lord  in  the  course  of  her  M^tsty's 
■ervice.  The  Count,  well  advised  by  Ste. 
Aldegonde  and  Villiers,  replneih  secretly 
that  her  Mtjesty  should  have  anythiug 


to  do  in  the  government  of  the  country. 
It  Is  to  be  feared  his  hidden  malice  will 
do  much  mischief,  and  many  ill  offices 
In  the  common  cause  now  in  hand." 
*  Matters  to  be  related  to  her  Majesty  by 
a  special  messenger  from  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,'  20  June,  1586.  (S.  P.  OfBce 
MS.) 

The  opinion  here  expressed  in  re- 
gard to  Sainte  Aldegonde  was  subse- 
quently and  distinctly  contradicted  by 
Wilkes. 

3  Bruce's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  374. 


1586. 


TRUCHSESS  BECOMES  A  SPY  UPON  HIM. 


75 


sess  to  lure  them  back  again.  That  forlorn  little  prelate 
was  now  poorer  and  more  wretched  than  ever.  IJe  was 
becoming  paralytic,  though  young,  and  his  heart  was 
broken  through  want.  Leicester,  always  generous  as 
the  sun,  gave  him  money,  four  thousand  florins  at  a  time, 
and  was  most  earnest  that  the  Queen  should  put  him  on 
her  pension  list.^  "  His  wisdom,  his  behaviour,  his  lan- 
guages, his  person,"  said  the  Earl,  "  all  would  like  her 
well.  He  is  in  great  melancholy  for  his  town  of  Neiisz, 
and  for  his  poverty,  having  a  very  noble  mind.  If  ho  be 
lost,  her  Majesty  had  better  lose  a  hundred  thousand 
pounds."* 

The  melancholy  Truchsess  now  became  a  spy  and  a 
go-between.  He  insinuated  himself  into  the  confidence 
of  Paul  Buys,  wormed  his  secrets  from  him,  and  then 
communicated  them  to  Hohenlo  and  to  Leicester ;  *'  but 
he  did  it  very  wisely,"  said  the  Earl,  "  so  that  he  was 
not  mistrusted."  *  The  governor  always  affected,  in  order 
to  screen  the  elector  from  suspicion,  to  obtain  his  informa- 
tion from  persons  in  Utrecht ;  and  he  had  indeed  many 
spies  in  that  city,  who  diligently  reported  Paul's  table- 
talk.  Nevertheless,  that  "  noble  gentleman,  the  elector," 
said  Leicester,  "  hath  dealt  most  deeply  with  him,  to 
seek  out  the  bottom.*'  *  As  the  ex-Advocate  of  Holland 
was  very  communicative  in  his  cups,  and  veiy  bitter 
against  the  governor-general,  there  was  soon  such  a  fund 
of  information  collected  on  the  subject  by  various  eaves- 
droppers, that  Leicester  was  in  hopes  of  very  soon  hang- 
ing Mr.  Paul  Buys,  as  we  have  already  seen. 

The  burthen  of  the  charges  against  the  culprit  was 
his  statement  that  the  Provinces  would  be  gone  if  her 
Majesty  did  not  declare  herself,  vigorously  and  gene- 
rously, in  their  favour ;  but,  as  this  was  the  perpetual 
cry  of  Leicester  himself,  there  seemed  hardly  hanging 
matter  in  that.  That  noble  gentleman,  the  elector, 
however,  had  nearly  saved  the  hangman  his  trouble, 
having  so  dealt  with  Hohenlo  as  to  "  bring  him  into  as 
good  a  mind  as  ever  he  was ;"  and  the  first  fruits  of  this 
good  mind  were,  that  the  honest  Count — a  man  of  prompt 
dealings — walked  straight  to  Paul's  house  in  order  to 
kill  him  on  the  spot.*  Something  fortunately  prevented 
the  execution  of  this  plan ;  but  for  a  time  at  least  the 

»  Bruce's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.' 378.     »  Ibid.  374.    '  Ibid.  377.    *  Ibid.    *  Ibid.  372. 


% 


iri 


)^i 


f€ 


THK  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


INTRIGUES  OF  BUrS  WITH  DENMARK. 


77 


energetic  Count  continued  to  be  "  governed  greatly'*  by 
the  ex-archbishop,  and  "  did  impart  wholly  unto  him  his 
most  secret  heart." 

Thus  the  "  deep  wise  Tnixy,"  as  Leicester  called  him, 
continued  io  earn  golden  opinions,  and  followed  up  his 
conversion  of  Hohcnlo  by  undertaking  to  *'  bring  Maurice 
into  tune  again  also,"  and  the  young  Prince  was  soon  on 
better  terms  with  his  "affectionate  father"  than  he  had 
ever  been  before.* 

Paul  Buys  was  not  so  easily  put  do^Ti,  however,  nor 
the  two  magnates  so  thoroughly  gained  over.     Before 
the  end  of  the  season  Maurice  stood  in  his  old  position, 
the  nominal  head  of  the  Holland  or  patrician  party,' 
chief  of  the  opposition  to  Leicester,  while  Hohenlo  had 
become  more  bitter  than  ever  against  the  Earl.     The 
quarrel  between  himself  and  Edward  Norris,  to  which 
allusion  will  soon  be  made,  tended  to  increase  the  dis- 
satisfaction, although  he  singularly  misunderstood  Lei- 
cester's sentiments  throughout  the  whole  affair.  Hohenlo 
recovered  of  his  wound  before  Zutphen ;  but,  on  his  re- 
covery, was  more  malcontent  than  ever.*     The  Earl  was 
obliged  at  last  to  confess  that  "  he  was  a  very  dangerous 
man,  inconstant,  envious,  and  hateful  to  all  our  nation, 
and  a  very  traitor  to  the  cause.     There  is  no  dealing  to 
win  him,"  he  added,  ''  1  have  sought  it  to  my  cost.     His 
best  friends  tell  me  he  is  not  to  be  tnisted."' 

Meantime  that  lewd  sinner,  the  indefatigable  Paul,  was 
plotting  desperately— so  Leicester  said  and  believed— 
to  transfer  the  sovereignty  of  the  Provinces  to  the  King 
of  Denmark.  Buys,  who  was  privately  of  opinion  that 
the  States  required  an  absolute  head,  "  though  it  were 
but  an  onion's  head,"*  and  that  they  would  thankfully 
continue  under  Leicester  as  governor  absolute  if  Eliza- 
beth would  accept  the  sovereignty,  had  made  up  his 
mmd  that  the  Queen  would  never  take  that  step.  He 
was  therefore  disposed  to  offer  the  crown  to  the  King  of 
Denmark,  and  was  believed  to  have  brought  Maurice 
—who  was  to  espouse  that  King's  daughter  *— to  the 

t  fK?H*^'V«^^*^  ^""^P-'  ^'*'  nnfortunate,  and  subject  to  many  iraper- 

a  II  •^*  «r  fections.     They  would  willingly  be  rid 

ibid.  446.    Wilkes  had  also  fonned  an  of  him.  if  they  might  without  danger" 

unfavourable  opinion  of  the  Count.  '•  I  do  Wilkes  ti,  the  I^rds  of  Council,  20  Aug 

not  hnd  that  the  States  or  people."  he  said.  1 586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
"have  any  great  affection  for  him     The       «  Notes  by  Paul   Buyg,  1586     fS    P 

man  ladoubtleas  valiant,  but  rash,  bloody.  Office  MS.)  «  ibli. 


same  way  of  thinking.  Young  Count  Eantzan,  son  of 
a  distinguished  Danish  statesman,  made  a  visit  to  the 
Netherlands  in  order  to  confer  with  Buys.  Paul  was 
also  anxious  to  be  appointed  envoy  to  Denmark,  osten- 
sibly to  arrange  for  the  two  thousand  cavalr}%  which 
the  King  had  long  before  promised  for  the  assistance  of 
the  Provinces,  but,  in  reality,  to  examine  the  details  of 
this  new  project ;  and  Leicester  represented  to  the 
Queen  very  earnestly  how  poweiful  the  Danish  monarch 
would  become,  thus  rendered  master  of  the  narrow  seas, 
and  how  formidable  to  England.* 

In  the  midst  of  tliese  plottings,  real  or  supposed,  a 


*  Paul  Buys  .  .  perceiving  of  late," 
said  Leicester,  "  that  your  MaJ.  meaneth 
not  to  proceed  so  far  in  these  countries  as 
he  looked  for,  or  rather  not  finding  him- 
self the  al)solute  director  and  governor  as 
he  would  be,  is  secretly  working  to  make 
a  king  indeed  over  those  two  countries, 
Holland  and  Zeeland,  and  one  he  doth 
insinuate  unto  men's  minds  already  all 
that  ever  he  can,  is  the  King  of  Denmark 
— a  matter  not  unlike  to  come  to  pass.  If 
your  MaJ.  shall  not  assure  these  people  of 
the  continuance  of  your  favor,  which  if 
they  should  be,  all  the  princes  of  the 
world  cannot  win  them  from  you.  But 
this  lewd  sinner  loseth  no  time,  where  he 
can  be  heard,  to  inform  men  how  fickle  a 
trust  there  is  to  be  had  of  your  Majesty's 
favor  or  promise,  repenting  withal  greatly 
that  he  ever  procured  me  over,  being 
indeed,  as  he  says,  since  fallen  out  in  no 

better    grace    with    you If    the 

King  should  have  these  two  provinces  ab- 
solutely as  king,  you  must  assure  your- 
self  he  will  be  lord  and  commander  over 
the  narrow  seas,  and  all  your  traffics,  east 
and  northward,  wholly  under  his  restraint, 
for  he  will  be  the  only  mighty  prince  by 
tea.  ...  I  refused  P.  B.  to  go  to  the 
King  as  ambassador,  being  marvellous 
earnest  therein  .  .  .  but  I  trust  to  come  to 
nirther  knowledge  of  this  matter,  and  to 
prevent  Master  Buys  well  enongh.  P.  B. 
hath  flatly  said  to  me,  of  late,  that  the 
King  of  Denmark  were  the  fittest  lord  for 
them  in  Christendom,  next  your  Majesty." 
Leicester  to  the  Queen,  20  June,  1586, 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

••  It  is  feared,"  said  Cox,  specially  de- 
puted by  Leicester  to  report  this  matter 


to  the  Queen's  government,  "  that  the 
King  of  Denmark  is  alienated,  and  would 
be  glad  to  have  the  sovereignty  of  these 
countries  himself.  Paul  Buys  hath  not 
spared  of  late  to  intend  such  a  practice, 
and  participating  the  same  with  Count 
Maurice,  alleging  plainly  to  his  Lordship, 
that  It  is  commonly  spoken  and  received 
as  current  money,  that  her  Majesty  will 
abandon  that  cause  and  people  at  Michael- 
mas, and  this  being  so,  that  it  were  fit  for 
them  to  think  of  some  other  prince,  who 
might  protect  and  defend  them,  before 
they  should  fall  Into  further  misery.  He 
was  of  opinion  that  the  King  of  Denmark 
would  most  gladly  entertain  the  action- 
He  was  strong  in  shipping,  and  best  able, 
In  that  respect,  to  defend  the  best  part  of 
their  countries,  which  was  Holland  and 
Zeeland.  His  speeches  were  often  inter- 
mingled with  many  coloured  protestations 
how  much  he  desired  that  her  MtJ. would 
continue  their  giacious  lady  in  the  cau^ei 
as  the  fittest  princess  to  yield  them  com- 
fort In  their  calamities,  yet  hath  his 
I/)rdship  been  certainly  informed  that  he 
practiselh  with  all  earnestness  to  bring 
this  matter  to  pass  for  the  King  of  Den- 
mark.and  hath  greatly  desired  that  he  n\nj 
be  the  man  to  go  into  Denmark  to  solicit 
for  the  2000  horses  promised,  for  the  end 
he  may  better  disguise  his  purpose  under 
this  colour,"  &c.  '  Matters  to  be  related 
to  her  Majesty.'  20  June,  1586.  (S.  P 
Office  MS.) 

Robert  Sidney  was  subsequently  sent 
to  Denmark  by  Leicester  to  look  into 
this  matter.  Wilkes  to  Lords  of 
Council,  20  Atig.  1586.  (S.  P.  OflCce 
MS.) 


V 


78 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X, 


party  of  armed  men,  one  fine  summer's  morning,  suddenly 
entered  Paul's  bedroom  as  he  lay  asleep  at  the  house  of 
the  burgomaster,  seized  his  papers,  and  threw  him  into 
prison  in  the  wine-cellar  of  the  town-house.  "  Oh  my 
papers,  oh  my  papers ! "  cried  the  unfortunate  poli- 
tician, according  to  Leicester's  statement :  "  the  Queen 
of  England  will  for  ever  hate  me."  The  Earl  disa- 
avowed  all  participation  in  the  arrest ;  but  he  was  not 
believed.  He  declared  himself  not  sorry  that  the  mea- 
sure had  been  taken,  and  promised  that  he  would  not 
*'  be  hasty  to  release  him,"  not  doubting  that  "  he  would 
be  found  faulty  enough."  Leicester  maintained  that 
there  was  stuff  enough  discovered  to  cost  Paul  his 
head ;  but  he  never  lost  his  head,  nor  was  anything 
treasonable  or  criminal  ever  found  against  him.  The  in- 
trigue with  Denmark — never  proved — and  commenced, 
if  undertaken  at  all,  in  utter  despair  of  Elizabeth's 
accepting  the  sovereignty,  was  the  gravest  charge.  He 
remained,  however,  six  months  in  -prison,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  1587  was  released,  without  trial  or  accusa- 
tion, at  the  request  of  the  English  Queen.* 

The  States  could  hardly  be  blamed  for  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  Earl's  administration,  for  he  had  thrown 
himself  completely  into  the  amis  of  a  faction,  whose 
object  was  to  vilipend  and  traduce  them,  and  it  was  now 
difficult  for  him  to  recover  the  functions  of  which  the 
Queen  had  deprived  him.  "  The  goverament  they  had 
given  from  themselves  to  me  stuck  in  their  stomachs 
always,"  he  said.  Thus,  on  the  one  side,  the  States 
were  "growing  more  stately  than  ever,"  and  were 
always  **  jumbling  underhand,"  while  the  aristocratic 
Earl,  on  his  part,  was  resolute  not  to  be  put  down  by 
''churls  and  tinkers."*  He  was  sure  that  the  people 
were  with  him,  and  that,  **  having  always  been  governed 
by  some  prince,  they  never  did  nor  could  consent  to  be 
ruled  by  bakers,  brewers,  and  hired  advocates.  1  know 
they  hate  them,"*  said  this  high-born  tribune  of  the 
people.  He  was  much  disgusted  with  the  many-headed 
chimaera,  the  monstrous  republic,  with  which  he  found 

1  Bor,  U,  725.  728,  889,  890.     Hoofd  B.  Clerk  to  sara?,  24  July,  1586.     (S.  P. 

Vervolgh,  165.    Wagenaar,  vili.  161-163.  Office  MSS.) 

Bruce's  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  352,    362-364,  «  Bince's  '  Uyc.  Corresp.'  312. 

386.  43«.  3  Ibid  424 

LviccAtcr  to  Burgliley,  20  July,  !5»6. 


1586.    HIS  IMPRISONMENT— THE  EARL'S  UNPOPULARITY.    79 

himself  in  such  unceasing  conflict,  and  was  disposed  to 
take  a  manful  stand.  "  I  have  been  fain  of  late,"  ho 
said,  "  to  set  the  better  leg  foremost,  to  handle  some  of 
my  masters  somewhat  plainly,  for  they  thought  I  would 
droop  ;  and  whatsoever  becomes  of  me,  you  shall  hear  I 
will  keep  my  reputation,  or  die  for  it."  » 

But  one  great  accusation  made  against  the  churls  and 
tinkers,  and  bakers  and  hired  advocates,  and  Mr.  Paul 
Buys  at  their  head,  was  that  they  were  liberal  towards 
the  Papists.  They  were  willing  that  Catholics  should 
remain  m  the  country  and  exercise  the  rights  of  citi- 
zens, provided  they  conducted  themselves  like  good  citi- 
zens. For  this  toleration— a  lesson  which  statesmen 
l^e  Buys  and  Barneveld  had  learned  in  the  school  of 
William  the  Silent — the  opposition-party  were  denounced 
as  bolsterers  of  Papists,  and  Papists  themselves  at  heart 
and  "  worshippers  of  idolatrous  idols."* 

From  words,  too,  the  government  of  Leicester  passed 
to  acts.  Seventy  Papists  were  banished  from  the  city 
of  Utrecht  at  the  time  of  the  arrest  of  Buys.'  The 
Queen  had  constantly  enforced  upon  Leicester  the  im- 
portance of  dealing  justly  with  the  Catholics  in  the 
Netherlands,  on  the  ground  that  they  might  be  as  good 
patriots  and  were  as  much  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
their  country  as  were  the  Protestants ;  *  and  he  was 
especially  enjoined  "not  to  meddle  in  matters  of  reli- 
gion." This  wholesome  advice  it  would  have  been  quite 
impossible  for  the  Earl,  under  the  guidance  of  Kein- 
gault,  Burgrave,  and  Stephen  Perret,  to  carry  out.  He 
protested  that  he  should  have  liked  to  treat  Papists  and 
Calvinists  '*  with  indifference,"  but  that  it  had  proved 
impossible  ;  that  the  Catholics  were  pei-petually  plotting 
with  the  Spanish  faction,  and  that  no  towns  were  safe 
except  those  in  which  Papists  had  been  excluded  from 
office.  "  They  love  the  Pope  above  all,"  he  said,  "  and 
the  Prince  of  Parma  hath  continual  intelligence  with 
them."  Nor  was  it  the  Catholics  alone  who  gave 
the  governor  trouble.  He  was  likewise  very  busy  in 
putting  dowTi  other  denominations  that  differed  from 
the  Calvinists.     *'  Your  Majesty  will  not  believe,"  he 

1  Brucc'8  •  Leyc  Corresp.'  312.  »  B.  Clerk  to  Burghley.  24  July  1588. 

«  Digges-8  •  Advertisement  of  the  Pre-  (S.  P.  Office  MS  )                          ^' 

sent  state,- &c.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.  before  *  Leicester  to   the   Queen    -6  June 

""^•'  15»6.    (S.  P.  Office  >IS.) 


80 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


HIS  QUARRELS  WITH  THE  STATES. 


81 


said,  "the  number  of  sects  that  are  in  most  towns; 
especially  Anabaptists,  Families  of  Love,  Georgians,  and 
I  know  not  what.  The  godly  and  good  ministers  were 
molested  by  them  in  many  places,  and  ready  to  give 
over ;  and  even  such  diversities  grew  among  magistrates 
in  towns,  being  caused  by  some  sedition-sowers  here.'" 
It  is,  however,  satisfactory  to  reflect  that  the  Anabaptists 
and  Families  of  Love,  although  discouraged  and  frowned 
upon,  were  not  burned  alive,  buried  alive,  drowned  in 
dungeons,  and  roasted  at  slow  fires,  as  had  been  the 
case  with  them  and  with  every  other  species  of  Pro- 
testants, by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  so  long  as 
Charles  V.  and  Philip  11.  had  ruled  the  territory  of  that 
commonwealth.  Humanity  had  ac^quired  something  by 
the  war  which  the  Netherlanders  had  been  waging  for 
twenty  years,  and  no  man  or  woman  was  ever  put  to 
death  for  religious  causes  after  the  establishment  of  the 
republic. 

With  his  hands  thus  full  of  business,  it  was  difficult 
for  the  Earl  to  obey  the  Queen's  command  not  to  meddle 
in  religious  matters ;  for  he  was  not  of  the  stature  of 
William  the  Silent,  and  could  not  comprehend  that  the 
great  lesson  taught  by  the  sixteenth  century  was  that 
men  were  not  to  meddle  with  men  in  matters  of  religion. 

But  besides  his  especial  nightmare — Mr.  Paul  Buys — 
the  govenior-general  Imd  a  whole  set  of  incubi  in  the 
Norris  family.  Probably  no  two  persons  ever  detested 
each  other  more  cordially  than  did  Leicester  and  Sir 
John  Norris.  Sir  John  had  been  commander  of  the 
forces  in  the  Netherlands  before  Leicester's  arrival,  and 
was  unquestionably  a  man  of  larger  experience  than 
the  Earl.  He  had,  however,  as  Walsingham  complained, 
acquired  by  his  services  in  "  countries  where  neither 
discipline  military  nor  religion  carried  any  sway,"  a 
very  nide  and  licentious  kind  of  government.  *'  Would 
to  God,"  said  the  secretary,  "  that,  with  his  value  and 
courage,  he  carried  the  mind  and  reputation  of  a  religious 
soldier."  *  But  that  was  past  praying  for.  Sir  John 
was  proud,  untractable,  turbulent,  very  difficult  to 
manage.  He  hated  Leicester,  and  was  furious  with  Sir 
William  Pelham,  whom  Leicester  had  made  marshal  of 


i  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  Just  cited. 


*  Bruce'a  '  Leyc.  Corresp."  222. 


the  camp.*  ^  He  complained,  not  unjustly,  that  from  the 
first  place  in  the  army,  which  he  had  occupied  in  the 
Netherlands,  he  had  been  reduced  to  the  fifth.*  The 
governor-general— who  chose  to  call  Sir  John  the  son 
of  his  ancient  enemy,  the  Earl  of  Sussex— often  de- 
nounced him  in  good  set  terms.  "  His  brother  Edward 
^  as  ill  as  he,"  he  said,  »'  but  John  is  right  the  late 
Earl  of  Sussex'  son;  he  will  so  dissemble  and  crouch, 
and  so  cunningly  carry  his  doings,  as  no  man  livin<^ 
would  imagine  that  there  were  half  the  malice  or 
vindictive  mind  that  plainly  his  words  prove  to  be."  ^ 
Leicester  accused  him  of  constant  insubordination, 
insolence,  and  malice,  complained  of  being  traduced  by 
him  everywhere  in  the  Netherlands  and  in  England, 
and  declared  that  he  was  followed  about  by  "  a  pack  of 
lewd  audacious  fellows,"  whom  the  Earl  vowed  he 
would  hang,  one  and  all,  before  he  had  done  with  them.* 
He  swore  openly,  in  presence  of  all  his  camp,  that  he 
would  hang  Sir  John  likewise ;  so  that  both  the  brothers, 
who  had  never  been  afraid  of  anjrthing  since  they  had 
been  bom  into  the  world,  affected  to  be  in  danger  of 
their  lives.* 

The  Norrises  were  on  bad  terms  with  many  officers 

with  Sir  William  Pelham  of  course,  with  "  old  Reade," 
Lord  North,  Roger  Williams,  Hohenlo,  Essex,  and  other 
nobles— but  with  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  the  gentle  and 
chivalrous,  they  were  friends.*'  Sir  John  had  quarrelled 
in  former  times— according  to  Leicester— with  Hohenlo 
and  even  with  the  "  good  and  brave  "  La  Noue,  of  the 
iron  arm ;  *'  for  his  pride,"  said  the  Earl,  "  was  the  spirit 
of  the  devil,"  ^     The  governor  complained  every  day  of 


1  *•  He  stomachs  greatly  the  Marshal," 
said  Leicester.    (Ibid.  379.) 

*  Ibid.  380. 

'  Bruce's  'Leyc.  Corresp.'  301. 

*  •  Notes  of  Remembrances,  by  Sir. 
Edward  Norris/  Sept.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.)  ^ 

*  •*His  Excellency  did  not  only  not 
mislike  withal  that  Lord  North.  Captain 
Williams,  and  others,  should  rail  at  him, 
but  in  his  own  presence  did  sufTer  divers 
capuins  and  noblemen  to  brave  him,  and 
did   himself  also   grow  in  great  rages 

VOL.  II. 


against  him,  disallowing  him  openly  for 
wise  man,  honest  man,  or  soldier;  prefer- 
ring many  men's  wisdom  and  experience^ 
saying  his  patience  and  slyness  should  not 
save  him,  not  sparing  openly  to  threaten 
him  to  hang  him  ;  so  that  of  every  honest 
man  It  is  feared  lest  tome  mischief  shall 
shortly  heyrought  him."    (Ibid.) 

"  Sir  John  Norris  to  Walsuagbam,  25 
Oct.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

7  Leicester  to  Wilkes,  22  Aug.    (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 


M 


82 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


AND  WITH  THE  NORRISES. 


83 


his  malignity,  and  vowed  that  he  "  neither  regarded  the 
cause  of  God,  nor  of  his  prince,  nor  country.*'^ 

He  consorted  chiefly  with  Sir  Thomas  Cecil,*  governor 
of  Brill,  son  of  Lord  Burghley,  and  therefore  no  friend 
to  Leicester;  but  the  Earl  protested  that  *' Master 
Thomas  should  bear  small  rule,'*  *  so  long  as  he  was 
himself  governor-general.  "  Now  I  have  Pelham  and 
Stanley,  we  shall  do  well  enough,"  he  said,  "  though  my 
young  master  would  countenance  him.  I  will  be  master 
while  I  remain  here,  will  they,  nill  they."  * 

Edward  Norris,  brother  of  Sir  John,  gave  the  gover- 
nor almost  as  much  trouble  as  he ;  but  the  treasurer 
Nonis,  uncle  to  them  both,  was,  if  possible,  more  odious 
to  him  than  all.  He  was — if  half  Leicester's  accusa- 
tions are  to  be  believed — a  most  infamous  peculator. 
One-third  of  the  money  sent  by  the  Queen  for  the  sol- 
diers stuck  in  his  fingers.  He  paid  them  their  wretched 
fourpence  a-day  in  depreciated  coin,  so  that  for  their 
"naughty  money  they  could  get  but  naughty  ware."* 
Never  was  such  "  fleecing  of  poor  soldiers,"  said  Lei- 
cester.' 

On  the  other  hand.  Sir  John  maintained  that  his 
uncle's  accounts  were  always  ready  for  examination,  and 
earnestly  begged  the  home  government  not  to  condemn 
that  functionary  without  a  hearing.^  For  himself,  he 
complained  that  he  was  uniformly  kept  in  the  back- 
ground, left  in  ignorance  of  important  enterprises,  and 
sent  on  difiicult  duty  with  inadequate  forces.  It  was 
believed  that  Leicester's  course  was  inspired  by  env)% 
lest  any  military  triumph  that  might  be  gained  should 
redound  to  the  glory  of  Sir  John,  one  of  the  first  com- 
manders of  the  age,  rather  than  to  that  of  the  govemor- 


*  Leicester  to  Wilkes,  Just  cited. 

Wilkes  on  the  contrary,  had  a  very 
favourable  opinion  of  Norris,  and  always 
secretly  defended  him  to  the  Queen's 
government  against  Ijcicetster's  charges. 
•*  Besides  the  value,  wisdom,  and  many 
other  good  parts  that  are  in  the  man,"  he 
said.  "  I  have  noted  a  wonderful  patience 
and  modeasty  in  bearing  many  apparent 
Injuries  done  unto  him,  which  1  have 
known  to  be  countenanced  and  nourished, 
contrary  to  all  reason,  to  disgrace  him. 
Whatsoever  may  be  reported  maliciously 
to  his  disadvantage,  I  dare  avouch  that 


the  Queen  hath  not  a  second  subject  of 
bis  place  and  quality  so  able  to  serve 
in  these  countries  as  he."  Wilkes  to 
Burghley,  17  Nov.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 
2  letter  to  Wilkes,  MS.  last  dted. 

*  Bruce's  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  380. 

*  Ibid. 

*  Ibid.  299,  303. 

*  Leicester  to    the   Queen,  37  June, 
1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  Sir  J.  Norris  to  Burghley,  25  May, 
1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


general  He  was  perpetually  thwarted,  crossed,  ca- 
lumniated, subjected  to  coarse  and  indecent  insults,  even 
from  such  brave  men  as  Lord  North  and  Roger  Williams 
and  in  the  very  presence  of  the  commander-in-chief,  so 
that  his  talents  were  of  no  avaU,  and  he  was  most 
anxious  to  be  gone  from  the  country.' 

Thus  with  the  tremendous  opposition  formed  to  his 
government  in  the  States-General,  the  incessant  bicker- 
ings with  the  N  orrises,  the  peculations  of  the  treasurer 
the  secret  negotiations  with  Spain,  and  the  impossibility 
ot  obtaining  money  from  home  for  himself  or  for  his 
starving  little  annj-^  the  Earl  was  in  anything  but  a  com- 
fortable  position.  He  was  severely  censured  in  England  • 
but  he  doubted,  with  much  reason,  whether  there  were 
many  who  would  take  his  office,  and  spend  twenty 
thousand  pounds  sterling  out  of  their  own  pockets,  as 
he  tad  done.«  The  Earl  was  generous  and  brave  as  man 
could  be,  fuU  of  wit, quick  of  apprehension;  but  inor- 
dinately vain,  arrogant,  and  withal  easily  led  by  desien- 
ing  persons.  He  stood  up  manfully  for  the  cause  in 
which  he  was  embarked,  and  was  most  strenuous  in  his 
demands  for  money.  "  Personally  he  cared,"  he  said, 
not  sixpence  for  his  post,  but  would  giye  five  thousand 
sixpences,  and  six  thousand  shillings^  beside,  to  be  rid 
ot  It;       but  it  was  contrary  to  his  dignity  to  "stand 

h^.  V^.'^u'^i^^^T^i**"'    ^°'  ^'^  «^1*^J-    "  1«  it  reason," 
he  asked,  "  that  I,  being  sent  from  so  great  a  prince  L 

our  sovereign  IS,  must  come  to  .trangei-s  to  beg  my  en- 
tertainment?    If  they  are  to  pay  me,  why  is  there  no 


^  'Notes  of  Remembraiicfc,'  by  Ed. 
Norris.  (MS.  before  cited.)  »  His  Excel- 
lency doth  wonderfully  hate  my  brother. 
....  I  only  gather  these  causes,"  said 
Captain  Norris  .-  "  first,  an  envy  of  some 
unworthy  men  about  him,  who  put  into 
his  Excellency's  head  that  as  long  as 
Norris  were  here,  the  honour  of  every- 
thing would  be  attributed  to  him.  and 
that  he  would  be  a  continual  hindrance  to 
the  course  that  his  Excellency  meant  to 
hold  toncernlng  some  things,  neither 
should  bis  E.xcellency  have  any  absolute 
commandment  as  long  as  his  credit 
continued.' 

'  Leicester  lo  the  Queen,  27  June, 
158C.    "I  pray  God  I  may  live  to  see 


you  employ  some  of  them  that  are  thus 
careless  of  me,  to  see  whether  they  will 
spend  20,000i.  of  their  own  for  you  in 
seven  months;  but  all  is  in  mine  own 
heart  so  little,  though  the  greatest 
portion  of  all  my  land  pay  for  it, 
so  your  Majesty  do  well  accept  of 
It,"  &C. 

The  Earl  expondod— according  to 
his  own  report  to  the  States— three 
hundred  thousand  florins  (30,000i.)  in  the 
course  of  the  year  1587.  (Bor,ii.  783; 
Hoofd  Vervolgh,  206.)  Of  course,  he 
had  a  claim  for  such  disbursements  on 
the  Queen's  exchequer,  and  was  like  to 
enforce  it  at  the  proper  season. 

'  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  378. 

G   2 


84 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


remembrance  made  of  it  by  her  Majesty's  letters,  or 
8ome  of  the  lords  ?  "  * 

The  Earl  and  those  around  him  perpetually  and  vehe- 
mently urged  upon  the  Queen  to  reconsider  her  decision, 
and  accept  the  sovereignty  of  the  Provinces  at  once. 
There  was  no  other  remedy  for  the  distracted  state  of 
the   country — no  other  safeguard   for  England.      The 
Netherland  people  anxiously,  eagerly  desired  it.     Her 
Majesty  was  adored  by  all  the  inhabitants,  who  would 
gladly  hang  the  fellows  called  the  States.     Lord  North 
was  of  this  opinion — so  was  Cavendish  ;  Leicester  had 
always  held  it.     "  Sure  I  am,"  he  said,  '*  there  is  but 
one  way  for  our  safety,  and  that  is,  that  her  Majesty 
may  take  that  upon  her  which  I  fear  she  will  not."  * 
Thomas  Wilkes,  who  now  made  his  appearance  on  the 
scene,   held  the  same  language.      This  distinguished 
civilian  had  been  sent  by  the  Queen,  early  in  August, 
to  look  into  the  state  of  Netherland  affairs.     Leicester 
ha\'ing  expressly  urged  the  importance  of  selecting  as 
wise  as  politician  as  could  be  found — because  the  best 
man  in  England  would  hardly  be  found  a  match  for  the 
dullards  and  drunkards,  as  it  was  the  fashion  there  to 
call  the  Dutch  statesmen ' — had  selected  Wilkes.    After 
fulfilling  this  important  special  mission,  he  was  imme- 
diately  afterwards   to   return   to    the   Netherlands   as 
English  member  of  the  state-council  at  forty  shillings 
a-day,   in  the  place  of  *'  little  Hal  Killigrew,"  whom 
Leicester  pronounced  a  '*  quicker  and  stouter  fellow  " 
than  he  had  at  first   taken  him  for,  although  he  had 
always  thought  well  of  him.     The  other  English  coun- 
sellor, Dr.  Bartholomew  Clerk,  was  to  remain,  and  the 
Earl  declared  that  he  too,  whom  he  had  formerly  under- 
valued, and  thought -to  have  *' little  stuff  in  him,"  was 
now  "  increasing  greatly  in  understanding."  *   But,  not- 
withstanding this  intellectual  progress,  poor  Bartholo- 
mew, who  was  no  beginner,  was  most  anxious  to  retire. 
He  was  a  man  of  peace,  a  professor,  a  doctor  of  laws, 
fonder  of  the  learned  leisure  and  the  trim  gardens  of 
England  than  of  the  scenes  which  now  surrounded  him. 
*'  I  beseech  your  good  Lordship  to  consider,"  he  dis- 


1  '  l^eyc.  Corresp.'  323. 
*  Leicester  to  Burghley,  10  Aug.  1586. 
(S.  l\  Office  MS.) 


'  S«me  to  same,  20  July,  1686. 
*  '  Lcyc.  Corresp."  375. 


1586. 


HIS  COUNSELLORS  WILKES  AND  CLERK. 


85 


mally  observed  to  Burghley,  "  what  a  hard  case  it  is  for 
a  man  that  these  fifteen  years  hath  had  vitajn  sedentanam, 
unworthily  in  a  place  judicial,  always  in  his  long  robe, 
and  who,  twenty-four  years  since,  was  a  public  reader 
in  the  University  (and  therefore  cannot  be  young),  to 
come  now  among  guns  and  drums,  tumbling  up  and 
down,  day  and  night,  over  waters  and  banks,  dykes  and 
ditches,  upon  eveiy  occasion  that  falleth  out ;  hearino- 
many  insolences  with  silence,  bearing  many  hard  mea- 
sures with  patience — a  course  most  different  from  my 
nature,  and  most  unmeet  for  him  that  hath  ever  professed 
learning." » 

Wilkes  was  of  sterner  stuff.  Always  ready  to  follow 
the  camp  and  to  face  the  guns  and  drums  with  equani- 
mity, and  endowed  beside  with  keen  political  insight, 
he  was  more  competent  than  most  men  to  imravel  the 
confused  skein  of  Netherland  politics.  He  soon  found 
that  the  Queen*8  secret  negotiations  with  Spain,  and  the 
general  distrust  of  her  intentions  in  regard  to  the 
Provinces,  were  like  to  have  fatal  consequences.  Both 
he  and  Leicester  painted  the  anxiety  of  the  Netherland 
people  as  to  the  intention  of  her  Majesty  in  vivid 
colours.* 

The  Queen  could  not  make  up  her  mind — in  the  very 
midst  of  the  Greenwich  secret  conferences,  already 
described — to  accept  the  Netherland  sovereignty.  "  She 
gathereth  from  your  letter,"  wrote  Walsingham,  "  that 
the  only  salve  for  this  sore  is  to  make  herself  proprietary 
of  the  country,  and  to  put  in  such  an  army  as  may  be 
able  to  make  head  to  the  enemy.  These  two  things 
being  so  contrary  to  her  Majesty's  disposition— -the  one, 
for  that  it  breedoth  a  doubt  of  a  perpetual  war,  the  other, 
for  that  it  requireth  an  increase  of  charges — do  mar- 
vellously distract  her,  and  make  her  repent  that  ever  she  entered 
into  the  action."  ' 

Upon  the  great  subject  of  the  sovereignty,  therefore, 
she  was  unable  to  adopt  the  resolution  so  much  desired 
by  Leicester  and  by  the  people  of  the  Provinces ;  but 
she  answered  the  Earl's  communications  concerning 
Maurice  and  Hohenlo,  Sir  John  Norris  and  the  trea- 

1  B.  Clerk  to  Burnley,  11  Aug.  1686.  (S.  P.  Office  MSS  ) 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  3  Bruce's    •  Leyc   Corresp.'   340,   9th 

•  WJlkes  to  the  Queen.  7  Aug.  1586.  July,  1686. 
Leicester  to  the  Queen,  27  June,  1586. 


86 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


surer,  in  characteristic  but  affectionate  language.     And 
thus  she  wrote  : — 

'*  Rob,  I  am  afraid  you  will  suppose,  by  my  wandering 
writings,  that  a  midsummer's  moon  hath  taken  large 
possession  of  my  brains  this  month ;  but  you  must  needs 
take  things  as  they  come  in  my  head,  though  order  be 
left  behind  mo.  When  I  remember  your  request  to  have 
a  discreet  and  honest  man  that  may  carry  my  mind,  and 
see  how  all  goes  there,  I  have  chosen  this  bearer  (Thomas 
Wilkes),  whom  you  know  and  have  made  good  trial  of. 
I  have  fraught  him  full  of  my  conceipts  of  those  country 
matters,  and  imparted  what  way  I  mind  to  take  and  what 
is  fit  for  you  to  use.  I  am  sure  you  can  credit  him,  and 
go  I  will  be  short  with  these  few  notes.  First,  that 
Count  Maurice  and  Count  Hollock  (Hohenlo)  find  them- 
selves trusted  of  you,  esteemed  oi  me,  and  to  be  care- 
fully regarded,  if  ever  peace  should  happen,  and  of  that 
assure  them  on  my  word,  that  yet  never  deceived  any. 
And  for  N orris  and  other  captains  that  voluntarily ,  without 
commandment^  have  many  years  ventured  their  lives  and  won  our 
nation  honour  and  themselves  fame^  let  them  not  be  dis- 
couraged by  any  means,  neither  by  new-come  men  nor 
by  old  trained  soldiers  elsewhere.  If  there  be  fault  in 
using  of  soldiers,  or  making  of  profit  by  them,  let  them 
hear  of  it  without  open  shame,  and  doubt  not  I  will  well 
chasten  them  therefore.  It  frets  me  not  a  little  that  the 
poor  soldiers  that  hourly  venture  life  should  want  their 
due,  that  well  deserve  rather  reward ;  and  look,  in  whom 
the  fault  may  tnily  be  proved,  let  them  smart  therefore. 
And  if  the  treasurer  be  found  untrue  or  negligent, 
according  to  desert  he  shall  be  used.  But  you  know  my 
old  wont,  that  love  not  to  discharge  from  office  without 
desert.  God  forbid !  I  pray  you  let  this  bearer  know 
what  may  be  learned  herein,  and  for  the  treasure  I  have 
joined  Sir  Thomas  Shirley  to  see  all  this  money  dis- 
charged in  due  sort,  where  it  needeth  and  behoveth. 

"  Now  will  I  end,  that  do  imagine  I  talk  still  with 
you,  and  therefore  loathly  say  farewell  one  hundred 
thousand  times,  though  ever  I  pray  God  bless  you  from 
all  harm,  and  save  you  from  all  foes.  With  my  million 
and  legion  of  thanks  for  all  your  pains  and  cares, 
•*  As  you  know  over  the  same, 

**  E.  E. 


1586. 


A  SUPPER  PARTY  AT  HOHENLO'S. 


87 


"  P.S.  Let  Wilkes  see  that  he  is  acceptable  to  you.  If 
anything  there  be  that  W.  shall  desire  answer  of  be 
such  as  you  would  have  but  me  to  know,  write  it  to 
myself.  You  know  I  can  keep  both  others'  counsel  and 
mine  own.  Mistrust  not  that  anything  you  would  have 
kept  shall  be  disclosed  by  me,  for  although  this  bearer 
ask  many  things,  yet  you  may  answer  him  such  as  you 
shall  think  meet,  and  write  to  me  the  rest."  ^ 

Thus,  not  even  her  favourite  Leicester's  misrepresen- 
tations could  make^the  Queen  forget  her  ancient  friend- 
ship for  '*  her  own  crow ;"  but  meantime  the  relations 
between  that  "  bunch  of  brethren,"  black  Norris  and  the 
rest,  and  Pelham,  Hollock,  and  other  high  officers  in 
Leicester's  army,  had  grown  worse  than  ever. 

One  August  evening  there  was  a  supper-party  at 
Count  Hollock's  *  quarters  in  Gertruydenberg.  A  mili- 
tary foray  into  Brabant  had  just  taken  place,  Aug.  6th, 
under  the  lead  of  the  Count,  and  of  the  Lord  ^^^^ 
Marshal,  Sir  William  Pelham.  The  marshal  had  re- 
quested Lord  Willoughby,  with  his  troop  of  horse  and 
five  hundred  foot,  to  join  in  the  enterprise,  but,  as  usual, 
particular  pains  had  been  taken  that  Sir  John  Norris 
should  know  nothing  of  the  affair.^  Pelham  and  Hollock 
— who  was  "  greatly  in  love  with  Mr.  Pelham"* — had 
invited  several  other  gentlemen  high  in  Leicester's  con- 
fidence to  accompany  the  expedition ;  and,  among  the 
rest.  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  telling  him  that  he  "  should  see 
some  good  service."  Sidney  came  accordingly,  in  great 
haste,  from  Flushing,  bringing  along  with  him  Edward 
Norris — that  hot-headed  young  man,  who,  according  to 
Leicester,  "  greatly  governed  his  elder  brother," — but 
they  arrived  at  Gertruydenberg  too  late.  The  foray 
was  over,  and  the  party — '*  having  burned  a  village,  and 
killed  same  boors" — were  on  their  return.     Sidney,  not 


»  Queen  to  Leicester,  19  July,  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  It  has  been  already  stated  that  Ho- 
henlo was  uniformly  called  Hollach  or 
Hollock  by  the  English  and  French,  and 
very  often  by  the  Netherlanders.  In  our 
text,  eometimes  the  one,  sometimes  the 
other,  appellation  is  used.  The  reader 
will  understand  that  there  was  but  one 


of  the  name  in  the  Provinces— Count 
Philip  William  Hohenlo  or  Hohenlohe, 
oftener  called  Hollock. 

3  "  ^Vhereunto  the  colonel-general 
must  not  in  any  wise  be  made  privy." 
•  Advertisement  of  a  difference  at  Gertruy- 
denberg.' 8  Aug.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

*  Bruce's  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  374. 


>  »j-»-jLv  Ji  »'.  .<  j^:. 


88 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


perhaps  much  regretting  the  loss  of  his  share  in  this 
rather  inglorious  shooting-party,  went  down  to  the 
water-side  accompanied  by  Captain  Norris,  to  meet 
Hollock  and  the  other  commanders. 

As  the  Count  stepped  on  shore  he  scowled  ominously 
and  looked  very  much  out  of  temper 

"WTiat  has  come  to  Hollock?"  whispered  Captain 
Patton,  a  Scotchman,  to  Sidney.  "Has  he  a  quarrel 
with  any  of  the  party?  Look  at  his  face !  He  means 
mischief  to  somebody.*' 

•  ?^*  ^^^^^y  ^^^  equally  amazed  at  the  sudden  chance 
in  the  German  general's  countenance,  and  as  unable  to 
explain  it. 

Soon  afterwards,  the  whole  party,  Hollock,  Lewis 
William  of  Nassau,  Lord  Carew,  Lord  Essex,  Lord 
Willoughby,  both  the  Sidneys,  Roger  Williams,  Pdham, 
Edward  Morris,  and  the  rest,  went  to  the  Count's  lodg- 
ings, where  they  supped,  and  afterwards  set  themselves 
seriously  to  drinking. 

Norris  soon  perceived  that  he  was  no  welcome  ffuest  • 
for  he  was  not-like  Sidney-a  stranger  to  the  deep 
animosity  which  had  long  existed  between  Sir  John 
^oms  and  Sir  William  Pelham  and  his  friends  The 
carouse  was  a  tremendous  one,  as  usually  was  the  case 
where  Hollock  wa^  the  Amphitryon,  and,  as  the  pota- 
tions grew  deeper,  an  intention  became  evident  on  the 
L  No^  -^"^^^  company  to  behave  unhandsomely 

For  a  time  the  young  Captain  ostentatiously  restrained 
himself,  very  much  after  the  fashion  of  those  meek  indi- 
viduals who  lay  their  swords  on  the  tavern-table,  with 
Uod  grant  I  may  have  no  need  of  thee !  "  The  custom 
was  then  prevalent  at  banquets  for  the  revellers  to 
pledge  each  other  in  rotation,  each  draining  a  great 
cup,  and  exacting  the  same  feat  from  his  neighbour 
who  then  emptied  his  goblet  as  a  challenge  to  his  next 
comrade. 

p7^^Ht^  ^^"^^  i^.^^  a  Weaker,  and  called  out  to 
Edward  Norns-"!  dnnk  to  the  health  of  my  Lord 

.-^'/^"^  of  my  lady,  your  mother."     So  saying,  he 
emptied  his  glass.  ° 

The  young  man  did  not  accept  the  pledge. 

"  Your  Lordship  knows,"  he  said  somewhat  sullenly. 


1586. 


A  DRUNKEN  QUARREL. 


89 


"  that  I  am  not  wont  to  drink  deep.  Mr.  Sidney  there 
can  tell  you  that,  for  my  health's  sake,  I  have  drank  no 
wine  these  eight  days.  If  your  Lordship  desires  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  me  drunk,  I  am  not  of  the  same  mind  • 
I  pray  you  at  least  to  take  a  smaller  glass."  ' 

Sir  William  insisted  on  the  pledge.  Norris  then,  in 
no  very  good  humour,  emptied  his  cup  to  the  Earl  of 
Essex. 

Essex  responded  by  draining  a  goblet  to  Count  Hollock. 

"A  Norris's  father,"  said  the  young  Earl,  as  he 
pledged  the  Count,  who  was  already  very  drunk  and 
looking  blacker  than  ever.  * 

"  An  'orse's  father— an  'orse's  father !  "  growled  Hol- 
lock ;  "  I  never  drink  to  horses,  nor  to  their  fathers 
either :"  and  with  this  wonderful  witticism  he  declined 
the  pledge. 

Essex  explained  that  the  toast  was  Lord  Norris,  father 
of  the  Captain ;  but  the  Count  refused  to  understand,  and 
held  fiercely,  and  with  damnable  iteration,  to  his  jest. 

The  Earl  repeated  his  explanation  several  times  with 
no  better  success.  Norris  meanwhile  sat  swelling  with 
wrath,  but  said  nothing. 

Again  the  Lord  Marshal  took  the  same  great  glass  and 
emptied  it  to  the  young  Captain.  * 

Norris,  not  knowing  exactly  what  course  to  take, 
placed  the  glass  at  the  side  of  his  plate,  and  glared 
grimly  at  Sir  William.  ^ 

Pelham  was  furious.  Beaching  over  the  table,  he 
shoved  the  glass  towards  Norris  with  an  angry  gesture. 

"  Take  your  glass,  Captain  Norris,"  he  cried;  **  and 
if  you  have  a  mind  to  jest,  seek  other  companions.  I  am 
not  to  be  trifled  with ;  therefore,  I  say,  pledge  me  at 
once." 

**  Your  Lordship  shall  not  force  me  to  drink  more  wine 
than  I  list,"  returned  the  other.  "  It  is  your  pleasure 
to  take  advantage  of  your  militaiy  rank.  Were  we  both 
at  home,  you  would  be  glad  to  be  my  companion." 

Norris  was  hard  beset,  and  although  his  language  was 
studiously  moderate,  it  was  not  surprising  that  his 
manner  should  be  somewhat  insolent.  The  veteran 
Lord  Marshal,  on  the  other  hand,  had  distinguished 
himself  on  many  battle-fields,  but  his  deportment  at  this 
banquetmg-table  was  not  much  to  his  credit.   He  paused 


90 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


a  moment,  and  Norris,  too,  held  his  peace,  thinking  that 
his  enemy  would  desist. 

It  was  but  for  a  moment. 

"  Captain  Norris,"  cried  Pelham,  "  I  bid  you  pledge 
me  without  more  ado.  Neither  you  nor  your  best 
friends  shall  use  me  as  you  list.  I  am  better  bom  than 
you  and  your  brother,  the  colonel-general,  and  the  whole 
of  you." 

*'  I  warn  you  to  say  nothing  disrespectful  against  my 
brother,"  replied  the  Captain.  "  As  for  yourself,  I  know 
how  to  respect  your  age  and  superior  rank." 

*'  Drink,  drink,  drink !"  roared  the  old  Marshal.  "  I 
tell  you  I  am  better  bom  than  the  best  of  you.  I  have 
advanced  you  all  too,  and  you  know  it ;  therefore  drink 
to  me." 

Sir  William  was  as  logical  as  men  in  their  cups  aie 
prone  to  be. 

**  Indeed,  you  have  behaved  well  to  my  brother 
Thomas,"  answered  Norris,  suddenly  becoming  very 
courteous,  *'  and  for  this  I  have  ever  loved  your  Lord- 
ship, and  would  do  you  any  service." 

*'  Well,  then,"  said  the  Marshal,  becoming  tender  in 
Ms  turn,  "  forget  what  hath  past  this  night,  and  do  as 
you  would  have  done  before." 

**  Very  well  said,  indeed!  "  cried  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
trying  to  help  the  matter  into  the  smoother  channel 
towards  which  it  was  tending. 

Norris,  seeing  that  the  eyes  of  the  whole  company 
were  upon  them,  took  the  glass  accordingly,  and  rose  to 
his  feet. 

**  My  Lord  Marshal,"  he  said,  **  you  have  done  me 
more  wrong  this  night  than  you  can  easily  make  satis- 
faction for.  But  I  am  unwilling  that  any  trouble  or 
offence  should  grow  through  me.  Therefore  once  more 
I  pledge  you." 

He  raised  the  cup  to  his  lips.  At  that  instant  Hollock, 
to  whom  nothing  had  been  said,  and  who  had  spoken  no 
word  since  his  happy  remark  about  the  horse's  father, 
suddenly  indulged  in  a  more  practical  jest ;  and  seizing 
the  heavy  gilt  cover  of  a  silver  vase,  hurled  it  at  the 
head  of  Norris.  It  struck  him  full  on  the  forehead, 
cutting  him  to  the  bone.  The  Captain,  stunned  for  a 
moment,  fell  back  in  his  chair,  with  the  blood  running 


1586.        HOHENLO'S  ASSAULT  UPON  EDWARD  NORRIS.        91 

down  his  eyes  and  face.  The  Count,  always  a  man  of 
few  words,  but  prompt  in  action,  now  drew  his  dagger, 
and  strode  forward,  with  the  intention  of  despatching 
him  upon  the  spot.  Sir  Philip  Sidney  threw  his  arms 
around  Hollock,  however,  and,  with  the  assistance  of 
others  in  the  company,  succeeded  in  dragging  him  from 
the  room.     The  affair  was  over  in  a  few  seconds. 

Norris,  coming  back  to  consciousness,  sat  for  a  mo- 
ment as  one  amazed,  rubbing  the  blood  out  of  his  eyes ; 
then  rose  from  the  table  to  seek  his  adversary ;  but  he 
was  gone. 

Soon  afterwards  he  went  to  his  lodgings.  The  next 
morning  he  was  advised  to  leave  the  town  as  speedily 
as  possible ;  for,  as  it  was  under  the  government  of 
Hollock,  and  filled  with  his  soldiers,  he  was  warned 
that  his  life  would  not  be  safe  there  an  hour.  Accord- 
ingly he  went  to  his  boat,  accompanied  only  by  his 
man  and  his  page,  and  so  departed  with  his  broken 
head,  breathing  vengeance  against  Hollock,  Pelham, 
Leicester,  and  the  whole  crew,  by  whom  he  had  been 
thus  abused. 

The  next  evening  there  was  another  tremendous 
carouse  at  the  Count*s,  and,  says  the  reporter  of  the 
preceding  scene,  "  they  were  all  on  such  good  terms, 
that  not  one  of  the  company  had  falling  band  or  ruff  left 
about  his  neck.  All  were  clean  torn  away,  and  yet 
there  was  no  blood  drawn."^ 

Edward  Norris — so  soon  as  might  be  afterwards — 
sent  a  cartel  to  the  Count,  demanding  mortal  combat 
with  sword  and  dagger.*    Sir  Philip  Sidney  bore  the 


I  'Advertisement  of  a  difFerenoe  at 
Gertniydenberg,'  8  August,  1586.  T. 
Doyley  to  Burghley,  8  Aug.  1586.  B. 
Clerk  to  same,  11  Aug.  1586.  E.  Norris 
to  Leicester,  21  Nov.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MSS.)  Compare  Bor,  11.  786-788 ;  Bruce's 
•Leyc  Corresp.'  390-392. 

I  have  painted  this  uproarious  scene 
thus  minutely  and  In  detail,  because  its 
consequences  upon  the  relations  between 
England  and  Holland,  between  Leicester, 
the  Queen,  and  the  Norrlses,  Pelham,  Ho- 
henlo,  and  others,  were  so  long,  compli- 
cated, and  important ;  because  the  brawl, 
although  brutal  and  vulgar,  assumed  the 
dignity  of  a  political  matter ;  because,  on 


account  of  the  distinguished  personages 
engaged  in  it,  and  the  epoch  at  which  it 
occurred,  the  event  furnishes  us  with  a 
valuable  interior  picture  of  English  and 
Dutch  military  life ;  and  because,  lastly, 
in  the  MSS.  which  I  have  consulted,  are 
preserved  the  ipsissima  verba  of  the 
actors  in  the  riot.  It  Is  superfluous  to 
repeat  what  has  so  often  been  stated,  that 
no  historical  personage  is  ever  made,  in 
the  text,  to  say  or  write  an^'lhing,  save 
what,  on  ample  evidence,  he  is  known  to 
have  said  or  written. 

«  BoT,vbisup.  Bruce's 'Leyc. Corresp.* 
474. 


92 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


ILL  EFFECTS  OF  THE  RIOT. 


93 


1/ 


message.  Sir  John  Norris,  of  course,  warmly  and  vio- 
lently espoused  the  cause  of  his  brother,  and  was 
naturally  more  incensed  against  the  Lord  Marshal  than 
ever,  for  Sir  William  Pelham  was  considered  the  cause 
of  the  whole  affray.  "  Even  if  the  quarrel  is  to  be  ex- 
cused by  drink,"  said  an  eye-witness,  "  'tis  but  a  slender 
defence  for  my  Lord  to  excuse  himself  by  his  cups  ;  and 
often  drink  doth  bewray  men's  humours  and  unmask 
their  malice.  Certainly  the  Count  Hollock  thought  to 
have  done  a  pleasure  to  the  company  in  killing  him."* 

Nothing  could  be  more  ill-timed  than  this  quarrel,  or 
more  vexatious  to  Leicester.  The  Count — although  con- 
sidering himself  excessively  injured  at  being  challenged 
by  a  simple  captain  and  an  untitled  gentleman,  whom 
he  had  attempted  to  murder — consented  to  waive  his 
privilege,  and  grant  the  meeting. 

Leicester  interposed,  however,  to  delay,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, to  patch  up  the  affair.  They  were  on  the  eve  of 
active  military  operations,  and  it  was  most  vexatious  for 
the  commander-in-chief  to  see,  as  he  said,  "  the  quarrel 
with  the  enemy  changed  to  private  revenge  among  our- 
selves." The  intended  duel  did  not  t^e  place,  for 
various  influential  personages  succeeded  in  deferring  the 
meeting.  Then  came  the  battle  of  Zutphen.  Sidney 
fell,  and  Hollock  was  dangerously  wounded  in  the 
attack  which  was  soon  afterwards  made  upon  the  fort. 
He  was  still  pressed  to  afford  the  promised  satisfaction, 
however,  and  agreed  to  do  so  whenever  he  should  rise 
from  his  bed.* 

Strange  to  say,  the  Count  considered  Leicester, 
throughout  the  whole  business,  to  have  taken  part 
against  him.* 

Yet  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  Earl — who 
detested  the  Norrises,  and  was  fonder  of  Pelham  than  of 
any  man  living — uniformly  narrated  the  story  must  im- 
justly,  to  the  discredit  of  the  young  Captain.  He  con- 
sidered him  extremely  troublesome,  represented  him  as 
always  quarrelling  with  some  one — with  Colonel  Mor- 
gan, Roger  Williams,  old  Read,  and  all  the  rest — while 
the  Lord  Marshal,  on  the  contrary,  was  depicted  as  the 


1  • 


cited.) 


Adverti^ment,'  &o.  (MS.  already    209. 


mildest  of  men.  "  This  I  must  say,"  he  observed,  '*  that 
all  present,  except  my  two  nephews  (the  Sidneys),  who 
are  not  here  yet,  declare  the  greatest  fault  to  be  in 
Edward  Norris,  and  that  he  did  most  arrogantly  use  the 
Marshal."*  ^       ^ 

It  is  plain,  however,  that  the  old  Marshal,  under  the 
influence  of  wine,  was  at  least  as  much  to  blame  as 
the  yoimg  Captain ;  and  Sir  Philip  Sidney  sufficiently 
showed  his  sense  of  the  matter  by  being  the  bearer  of 
Edward  Norris's  cartel.  After  Sidney's  death,  Sir  John 
Norris,  in  his  letter  of  condolence  to  Walsingham  for 
the  death  of  his  illustrious  son-in-law,  expressed  the 
deeper  regret  at  his  loss  because  Sir  Philip's  opinion 
had  been  that  the  Norrises  were  wronged."  Hollock 
had  conducted  himself  like  a  lunatic,  but  this  he  was 
apt  to  do  whether  in  his  cups  or  not.  He  was  always 
for  killing  some  one  or  another  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation, and,  while  the  dog-star  of  1586  was  raging,  it 
was  not  his  fault  if  he  had  not  already  despatched  both 
Edward  Norris  and  the  objectionable  '*  Mr.  P.  B." 

For  these  energetic  demonstrations  against  Leicester's 
enemies  he  considered  himself  entitled  to  the  Earl's 
eternal  gratitude,  and  was  deeply  disgusted  at  his  appa- 
rent coldness.  The  governor  was  driven  almost  to 
despair  by  these  quarrels.  His  colonel-goneral,  his 
lord-marshal,  his  lieutenant-general,  were  all  at  daggers 
drawn.  "  Would  God  I  were  rid  of  this  place !"  he 
exclaimed.  *'  What  man  living  would  go  to  the  field 
and  have  his  officers  divided  almost  into  mortal  quarrel  ? 
One  blow  but  by  any  of  their  lackeys  brings  us  alto- 
gether by  the  ears."  * 

It  was  clear  that  there  was  not  room  enough  on  the 
Netherland  soil  for  the  Earl  of  Leicester  and  the 
brothers  Norris.     The   Queen,  while  apparently  siding 


«  Bor,  U.  786-788.    Hoofd  Vervolgh,    $eq. 


*  Letter  of  Hohenlo,  in  Bor,  ill.  123 


1  Bruce'a  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  391, 
"  In  all  actions,"  wrote  Sir  J.  Norris 
to  Burghley,  "  I  am  crossed,  and  sought 
to  be  disgraced,  and  suffered  to  be 
braved  by  the  worst  and  simplest  in 
the  company,  only  to  draw  me  Into 
quarrels.  These  things  1  am  fain  to 
endure,  lest  the  hindrance  of  the  ser- 
vice should  be  laid  to  my  charge— a 
thing  greatly  sought  for.  .  .  .  The 
dishonourable  violence  olTerod  to  my 
brother   in    Coimt   HoUock's   house  is 


so  coldly  proceeded  in  as  I  fear  thft 
despair  of  orderly  repairing  his  honour 
will  drive  him  to  a  more  dangerous 
course,  and,  in  truth,  it  Is  used  as  if  we 
were  the  basest  in  the  company."  Sir  J. 
Norris  to  Burghley,  16  Aug.  1586.  (S.P. 
Office  MS.) 

»  J.  Norris  to  Walsingham,  25  Oct. 
15S6.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  B.  Clerk  to 
Burghley,  11  Aug.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

'  Bruce's  '  Leyc.  Corresp.'  392. 


u 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


1586. 


DRAKE  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


with  the  Earl,  intimated  to  Sir  John  that  she  did  not 
disapprove  his  conduct,  that  she  should  probably  recall 
him  to  England,  and  that  she  should  send  him  back  to 
the  Provinces  after  the  Earl  had  left  that  country.' 

Such  had  been  the  position  of  the  governor-general 
towards  the  Queen,  towards  the  States-General,  and 
towards  his  own  countrymen,  during  the  year  1586. 


95 


1  "I  had  not  much  to  do."  wrote 
Wilkes  to  Sir  John,  •*  to  re-establish  in  her 
MiOesty  and  Mr.  Secretary  a  singular 
good  opinion  of  you  and  your  actions. 
.  .  .  Believe  me,  I  do  not  find  any  man 
on  that  side  equal  with  you  in  her  Majes- 
ty's grace.  She  protests  to  me  she  will 
not  have  your  safety  hazarded  for  any 
treasure,  and  hath  resolved  to  revoke  you. 
...  I  do  find  a  disposiUon  in  her  Majes- 
ty to  return  you  thither  again,  after  his 
Excellency  shall  be  come  home,  which 
her  Majesty  meaneth  directly,  although 
there  is  much  variety  of  oplulon  here, 
whether  it  be  fit  to  revoke  him  or  not. 
Such  aadesirt  the  good  of  that  State  do 


hold  that  question  affirmatively,  but  such 
as  do  not  love  him  (who  are  the  greater 
number)  do  maintain  the  negative.  Her 
Majesty  and  her  council  do  greatly  stagger 
at  the  excessive  charge  of  those  wars 
mider  his  Excellency's  government  for 
the  past  six  months,  affirming  (as  it  is 
true)  that  the  reahn  of  England  is  not 
able  to  supply  the  moiety  of  that  charge, 
notwithstanding  the  necessity  of  the 
defence  of  those  countries  is  so  cnr;jt)ined 
*1th  her  Majesty's  own  safety  as  the 
same  is  not  to  be  abandoned."  Wilkes  to 
Sir  J.  Norrla,  23  Sept.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 


CHAPTEK  XL 

Drake  in  the  Netherlands  —  Good  Results  of  his  Visit  —  The  Babington  Con. 
splracy  —  Leicester  decides  to  visit  England  —  Exchange  of  parting  Com- 
pliments. 

Late  in  the  autunln  of  the  same  year  an  Englishman 
arrived  in  the  Netherlands,  bearer  of  despatches  from 
the  Qiieen.  He  had  been  entrusted  by  her  Majesty  with 
a  special  mission  to  the  States-General,  and  he  had  soon 
an  interview  with  that  assembly  at  the  Hague. 

He  was  a  small  man,  apparently  forty -live  years  of 
age,  of  a  fair  but  somewhat  weather-stained  complexion, 
with  light-brown,  closely-curling  hair,  an  expansive 
forehead,  a  clear  blue  eye,  rather  commonplace  features, 
a  thin,  brown,  pointed  beard,  and  a  slight  moustache. 
Though  low  of  stature,  he  was  broad-chested,  with  well- 
knit  limbs.  His  hands,  which  were  small  and  nervous, 
were  brown  and  callous  with  the  marks  of  toil.  There 
was  something  in  his  brow  and  glance  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, and  which  men  willingly  call  master ;  yet  he  did 
not  seem  to  have  sprung  of  the  bom  magnates  of  the 
earth.  He  wore  a  heavy  gold  chain  about  his  neck,  and 
it  might  be  observed  that  upon  the  light  full  sleeves  of 
his  slashed  doublet  the  image  of  a  small  ship  on  a 
terrestrial  globe  was  curiously  and  many  times  em- 
broidered. 

It  was  not  the  first  time  that  he  had  visited  the 
Netherlands.  Thirty  years  before  the  man  had  been 
apprentice  on  board  a  small  lugger,  which  traded  be- 
tween the  English  coast  and  the  ports  of  Zeeland. 
Emerging  in  early  boyhood  from  his  parental  mansion — 
an  old  boat,  turned  bottom  upwards  on  a  sandy  down 
— he  had  naturally  taken  to  the  sea,  and  his  master, 
dying  childless  not  long  afterwards,  bequeathed  to  him 
the  lugger.  But  in  time  his  spirit,  too  much  confined 
by  coasting  in  the  narrow  seas,  had  taken  a  bolder 
flight.  He  had  risked  his  hard-earned  savings  in  a 
voyage  with  the  old  slave-trader,  John  Hawkins— whoso 


M' 


1/ 


96 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X. 


exertions,  in  what  was  then  considered  an  honourable 
and  useful  vocation,  had  been  rewarded  by  Queen 
Elizabeth  with  her  special  favour,  and  with  a  coat  of 
arms  the  crest  whereof  was  a  negro's  head,  proper, 
chained— but  the  lad's  first  and  last  enterprise  in  this 
field  was  unfortunate.  Captured  by  Spaniards,  and  only 
escaping  with  life,  he  determined  to  revenge  himself  on 
the  whole  Spanish  nation ;  and  this  was  considered  a 
most  legitimate  proceeding  according  to  the  "sea 
divinity  "  in  which  he  had  been  schooled.  His  subse- 
quent expeditions  against  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the 
West  Indies  were  eminently  successful,  and  soon  the 
name  of  Francis  Drake  rang  through  the  world,  and 
startled  Philip  in  the  depths  of  his  Escorial.  The  first 
Englishman,  and  the  second  of  any  nation  he  then 
ploughed  his  memorable  "  furrow  round  the  earth, 
cairying  amazement  and  destruction  to  the  Spaniards  as 
he  sailed,  and  after  three  years  brought  to  the  Queen 
treasure  enough,  as  it  was  asserted,  to  maintain  a  war 
with  the  Spanish  King  for  seven  years,  and  to  pay  him- 
self and  companions,  and  the  merchant-adventurers  who 
had  participated  in  his  enterprise,  forty-seven  pounds 
sterling  for  every  pound  invested  in  the  voyage.  Ihe 
speculation  had  been  a  fortunate  one  both  for  himself 
and  for  the  kingdom. 

The  terrible  Sea-King  was  one  of  the  great  types  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  self-helping  private  adven- 
turer in  his  little  vessel  the  *  Golden  Hind,  one  hun- 
dred  tons  burthen,  had  waged  successful  war  against  a 
mighty  empire,  and  had  shown  England  how  to  humble 
Philip  When  he  again  set  foot  on  his  native  soil  he 
was  followed  by  admiring  crowds,  and  became  the 
favourite  hero  of  romance  and  ballad ;  for  it  was  not 
the  ignoble  pursuit  of  gold  alone,  through  toil  and  peril, 
which  had  endeared  his  name  to  the  nation.  Ihe  popu- 
lar instinct  recognized  that  the  true  means  had  been 
found  at  la^t  for  rescuing  England  and  Protestantism 
from  the  overshadowing  empire  of  bpain.  The  Queen 
visited  him  in  his  ^Golden  Hind,' and  gave   him  the 

honour  of  knighthood.  .     ,  ^^  ,,     i     j        j  -r^ 

The  treaty  between  the  United  Netherlands  and  Eng- 
land had  been  followed  by  an  embargo  upon  English 
vessels,  pei-sons,  and  property,  in  the  ports  of  Spain; 


1586. 


GOOD  RESULTS  OF  HIS  VISIT. 


97 

and,  after  five  years  of  unwonted  repose,  the  privateers- 

^fXoTfi  ^"""^"^'^  twenty-five  small  vessX      ' 
-of  which  five  or  six  only  were  armed-under     ''''' 
his  command,  conjoined  with  that  of  General  Carlisle 
This  time  the  voyage  was  undertaken  with  MlpeZt 
sion  and  assistance  of  the  Queen,  who,  howeve^inSed 
to  disavow  him,  if  she  should  find  such  a  step  conve 
IT/  .^^^«  T  the  expedition  in  which  Philip  mney 
^d  desired  to  take  part.     The  Queen  watched  L  3 
with  intense  anxiety,  for  the  fate  of  her   Netheiland 

life  and  dea^hnffr^"'  "'"  ^^^^  ^r^^h,  dependeth  the 
Ltt^tKall^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^  '^  --'«  J-<ig- 

The  issue  was  encoumging,  even  if  the  voyage-as  a 
mercantile  speculation-proved  not  so  brilliant  as^he 
previous  enterprises  of  Sir  Francis  had  been      He  re 
turned  m  the  midsummer  of  1586,  having  cap  iired  a?rf 

^"tt^le  '' 5T^^^  ^^'  CaVthagen\  ?nd  bur^^d 
at.  Augustine^    "  A  fearful  man  to  the  Kinfr  of  Snain  is 

S.r  Francis  Drake,"  said  Lord  Bnrghley/  NeVSthe 
less,  the  Queen  and  the  Lord-Treaturer-as  wlhave 
^o^r^ A^  '^-    ""T  conferences  at  GreenwioT-td 

Z^^l^T^    7    *''^    successes,   expressed    a    more 
earnest  desire  for  peace  than  ever. 

A  simple  seafaring  Englishman,  with  half-a-dozen 
miserable  little  vessels,  had  carried  terror  into  the 
Spanish  possessions  all  over  the  earth :  but  even  then 
the  great  Queen  had  not  learned  to  rely  on  the  vidow 
of  her  volunteers  against  her  most  formidable  eneLy  • 

Drake  was  however,  bent  on  another  enterprise 
The  preparations  for  Philip's  great  fleet  had  been ^5^0 
steadily  fonvard  in  Lisbon,  Cadiz,  and  other  ports  of 
Spain  and  Portugal,  and,  despite  assurances  to  the  con- 
trary, there  was  a  growing  belief  that  England  was  to 
tl^^'^^'t  T"  destroy  those  ships  before  the  mon^^h^ 
face,  would  be,  indeed,  to  "singe  his  beard."  But 
whose  arm  was  daring    enough   for  such  a  stroke? 

•  For  the  life  „d.dv.„.„re'„fZV  ^y  Z'utJ^Z^'/;^ ':"''^- 

^  ►^ner.  ■  The  Holy  SU..  a„a  the  Pr.'  ^^.'^r  slrX'^^SX'  "T^oto 

fane  State.' tnixxre.    Stowe's  •  Chronicle,'  Barrow,    ma.  ^yJoim 

VOU   II.  ^ 


98 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  XI. 


Ui 


Whose  but  that  of  the  Devonshire  skipper  who  had 
already  accomplished  so  much  ? 

And  so  Sir  Francis,  "  a  man  true  to  his  word,  merciful 
to  those  under  him,  and  hating  nothing  so  much  as 
idleness,"'  had  come  to  the  Netherlands  to  talk  over 
his  project  with  the  States-General,  and  with  the  Dutch 
merchants  and  sea-captains.*  His  visit  was  not  un- 
fmitful.  As  a  body  the  assembly  did  nothing ;  but 
they  recommended  that  in  every  maritime  city  of  Hol- 
land and  Zeeland  one  or  two  ships  should  be  got  ready, 
to  participate  in  all  the  future  enterprises  of  Sir  Francis 
and  his  comrades.* 

The  martial  spirit  of  volunteer  sailors,  and  the  keen 
instinct  of  mercantile  speculation,  were  relied  upon — 
exactly  as  in  England — to  furnish  men,  ships,  and 
money,  for  these  daring  and  profitable  adventures. 
llie  foundation  of  a  still  more  intimate  connection 
between  England  and  Holland  was  laid,  and  thenceforth 
Dutchmen  and  Englishmen  fought  side  by  side,  on  land 
and  sea,  wherever  a  blow  was  to  be  struck  in  the  cause 
of  human  freedom  against  despotic  Spain. 

The  famous  Babington  conspiracy,  discovered  by 
Walsingham's  '*  travail  and  cost,"  had  come  to  convince 


1  Fuller. 

2  Wagenaar,  vlil.  233-234,  who  is, 
however,  mistaken  in  saying  that  "  they 
liad  no  ears  fur  Drake  in  the  Nether- 
lands.'' 

"*  •*  The  voyage  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
Into  these  countries,"  wrote  Wilkes,  "Is 
not  likely  to  be  unfruitful,  although  at 
his  arrival  he  found  no  dispOvSition  In  the 
States  and  people  at  all  to  a.ssent  of  his 
motions.  They  cannot  yield  to  assist  his 
*royage  with  any  general  contribution, 
but  are  contented  to  deal  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  principal  maritime  towns,  to 
funiish  in  every  of  them  a  ship  or  two, 
according  to  the  ability  of  the  merchants 
there  residing,  from  whom  the  States-Ge- 
neral, now  assembled  at  the  Hague,  do 
expect  a  siieedy  answer  and  resolution  ; 
w)  as  if  her  Majesty  shall  determine  that 
Sir  F.  Drake  do  venture  again  to  the 
Indies,  it  is  mot  to  be  doubted  that  he 
ahall  fiaiY  mme  gotid  assistance  from 
hevcf.  or  what  necessity  it  is  that  the 
Qu'-ens  principal  enemy  be  attempted 
Uiiii  way,  your  honour  caii  bf st  perceive ; 


but  we  find  it  more  than  probable  hero, 
that  if  he  may  evjoi/  his  Indies  quietly,  he 
trill  make  her  Majesty  and  these  countries 
soon  veary  of  their  defence.  I  have 
partly  instructed  Sir  F.  Drake  of  the 
state  of  these  countries.  How  and  in 
what  sort  my  l>ord  of  Leicester  depart- 
eth  hence,  he  hath  best  discerned  by  his 
own  exj)erlence,  which,  because  it  is  long 
to  be  written.  I  am  bold  to  refer  your 
honour  to  his  declaration.  I  do  find  the 
state  of  things  here  so  disjointed  and  un- 
settloti,  that  I  have  Just  cause  to  fear 
some  dangerous  alteration  in  the  absence 
of  our  governt»r.  Therefore  I  beseech 
you,  as  you  tender  the  preservation  of  her 
Majesty's  estate,  depending,  as  you  know, 
upon  the  maintenance  of  this,  that  you 
will  procure  some  speedy  re8t>lution  at 
home,  and  the  return  of  some  governor  of 
wisdom  and  value,  to  reunite  these  dis- 
tracted proviiiws,  who,  for  lack  of  ahead, 
are  apt  enough  to  be  the  workers  of  their 
own  ruin."  Wilkes  to  Wnlsinghaiu,  17 
Nov.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1586. 


THE  BABINGTON  CONSPIRACY^. 


99 


the  Queen  and  her  counsellors-if  further  proof  were 
not  siiperfluous-that  her  throne  and  life  we?e  both  ^n 
compatible  with  Philip  «  deep  designs,  and  that  to  L^^^^^ 
that  monarch  out  of  the  Netherlands  was  as  vital  to  he? 
as  to  keep  him  out  of  England.     **  She  is  forced  by  this 
discovery  to   countenance    the   cause   by  all   oufward 
means  she  may,"  said  Walsingham,  ''  for  ft  appe^eth 
unto  her  most  plain,  that  uJs  she'  kad  Jer^^-To   t 
action,  she  had  been  utterly  undom,  and  that  if  she  do  no^ 
prosecute  the  same  sh^  cannot  continue."  ^     The  Secre 
tary  had  sent  Leicester  information  at  an  early  d^y  of 
the  great  secret  begging  his  friend  to  "make  the  letter 
a  heretic  after  he  liad  read  the  same,"  and  exp^^^^^^^^^ 
the  opinion  that  "the  matter,  if  wel    handled   wouW 

^^r:^^^^  ^"  ^-^—  practices  d^r^rW 

England   and    Holland,   and,   through    them^^of  Llf 

s^.1T:^^  r  r'"P'f.'^'-Wroached'its  cS 
strophe,  and  Leicester  could  not  restrain  his  anxietv 
for  her  immediate  execution.   He  reminded  WalsinS 

ttZ^f:'  r/  '''  '^^"  P"*  "P^^  ^  wairant  fof  W 
execution  tor  a  less  crime  seventeen  years  beforp   nn 

rebe  lion.     -For  who  can  warrant  these  villains  from 

time  ?  God  forbid  !  And  be  you  all  stout  and  resolute 
m  this  speedy  execution,  or  be  condemned  of  all  he 
world  for  ever.     It  is  most  certain,  if  you  will  have  W 

sa^^-3-r  '^  <^"-- f- r  ice  dXrve 

DCMQe  policy.  His  own  personal  safetv  was  d^pnU- 
compromised.  "  Your  Lordsl^p  and  I,"  wt^Burg  ,S 
rll^t-^H^reatmotesin  the  traitors' eyes ;  for  your 
Lordship  there  and  I  here  should  first,  about  one  time 


>  Brnce's  •  Leyc.  Corresp.'  341. 

•  Ibid.  342. 

«  Ibid.  431.    (10  Oct.  1686.)    See  also 

♦k'T!"*'  ^^^  proceeding  of  Justice  against 
the  Queen  of  Scots  is  deferred  until  a 
parliament.  whe,-eat  1  do  greatly  n.arvel 
"  It  should  be  tme,  considering  how 
dangero.,8  such  d-^Liy  might  be.  for  !he 
mischief  that  might  in  the  mean  time  be 


practised  agamst  her  Majesty's  person. 
I  hough  some  sniaH  branches  of  these 
conspiracies  be  taken  away,  yet  the 
greater  boughs  are  not  unknown  to  re- 
main.  To  whom  it  were  not  gcHxi.  in  my 
opinion,  to  give  that  opportunity  which 
might  be  tak.u.  while  a  parliament  may 
l>e  called,  and  such  a  cau«e  debated  and 
detennlned."  Sec  Leicester  to  WuLsing. 
ham,  9  Sept  1686.  (S.  P.  Office  MS  ) 
H    2 


100 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XI. 


have  been  killed.  Of  your  Lordship  they  thought 
rather  of  poisoning  than  slaying.  After  us  two  gone, 
they  purposed  her  Majesty's  death,"  * 

But  on  this  great  affair  of  state  the  Earl  was  not 
swayed  by  such  personal  considerations.     He  honestly 
thought— as  did  all  the  statesmen  who  governed  Eng- 
land—that English  liberty,  the  very  existence  of  the 
English  commonwealth,  was  impossible  so  long  as  Mary 
Stuart  lived.*     Under  these  circumstances  he  was  not 
impatient,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  leave  the  Netherlands. 
His  administration  had  not  been  very  successful.     He 
had  been  led  away  by  his  own  vanity,  and  by  the  flat- 
tery of  artful  demagogues,  but  the  immense  obstacles 
with  which  he  had  to  contend  in  the  Queen's  wavering 
policy,  and  in  the  rivalry  of  both  English  and  Hutch 
politicians,  have  been  amply  exhibited.     That  he  had 
been  generous,  courageous,  and  zealous,  could  not  be 
denied ;    and,  on  the  whole,  he   had   accomplished  as 
much  in  the  field  as  could  have  been  expected  of  him 
with  such  meagre  forces,  and  so  barren  an  exchequer.* 

It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  his  leaving  the 
Netherlands  at  that  moment  wa^  a  most  unfortunate 
step,  both  for  his  own  reputation  and  for  the  security  of 
the  Provinces.  Party-spirit  was  running  high,  and  a 
political  revolution  was  much  to  be  dreaded  in  so  grave 
a  position  of  affairs,  both  in  England  and  Holland.  The 
arrangements— and  particularly  the  secret  arrangements 
which  he  made  at  his  departure— were  the  most  fatal 
measures  of  all ;  but  these  will  be  described  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapter. 

On  the  3l8t  October,  the  Earl  announced  to  the  state- 
council  his  intention  of  returning  tx)  England,  stating, 

3ist  Oct.    as  the  cause  of  this  sudden  determination,  that 
1586.     lie  had  been  summoned  to  attend  the  parlia- 
ment then  sitting  in  Westminster.     Wilkes,  who  was  of 


1  Brace's '  Leyc.  Conresp.'  412.  (15  Sept. 

1686.) 

2  One  of  the  Bablngton  conspirators, 
Ralph  Salisbury,  was  a  tenant  of  Leices- 
ter's and  had  "a  farm  under  the  very 
castle-wall  of  Denbigh."  I^eicester  to 
Burghley,  29  Aug.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

*  "  Oh  I^rd  !  who  would  think  It  p««- 
•Ible,"  he  cried  on  one  occasi(m,  "  for  any 


man  sent  as  we  are,  and  in  action  for 
that  iralm  (of  England)  chiefly,  and  for 
aU  Chrittendom  alto,  to  be  so  carelessly 
and  overwilllngly  overthrown  for  ordinary 
wanta.  .  .  .  To-morrow  and  to-morrow 
they  shall  have.  .  .  .  What  opportunities 
we  have  lately  lost !  We  are  ready  to  eat 
our  own  flesh  for  anger,  but  that  cannot 
help."     •  Leyc  Corresp.'  366. 


1586. 


LEICESTER  DECIDES  TO  VISIT  ENGLAND. 


101 

course  present  having  now  succeeded  KiUigrew  as  one 
Of  the  two  English  members,  observed  that  ''the  States 

?of  hr.r'  "!f^  ^"'  ''''''''  ^^^-^*^*-  ^-  Excellency 
for  his  stay  and  countenance  there  among  them,  whereat 

his  Excellency  and  we  that  were  of  the  counci    for  her 
Majesty  did  not  a  little  marvel."  > 

Some  weeks  later,  however,  upon  the  21st  November 
Leicester  summoned  Bameveld,  and  five  other  of  the 
States^eneral,  to  discuss  the  necessaiy  mea-  Lt^ov 
sures  for  his  departure,  when  those  gentlemen      i^se?  ' 
remonstrated  ver>^  earnestly  upon  the  step,  pleading  the 

fn«f '^T^  T^tn^^  affairs  which  must"^ necessarily 
ensue.     1  he  Earl  declared  that  he  was  not  retirin<r  from 
the  country  because  he  was  offended,  although  h'e  had 
inany  causes  for  offence :    and  he  then  alluded  to  the 
Navigation  Act,  to  the  establishment  of  the  finance- 
council,  and  spoke  of  Burgrave  and  Eeingault,  for  his 
employment  of  which  individuals  so  much  obloquy  had 
been  heaped  upon  his  head.     Burgrave  he  pronounced, 
as  usual,   a  substantial,  wise,   faithful,   religious   perl 
sonage,  entitled  to  fullest  confidence;  while  KeingLlt 
--who  had  been  thrown  into  prison  by  the  States  on 
charges  of  fraud,  peculation,  and  sedition-he  declared  to 
be  ^  a  great  financier,  who  had  promised,  on  penalty  of 
his  head  to  bring  great  sums  into  the  treasury  for  carry- 

'J^^f  ""l  u  ^'f '  r^^''''^  ^""y  ^^^'^^e^  to  ^l^e  commu- 
nity.        Had  he  been  able  to  do  this,  he  had  certainly 

a  claim  to  be  considered  the  greatest  of  financiers  ;  but 
the  promised  -  mountains  of  gold"  were  never  disco- 
vered, and  Kemgault  was  now  awaiting  his  trial. « 


1  Bnice's  '  T^yc.  Corresp.'  443  note. 
«  Bor,   ii.    777-779.      Hoofd,    207-209. 
Wagenaar,  viil.  183-187. 

'  "  I  must  pray  you  and  require  you  to 
be  careful  in  satisfying  the  States  touch- 
ing Reingault,"  said  Leicester:   *'l  did 
promise  upon  mine  honour  he  should  be 
brought  back  again,  and  so  1  have  done, 
but  1  will  be  no  butcher  to  the  greatest 
monarch  in  the  world,  much  less  the  be- 
trayer of  a  man's  life,  whom  1  myself 
caused  to  be  apprehended  to  please  them, 
and  kept  htm  in  safe  guard.    And  now  I 
have  been  advertised  of  the  intent  in  pro- 
ceeding with  him.  and  with  what  violence, 
and  what  some  of  themselves  have  sworn 
and  vowed  touching  bis  death,  you  know, 


and  I  prny  you  declare,  for  as  I  will  keep 
promise  with  them  for  the  prison  of  the 
man,  so  do  I  look  to  have  mine  own 
honour  regarded  at  their  himds,  seeing 
more  malice  than  just  desert  against  him. 
I  take  the  man  to  have  faults  enough, 
but  not  capital."  I^eicester  to  Wilkes, 
20  Nov.  15H6,    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

Wilkes,  finding  that  the  .States  of  Hol- 
land were  furious  against  Relr.gault,  and 
were  demanding  his  execution,  had 
managed  to  place  him  under  the  charge 
of  the  provost  marshal  of  the  English 
troops  at  Utrecht  AVhen  he  had  thiw 
saved  the  culprit's  life,  he  Informed  Bar- 
neveld  of  what  he  bad  done,  and  that 
statesman  severely  censured  the  act,  on 


102 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XI. 


The  deputies  replied  that  the  concessions  upon  the 
Navigation  Act  had  satisfied  the  country,  but  that 
Eeingault  was  a  known  instrument  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  Burgrave  a  mischief-making  demagogue,  who  con- 
sorted with  malignants,  and  sent  slanderous  reports  con- 
cerning the  States  and  the  country  to  her  Majesty.  They 
had  in  consequence  felt  obliged  to  write  private  de- 
spatches to  envoy  Ortel  in  England,  not  because  they 
suspected  the  Earl,  but  in  order  to  counteract  the  calum- 
nies of  his  chief  advisers.  They  had  urged  the  agent 
to  bring  the  imprisonment  of  Paul  Buys  before  her  Ma- 
jesty, but  for  that  transaction  Leicester  boldly  disclaimed 
all  responsibility.^ 

It  was  agreed  between  the  Earl  and  the  deputies  that, 
during  his  absence,  the  whole  government,  civil  and 
military,  should  devolve  upon  the  state-council,  and  that 
Sir  John  Norris  should  remain  in  command  of  the  English 

forces.* 

IVo  days  afterwards  Leicester,  who  knew  very  well 
that  a  legation  was  about  to  proceed  to  England,  without 
any  previous  concurrence  on  his  part,  summoned  a 
committee  of  the  States-General,  together  with  Bame- 
veld,  into  the  state-council.  Counsellor  Wilkes  on  his 
behalf  then  made  a  speech,  in  which  he  observed^  that 
more  ample  communications  on  the  part  of  the  States 
were  to  be  expected.  They  had  in  previous  colloquies 
touched  upon  comparatively  unimportant  matters,  but 
he  now  begged  to  be  informed  why  these  commissioners 
were  proceeding  to  England,  and  what  was  the  nature 
of  their  instructions.  Why  did  not  they  formally  offer 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Provinces  to  the  Queen  without 
conditions?  That  step  had  already  been  taken  by 
Utrecht." 

The  deputies  conferred  apart  for  a  little  while,  and 
then  replied  that  the  proposition  made  by  Utrecht  was 


the  ground  that  grave  consequences 
might  follow  this  interposition  in  li^'half 
of  so  siRiial  an  offender.  Reinjiaulf  s  life 
was  pn>8«rved.  however,  and  lie  subse- 
quently wiis  permuted  to  retire  to  the 
Spanish  Netherlands,  where  the  violent 
democrat  atid  Calvinist  ended  his  days  an 
obe<llent  subject  of  Philip  H..  and  an  ex- 
emplary pHpist  Wilkes  to  1/elcester,  3 
aiid  12  I)tc.  1586.    (S.  P.  OflBce  MS.) 


Reyd,  v.  «2. 

Burgrave  accompanied  the  Earl  to 
England,  as  his  chief  secret.>ry  and  advi- 
ser in  Netherland  matters,  while  r)even- 
ter  remained  In  Utrecht,  principal  direc- 
tor of  the  l^lcestrlan  party,  and  centre 
of  all  Us  cabals  against  the  States. 

J  Wilkes  to  l^icester.  Ac.  MS,  Jtist 
cited.  '  Wagenaar,  viU.  187 

3  Bor,  ii.  780-783. 


1586.  EXCHANGE  OF  PARTING  COMPLIMENTS.  103 

notoriously  i^ictious,  illegal,  and  altogether  futile  With- 
out the  sanction  of  all  the  United  IStates,  of  what  vahie 
was  the  declaration  of  Utrecht?  Moreover,  the  charter 
of  that  province  had  been  recklessly  violated,  its  ffovern- 
ment  overthrown,  and  its  leading  citizens  banished. 
J  he  action  of  the  Province  under  such  circumstances 
was  not  deserving  of  comment ;  but  should  it  appear 
that  her  Majesty  was  desirous  of  assuming  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  l>rovinces  upon  reasonable  conditions,  thi. 
btates  of  Holland  and  of  Zeeland  would  not  be  fJund 
backward  in  the  business.* 

Leicester  proposed  that  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau 
should  go  with  him  to  England,  as  nominal  chief  of  the 
embassy,  and  some  of  the  deputies  favoured  the  sujr. 
gestion  It  was,  however,  vigorously  and  successful  Iv 
opposed  by  Bameveld,  who  urged  that  to  leave  the 
country  without  a  head  in  such  a  dangerous  position 
of  affairs,  would  be  an  act  of  madness.*  Leicester  was 
much  annoyed  when  informed  of  this  decision.  He  wks 
suspected  of  a  design,  during  his  absence,  of  convertino- 
Maurice  entirely  to  his  own  way  of  thinking.  If  unsuc- 
cessful, it  wa.s  believed  by  the  Advocate  and  bv  many 
others  that  the  Eari  would  cause  the  vouno-  Prince  to 
be  detained  in  England  as  long  as  Philip  William,  his 
brother  had  been  kept  in  Spain.  He  observed  peevishlv 
that  he  knew  how  it  had  all  been  brought  about.^ 

Words,  of  course,  and  handsome  compliments  were 
exchanged  between  the  Governor  and  the  States-General 
on  his  departure.  He  protested  that  he  had  never  pur- 
sued any  private  ends  during  his  administration,  but 
had  ever  sought  to  promote  the  good  of  the  countiT  and 
the  glory  of  the  Queen,  and  that  he  had  spent  three 
hundred  thousand  florins  of  his  own  money  in  the  brief 
period  of  his  residence  there.* 

The  Advocate,  on  the  part  of  the  States,  assured  him 
that  they  were  all  aware  that  in  the  friendship  of  Eno-. 
land  lay  their  only  chance  of  salvation,  but  that  unite'd 
action  was  the  sole  means  by  which  that  salvation  could 
be  effected,  and  the  one  which  had  enabled  the  late 
Prince  of  Orange  to  maintain  a  contest  unequalled  by 


>  Ror.  11.  780-783. 

2  Bor,  ubi  sup.    Hoofd  Vervolgh,  206. 
Wagenaar,  vlli.  185. 


'  Bor,  ubi  sttp. 

*  Bor.  ii.  7b5.    Hoofd,  ubi  sup. 


104 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XI. 


anvthing  recorded  in  history.  There  was  also  much 
disquisition  on  the  subject  of  finance— the  Advocate 
observing  that  the  States  now  raised  as  much  in  a  month 
as  the  Provinces  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  used  to  levy 
in  a  year — and  expressed  the  hope  that  the  Queen  would 
increase  her  contingent  to  ten  thousand  foot  and  two 
thousand  horse.  He  repudiated,  in  the  name  of  the 
States-General  and  his  own,  the  possibility  of  peace- 
negotiations  ;  deprecated  any  allusion  to  the  subject  as 
fatal  to  their  religion,  their  liberty,  their  very  existence, 
and  equally  disastrous  to  England  and  to  Protestantism, 
and  implored  the  Earl,  therefore,  to  use  all  his  influence 
in  opposition  to  any  pacific  overtures  to  or  from  Spain.* 

On  the  24th    November,  acts  were  drawn  up  and 

si"-ned  by  the  Earl,  according  to  which  the  supreme 

24th  Not.  government  of  the  United   Netherlands  was 

*s»«-  formally  committed  to  the  state-council  during 
his  absence.  Decrees  were  to  be  pronounced  in  the 
name  of  his  Excellency,  and  countersigned  by  Maurice 
<if  Nassau. 

On  the  following  day,  Leicester,  being  somewhat  in- 
disposed, requested  a  deputation  of  the  States-General 
to  wait  upon  him  in  his  own  house.  This  was  done, 
and  a  formal  and  affectionate  farewell  was  then  read  to 
him  by  his  secretarj%  Mr.  Atye.  It  was  responded  to 
in  complimentary  fashion  by  Advocate  r»ameveld,  who 
again  took  occasion  at  this  parting  interview  to  impress 
upon  the  governor  the  utter  impossibility,  in  his  own 
opinion  and  that  of  the  other  deputies,  of  reconciling 
the  Provinces  with  Spain.* 

Leicester  received  from  the  States — as  a  magnificent 
parting  present — a  ?iilver  gilt  vase,  **  as  tall  as  a  man," 
and  then  departed  for  Flushing,  to  take  shipping  for 
England.* 

*  Bor,    Hoofd,   Wagenaar,    ubi  tup.    StatfM*    pronounced    it    "  aa  singular  a 

Rpyd,  V.  los,  109.  Jewel  as  could  be  found  in  any  of  the 

=*  Ibid.    Mett'ren,  xlii.  23«.  surrounding  kinRdoms."      It    was   said 

'  Bt>r,  ii.    754.    Reyd,    IIoll.    4  Oct.     that,  on  atxoiiiit   of   its  size,  It  could 

9    Nov.    442,    493.       Wagenaar,  vlii.    only  have   been   gilded  at  the  peril  of 

173.  the  artisan's  life.    Van  Wyu  op  Wagen, 

The    vaae    or    cup    (kop).  as  it  was     vill.  ti2. 

called,   had    cost    9Ui)U    florins.  The 


1586.      ILL-TIMED  INTERREGNUM  IN  THE  PROVINCES.      105 


CHAPTER    XII. 


Ill-timed  Interregnum  in  the  Provinces  —  Firmness  of  the  English  and  Dutch 
People  —  Factions  during  Leicester's  Government  —  Democratic  Theories 
of  the  Leicestrians  —  Suspicions  as  to  the  E^rl"s  Designs  —  Extreme  Views 
of  the  Calvinists  —  Political  Ambition  of  the  Church  —  Antagonism  of  the 
Church  and  States  —  The  States  inclined  to  Tolerance  —  Desolation  of  the 
Obedient  Provinces  —  Pauperism  and  Famine  —  Prosperity  of  the  Republic  — 
The  Year  of  Expectation. 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  the  Queen  should  desire  the 
presence  of  her  favourite  at  that  momentous  epoch, 
when  the  dread  question,  "  aut  fer  ant  feri"  had  at  last 
demanded  its  definite  solution.  It  was  inevitable,  too, 
that  Leicester  should  feel  great  anxiety  to  be  upon  the 
spot  where  the  great  tragedy,  so  full  of  fate  to  all  Chris- 
tendom, and  in  which  his  own  fortunes  were  so  closely 
involved,  was  to  be  enacted.  But  it  was  most  cruel  to 
the  Netherlands — whose  well-being  was  nearly  as  im- 
])ortant  to  Elizabeth  as  that  of  her  own  realm — to 
j)lunge  them  into  anarch^'  at  such  a  moment.  Yet  this 
was  the  necessary  result  of  the  sudden  retirement  of 
Leicester. 

He  did  not  resign  his  government.  He  did  not  bind 
himself  to  return.  The  question  of  sovereignty  was 
still  unsettled,  for  it  was  still  hoped  by  a  large  and  in- 
fluential party  that  the  English  Queen  would  a(;cept 
the  proposed  annexation.  It  was  yet  doubtful,  whether, 
during  the  period  of  abeyance  the  States-General  or  the 
States- Provincial,  each  within  their  separate  sphere, 
were  entitled  to  supreme  authority.  Meantime,  as  if 
here  were  not  already  sufficient  elements  of  dissension 
and  doubt,  came  a  sudden  and  indefinite  interregnum, 
a  provisional,  an  abnormal,  and  an  impotent  govern- 
ment. To  the  state-council  was  deputed  the  executive 
authority.  But  the  state-council  was  a  creature  of  the 
States-General,  acting  in  concert  with  the  governor- 
general,  and  having  no  actual  life  of  its  own.  It  was  a 
board  of  consultation,  not  of  decision,  for  it  could  neither 


106 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XII. 


enact  its  own  decrees  nor  interpose  a  veto  upon  the 
decrees  of  the  governor. 

Certainly  the  selection  of  Leicester  to  fill  so  important 
a  post  had  not  been  a  very  fortunate  one  ;  and  the  en- 
thusiasm which  had  greeted  him,  *'  as  if  he  had  been  a 
Messiah,"  on  his  arrival,  had  very  rapidly  dwindled 
away,  as  his  personal  character  became  known.  The 
leading  politicians  of  the  country  had  already  been 
aware  of  the  error  which  they  had  committed  in  clothing 
with  almost  sovereign  powers  the  delegate  of  one  who 
had  refused  the  sovereignty.  They  were  too  adroit  to 
neglect  the  opportunity,  which  her  Majesty's  anger 
offered  them,  of  repairing  what  they  considered  their 
blunder.  When  at  last  the  quarrel,  which  looked  so 
much  like  a  lovers'  quarrel,  between  Elizabeth  and 
*'  Sweet  Kobin,"  had  been  appeased  to  the  satisfaction  of 
Kobin,  his  royal  mistress  became  more  angrj'  with  the 
States  for  circumscribing  than  she  had  before  been  for 
their  exaggeration  of  his  authority.  Hence  the  im- 
placable  hatred  of  Leicester  16  Paul  Buys  and  Bame- 
veld. 

Those  two  statesmen,  for  eloquence,  learning,  readi- 
ness, administrative  faculty,  surpassed  by  few  who  have 
ever  wielded  the  destinies  of  free  commonwealths,  were 
fully  equal  to  the  task  thrown  upon  their  hands  by  the 
progress  of  events.  That  task  was  no  slight  one,  for 
it  was  to  the  leading  statesmen  of  Holland  and  Eng- 
land, sustained  by  the  indomitable  resistance  to  despot- 
ism almost  universal  in  the  English  and  Dutch  nations, 
that  the  liberty  of  Europe  was  entrusted  at  that  momen- 
tous epoch.  Whether  united  under  one  cro^^^l,  as  the 
Netherlanders  ardently  desired,  or  closely  allied  for 
aggression  and  defence,  the  two  peoples  were  bound 
indissolubly  together.  The  clouds  were  rolling  up  from 
the  fatal  south,  blacker  and  more  portentous  than  ever ; 
the  artificial  equilibrium  of  forces,  by  which  the  fate  of 
France  was  kept  in  suspense,  was  obviously  growing 
every  day  more  uncertain ;  but  the  prolonged  and 
awful  interval  before  the  tempest  should  burst  over  the 
lands  of  freedom  and  Protestantism,  gave  at  least  time 
for  the  pmdent  to  prepare.  The  Armada  was  growing 
every  day  in  the  ports  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
Walsingham  doubted  as  little  as  did  Buys  or  Barne- 


1586.     FIRMNESS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  AND  DUTCH  PEOPLE.     107 

veld    toward   what   shores    that    invasion   was  to   be 
directed.     England  was  to  be  conquered  in  order  that 
the    rebellious   Netherlands   might   be    reduced ;    and 
*•  Mucio     was  to  be  let  slip  upon  the  unhappy  Henry  III 
so  soon  as  it  was  thought  probable  that  the   Bearnese 
and  the   Valois  had  sufficiently  exhausted  each  other 
1  hilip  was  to  reign  in  Paris,  Amsterdam,  London,  and 
Edinburgh,   without  stirring  from  the  Escorial.      An 
excellent  programme,  had  there  not  been  some  Eno-lish 
gentlemen,  some  subtle  secretaries  of  state,  some  Devon- 
shire skippers,  some  Dutch  advocates  and  merchants 
some  Zeeland  fly-boatsmen,  and  six  million  men,  women' 
T^  ^^l^^^^^^  ^^  *^e  two  sides  of  the  North  Sea,  who 
had   the    power  of  expressing   their   thoughts   rather 
bluntly^  than   otherwise  in   different    dialects   of    old 
Anglo-Saxon  speech. 

Certainly  it  would  be  unjust  and  ungracious  to  dis- 
parage the  heroism  of  the  great  Queen,  when  the  hour 
of  danger  really  came,  nor  would  it  be  legitimate  for 
us,  who  can  scan  that  momentous  year  of  expectation, 
1587,  by  the  light  of  subsequent  events  and  of  secret 
contemporaneous  record,  to  censure  or  even  sharply  to 
criticise  the  loyal  hankering  for  peace,  when  peace  had 
really  become  impossible.     But  as  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  examine  rather  closely  the  secrets  of  the  Spanish, 
French,  English,  and  Dutch  councils,  during  this  epoch,' 
we  are  likely  to  find,  perhaps,  that  at  least  as  great  a 
debt  IS  due  to  the  English  and  Dutch  people,  in  mass, 
for  the  pieservation  of  European  liberty  at  that  disas- 
tnnis  epoch  as  to  any  soveraign,  general,  or  statesman. 

For  it  was  in  the  great  waters  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury that  the  nations  whose  eyes  were  open  discovered 
the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth,  while  others,  who  were 
blind,  passed  rapidly  onward  to  decrepitude.  England 
was,  in  many  respects,  a  despotism  so  far  as  regarded 
governmental  forms ;  and  no  doubt  the  Catholics  were 
treated  with  greater  rigour  than  could  be  justified  even 
by  the  perpetual  and  most  dangerous  machinations  of 
the  seminary  priests  and  their  instigators  against  the 
throne  and  lite  of  Elizabeth.  The  word  liberty  was 
never  musical  in  Tudor  ears,  yet  Englishmen  had  bbmt 
tongues  and  sharp  weapons  which  rarely  rusted  for  want 
of  use.     In  the  presence  of  a  parliament  and  the  ab- 


108 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap  XII. 


sence  of  a  standing  army,  a  people  accustomed  to  read 
the  Bible  in  the  vernacular,  to  handle  great  questions 
of  religion  and  government  freely,  and  to  bear  aims  at 
will,  was  most  formidable  to  despotism.  There  was  an 
advance  on  the  olden  time.  A  Francis  Drake,  a  John 
Hawkins,  a  Koger  Williams,  might  have  been  sold, 
under  the  Plantagenets,  like  an  ox  or  an  ass.  A  "  female 
villain  "in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  could  have  been 
purchased  for  eighteen  shillings— hardly  the  price  of  a 
fatted  pig,  and  not  one-third  the  value  of  an  ambling 
palfrey— and  a  male  villain,  such  an  one  as  could  in 
Elizabeth's  reign  circumnavigate  the  globe  in  his  own 
ship,  or  take  imperial  field-marshals  by  the  beard,  was 
worth  but  two  or  three  pounds  sterling  in  the  market. 
Here  was  progress  in  three  centuries,  for  the  villains 
were  now  become  admirals  and  generals  in  England 
and  Holland,  and  constituted  the  mainstay  of  these  two 
little  commonwealths,  while  the  commanders  who 
governed  the  "  invincible  "  fleets  and  armies  of  omnipo- 
tent Spain,  were  all  cousins  of  emperors,  or  grandees 
of  bluest  blood.  Perhaps  the  system  of  the  l\*eforma- 
tion  would  not  prove  the  least  eflective  in  the  impending 
crisis. 

It  was  most  important,  then,  that  these  two  nations 
should  be  united  in  council,  and  should  stand  shoulder 
to  shoulder  as  their  great  enemy  advanced.  But  this 
was  precisely  what  had  been  rendered  almost  impossible 
by  the  course  of  events  during  Leicester's  year  of  ad- 
ministration, and  by  his  sudden  but  not  final  retirement 
at  its  close.  The  two  great  national  parties  which  had 
gradually  been  forming  had  remained  in  a  fluid  state 
during  the  presence  of  the  governor-general.  During 
liis  absence  they  gradually  hardened  into  the  forms 
which  they  were  destined  to  retain  for  centuries.  In 
the  history  of  civil  liberty,  these  incessant  contests, 
these  oral  and  written  disquisitions,  these  sharp  con- 
cussions of  opinion,  and  the  still  harder  blows,  which, 
unfortunately,  were  dealt  on  a  few  occasions  by  the 
combatants  upon  each  other,  make  the  year  1587  a 
memorable  one.  The  great  questions  of  the  origin  of 
government,  the  balance  of  dynastic  forces,  the  distribu- 
tion of  powers,  were  dealt  with  by  the  able  st  heads,  both 
Dutch  and  English  that  could  be  employ  ed  in  the  ser- 


1586.      FACTIONS  DURING  LEICESTER'S  GOVERNMENT.      109 

vice  of  the  kingdom  and  republic.  It  was  a  war  of 
protocols,  arguments,  orations,  rejoinders,  apostilles,  and 
pamphlets,  very  wholesome  for  the  cause  of  free  insti- 
tutions and  the  intellectual  progress  of  mankind.  The 
reader  may  perhaps  be  surprised  to  see  with  how  much 
\ngour  and  boldness  the  grave  questions  which  underlie 
all  polity  were  handled  so  many  years  before  the  days 
of  Russell  and  Sidney,  of  Montesquieu  and  Locke, 
Franklin,  Jeff'erson,  Rousseau,  and  Voltaire;  and  he 
may  be  even  more  astonished  to  find  exceedingly  demo- 
cratic doctrines  propounded,  if  not  believed  in,  by 
trained  statesmen  of  the  Elizabethan  school.  He  will 
be  also  apt  to  wonder  that  a  more  fitting  time  could  not 
be  found  for  such  philosophical  deb^e  than,  the  epoch 
at  which  both  the  kingdom  and  the  republic  were  called 
upon  to  strain  every  sinew  against  the  most  formidable 
and  aggressive  despotism  that  the  world  had  known 
since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

The   great   dividing  line    between  the    two  parties, 
that  of  Leicester  and  that  of  Holland,  which  controlled 
the  action  of  the  States-General,  was  the  question  of 
sovereignty.     After  the   declaration    of   independence 
and    the    repudiation    of    Philip,    to    whom    did    the 
sovereignty  belong?     To  the  people,  said  the  Leices- 
tnans.^  To  the  States-General  and  the  States- Provincial, 
as  legitimate  representatives    of  the  people,  said  the 
Holland  party.     Without  looking  for  the  moment  more 
closely  into  this  question,  which  we  shall  soon  find  ablv 
discussed  by  the  most  acute  reasoners  of  the  time,  it  is 
only  important  at  present  to  make  a  preliminaiy  reflec- 
tion.    The  Earl  of  Leicester,  of  all  men  in  the  world, 
would  seem  to  have  been  precluded  by  his  owti  action,' 
and  by  the  action  of  his  Queen,  from  taking  ground 
against  the  States.     It  was  the  States  who,  by  solemn 
embassy,  had  offered  the  sovereignty  to  Elizabeth.     She 
had  not  accepted  the  offer,  but  she  had  deliberated  on 
the  subject,  and  certainly  she  had  never  expressed  a 
doubt  whether  or  not  the  offer  had  been  legally  made. 
By  the  States,  too,  that  governor-generalship  had  been 
conferred  upon  the  Earl,  which  had  been  so  thankfully 
and  eagerly  accepted.     It  was  strange,  then,  that  he 
should  deny  the   existence  of  the  power  whence  his 
own  authority  was   derived.     If  the  States  were  not 


110 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XI I. 


sovereigns  of  the  Netherlands,  he  certainly  was  no- 
thinj.^.  He  was  but  geneiul  of  a  few  thousand  English 
troops. 

The  Leicester  party,  then,  proclaimed  extreme  demo- 
cratic principles  as  to  the  origin  of  government  and  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people.  They  sought  to  strengtlien 
and  to  make  almost  absolute  the  executive  authority  of 
their  chief,  on  the  ground  that  such  was  the  popular 
will ;  and  they  denounced  with  great  acrimony  the  in- 
solence of  the  upstart  members  of  the  States,  half  a 
dozen  traders,  hired  advocates,  churls,  tinkers,  and  the 
like —  as  Leicester  was  fond  of  designating  the  men  wlio 
opposed  him — in  assuming  these  airs  of  sovereignty.' 

This  might,  perliaps,  be  philosophical  doctrine,  had 
its  supporter  not  forgotten  that  there  had  never  been 
any  pretence  at  an  expression  of  the  national  will,  ex- 
cept through  the  mouths  of  the  States.  The  States- 
General  and  the  States-Provincial,  without  any  usurpa- 
tion, but  as  a  matter  of  fact  and  of  great  political  con- 
venience, had,  during  fifteen  years,  exercised  the 
authority  which  had  fallen  from  I*hilip's  hands.  The 
people  hitherto  had  acquiesced  in  their  action,  and  cer- 
tainly there  had  not  yet  been  any  call  for  a  popular 
convention,  or  any  other  device  to  ascertain  the  popular 
will.  It  was  also  difficult  to  imagine  what  was  the 
exact  entity  of  this  abstraction  called  the  "  people  "  by 
men  who  expressed  such  extreme  contempt  for  "  mer- 
chants, advocates,  town-orators,  churls,  tinkers,  and  bise 
mechanic  men,  born    not   to  command  but  to    obey." 


»  ••  They  which  have  all  authority  In 
this  State,''  said  an  honest  Cieraiaii 
traveller  who  happened  to  be  in  Arnh<im 
that  winter,  "are  for  the  most  part  nier- 
chants.  orators  of  towns,  mechanic  men, 
ignorant,  loving  gain  naturally,  without 

respect  of  honour; born  to 

obey  ratht-r  than  command ;  who,  having 
once  ijisted  the  sweetness  of  authority, 
have  by  little  and  little  persuaded  them- 
selves that  they  are  sovereigns  ;  insultitig 
over  the  people,  and  controlling  him  to 
whom  they  had  by  oath  n-ferred  the  abso- 
lute and  i;eneral  government 

S"eing  tluu  the  s»)v<reignty  really  belongs 
tu  the  people,  to  whom  they  are  but  ser- 


vants and  deputies'.  ...  I  see  no 
other  remedy  for  this  mischief,  but  that 
the  people  Imi  wary  how  they  give  such 
power  and  authority,  and  suffer  It  to  con- 
tinue so  long  in  the  hands  of  men  of 
mechanic  and  base  condiilon,  who,  giown 
proud  with  the  command,  abuse  it  daily, 
as  well  against  the  people  as  against  the 
governors,  to  whom  the  people  have  re  • 
ferred  the  government  both  over  them- 
selves and  over  the  whole  estate."  Ray- 
mond Slockeler  to  a  friend  in  Knglanil, 
15  Feb.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.")  The  Utt.-r 
is  printed  In  Grimstone'a  '^'etherlands,' 
pp.  9  9  «t-.^. 


1586.    DEMOCKATIC  THEORIES  OK  THE  LElCESTklANS.      HI 

AVho  were  the  people  when  the  educated  classes  and  tho 
working  Clares  were  thns  carefully  eliminated  ?  H«rdlv 
At'  thT  d  ^'''^r*"^-*^^  boor^-who  tilled  the  soil. 
fL,     ^     ^^  ^^  agricultural  labourers  less    than  all 
others  dreanjed  of  popular  sovereignty,  and  more  th4 
all  otho>-s  submitted  to  the  mild  authori  y  of  the  Stites 
According  to  the  tl.eory  of  the  Netherland  constitmions' 
they  were  supposed- and  they  had  themselves  not  yei 
discovered  the  fallacies  to  which  such  doctrines  could 
kad-to   be   represented    by  the  nobles   and  count  y- 
squires  who  maintained  in  the  States  of  each  Province 
the  general  farming  interests  of  the  republic.  Moreover 
stali""  T^  1  -g"«"l*"'al  peasants  «4s  comparative^ 
T.t    1  i  T  '•"l"'*'**'^  '^'='"6  '•ather  accustomed  to 

plough  the  sea  than  the  land,  and  their  harvests  were 
reaped  from  that  element,  which  to  Hollanders  and 
/eelanders  was  less  capricious  than  the  solid  earth 
Almost  every  inhabitant  of  those  sea  bom  territories 
was  in  one  sense  or  another,  a  mariner  ;  for  every 
highway  was  a  canal ;  the  soil  was  percolated  by  rivere 
and  estuaries,  pools  and  meres ;  the  fisheries  were  the 
nurseries  ,n  which  still  more  daring  navigators  rapidly 
earned  their  tmde  and  every  child  took  naturally  t^ 
the  ocean  as  to  its  legitimate  home. 

The  "  people,"  therefore,  thus  enthroned  by  the  I  ei- 
cestnans  over  all  the  inliabitw.ts  of  the  country,  appeared 
to  many  eyes  rather  a  misty  abstraction,  and  its  claim 
?W    f  ll    sovereignty  a  doctrine  almost  as  fantastic  a.s 
that  of  the  divine  right  of  kings.     The  Ketherlanders 
were,  on  the  whole,  a  law-abiding  people,  prefemng  to 
conduct  even  a  revolution  accoiding  to  precedent    ^erv 
much  attached  to  ancient  usages  and  traditions,  valuing 
the   hherties,   as   they   called   them,    which   they  had 
wrested  from  what  had  been  superior  force,  with  their 
own  nglit  hands,  preferring  facts  to  theories,  and  ieel- 
mg   competent    to  deal  wiih  tyrants  in   the  concrete 
■  a  her  than  to  annihilate  tyranny  in  the  abstract  by  a 

n»il?  Ffr''''T'""S  phi-a.seology.  Moreover  the  op- 
ponents of  the  Leicester  party  complained  that  the 
P'lncipal  use  to  which  this  newly-di.^coveied  '-people  " 
had  been  app  led,  was  to  confer  iis  absolute  sovereignty 
unconditionally  upon  one  man.     The  people  was  to  be 


112 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XII. 


sovereign  in  order  that  it  might  immediately  abdicate 
in  favour  of  the  Earl/ 

Utrecht,  the  capital  of  the-  Leicestrians,  had  already 
been  deprived  of  its  constitution.  The  magistracy  was, 
according  to  law,  changed  every  year.  A  list  of  candi- 
dates was  furnished  by  the  retiring  board,  an  equal 
number  of  names  was  added  by  the  governor  of  the 
Province,  and  from  the  catalogue  thus  composed  the 
governor  with  his  council  selected  the  new  magistrates 
for  the  year.  But  De  Villiers,  the  governor  of  the 
Province,  had  been  made  a  prisoner  by  the  enemy  in 
the  last  campaign ;  Count  Moeurs  had  been  appointed 
provisional  stadholder  by  the  States ;  and,  during  his 
temporary  absence  on  public  affairs,  the  Leicestrians 
had  seized  upon  the  government,  excluded  all  the  an- 
cient magistrates,  banished  many  leading  citizens  from 
the  town,  and  installed  an  entirely  new  board,  with 
Gerard  Proninck,  called  Deventer,  for  chief  burgomaster, 
who  was  a  Brabantine  refugee  just  arrived  in  the  Pro- 
vince, and  not  eligible  to  office  until  after  ten  years' 
residence." 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  the  Netherlanders,  who 
remembered  the  scenes  of  bloodshed  and  disorder  pro- 
duced by  the  memorable  attempt  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
to  obtain  possession  of  Antwerp  and  other  cities,  should 
be  suspicious  of  Leicester.  Anjou,  too,  had  been  called 
to  the  Provinces  by  the  voluntary  action  of  the  States. 


I  Even  Leicester  hiintjelf  was  astonished 
at  the  subserviency  of  the  democratic 
party.  "  I  remember,"  said  his  confiden- 
tial secretary.  "  tliat  your  Excellency  told 
me  once  a  very  tvise  itvMYi— that  those  of 
Utrecht  had  given  you  more  authority 
than  they  could  irell  do." 

«  Your  council,"  he  said  further,  *•  can- 
not allow  of  all  the  doings  of  M.  Deventer 
and  of  M.  Modet.  True  It  Is  that  they 
both  and  all  those  of  Utrecht  do  love  you 
with  all  their  hearts,  but  they  do  many 
things  very  rashly,  and  do  disunite  them- 
selves from  the  generality  of  the  United 
Provinces.  Insomuch  that,  at  this  pre- 
sent, those  of  the  magistrates  of  Utrecht 
iiavo  disunited  themselves  from  the  States 
of  their  own  Province,  and  work  every  day 
one  against  another.  .  ,  I  had  written 
to  you  by  M.  Modet  and  M.  Rataller,  but 
they  both  ttoleaway  secretly  from  hence, 


and  surely  this  proceeding  Is  .not  very 
well  liked  here  of  the  best  sort,  as  though 
he  would  have  prevented  the  other  party, 
and  made  his  own  reasons  good  first  to 
your  Excellency."  Othoman  to  Leicester, 
7  Jan.  1687.  (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  C.  xl. 
p.  72.  MS.) 

•'  Cupimus  ut  sua  Excellentla  (Lelces- 
trius)  abtoluti  imperet,  et  pro  sua  discre- 
tione,  salva  religione  et  privlleglis  suam 
Mt^estatem  non  ofrendenllbus."  So  ran 
a  p«'tition,  to  which  Deventer  procured 
signatures  among  the  Utrecht  citizens, 
and  then  handed  it  to  Leicester.  "  Such 
a  government  as  that  would  be,"  says  a 
Frisian  contemporary,  •*  was  never  seen 
In  the  Netherlands,  and  could  hardly  be 
found  in  Christendom."    Reyd,  v.  86. 

«  Bor.  11.  xxi.  722,  735.  Reyd,  v.  86, 
86.    Wagenaar.  vUL  lt>6, 168. 


1586.  SUSPICIONS  AS  TO  THE  EARL'S  DESIGNS.  113 

He  too  had  been  hailed  as  a  Messiah  and  a  deliverer 
In  him  too  had  unimited  confidence  been  reposed  ^d 
he  had  repaid  their  affection  and  their  gratSbTa 
desperate  attempt  to  obtain  the  control  of  their  chief 
cities  by  the  armed  hand,  and  thus  to  constitute  himsdf 
absolute  sovereign  of  the  Netherlands.  The  inhabi- 
tants had,  after  a  bloody  contest,  averted  the  intended 
massacre  and  the  impending  tyranny  ;  but  it  was  not 
astonishing  tha  so  very  few  years  having  elap^^ed 
since  those  tragical  events-they  should  be  inclined  to 
scan  severely  the  actions  of  the  man  wlio  had  alreadv 
obtained  by  unconstitutional  means  the  mastery  of  a 
most  important  city,  and  was  supposed  to  harbour  de- 
signs upon  all.  ^ 

No  doubt  it  was  a  most  illiberal  and  unwise  policy 
for  the  inhabitants  of  the  independent  States  to  exxlude 
from  office  the  wanderers,  for  conscience' sake,  from 
the  obedient  Provinces.  They  should  have  beeA  we^ 
comed  heart  and  hand  by  those  who  were  their  brethren 
m  religion  and  m  the  love  of  freedom.  Moreover  it 
was  notorious  that  Hohenlo,  lieutenant-general  under 
Maunce  of  Nassau,  was  a  German,  and  that,  by  the 

treaty  withEngland,twoforeigners  sat  in  thestate-council 
while  the  army  swarmed  with  English,  Irish,  and  Ger- 
man officers  m  high  command.  Nevertheless,  violently 
to  subvert  the  constitution  of  a  Province,  and  to  place 
in  posts  of  high  responsibility  men  who  were  ineblible 
-some  whose  characters  were  suspicious,  and  tome 
who  were  known  to  be  dangerous,  and  to  banish  large 
numbers  of  respectable    burghers-was   the  act  of  a 


1  It  was   especially  unfortunate  that 
Leicester  should  fall  so  completely  into 
the  control  of  Deventer.     That  subtle 
politician  filled  the  governor's  mind  full 
with  spite  against  the  States-General,  In- 
spiring him  perpetually  with  jealousy  of 
all  bodies  or  individuaU  that  interfered 
with  his  hopes  of  attaining  arbitrary,  per- 
haps   sovereign    power.     "The  States- 
General,"  Deventer  whispered  in  Leices- 
ter's ear,  "  are  becoming  more  presump- 
tuous dally.    They  have  dared  to  retain 
our  old  members  to  the  assembly  whom 
we     (after   the   municipal  revolution) 
VOL.  II.  ^ 


"bad  recalled.  They  have  released  Paul 
Buys.  We  are  all  marvellously  scan- 
dalized, for  truly  these  States  assume 
more  Jurisdiction  than  was  ever  done  by 
the  greatest  tyrant  that  ever  usurped  In 
this  land.  You  shall  hear  many  parti- 
culars by  an  agent  which  it  is  best  not  to 
wnte  .    Let  A<r  Majesty  reflect 

^  her's  will  be  the  $tiame,  on  her  head 
descendt  the  scorn,  and  ruin  to  her  realm 
ictW  be  the  result.  I^t  her  break  up  this 
conspiracy  by  a  sudden  and  heroic  reso- 
lutlon,  let  her  send  your  Excellency 
hither,  yiWh plenty  of  money  and  soldiers 

I 


114 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIL 


Besides  their  democratic  doctrines,  the  Leicestrians 
proclaimed  and  encouraged  an  exclusive  and  rigid  Cal- 
Yinism.  It  would  certainly  be  unjust  and  futile  to  de- 
tract from  the  vast  debt  which  the  republic  owed  to  the 
Geneva  Church.  The  reformation  had  entered  the 
Netherlands  by  the  Walloon  gate.  The  earliest  and 
most  eloquent  preachers,  the  most  impassioned  converts, 
the  sublimest  martyrs,  had  lived,  preached,  fought, 
suifered,  and  died  with  the  precepts  of  Calvin  in  their 
hearts.  '  The  fire  which  had  consumed  the  last  vestige 
of  royal  and  sacerdotal  despotism  throughout  the  inde- 
pendent republic,  had  been  lighted  by  the  hands  of 

Calvinists.  .,1.17 

Throughout  the  blood-stained  soil  of  France,  too,  the 
men  who  were  fighting  the  same  great  battle  as  were 
the  Netherlanders  against  Philip  II.  and  the  Inquisi- 
tion, the  valiant  cavaliers  of  Dauphiny  and  Provence, 
knelt  on  the  ground,  before  the  battle,  smote  their  iron 
breasts  with  their  mailed  hands,  uttered  a  Calvinistic 
pi-ayer,  sang  a  psalm  of  Marot,  and  then  charged  upon 
Guise,  or  upon  Joyeuae,  under  the  white  plume  of  the 
Beamese.  And  it  was  on  the  Calvinist  weavers  and 
clothiers  of  Eochelle  that  the  great  Prince  relied  in  the 
hour  of  danger  as  much  as  on  his  mountain  chivalry. 
In  England,  too,  the  seeds  of  liberty,  wrapped  up  in 
Calvinism  and  hoarded  through  many  trjang  years,  were 
at  last  destined  to  float  over  land  and  sea,  and  to  bear 
large  harvests  of  temperate  freedom  for  great  com- 
monwealths, which  were  still  unborn.      Nevertheless 


and  we  on  oar  side  will  take  care  not  to 
ke  dishonoured  suddenly,  while  waiting 
lor  your  return." 

Such  were  the  prudent  counsels  given 
to  Queen  Elizabeth,  by  Leicester's  chief 
adviser,  In  a  moBftent  full  of  darkness  and 
difHculty.  Toselie  by  violence  on  the 
cities  of  the  Provinces,  to  subvert  their 
ancient  constitutions,  to  enact,  in  short, 
all  that  had  been  done  or  attempted  by 
former  tyranU,  was  the  object  proposeii 
to  the  Kni^h  sovereign  and  the  English 
governor.  6.  de  Pronlnck  to  Leicester, 
20  Jan.  1587.  (Br.  Mus.,  Galba  C.  xl.  95. 
MS.) 

Otheman,  too,  boldly  assured  the  Queen, 
In  a  letter  addressed  directly  to  her  Ma- 
jesty, that  th«  "  root  of  the  whole  evil  in 


the  Netherlands  waa  the  ochlocra4^  and 
bad  government  of  the  Slate,"  and  that 
the  reformation  could  only  come  from  her. 
He  was  also  of  opinion  that  the  country 
had  been  badly  handled  for  a  long  time. 
♦*  1  believe.  Madam,"  he  observed,  "  that 
this  sick  person  has  had  so  many  diseases 
for  twenty  years,  and  ha.s  had  s<>  many 
different  doctors— some  without  experi- 
ence and  others  without  fidelity— that  the 
more  despairing  the  patient  is  of  his  own 
case,  the  more  honour  It  will  be  to  the 
one  who  cures  him ;  and  'tis  your  Majesty 
alone  who  can  now  admltibter  the  re- 
m«'dy."— Oiheman  to  the  Queen,  15  Feb. 
15^7.  (Br.  Mus.,  Galba  C.  xi.  p.  263. 
MS.) 


1586.  EXTREME  VIEWS  OF  THE  CALVINISTS.  115 

there  was  a  growing  aversion   in  many  parts  of   ih. 
States    for  the  rigid  and   intolerant   splifoT  the  t- 
formed  religion.      IWe  were  many  men  in   Holland 
who  had  already  imbibed  the  true  lesson-the  only  one 
worth  earning  of  the  Keformation-liberty  of  ZuZ- 
but  toleration  m  the  eyes  of  the  extreme  CalS L' 
party  w^  as  great  a  vice  as  it  could  be  in  the  es^^l 
tion  of  Papists.     To  a  favoured  few  of  other  habtts  of 
thought.  It  had  come  to  be  regarded  a^  a  virtue     but 
he  day  was  still  far  distant  when  men  were   to  ^corn 
the  very  word  toleration  a.  an  insult  to  the  dignh^^^^^^^ 
man ;  a^  if  for  any  human  being,  or  set  of  human^e iW 
m  caste,  class,  synod,  or  church,  the  right  could  evfn 
m  imagination    be  conceded    of  controlling  the    con 
sciences  of  their  fellow-creatures.  ^ 

But  it  was    progiess  for  the  sixteenth  centurv  thof 
there  were  individuals,  and  prominent  indiv'dualT  who 
dared  io  proclaim  liberty  of  conscience  for^Jra 
of  Orange  wa^  a  Calvinist,  sincere  and  rigid,  but  he  X 

ZlnnJVF''''^'''  "^   ^^^^^^^'  and  <,pened  wide 
the  doors  of  the  commonwealth  to  Papists,  Lutherans 
and  Anabaptists  alike.     The  Eari  of    Leicester  w^^^^^ 
Calvinist  most  rigid  in  tenet,  most  edifying  of  conver 
sation,  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Puritan  mrtv  of 
England,  but  he  was    intolerant,  and  wa   TnC?ced 

would  Lv'  °^''-    T'^^'^'^^*  '^  ^^'  '''''     Ceiia  nly  ft 
would  have  required  great  magnanimity  upon  his  mrt 

to  assume  a  friendly  demeanour  towards  ^the  PapFs^s 

heiXnf  Ih-r'  i-^ore  favoured  ages,  to  rise  t^'he 

Heights  of  philosophical  abstraction,  than   for  a  man 

placed  as  wa«  Leicester,  in  the  front  'rank  of  a  1^1.^ 

battle,  m  which  the  triumph  of  either  religion  seemed 

^require  the  bodily  annihilation  of  all  its^adVrsaries 

He  be  leved  that  the  success  of  a  Catholic  conspimcv 

a^mst  the  life  of  Elizabeth,  or  of  a  Spanish  invas^ion  o^f 

England,  would  raise  Maiy  to  the  throne  and  cons^c^ 

r  of  ^  *^^«^^ff^i^-     He  believed  that  the  sul^ug^ 

tion  of  the  independent  Netheriands  would  place  &e 

bl^aniards  instantly  in  England,  and  he  frequttly  re! 

Zee^^^Z^r^  *•"'  ''•'^'^^'  ^'  Popish'plots^that 
r4?nst  tL  1  r  ?  n  ^^"?^«  P^^^«  of  the  Provinces 
a^amst  the  English  Queen.*    It  was    not   surprising, 

i  "  May  it  please  your  sacred  Majesty."  wrote  Wilkes,  « there  is  come  into  my 

I  2 


116 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CilAP.  XII. 


therefore,  although  it  was  unwise,  that  he  should  incline 
his  ear  most  seriously  to  those  who  counselled  severe 
measures  not  only  against  Papists,  but  against  those 
who  were  not  persecutors  of  Papists,  and  that  he  should 
allow  himself  to  be  guided  by  adventurer,  who  wore 
the  mask  of  religion  only  that  they  might  plunder  the 
exchequer  and  rob  upon  the  highway. 

Under  the  administration  of  this  extreme  party,  there- 
fore the  Papists  were  maltreated,  disfranchised, 
banished,  and  plundered.*  The  distribution  of  the 
heavy  war-taxes,  more  than  two-thirds  of  which  were 
raised  in  Holland  only,  was  confided  to  foreigners,  and 
reoiilated  mainly  at  Utrecht,  where  not  one-tenth  part  of 
the  same  revenue  was  collected.  This  naturally  excited 
the  wrath  of  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  Holland 


hands  the  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  the 
Prince  of  Parma  to  the  Bishop  of  Liege, 
dated  24th  of  last  month ;  by  the  which, 
among  other  things,  doth  appear,  that 
there  Is  yet  some  bloody  purpose  in  hand 
to  be  executed  upon  your  Majesty's  sa- 
cred person,  as  by  the  same  here  incio«d 
doth  appear.  ...  It  is  signified  by  the 
letter,  that,  although  the  exterior  of  the 
treasons  and  practices  plotted  and  con- 
trived against  your  Ms^jesty  be  disco- 
vered, yet  the  core  and  marrow  thereof  is 
not  as  yet  uncovered  or  known,  whereby 
your  enemies  doubt  not  but  to  achieve 
in  time  their  wicked  and  horrible  pur- 
poses against  you."  Wilkes  to  the 
Queen,  It  Dec  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

It  can  haitily  excite  surprise  that  the 
Queen,  receiving  almost  every  week  such 
intimations  out  of  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands of  attempU  against  her  life,  should 
desire  to  deal  severely  with  seminary 
priesta  and  their  associates  coming  from 
those  regions. 

I  Yet  strange  to  say.  It  was  Lord 
Buckhurat's  opinion  that  the  opponents 
of  the  Catholic  religion  were  but  a  small 
minority  of  the  Dutch  people.  -  For  the 
commonwealth  of  these  l»rov  luces,"  wrote 
that  envoy.  *•  consisting  of  divers  parts 
•nd  professions,  as,  namely,  l^rotestants, 
Puritans.  Anabaptists,  and  Spanish  hearts, 
which  are  no  small  number,  it  la  most 
eerUin,  that,  dividing  this  in  five  parts, 
the  Protestants  and  Puritans  do  hardly 
tnrtain  «i«n  one  part  in  five;  although 
at  this  prejient,  the  Protestants  and  I>uri- 


tans,  by  having  their  rule  and  sovereignty 
in  their  hands,  do  wholly  wage  and  com- 
mand the  captains  and  soldiers."  Buck- 
hurst  to  the  Queen.  27  May,  1587.  Printed 
in  •  Cabala,  or  Mysteries  of  State,'  p.  37. 

And  again,  in  a  letter  to  Walsingham, 
the  same  diplomatist  remarks  that  the 
real  object  of  the  revolt  of  the  NVther- 
landers  was  not  to  defend  their  relJgioug 
but  their  civil  freedom,  and  that  Catholics 
and  lYotCitants  were  all  united  to  that 
end.  "  If  her  Majesty,"  he  said.  •♦  should 
not  only  refuse  the  sovereignty,  but  not 
give  stifflcient  aid.  it  is  in  a  manner  cer- 
tain that  the  people,  not  being  the  fifth 
man  a  Protestant,  and  not  making  their 
war  in  truth  for  religion,  but  for  their 
country  and  liberty  only,  and  to  resist 
the  tyranny  of  the  Spaniards,  whose 
hatred  Is  ingraft  in  the  hearts  of  them  all, 
when  they  shall  see  her  Mt^esty  fail  In 
their  defence,  will  turn  and  revolt  to  the 
enemy."  &C&C.  Ibid.,  p.  11,13.   13  April, 

1687. 

These  sweeping  statements  may  not  be 
strictly  accurate,  but  there  Is  no  doubt 
that  Buckhurst  was  struck  by  the  general 
and  growing  feeling  of  mutual  toleration 
among  the  adherents  to  the  various  forms 
of  religion  In  Holland,  and  by  the  Instinct 
which  prompted  the  whole  common- 
wealth to  strike  for  civil  and  religions 
liberty  in  one.  Compare  Kluit,  'Holl. 
Staatsreg,'  ii.  360,  who  sUtes  expressly 
that  the  majority  of  every  town  and  vil- 
lage in  the  Provinces  were.  In  heart,  faith- 
ful to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion. 


1586.  POLITICAL  AMBITION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  117 

and  the  other  Provinces,  who  liked  not  that  these  hard- 
earned  and  lavishly-paid  subsidies  should  be  meddled 
with  by  any  but  the  cleanest  hands.  ^^aaiea 

,.    .Jr^'^yu!^"":  arrogated  a  direct  influence  in  poli- 
tical affairs      Their  demonstrations  were  opposed  by  the 
anti-Leicestnans,  who  cared  not  to  see  a  (Geneva  tli^! 
cracy  m  the  place  of  the  vanished  Papacy     Th^^^^^ 
as  httle  reverence  m  secular  affairs  for  C^vinistic  dea 
cons  a.s  for  the  college  of  cardinals,  and  would  as  soon 
St  '''%i^'^'f''''y  -f  Sixtus  v/as  that  of  iTeZn 
in?.fi      .  The  reformed  clergy  who  had  dispossessed  and 
confiscated  the  property  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastics  who 
once  held  a  constitutional  place  in  the  Estates  of  Utrecht 
-although  many  of  those  individuals  were  now  manied 
and  had  embraced  the  reformed  religion— who  had  de- 
molished  and  sold  at  public  auction,  for  12,300  florins.^ 
the  time-honoured  cathedral  where  the  earliest  Chris- 
tians of  the  Netherlands  had  worshipped,  and  St.  WiUi- 
brod  had  ministered,  were  roundly  rebuked,  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  by  the  blunt  Hollanders  for  meddUnff 
with  matters  beyond  their  sphere.* 


*  Bor,  ilL  xxiil.  108. 

«  Ibid. 

••  There  Is  a  controversy."  wrote  Wilkes, 
"  within  the  town  and  province  of  Utrecht 
(their  estate  being  compounded  of  the 
noblUty,  clergy,  and  towns,   contatalng 
three    several    members)    between    the 
towns  and  the  clergy,  whom  the  towns 
have  inhibited  to  appear  any  more  In  the 
public  assemblies,  meaning  to  cass  them 
upon  pretence  that  the  clergy,  their  third 
member,  is  ahhxlrance  to  their  good  pro- 
ceedlngs.     The  nobility  taketh  part  with 
the  clergy,  and  do  not  think  It  fit  nor 
agreeable  with  order  or  Justice  that  one 
third  member,  Inferior  to  the  other  two, 
should  take  upon  him  to  depose  the  first 
member,  being  the  clergy,  without  the 
authority  of  the  sovereign  governor  or  the 
general  assent  of  the  Union.     At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  garboUe.  it  was  thought 
fit  by  this  council  to  depute  the  Count 
Moeurs,  Mons.  de  Meetkerk,  and  Doctor 
Hottman,  persons  of  judgment,  to  hear 
the  controversy.    ...    and  as    they 
were  travailing  to    reduce   them  to  an 
•ocord.  there  came  a  letter  to  the  captains 
of  the  bourgeoisie  of  the  town  of  Utrecht 


(being  the  principal  movers  of  this  dis- 
sension), written  by  Mr.  Herle.  by  which 
they  have  taken  heart  to  persist  obsti- 
nately  in  their  purpose,  persuading  them- 
selves that    their    proceedings    will    be 
avowed  by  her  Majesty.    And  alb<"it  this 
letter  do  not  directly  touch  the  matter, 
yet  the  large  promises  he  maketh  in  her 
Majesty's  name  of  her  absolute  purpose  to 
embrace  their  cause. '  avec  laplelne  main,' 
as  he  termeth  it,  hath  been  occasion  that 
they  have  uttered  m  public  tjpeeches  that 
the  letters  of  her  Majesty's  ambassador 
Herle  hath  given  them  sufficient  hope 
that  her  Majesty  will  not  mlsllke  of  their 
doings  in  going  about  to  banish  Popery 
out  of  that  Province,  which  they  make  to 
l>e  a  show    and    countenance  of   their 
dealings:    but,  as  1  am   Informed,   the 
most  part  of  those  that  are  of  this  ciergy, 
and  do  hold  the  ecclesiastical  livings,  are 
married  and    of  the  religion.      And  in 
truth,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  their  quar- 
rel is  not  against  the  jKirsons  of  the  eccle- 
siastics, because  they  are  contented  that 
the  persons  shall  continue  in  their  assem- 
blies, but  agamst  the  livings,  which  they 
mean  to  convert  to  some  other  uses.  And 


118 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XII. 


The  party  of  the  States-General,  as  opposed  to  the 
Leicester  party,  was  guided  by  the  statesmen  of  Hol- 
land. At  a  somewhat  later  period  was  formed  the 
States-right  party,  which  claimed  sovereignty  for  each 
province,  and  by  necessary  consequence  the  hegemony 
throughout  the  confederacy,  for  Holland.  At  present 
the  doctrine  maintained  was  that  the  sovereignty  for- 
feited by  Philip  had  naturally  devolved  upon  the  States- 
General.  The  statesmen  of  this  party  repudiated  the 
calumny  that  it  had  therefore  lapsed  into  the  hands  of 
half-a-dozen  mechanics  and  men  of  low  degree.  The 
States  of  each  Province  were,  they  maintained,  com- 
posed of  nobles  and  country- gentlemen,  as  reprenenting 
the  agricultural  interest,  and  of  deputies  from  the 
"  \Toedschappen,"  or  municipal  governments,  of  every 
city  and  smallest  town. 

Such  men  as  Adrian  van  der  Werff,  the  heroic  burgo- 
master of  Leyden  during  its  famous  siege,  John  Van  der 
Does,  statesman,  orator,  soldier,  poet,  Adolphus  Meet- 
kerke,  judge,  financier,  politician,  Carl  Eoorda,  Noel  de 
Caron,  diplomatist  of  most  signal  ability,  Floris  Thin, 
Paul  Buys,  and  Oldeh-Bameveld,  with  many  others, 
who  would  have  done  honour  to  the  legislative  assem- 
blies and  national  councils  in  any  country  or  any  age, 


althoogh.  for  mine  own  poor  opinion,  I 
think  the  church-livings  were  most  fitly 
to  be  converted  to  the  defence  of  the 
public  cause,  yet  the  manner  of  the  doing 
thereof  should  be  speedily  prevented,  for 
all  men  of  judgment  here  are  of  opinion 
that  If  it  be  not  stayed,  it  will  hazard  the 
loss  of  the  town,  and  consequently  of  the 
whole  Province.  1  am  Informed  that  the 
magistrates  of  Utrecht  have  despatched 
towards  my  lord-general  and  her  Majesty 
one  Herman  Model,  their  chief  minirft*'r, 
to  acquaint  them  with  the  matter,  and  to 
make  good  their  proceedings.  The  said 
Mo«iet,  by  the  report  of  M.  de  Villiers,  the 
minister,  and  Saravia,  a  great  learned 
preacher  of  Leyden,  Is  taken  to  be  the 
greatest  mutyne  in  all  these  countries ; 
and  It  Is  avouched  by  them  and  others  of 
the  beet  condition  that  he  was  the  only 
occasion  of  the  loss  of  Ghent,  upon  the 
like  matter  iH'gun  by  him  within  the 
town.  Tue  IMnce  of  Orange,  In  his  time, 
could  never  brook  the  strat  Modet,  and, 


as  the  Count  Maurice  telleth  me,  he  did 
always  oppose  himself  againtt  the  coun- 
sel and  designs  of  the  Prince  his  father.  1 
thought  it  not  unfit  to  give  you  this  taste 
of  the  condition  of  Modet,  because  I 
know  that  my  Lord  North,  Mr.  Killigrew, 
and  Mr.  Webbe  have  greatly  supported 
hhn  in  his  humours  at  Utrecht,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted  that  they  will  do  the 
like  at  home."  Wilkes  to  Walslngbam, 
Dec.  24,  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

Such  letters,  written  on  the  spot,  by  a 
man  thoroughly  acquainted  with  Nether- 
land  politics,  and  the  experienced  faithful 
representative  of  her  Majesty  in  the 
state-council,  e.xplain  the  intrigues  and  the 
instruments  of  the  Leicestrian  party.  It 
was  by  honest  and  lucid  expositions  like 
these,  that  the  writer  Incurred  the  deadly 
hatred  of  the  Earl,  and  was  In  danger  of 
losing  his  life.  (Compare  Bor  and  Reyd, 
tt6i  tup.  Le  Petit,  ii.  xiv.  633.  Wage- 
naar,  vill.  168.) 


1586.      ANTAGONISM  OF  THE  CHL'RCH  AND  STATES.         119 

were  constantly  returned  as  members  of  the  different 
vroedschaps  in  the  commonwealth. 

So  far  from  its  being  true  then  that  haJf-a-dozeu  i^o^ 
rant  mechanics  had  usurped  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Provinces,  after  the  abjuration  of  the  Spanish  King,  it 
may  be  asserted  in  general  terms,  that  of  the  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants  of  Holland  at  least  eight 
hundred  persons  were  always  engaged  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  affairs,  that  these  individuals  were 
perpetually  exchanged  for  others,  and  that  those  whoso 
names  became  most  prominent  in  the  politics  of  the  day 
were  remarkable  for  thorough  education,  high  talents, 
and  eloquence  with  tongue  and  pen.^  It  was  acknow- 
ledged by  the  leading  statesmen  of  England  and  France, 
on  rq)eated  occasions  throughout  the  sixteenth  century,' 
that  the  diplomatists  and  statesmen  of  the  Netherlands 
were  even  more  than  a  match  for  any  politicians  who 
were  destined  to  encounter  them,  and  the  profound 
respect  which  Leicester  expressed  for  these  solid  states- 
men, these  "substantial,  wise,  well-Ian guaged "  men, 
these  "  big  fellows,"  so  soon  as  he  came  in  contact  with 
them,  and  before  he  began  to  hate  them  for  outwitting 
him,  has  already  appeared.  They  were  generally  men 
of  the  people,  bom  without  any  of  the  accidents  of 
fortune;  but  the  leaders  had  studied  in  the  common 
schools,  and  later  in  the  noble  universities  of  a  land 
where  to  be  learned  and  eloquent  was  fast  becoming 
almost  as  great  an  honour  as  to  be  wealthy  or  high 
bom.  ° 

The  executive,  the  legislative,  and  the  judiciary  de- 
partments were  more  carefully  and  scientifically  sepa- 
rated than  could  perhaps  have  been  expected  in  that 
age.  The  lesser  municipal  courts,  in  which  city-senators 
presided,  were  subordinate  to  the  supreme  court  of 
Holland,  whose  officers  were  appointed  by  the  stad- 
holders  and  council ;  the  supplies  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  States-Provincial,  and  the  supreme  administrative 
authority  was  confided  to  a  stadholder  appointed  bv 
the  States. 

The  States-General  were  constituted  of  similar  mate- 
rials to  those  of  which  the  States-Provincial  were 
constructed,  and  the  same  individuals  were  generally 

»  Kluit,  •  Holl.  Staatsregerlng,'  11.  203. 


120 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XI I. 


promitient  in  both.  They  were  deputies  appointed  by 
the  Fiovincial  Estates,  were  in  truth  rather  more  like 
diplomatic  envoys  than  senators,  were  generally  bound 
very  strictly  by  instructions,  and  were  often  obliged,  by 
the  jealousy  springing  from  the  States-right  principle, 
to  refer  to  their  constituents,  on  questions  when  the 
times  demanded  a  sudden  decision,  and  when  the  neces- 
sary delay  was  inconvenient  and  dangerous. 

In  religious  matters,  the  States-party,  to  their  honour, 
already  leaned  to  a  wide  toleration.  Not  only  Catholics 
were  not  burned,  but  they  were  not  banished,  and  very 
large  numbers  remained  in  the  territory,  and  were  quite 
undisturbed  in  religious  matters  within  their  own 
doors.  There  were  even  men  employed  in  public  aifaiis 
who  were  suspected  of  papistical  tendencies,  although 
their  hostility  to  Spain  and  their  attachment  to  their 
native  land  could  not  fairly  be  disputed.  The  leaders 
of  the  States-party  had  a  rooted  aversion  to  any  political 
influence  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  of  any  denomination 
whatever.  Disposed  to  be  lenient  to  all  forms  of  wor- 
ship, they  were  disinclined  to  an  established  church, 
but  still  more  opposed  to  allowing  church-influence  in 
secular  affairs.  As  a  matter  of  course,  political  men 
with  such  bold  views  in  religious  matters  were  bitterly 
assailed  by  their  rigid  opponents.  Bameveld  with  his 
**  nil  scire  tutissima  fides,"  was  denounced  as  a  disguised 
Catholic  or  an  infidel,  and  as  for  Paul  Buys,  he  was  a 
''  bolsterer  of  Papists,  an  atheist,  a  devil,"  as  it  has  long 
since  been  made  manifest. 

Nevertheless  these  men  believed  that  they  understood 
the  spirit  of  their  country  and  of  the  age.  In  encourage- 
ment to  an  expanding  commerce,  the  elevation  and 
education  of  the  masses,  the  toleration  of  all  creeds,  and 
a  wide  distribution  of  political  functions  and  rights, 
they  looked  for  the  salvation  of  their  nascent  republic 
from  destruction,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  true 
interests  of  the  people.  They  were  still  loyal  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  desirous  that  she  should  accept  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Provinces.  But  they  were  deter- 
mined that  the  sovereignty  should  be  a  constitutional 
one,  founded  upon  and  limited  by  the  time-honoured 
laws  and  traditions  of  their  comonwealth  ;  for  they  re- 
cognised the  value  of  a  free  republic  with  an  heredi- 


1586.  THE  STATES  INCLINED  TO  TOLERANCE.  121 

tary  chief  however  anomalous  it  might  in  theory 
appear.  They  knew  that  in  Utrecht  the  Leices- 
tnan  party  were  about  to  off-er  the  Queen  the  sove- 
reignty  of  their  Province,  without  conditions,  but  they  were 
determined  that  neither  Queen  Elizabeth  nor  any  other 
monarch  should  ever  reign  in  the  Netherlands,  except 
under  conditions  to  be  very  accurately  defined  and  well 
secured. 

.T,'^  vwif'''?*''^.'*^^'  *^^'''  ^^""^  *^^  *^^  g^eat  parties  in 
the  Netherlands,  at  the  conclusion  of  Leicester's  fir.t 
year  of  administration.  It  may  easily  be  understood 
tnat  It  was  not  an  auspicious  moment  to  leave  the 
country  without  a  chief. 

yZtrA^'-^^^  ""I  tl  States-party  lay  in  Holland, 
Zeeland,  Iriesland.  The  mainstay  of  the  democratic 
or  Leicester  faction  was  in  the  city  of  Utrecht,  but  the 
Jl^arl  had  many  partizans  in  Gelderland,  Friesland,  and 
m  Overyssel,  the  capital  of  which  Province,  the  wealthy 
and  thriving  Deventer,  second  only  in  the  republic  to 
Amsterdam  for  commercial  and  political  importance, 
had  been  but  recently  secured  for  the  Provinces  bv  the 
vigorous  measures  of  Sir  William  Pelham. 

The  condition  of  the  republic  and  of  the  Spanish 
Provinces  was,  at  that  moment,  most  signally  contrasted. 
It  The  effects  of  despotism  and  of  liberty  could  ever  be 
exhibited  at  a  single  glance,  it  was  certainly  only  ne- 
cessary to  look  for  a  moment  at  the  picture  of  the 
obedient  and  of  the  rebel  Netherlands. 

Since  the  fall  of  Antwerp,  the  desolation  of  Brabant 
I  landers,  and  of  the  Walloon  territories  had  become 
complete.     The  King  had  recovered  the  great  commer- 
cial capital,  but  its  commerce  was  gone.     The  Scheldt 
which,  till  recently,  had  been  the  chief  mercantile  river 
m  the  world,  had  become  as  barren  as  if  its  fountains 
had  suddenly  dried  up.    It  was  as  if  it  no  longer  flowed 
^  the  ocean,  for  its  mouth  was  controlled  by  Flushin"- 
Thus    Antwerp  was    imprisoned    and    pamlyzed      ifs 
docks  and    basins,   where  2500  ships  had    once  *  been 
counted,  were  empty,  grass  was  growing  in  its  streets. 
Its  industrious  population  had  vanished,  and  the  Jesuits 
had  returned  in  swarms.     And  the  same  spectacle  was 
presented  by  Ghent,   Bruges,  Valenciennes,  Touniay 
and  those  other  fair  cities,  which  had  once  been  types 


122 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XH. 


of  vigorous  industry  and  tumultuous  life.      The   sea 
coast  was  in  the  hands  of  two  rising  commercial  powers, 
the  great  and  free  commonwealths  of  the  future.    Those 
powers  were  acting  in  concert,  and  commanding  the 
traffic  of  the  world,  while  the  obedient  Provinces  were 
excluded  from  all  foreign  intercourse  and  all  markets, 
as  the  result  of  their  obedience.     Commerce,  manufac- 
tures, agriculture,  were  dying  lingering  deaths.     The 
thrifty  farms,  orchards,  and  gardens,  which  had  been 
a  proverb  and  wonder  of  industry,  were  becoming  wil- 
dernesses. The  demand  for  their  produce  by  the  opulent 
and  thriving  cities  which  had  been  the   workshops  of 
the  world  was  gone.     Foraging  bands  of  Spanish  and 
Italian  mercenaries  had  succeeded  to  the  famous  tramp 
of  the  artizans  and  mechanics,  which  had  often  been 
likened  to  an  army,  but  these  new  customers  were  less 
profitable  to  the  gardeners  and  farmers.     The  clothiers, 
the    fullers,    the    tapestry-workers,  the    weavers,    the 
cutlers,  had  all  wandered  away,  and  the  cities  of  Hol- 
land, Friesland,  and  of  England,  were  growing  skilful 
and  lich  by  the  lessons  and  the  industry  of  the  exiles  to 
whom  they  aiforded  a  home.     There  were  villages  and 
small  towns  in  the  Spanish  Netherlands  that  had  been 
literally  depopulated.     Largo  districts  of  country  had 
gone  to  waste,  and  cane-brakes  and  squalid  morasses 
usurped  the  place  of  yellow  harvest-fields.    The  fox,  the 
wild  boar,  and  the  wolf,  infested  the  abandoned  homes 
of  the  peasantry ;  children  could  not  walk  in  safety  in 
the  neighbourhood  even  of  the  larger  cities ;    wolves 
littered  their  young  in  the  deserted  farm-houses ;  two 
hundred  persons,  in  the  winter  of  1 586-7  were  devoured 
by  wild  beasts  in  the  outskirts  of  Ghent.'     Such  of  the 
remaining  labourers  and  artizans  as  had  not  been  con- 
verted into  soldiers,  found  their  most  profitable  employ- 
ment as  brigands,  so  that  the  portion  of  the  population 
spared  by  war  and  emigration  was  assisting  the  enemy 
in  preying  upon  their  native  country.    Brandschtitzung, 
burglary,  highway-robbery,  and  murder,  had  become  the 
chief  branches  of  industry  among  the  working  classes. 

1  Bor.  ii.  xxU.  984.  985.    Meiercn.xiv.  "The  bedsteads  of  the  abandoned  rot- 

253.    Hoofd,  Vervolgh.  251.  WaRenaar,  tagea,"  says  Meteren.  "  swarmed  with 

vUl.  224,  225.     Van  Wyn  op  Wagen,  Utile  wolves,"  ubi  sup. 
viiL67. 


1586.        DESOLATION  OF  THE  OBEDIENT  PROVINCES.       123 

Nobles  and  wealthy  burghers  had  been  changed  to 
paupers  and  mendicants.  Many  a  family  of  ancient 
lineage,  and  once  of  large  possessions,  could  be  seen 
begging  their  bread,  at  the  dusk  of  evening,  in  the 
streets  of  great  cities,  where  they  had  once  exerci.<^ed 
luxurious  hospitality  ;  and  they  often  begged  in  vain.* 

For  while  such  was  the  forlorn  aspect  of  the  countr>^ 
—and  the  portrait,  faithfully  sketched  from  many  con- 
temporary pictures,  has  not  been  exaggerated  in  any  of 
its  dark  details— a  great  famine  smote  the  land  with  its 
additional  scourge.     The  whole  population,  soldiers  and 
brigands,  Spaniards  and  Flemings,  beggars  and  work- 
men, were  in  danger  of  perishing  together.     Where  the 
want  of  employment  had  been  so  great  as  to  cause  a 
rapid  depopulation,  where  the  demand  for  labour  had 
almost  entirely  ceased,  it  was  a  necessary  result,  that, 
during  the  process,  prices  should  be  low,  even  in  the 
presence  of  foreign  soldiery,  and  despite  the  inflamed 
profits,  which  such  capitalists  as  remained  required,  by 
way  not  only  of  profit  but  insurance,  in  such  troublous 
times.     Accordingly,  for  the  last  year  or  two,  the  price 
of  rye  at  Antwerp  and  Brussels  had  been  one  florin  for 
the  veertel  (three  bushels)  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds ;  that  of  wheat,  about  one-third  of  a  florin  more. 
Five  pounds  of  rj^e,  therefore,  were  worth  one  penny 
sterling,  reckoning,  as  was  then  usual,  two  shillings  to 
the  florin.     A  pound  weight  of  wheat  was  worth  about 
one  farthing.'     Yet  this  was  forty-one  years  after  the 
discovery  of  the  mines  of  Potosi  (a.d.  1545),  and  full 
sixteen  years  after  the  epoch  from  which  is  dated  that 
rapid  fall  in  the  value  of  silver  which,  in  the  course  of 
seventy  years,  caused  the  average  price  of  com  and  of 
all  other  commodities,  to  be  tripled  or  even  quadrupled. 
At  that  very  moment  the  average  cost  of  wheat  in  Eng- 


*  Bor,  Meteren,  Hoofd,  Wagenaar. 

'  A  contemporary  chronicler  has  pre- 
served a  droll  medley  of  prices  in  the 
Netherlands  In  the  year  1548,  but  one 
which,  if  accurate,  furnishes  a  striking 
instance  of  the  low  money-valuation  of 
the  various  necessaries  of  life,  before  the 
great  revolution  In  the  value  of  sliver 
imd  begun.  For  one  hundred  and  sixty 
florins  (\6l.)  there  were  bcjught  a  last 
(108  bushels,  or  80  bushels  English)  of 


wheat,  a  last  of  rye,  a  last  of  barley,  a 
last  of  oats,  a  quarter  hundredweight  of 
butter,  300  pounds  of  lard,  one  hundreil 
cheeses,  a  doublet,  a  pair  of  shoes,  a  bon- 
net, a  bag,  a  barrel  of  excellent  beer,  and 
there  were  six  stuyvers  over  for  drink- 
money.  "  And  let  this  serve  as  a  me- 
morial," he  piously  observes,  "of  how 
much  the  wrath  of  God  and  how  much 
his  benignity  can  do  for  us."  Met.  xiv. 
253. 


*J1 


124  THE  UNITED  KETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XII. 

W  was  sixty-four  shniings  |he  qu^J^  ^fZl^ZZ 
and  sixpence  sterling  the  bushel ,  »°°/° '°;    ,5^^  ^^^ 
Hollanl  whi^h  in  |-^t^^ -f^  ^hea    ^E^'gl-d  - 
pncos  prevailed     /^/'"?,^^^el,  in  Brussels, 
equal  therefore  to  eight  busneisin  Spanish 

^Thus  the  silver    mines,   ^^^  *./Xt  everyvvhere 

Kings. property,  ^^^d  produced  ;he^f««^^^^  .^,^^ 

more  signally  than  within  his  obedeut  ,^ 

South    American    specie    f«"°^  '^^  ^j  ^his   troops   in 

coffers,    thence    to  the    P*>  ~^^°rcial    centres  of 
Flanders,  and   thence    *"  the   comme  ^^  ^^^^ 

Holland  and   England.     Those  coun  re  , 

and  obey  the  f-o"^ >  VXdHy  '0^"^:  it  to  gilt- 
were  moving  surely  and  "^i'y^"  ^^mpled  rapidity, 
neas.  Prices  were  rising  ^'*  "^^X  a  d^ug.  a 
the  precious  metals  were  <=fP'^^"^^4en  dreamed 
world-wide  commerce,  such  as  had  ne>^r  been  a 

of,  had  become  an  every-day  <="°=°™'j*^%^  ..tools 
sciences  and  a  n^ostgenewus  culture  mfom^^^^^^^ 

and  universities,  which  had  ^t^^^^^^^Z  republic, 
of  tumult  and   Woodshed   characterized  ^he      p  ^^  ^ 

and  the  golden  age  of  English  V^^'  ^  ^  ^-.^^ 
make  the  Elizatbethan   era   famous  througn  au 

had  already  begun.  ^^    ,     ,     ,     ,,  „  „Bwlv.found  trea- 

In  the   f<^>^lJ^t^V^^r:7tS^r.e.  in  a 
sure  served   to   pay  the  oniy    la  ^    pikemen 

Hubjugated  -/d,  almosyese^^^^^^^^  ^^.^^^ 

of  Spain  and  Italy,  and  the  r^.^^^^^!^''' ^^^     o  aetioDula- 
coulS  not  sustain  themselves  in  th    face  o^^  depoP^'^a^ 
tion.     Where  tbere   was  no  secnriTy  ^"     {^    Jf.  ,  -" 
home-market,    no   foreign  interconi^e    ^^^u^^^^^^^^^ 

auits  had  become  almost  ^^^^^0^^%^^^^  ^^  pear 
mand  for  labour  had  caused  it,  as  itjere,  to  ?^    H 

altogether.  All  men  had  ^^-^l^^l^^^^  ^^f^e  were 
soldiers.     A  tempor-y  reac^^^^  ^^o^^^^  ^^^,  ^,  ,,,, 

no  producers.  ^^^^^^^^^y.J;  ."^^  Jl'  ^as  no  harvest.  A 
had  been  planted,  and  that  t^-^^J^^^>^^^,3  ^hen  rose 
famine   was  the   inevitable  lesuit. 


1  Tables  In  MacCuUoch's  edition  of 
Adam  Smith,  p.  117. 

»  Bor.  Metcreu.  A  veertel  is  about 
three  bushels.  A  florin  wan  then  always 
reckoned  at  two  shillings  sterlmR.  Ihe 
price  of  a  bushel  of  rye  at  Brussels  aud 


Antwerp  was  therefore  eightpence ;  that 
of  a  bushel  of  wheat  about  one-llilrd 
more  say  elevenpence,  or  seven  and 
four-pence  for  the  quarter  (eight  bushels), 
about  an  eighth  or  ninth  of  the  price  in 
Eugland  and  Holland. 


1586. 


PAUPERISM  AND  FAMINE. 


12.5 


With  most  frightful  rapidity.  The  veertel  of  ry^e,  which 
m  the  previous  year  had  been  worth  one  florin  at 
Brussels  and  Antwerp,  rose  in  the  winter  of  1586-7  to 
twenty,  twenty-two,  and  even  twenty-four  florins ;  and 
wheat  advanced  from  one  and  one-third  florin  to  thirty- 
two  florins  the  veertel.*  Other  articles  were  propor- 
tionally increased  in  market-value;  but  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  mutton  was  quoted  in  the  midst  of  this 
famine  at  nine  stuyvers  (a  little  more  than  nine-pence 
sterling)  the  pound,  and  beef  at  five-pence,  while  a 
single  cod-fish  sold  for  twenty-two  florins.*  Thus 
wheat  was  worth  sixpence  sterling  the  pound  weight 
(reckoning  the  veertel  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  at  thirty  florins),  which  was  a  penny  more 
than  the  price  of  a  pound  of  beef;  while  an  ordinary 
fish  was  equal  in  value  to  one  hundred  and  six  pounds 
of  beef.  No  better  evidence  could  be  given  that  the 
obedient  Provinces  were  relapsing  into  barbarism, 
that  the  only  agricultural  industry  then  practised  was 
to  allow  what  flocks  and  herds  were  remaining  to 
graze  at  will  over  the  ruined  farms  and  gardens,  and 
that  their  fishermen  were  excluded  from  the  sea. 

The  evil  cured  itself,  however,  and,  before  the  ex 
piration  of  another  year,  prices  were  again  at  their 
previous  level.  The  land  was  sufficiently  cultivated 
to  funiish  the  necessaries  of  life  for  a  diminishing 
population,  and  the  supply  of  labour  was  more  than 
enough  for  the  languishing  demand.  Wheat  was  again 
at  ten-pence  the  bushel,  and  other  commodities  valued 
in  like  proportion,  and  far  below  the  market-prices  in 
Holland  and  England.* 

On  the  other  hand,  the  prosperity  of  the  republic 
was  rapidly  increasing.  Notwithstanding  the  war, 
which  had  been  raging  for  a  terrible  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury without  any  interruption,  population  was  in- 
creasing, property  rapidly  advancing  in  value,  labour 
in  active  demand.  Famine  was  impossible  to  a  staf^ 
which  commanded  the  ocean.  No  com  grew  in  Hol- 
land aud  Zeeland,  but  their  ports  were  the  granaiy  of 

»  Bor,   Meteren,  HoofU,  ubi  sup.    A  the  bushel  for  rye.  and  one-third  more 

]!wi  of  rye  is  quoted  by  Meteren  (xiv.  or    twenty-peven   shillings— that    is    to 

253    )  at  HOO  florins.    A  last  Is  equal  to  say.  lOt.  Us.  the  quarter,  for  wheat. 

«0  bushels.  English  measure.    This    is  «  Bor.  Hoofd,  Meter«n,  ubi  sup. 

just  t«n  florins,  or  one  pound  sterling,  »  Ibid. 


126 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  Xll. 


il 


of  the  world.     The  fisheries  were  a  mine  of  wealth  almost 
equal  to  the  famous  Fotosi,  with  which  the  commercial 
world  was  then   ringing.     Their   commerce  with  the 
Baltic   nations  was  enoimous.      In   one   month    eight 
hundred  vessels  left  their  havens  for  the  eastern  ports 
alone.     There  was  also  no   doubt  whatever— and   the 
circnmBlance  was  a  source  of  constant   complaint  and 
of  frequent  ineffective  legislation— that  the  rebellious 
Provinces   were   driving  a  most   profitable  trade  with 
Spain  and  the  Spanish  possessions,  in  spite  of  their  revo- 
lutionar\'  war.     The  mines  of  Peru  and  Mexico  were  as 
fertile  for  the   Hollanders  and   Zeelanders  as  for  the 
Spaniards  themselves.     The  war  paid  for  the  war  one 
hundred  large  frigates  were  constantly  cruising  along 
the  coasts  to  protect  the  fast-growing  traffic,  and  an  army 
of    twenty  thousand    foot-soldiers    and   two   thousand 
cavalry  were  maintained  on  land.     There  were  more 
ships  and  sailors  at  that  moment  in  HoUand  and  Zeeland 
than  in  the  whole  kingdom  of  England.' 

NN'hile  the  seaports  were  thus  rapidly  increasing  in 
importance,  the  towns  in  the  interior  was  advancing  as 
steadily.  The  woollen  manufacture,  the  tapestry,  the 
embroideries  of  Gelderland,and  Friesland,  and  Overyssel, 
wore  becoming  as  famous  as  had  been  those  of  Toumay, 
Ypres,  Brussels,  and  Valenciennes.  The  emigration 
from  the  obedient  Provinces  and  from  other  countries 
was  very  great.  It  was  difficult  to  obtain  lodgings  in  the 
principal  cities ;  new  houses,  new  streets,  new  towns, 
were  rising  every  day.  The  single  Province  of  Holland 
furnished  regularly,  for  war-expenses  alone,  two  millions 
of  florins  (two  hundred  thousand  pounds)  a-year,  be- 
sides frequent  extraordinary  grants  for  the  same  pur- 
pose ;  yet  the  burthen  imposed  upon  the  vigorous  young 
commonwealth  seemed  only  to  make  it  the  more  elastic. 
"  The  coming  generations  may  see,"  says  a  contemporary 
historian,  '*the  fortifications  erected  at  that  epoch  in  the 
cities,  the  costly  and  magnificent  havens,  the  docks,  the 


»  Six  years  later  it  was  asserted  by  the 
magistrates  of  Amsterdam,  in  a  commu- 
nication made  to  the  States-General, 
•'  that  no  one  could  doubt  that  in  regard 
to  the  mercantile  marine  and  the  amount 
of  tonnage,  the  Provinces  were  so  far  su- 
^;erlor  to  England  tliat  hardly  any  com- 


parison  could  he  made  on  the  subject,  4c. 
Koop  vaardy-Schepen  in  Nederland  a" 
1593.  Brief  v.  d.  Burgemaasteren  en 
Raden  der  stad  Amsterdam  aan  de 
Staaten-Gencral."  (Hague  Archives, 
MS.) 


1586. 


PROSPERITY  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


127 


great  extension  of  the  cities ;  for  truly  the  war  had  become 
a  great  benediction  to  the  inhabitants  "« 

nrfr^  ^^F''f^^lT^  commonwealth  as  this  was  not  a 
Iwf  1  V^^*^^  ^^^'^^'^  ^^^y-     There  is  no  doubt 

Z^^'Z  \^^*^  ^^T  ^^^J^"*^  ^^  *^^  inhabitants,  and 
ot  the  States  by  whom  the  people  were  represented 
ardently  and  aff-ectionately  desired  to  be  annexed  to  ^e 
Lnghsh  crown.  Leicester  had  become  unpopular,  but 
ijlizabeth  was  adored,  and  there  was  nothing  unre^on- 
able  in  the  desire  entertained  by  the  Provinces  of  retain- 
ing their  ancient  constitutions,  and  of  transferring  their 
allegiance  to  the  English  Queen.  ^ 

But  the  English  Queen  could  not  resolve  to  take  the 
step.     Although  the  great  tragedy  which  was  swiftly 
approaching  its  inevitable  catastrophe,  the  execution  of 
tne  Scottish  Queen,  was  to  make  peace  with  Philip  im- 
possible—even if  it  were  imaginable  before— Elizabeth 
during  the  year  1587,  was  earnestly  bent   on   peace! 
Ihis  will  be  made  manifest  in  subsequent  pa^es,  by  an 
examination  of  the  secret  correspondence  of  the  court 
Her  most  sagacious  statesmen  disapproved  her  course' 
opposed  it,  and  were  often  overruled,  although  never 
convinced  ;  for  her  imperious  will  would  have  its  way 

Ihe  States-General  loathed  the  veiy  name  of  peace 
with  Spam.      The  people  loathed  it.     All  knew  that 
peace  with  Spain  meant  the  exchange  of  a  thrivins: 
prosperous   commonwealth,  with   freedom  of  religion 
constitutional  liberty,  and  self-government,  for  provin* 
cial  subjection  to  the  Inquisition  and  to  despotism      To 
dream  of  any  concession  from  Philip  on  the  religious 
point  was  ridiculous.     There  was  a  mirror  ever  held  up 
before  their  eyes  by  the  obedient  Provinces,  in  which 
they  might  see  their  own  image,  should  they  too  return 
to  obedience.     And  there- was  never  a  pretence,  on  the 
part  of  any  honest  adviser  of  Queen  Elizabeth  in  the 
Jj^etherlands,  whether   Englishman  or  Hollander,  that 
the  idea  of  peace-negotiation  could  be  tolerated' for  a 
moment  by  States  or  people.  Yet  the  sum  of  the  Queen's 
policy,  for  the  year  1587,  may  be  summed  up  in  one 
word— peace ;  peace  for  the  Provinces,  peace  for  herself, 
with  their  implacable  enemy. 

In  France,  during  the  same  year  of  expectation,  we 

1  Meteren,  xiv.  25Cvt> 


*1 


128  THE  USITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XII. 

y,.\\  «^  the  Ion.'  prologue  to  the  tragic  and  memorable 
^^Irwlvena^Hng;  the  same  triangular  con  est  be- 

;feu  th^  'tTe  He^k-rj-s  and  their  partisans  shl  Ip.^ 
iwebu  lu.  misguided  and  wittcueu 

secretary  ot  state,  lod^u^.  extended   m 

tr.^Yo^a\if sC:o5S^^^^ 

^^■ttl^inTrvic^orr--  t  wZg  a^tago- 
^it  S^ftS\uiU  of  victory  p^^^^^^^^^^ 

s^^fij^tis'in^rLS^iw^^^^^^^^^^ 

parsimony  .ai^j'  in  love,  always  cheerful,  and 

:S  :onSt  to  oTwit  the  Guises  and  Philip.  Parma 

'"'iS'in'LCin  we  shall  have  occasion  to  look  over  the 
wtluC  as  he  sits  ^»^>«f  fS«cy  f^th 

--^sf  s— ei  uTtnTo  ISJ^^^^^^ 
Cl'ILrrylnZrdently  as^iza^^^ 

nt  ISdC^d^eTrLmlt'irdeltruction  of 
with  England   ana  ine  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^ 

Sir "...  S  S"  S':.i^A-»it';K^;?; 

80  thoroughly  their  party-contests. 


1587.      BARNEVELD'S  IXFIUEXCE  IN  THE  PROVINCES.        129 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Rumoure  as  to  him  and  York      Stiu^   r%  I  l/Iu,voctlon  -  Fal„ii,i 

s:::ra.:'rS?::p~£4-"'~-™" 

indignant  Dis?u«ion  In  the  A«e  Jb^f  ~        ""^  ''°''  *•''''«'  "'  ^""'^- 

The  government  had  not  been  laid  doiv-n  by  Leicester 
on  his  departure.     It  had  been  provisionally  deSed 
as  already  mentioned,  to  the  statU>unciI.    In  this  body 
-consisting  of  eighteen  pei^ons-originally  appoi^^ 
by  the  Earl  on  nomination  by  the  States,  se^veml  mem 
bers  were  friendly  to  the  governor,  and  othere  were 
violently  opposed  to  him.     The  States  of  Holland   by 
whom  the  action  of  the  States-General  was  mainly  'cor^ 
trolled,  were  influenced  in  their  action  by  Buys  and  bTt 
neveld.     Young  Maurice  of  Nassau,  nineteen  Tears  of 
age,  was  stadholder  of  Holland  and  Zeeland     A  florTd 
complexioned,  fair-haired  young  man,  of  sanguine  biHo"s 
temperament;    reser^-ed,   quie\    reflectivet   sin<n^  ar"y 

dtlL^  r^'  ^??'  *^*  «PPell«tion  of  the  taciturn; 
discreet,  sober,  studious.  "  Count  Maurice  saith  but 
little,  but  I  cannot  tell  what  he  thinketh,"  wrote  Lei- 
cesters  eaves-dropper-in-chief.'  Mathematics,  foitifica- 
''  tL  ! 'r^°^^  of  war-theso  were  his  daily  pureuits. 
thlL^t""^  "^"^  *°  ^""T  ^^^  *'^^"  and  meantime 
he  fit  li  W  P'-^Pa""?  fo"-  the  great  destiny  which, 
he  felt,  lay  before  h.m.  To  ponder  over  the  works  and 
the  daring  conceptions  of  Stevinus,  to  build  up  and  to 
batter  the  wooden  blocks  of  mimic  citadels;  to  aiSnge! 

\oT^  *°  "'"""■  ^'"^'"  ""'•  °'"'"'  ^-  ^'-  ""• '  *"'"•  ='"•  MS-) 


130 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIII. 


1587. 


UNPOPULARITY  OF  LEICESTER. 


131 


>  I, ) 
> 


n-" 


in  countless  combinations  great  armies  of  pewter  sol- 
diers ;  these  were  the  occupations  of  his  leisure-hours. 
Yet  he  was  hardly  suspected  of  bearing  within  him  the 
germs  of  the  great  military  commander.     "  Small  desire 
hath  Count  Maurice  to  follow  the  wars,"  said  one  who 
fancied  himself  an  acute  observer  at  exactly  this  epoch. 
**  And  whereas  it  might  be  supposed  that  in  respect  of  his 
birth  and  place,  he  would  affect  the  chief  military  com- 
mand in  these  countries,  it  ia  found  by  eocperience  had  of  his 
humour,  that  there  is  no  chance  of  his  entering  into  competition 
with  the  others."^     A  modest  young  man,  who  could 
bide  his  time— but  who,  meanwhile,  under  the  guidance 
of  his  elders,  was  doing  his  best,  both  in  field  and  cabi 
net,  to  learn  the  great  lessons  of  the  age— he  had  already 
enjoyed  much  solid  practical  instruction,  under  such  a 
desperate  fighter  as  Hohenlo,  and  under  so  profound  a 
statesman  as  Bameveld.     For  at  this  epoch  Olden-Bar- 
neveld  was  the  preceptor,  almost  the  political  patron  of 
Maurice,  and  Maurice,  the  official  head  of  the  Holland 
party,  was  the  declared  opponent  of  the  democratic-Cal- 
vinist  organization.     It  is  not  necessary,  at  this  early 
moment,  to  foreshadow  the  changes  which  time  was  to 
bring.     Meantime  it  would  be  seen,  perhaps  ere  long, 
whether   or  no  it  would  be  his  humour  to  follow  the 
wars.    As  to  his  prudent  and  dignified  deportment  there 
was  little  doubt.     "  Count  Maurice  behaveth  himselt 
very  discreetly  all  this  while,"  wrote  one,  who  did  not 
love  him,   to  Leicester,   who  loved   him  less:    "He 
Cometh  every  day  to  the  council,  keepcth  no  company 
with  Count  Hollock,  nor  with  any  of  them  all,  and  never 
drinks  himself  full  with  any  of  them,  as  they  do  every 
day  among  themselves."  * 

Certainly  the  most  profitable  intercourse  that  Maurice 
could  enjoy  with  Hohenlo  was  upon  the  battle-field.  In 
winter-quarters,  that  hard-fighting,  hard-drinking,  and 
most  turbulent  chieftain,  was  not  the  best  Mentor  for  a 
youth  whose  destiny  pointed  him  out  as  the  leader  of  a 
free  commonwealth.  After  the  campaigns  were  over— 
if  they  ever  could  be  over — the  Count  and  other  nobles 
from  the  same  country  were  too  apt  to  indulge  in  those 

»  Project  for  the  Government  of  the       «  Otheman  to  Leicester,  16  Jaa  1587. 
Provinces.    (•  Cabala,' p.  23.)  (Brit  Mus.  Galba,  C.  xi.  99.  MS.) 


mighty  potations,  which  were  rather  characteristic  of 
their  nation  and  the  age. 

"Since  your  Excellency's  departure,"  wrote  Lei- 
cester s  secretary,  "there  hath  been  among  the  Dutch 
*f^,?*i.^^*^^^g  ^iit  dancing  and  drinking,  to  the  mef 
of  all  this  people,  which  foresee  that  there  can  come  no 
good  of  It.  Specially  Count  Hollock,  who  hath  been 
drunk  almost  a  fortnight  together."  * 

Leicester  had  rendered  himself  unpopular  with  the 
States-General,  and  with  all  the  leading  politicians  and 
generals ;  yet,  at  that  moment,  he  had  deeply  mort- 
gaged his  English  estates  in  order  to  raise  funds  to  ex- 
pend m  the  Netlierland  cause.  Thirty  thousand  pounds 
sterling— according  to  his  own  statement— he  was  al- 
ready out  of  pocket,  and,  unless  the  Queen  would 
advance  him  the  means  to  redeem  his  property,  his  broad 
lands  were  to  be  brought  to  the  hammer.*  But  it 
was  the  Queen,  not  the  States-General,  who  owed  the 
money ;  for  the  Earl  had  advanced  these  sums  as  a  por- 
tion of  the  royal  contingent.  Five  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  pounds  sterling  had  been  the  cost  of  one  year's 
war  during  the  English  governor's  administration  ;  and 
of  this  sum  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  had  been 
paid  by  England.'  There  was  a  portion  of  the  sum, 
over  and  above  their  monthly  levies,  for  which  the  States 
had  contracted  a  debt,  and  they  were  extremely  desirous 
to  obtain,  at  that  moment,  an  additional  loan  of  fifty 
thousand  pounds  from  Elizabeth;  a  favour  which  Eliza- 
beth was  veiy  firmly  determined  not  to  grant.  It  was 
this  terror  at  the  expense  into  which  the  Netherland 
war  was  plunging  her,  which  made  the  English  sove- 
reign so  desirous  for  peace,  and  filled  the  anxious  mind 
of  Walsingham  with  the  most  painful  forebodings. 

Leicester,  in  spite  of  his  good  qualities— such  as  they 
were — had  not  that  most  necessary  gift  for  a  man  in  his 


»  Otheman  to  Leicester,  7  Jan.  1587. 
(Ibid.  p.  72,  MS.) 

*  •  List  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  mort- 
gages, to  raise  money  spent  in  doing  her 
MiOesty  service  In  the  Low  Coimtries.' 
(S.  P.  Office,  1687,  MS.) 

There  were  five  diflferent  mortgages  of 
estates  and  manors  in  England,  amountr 
Ing  In  aU  to  18,0001.  "  All  tlie  mortgages 


above  written  are  past  redemption,  ex- 
cept on  present  payment  of  the  due  debts. 
His  Ix)rdship  doth  owe  an  infinite  sum 
besides  for  his  expenses  made  in  these 
services,  over  and  besides  these  debts." 

»  Wilkes  to  Walsingham,  12  Jan.  1587. 
Same  to  Burghley,  12  Jan.  1587.  (S.  V, 
Office  MSS.) 

K  2 


XOctf 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


1587. 


INTRIGUES  OF  HIS  SERVANTS. 


133 


\h 


position,  tlie  art  of  making  friends.  No  man  made  so 
many  enemies.  He  was  an  excellent  hater,  and  few- 
men  have  been  more  cordially  hated  in  return.  He  was 
imperious,  insolent,  hot-tempered.  He  could  brook  no 
equal.  He  had  also  the  fatal  defect  of  enjoying  the 
flatteiy  of  his  inferiors  in  station.  Adroit  intriguers 
burned  incense  to  him  as  a  god,  and  employed  him  as 
their  tool.  And  now  he  had  mortally  offended  Ho- 
henlo,  and  Buys,  and  Bameveld,  while  he  hated  Sir 
John  Norris  with  a  most  passionate  hatred.  Wilkes, 
the  English  representative,  was  already  a  special  object 
of  his  aversion.  The  unvarnished  statements  made  by 
the  stiff  counsellor,  of  the  expense  of  the  past  year's  ad- 
ministration, and  the  various  errors  committed,  had  in- 
spired Leicester  with  such  ferocious  resentment,  that 
the  friends  of  Wilkes  trembled  for  his  life.^    Cordiality 


1  "  It  is  generally  bruited  here."  wrote 
Henry  Smith  to  his  brother-in-law 
Wilkes,  "of  a  most  heavy  displeasure 
conceived  by  my  Lord  of  Leicester 
against  you,  and  it  is  sal*  to  be  so  great 
M  that  he  bath  protested  to  be  revenged 
of  you ;  and  to  procure  you  tbe  more 
enemies,  it  is  said  he  hath  revealed  to  my 
Lord  Treasurer  and  Secretary  Davison 
some  injurious  speeches  (which  I  cannot 
report)  you  should  have  used  of  them  to 
him  at  your  last  being  with  him.  Fur- 
thermore some  of  the  said  Lord's  secre- 
taries have  reported  here  that  it  were 
good  for  you  never  to  return  hither,  or, 
If  their  Lord  be  appointed  to  go  over 
again,  it  will  be  too  hot  for  you  to  tarry 
there.  These  things  thus  coming  to  the 
ears  of  your  fHends  have  stricken  a  great 
fear  and  grief  hito  the  minds  of  such  as 
love  you,  lest  the  wonderful  force  and 
authority  of  this  man  being  bent  against 
you,  fehould  do  you  hurt,  while  there  is 
none  to  answer  for  you."  Smith  to 
Wilkes.  26  Jan.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

Wilkes  immediately  wrote  to  Lord 
Burghley,  indignantly  denying  that  he 
had  cvtT  spoken  disrespectfully  or  iujuri- 
ously  of  hiflii,  as  thus  meanly  reported  of 
him  by  Leicester. 

"  I  do  briefly  assme  your  liordship," 
he  said,  "  which  I  will  avow  with  mine 
oath  uixm  the  Holy  Testamont,  that  I 
am  therein  as  falsely  and  ii^rlonsly 
abased  as  ever  was  poor  man,  and,  uiK>a 


that  protestation,  I  utterly  deny  that 
ever  I  advised  my  Lord  to  beware  of 
yonr  Ix>rdship,  or  of  any  counsellor  at 
your  devotion,  or  that  I  ever  used  unto 
him,  or  to  any  creature  living,  any  vile, 
uncivil,  lewd,  or  undutiful  term  of  your 
Lordship.    I  trust  In  the  observation  you 
have  made  of  my  conversation,  serving 
her  Majesty  a  dozen  years  under  your 
wing,  did  never  see  that  I  was  so  indis- 
creet as  to  speak  irreverently  of  men  of 
your  Lordship's  place,  and  1  hope  you 
have  not  found  me  so  foolish  as  by  such 
lightness  to  draw  myself  into  tlie  hatred 
of  so  great  personages,  to  overthrow  my- 
self wilfully.    I  thank  God  I  was  never 
so  mad,  and  I  might  speak  it  without 
vaunt,  that  there  was  no  man  in  court 
of  my  sort  that  had  more  good- will  of 
high  and  low  than  myself,  before  the 
acceptance  of  this  cursed  and  unfortunate 
Journey,  which,  as  I  declared  to  your 
Lordship  at  the  beginning,  will  be,  I 
fear,  the  Cause  of  my  ruin ;  and  then  it 
pleased  you  to  give  me  this  advice,  that 
I  should  serve  her  Majesty  truly,  and 
refer  the  rest  to  God.    Your  Lordship 
doth  know  the  humours  and  disposition 
of  my  great  adversary  better  than  I,  and 
can  Judge  thereof  accordingly,    which, 
with  silence,  I  will  leave  to  plead  for  me 
In  your  grave  conceipt,  together  with  the 
unlikelihood  that  I,  having  no  cause  of 
offence  and  landing  you  my  good  Lord, 
and  that  I  am  not  mad,  or  used  to  pre- 


between  the  governor-general  and  Count  Maurice  had 
become  impossible.  As  for  Willoughby  and  Sir  William 
Pelham,  they  were  both  friendly  to  him,  but  Willoughby 
was  a  magnificent  cavalry  officer,  who  detested  politics, 
and  cared  little  for  the  Netherlands,  except  as  the  best 
battle-field  in  Europe,  and  the  old  marshal  of  the  camp 
— the  only  man  that  Leicest-er  ever  loved — was  growing 
feeble  in  health,  was  broken  down  by  debt,  and  hardly 
possessed  or  wished  for  any  general  influence. 

Besides  Deventer  of  Utrecht,  then,  on  whom  the  Earl 
chiefly  relied  during  his  absence,  there  were  none  to 
support  him  cordially,  except  two  or  three  members  of 
the  state-council.  "Madame  de  Brederode  hath  sent 
unto  you  a  kind  of  rose,"  said  his  intelligencer,  "  which 
you  have  asked  for,  and  beseeches  you  to  conmiand  any- 
thing she  has  in  her  garden,  or  wheresoever.  M.  Meet- 
kerke,  M.  Brederode,  and  Mr.  Dorius,  wish  your  return 
with  all  their  hearts.  For  the  rest  I  cannot  tell,  and 
will  not  swear.  But  Mr.  Bameveld  is  not  your  very 
great  friend,  whereof  I  can  write  no  more  at  this 
time." ' 

This  certainly  was  a  small  proportion  out  of  a  council 
of  eighteen,  when  all  the  leading  politicians  of  the  country 
were  in  avowed  hostility  to  the  governor.  And  thus 
the  Earl  was,  at  this  most  important  crisis,  to  depend 
upon  the  subtle  and  dangerous  Deventer,  and  upon  two 
inferior  personages,  the  *'  fellow  Junius,"  *  and  a  non- 
descript, whom  Hohenlo  characterized  as  a  '*  long  lean 
Englishman,  with  a  little  black  beard."  *  This  meagre 
individual,  however,  seems  to  have  been  of  somewhat 
doubtful  nationality.  He  called  himself  Otheman, 
claimed  to  be  a  Frenchman,  had  lived  much  in  England, 
wrote  with  great  fluency  and  spirit,  both  in  French 


cipitate  myself  in  that  manner,  should  in 
any  probability  be  so  great  an  enemy  to 
niTself  as  to  make  your  Lordship  my  foe 
by  any  such  levity.  .  .  .  Your  Lord- 
ship hath  herein  dealt  with  me  according 
to  yourself,  that  you  have  not  directly 
condemned  me  before  you  heard  me.  .  .  . 
If  my  adversary  were  as  mean  in  quality 
as  myself,  I  would  not  doubt  but  by  God's 
grace  and  help,  to  make  mine  innocency 
appear  upon  him  with  my  hand." 
Wilkes  to  Burghley,  17  Feb.  15»7.    (S- 1*. 


Office  MS.) 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  Lord  Trea- 
surer's conduct  towards  the  counsellor, who 
had  been  taking  his  advice  of  "  serving 
her  Majesty  truly  and  referring  the  rest 
to  God,''  was  as  honourable  as  that  of 
Leicester  was  base. 

>  Otheman  to  Leicester,  16  Jan.  1537. 
(MS.  already  cited.) 

*  Common  expression  of  Hoheolp. 
(Bor,  iii.  xxili.  2s.) 

3  Bor,  lU.  MS.  last  cited. 


134 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIH. 


1587. 


GOSSIP  OF  HIS  SECRETARY. 


135 


and   English,  bnt  was  said,  in  reality,  to  be  named 
Kobert  Dale.' 

It  was  not  the  best  policy  for  the  representative  of 
the  English  Queen  to  trust  to  such  counsellors  at  a 
moment  when  the  elements  of  strife  between  Holland 
and  England  were  actively  at  work ;  and  when  the 
safety,  almost  the  existence,  of  the  two  commonwealths 
depended  upon  their  acting  cordially  in  concert. 
"  Overyssel,  Utrecht,  Friesland,  and  Gelderland,  have 
agreed  to  renew  the  offer  of  sovereignty  to  her  Majesty," 
said  Leicester.  **  I  shall  be  able  to  make  a  better  re- 
port of  their  love  and  good  inclination  than  I  can  of 
Holland."*-  It  was  thought  very  desirable  by  the  Eng- 
lish government  that  this  great  demonstration  should  be 
made  once  more,  whatever  might  be  the  ultimate  deci- 
sion of  her  Majesty  upon  so  momentous  a  measure.  It 
seemed  proper  that  a  solemn  embassy  should  once  more 
proceed  to  England  in  order  to  confer  with  Elizabeth ; 
but  there  was  much  delay  in  regard  to  the  step,  and 
much  indignation,  in  consequence,  on  the  part  of  the 
Earl.  The  opposition  came,  of  course,  from  the  Bame- 
veld  party.  "  They  are  in  no  great  haste  to  offer  the 
sovereignty,"  said  Wilkes.  "  First  some  towns  of  Hol- 
land made  bones  thereat,  and  now  they  say  that  Zeeland 
is  not  resolved." " 

The  nature  and  the  causes  of  the  opposition  offered 
by  Bameveld  and  the  States  of  Holland  have  been  suffi- 
ciently explained.  Buys,  maddened  by  his  long  and 
unjustifiable  imprisonment,  had  just  been  released  by 
the  express  desire  of  Hohenlo ;  and  that  unruly  chief- 
tain, who  guided  the  German  and  Dutch  magnates,  such 
as  Moeurs  and  Overstein,  and  who  even  much  influenced 
Maurice  and  his  cousin  Count  Lewis  William,  was  him- 
self governed  by  Bameveld.     It  Would  have  been  far 


i 


I  Fowler  to  Burghley,  7  Oct  1589,  In 
Murdln'8  State  Papers,  p.  63d. 

«  Speech  of  Leicester  to  the  deputies 
of  States-General,  Just  before  his  depar- 
ture, Nov.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*•  The  town  of  Utrecht,"  said  Wilkes 
ft  few  weeks  later,  ''doth  dissent  from 
the  rest  of  the  provinces  in  the  manner 
of  their  sovereignty,  who,  seeming  to  he 
best  affected  to  her  Majesty,  do  mean  to 
yield  her  the  same  as  Charles  V.cUd  hotd 
it,  reserving  only  their  printipal  privi- 


leges and  religion,  which  the  rest  do  not 
intend  to  do,  a»  I  can  learn,  who  do  pur- 
pose to  charge  the  same  with  many 
strange  eonditums.  I  would  be  glad  to 
know  your  honour's  opinion  of  her  Ma- 
jesty's purpose  therein,  whereby  1  may 
better  direct  my  services  here."  Wilkes 
to  Walslngham.  19  Jan.  1587.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 

»  Wilkes  to  Leicester,  24  Dec.  1588. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


from  impossible  for  Leicester,  even  then,  to  conciliate 
the  whole  paii^y.  It  was  highly  desirable  that  he  should 
do  so,  for  not  one  of  the  Provinces  where  he  boasted  his 
strength  was  quite  secure  for  England.  Count  Moeurs 
a  potent  and  wealthy  noble,  was  governor  of  Utrecht 
and  Gelderland  and  he  had  already  begun  to  favour 
the  party  in  Holland  which  claimed  for  that  Province  a 
legal  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  ancient  episcopate. 
Under  these  circumstances  common  prudence  would 
have  suggested  that  as  good  an  understanding  as  pos- 
sible might  be  kept  up  with  the  Dutch  and  German 
counts,  and  that  the  breach  might  not  be  rendered  quite 
irreparable.  ^ 

Yet,  as  if  there  had  not  been  administrative  blunders 
enough  committed  in  one  year,  the  unlucky  lean  Eng- 
lishman with  the  black  beard,  who  was  the  EarPs  chief 
representative,  contrived— almost  before  his  master's 
back  was  tumed-to  draw  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  all 
the  fine  ladies  in  HoUand.  That  this  should  be  the 
direful  spring  of  unutterable  disasters,  social  and  politi- 
cal, was  easy  to  foretell.  ^ 

Just  before  the  governor's  departure  Otheman  came 
to  pay  his  farewell  respects,  and  receive  his  last  com- 
mands. He  found  Leicester  seated  at  ehess  with  Sir 
±  rancis  Drake. 

**  I  do  leave  you  here,  my  poor  Otheman,"  said  the 
±.arl,  "  but  so  soon  as  1  leave  you  I  know  very  well  that 
nobody  will  give  you  a  good  look."  * 

"  Your  excellency  was  a  true  prophet,"  wrote  the  secre- 
tary a  few  weeks  later,  "  for,  my  good  Lord,  I  have 
been  in  as  great  danger  of  my  life  as  ever  man  was.  I 
have  been  hunted  at  Delft  from  house  to  house,  and  then 
besieged  m  my  lodgings  four  or  five  hours,  as  though  I 
had  been  the  greatest  thief,  murderer,  and  traitor  in  the 
land. 

And  why  was  the  unfortunate  Otheman  thus  hunted 
K)  his  lair  ?  Because  he  had  chosen  to  indulge  in  scan- 
dalum  ma^mtum,  and  had  thereby  excited  the  frenzy  of 
^1  the  great  nobles  whom  it  was  most  important  for  the 
English  party  to  conciliate. 

There  had  been  gossip  about  the  Princess  of  Chimay 
and  one  Calvaert,  who  lived  in  her  house,  much  against 

»  otheman  to  Leicester,  29  Jan.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


136 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  Xlll. 


1587. 


ITS  MISCHIEVOUS  EFFECTS. 


137 


M 


lu 


the  advice  of  all  lior  best  friends.  One  day  she  com- 
plained bitterly  to  Master  Otheman  of  the  spiteful  ways 
of  the  world. 

**  I  protest,"  said  she,  **  that  I  am  the  unhappiest  lady 
npon  earth  to  have  my  name  thus  called  in  question."  ^ 

So  said  Otheman,  in  order  to  comfort  her:  "Your 
Highness  is  aware  that  such  things  are  said  of  all.  I 
am  sure  I  hear  every  day  plenty  of  speeches  about  lords 
and  ladies,  queens  and  princesses.  You  have  little  cause 
to  trouble  yourself  for  such  matters,  being  known  to  live 
honestly  and  like  a  good  Christian  lady.  Your  Highness 
is  not  the  only  lady  spoken  of" 

The  Princess  listened  with  attention. 

"  Think  of  t/ie  stories  about  the  Queen  of  England  and  my 
Lord  of  Leicester  !"*  said  Otheman,  with  infinite  tact. 
"  No  person  is  exempted  from  the  tongues  of  evil 
speakers ;  but  virtuous  and  godly  men  do  put  all  such 
foolish  matter  under  their  feet.  Then  there  is  the 
Countess  of  Moeurs,  how  much  evil  talk  does  one  hear 
about  her ! " 

The  Princess  seemed  still  more  interested  and  even 
excited;  and  the  adroit  Otheman  having  thus,  as  he 
imagined,  very  successfully  smoothed  away  her  anger, 
went  off  to  have  a  little  more  harmless  gossip  about  the 
Princess  and  the  Countess,  with  Madame  de  Meetkerke, 
who  had  sent  Leicester  the  rose  from  her  garden. 

But,  no  sooner  had  he  gone,  than  away  went  her 
Highness  to  Madame  de  Moeurs,  "a  marvellous  wise 
and  well-spoken  gentlewoman  and  a  grave,"*  and  in- 
formed her  and  the  Count,  with  some  trifling  exaggera- 
tion, that  the  vile  Englishman,  secretary  to  the  odious 
Leicester,  had  just  been  there,  abusing  and  calumniating 
the  Countess  in  most  lewd  and  abominable  fashion.  He 
had  also,  she  protested,  used  "  very  evil  speeches  of  all 
the  ladies  in  the  country."*  For  her  own  part  the 
Princess  avowed  her  determination  to  have  him  instantly 
murdered.*  Count  Moeurs  was  quite  of  the  same  mind, 
and  desired  nothing  better  than  to  be  one  of  his  execu- 
tioners.    Accordingly,  the  next  Sunday,  when  the  bab- 


1  Otheman  to  Leicester,  last  cited. 

«  VM,—totidem.  rtrbit.  It  is  Bome- 
what  amusing  to  find.  In  a  letter  to  Lei- 
cester from  his  own  secretary,  these 
allusions  to  the  "scandal  about  Queen 


Elizabeth." 

*  Leicester  to  Walslngham,  in  Bruce, 
p.  217. 

<  Otheman  to  Leicester.  MS.  before 
dted.  •  lUd. 


bling  secretary  had  gone  down  to  Delft  to  hear   the 
French  sermon,  a  select  party,  consisting  of  Moeurs, 
Lewis  William  of  Nassau,  Count  Overstein,  and  others, 
set  forth  for  that  city,  laid  violent  hands  on  the  culprit, 
and    brought    him    bodily    before     Princess    Chimay! 
There,  being  called  upon  to  explain  his  innuendos,  he 
fell   into   much  trepidation,   and   gave  the  names  of 
several  English  captains,  whom  he  supposed  to  be  at 
that  time  in  England.     "  For  if  I  had  denied  the  whole 
matter,"  said  he,  "  they  would  have  given  me  the  lie, 
and  used  me  according  to  their  evil  mind."  *     Upon  this 
they  relented,  and  released  their  prisoner,  but,  the  next 
day,  they  made  another  attack  upon  him,  himted  him 
from  house  to  house,  through  the  whole  city  of  Delft, 
and  at  last  drove  him  to  earth  in  his  own  lodgings,  where 
they  kept  him  besieged  several  hours.     Through  the 
intercession  of  Wilkes  and  the  authority  of  the  council 
of  state,  to  which  body  he  succeeded  in  conveying  infor- 
mation of  his  dangerous  predicament,  he  was,  in  his  own 
language,  "  miraculously  preserved,"  although  remaining 
still  in  daily  danger  of  Jiis  life.     "  I  pray  God  keep  me 
hereafter  from  the  anger  of  a  woman,"  he  exclaimed, 
*'  quia  non  est  ira  supra  iram  mulieris."  * 

He  was  immediately  examined  before  the  council,  and 
succeeded  in  clearing  and  justifying  himself  to  the 
satisfaction  of  his  friends.  His  part  was  afterwards 
taken  by  the  councillors,  by  all  the  preachers  and  godly 
men,  and  by  the  university  of  Leyden.  But  it  was  well 
understood  that  the  blow  and  the  affront  had  been 
levelled  at  the  English  governor  and  the  English  na- 
tion. 

"AH  your  friends  do  see,"  said  Otheman,  *' that  this 
disgrace  is  not  meant  so  much  to  me  as  to  your  Excel- 
lency ;  the  Dutch  earls  having  used  such  speeches  unto 
me,  and  against  all  law,  custom,  and  reason,  used  such 
violence  to  me,  that  your  Excellency  shall  wonder  to 
hear  of  it.*'  ■ 

Now  the  Princess  Chimay,  besides  being  of  honour- 
able character,  was  a  sincere  and  exemplary  member  of 
the  Calvinist  church,  and  well  inclined  to  the  Leices- 
trians.     She  was  daughter  of  Count  Meghem,  one  of  the 

»  Otheman  to  Leicester.    MS.  before       »  Otheman  to  Leicester,  1  Feb.  1587. 
dted-  »  Ibid.  (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  C.  xl.  21  g.  MS.) 


138 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIH. 


earliest  victims  of  PhUip  II.,  in  the  long  tragedy  of 
Netherland  independence,  and  widow  of  Lancelot  Ber- 
laymont.  Count  Moeurs  was  governor  of  Utrecht,  and 
by  no  means,  np  to  that  time,  a  thorough  supporter  of 
the  Holland  party;*  but  thenceforward  he  went  off 
most  abruptly  from  the  party  of  England,  became  hand 
and  glove  with  Hohenlo,  accepted  the  influence  of  Bar- 
neveld,  and  did  his  best  to  wrest  the  city  of  Utrecht 
from  English  authority.     Such  was  the  effect  of  the 

secretary's  harmless  gossip.  .^   ,    ,,      -  .     , 

"  I  thought  Count  Moeurs  and  his  wife  better  friends 
to  your  Excellency  than  I  do  see  them  to  be,"  said 
Otheman  afterwards.  "But  he  doth  now  disgiuce  the 
English  nation  many  ways  in  his  speeches— saying 
that  they  are  no  soldiers,  that  they  do  no  good  to  this 
country,  and  that  these  Englishmen  that  are  at  Amheim 
have   an  intent  to  sell  and  betray  the   town  to  the 


"8 


enemy.  , , ,     ,  tt  i      i        j 

But  the  disgraceful  squabble  between  Hohenlo  and 

Edward  Norris  had  been  more  unlucky  for  Leicester 

than  any  other  incident  during  the  year,  for  its  result 

was  to  turn  the  hatred  of  both  parties  against  himself. 

Yet  the  Earl,  of  all  men,  was  originally  least  to  blame 

for  the  transaction.     It  has  been  seen  that  Sir  Philip 

Sidney  had  borne  Norris's  cartel  to  Hohenlo,  very  soon 

after  the  outrage  had  been  committed.     The  Count  had 

promised  satisfaction,  but  meantime   was  desperately 

wounded  in  the   attack  on  Fort  Zutphen.     Leicester 

afterwards  did  his  best  to  keep  Edward  Norris  employed 

in  distant  places,  for  he  was  quite  aware  that  Hohenlo, 

as  lieutenant-general  and  count  of  the  empire,  would 

consider  himself  aggrieved  at  being  called  to  the  field 

by  a  simple  English  captain,  however  deeply  he  might 

have  injured  him.     The  governor  accordingly  induced 

the  Queen  to  recall  the  young  man  to  England,  and 


»  On  the  contrary,  although  Hohenlo 
had  been  dotng  his  best  to  gain  him, 
having  been  drunk  with  him  most  con- 
scientiously for  a  fortnight  at  a  time,  his 
wife,  who  was  his  commanding  ofiBcer, 
had  expressed  aversion  to  the  German 
party,  and  great  affection  for  that  of  Lei- 
cester. "  The  Countess  told  me  but  yes- 
terday," Otheman  had  written  only  a  few 


days  before,  "  that  her  husband  was  not 
so  foolish  as  to  trust  him  who  had  de- 
ceived him  so  often,  and  that  the  toill 
never  permit  her  hxaband  to  go  from  the 
party  of  England."  Otheman  to  Leices- 
ter, 16th  Jan.  1587.  (Brit  Mus.  Galba, 
C.  xl.  p.  99.    MS.) 

>  Otheman  to  Leicester.  1  Feb.  158T. 
(MS.  before  cited.) 


1587.         THE  QUARREL  OF  NORRIS  AND  HOLLOCK.  I39 

invited  him-much  as  he  disliked  his  whole  race-to 
ac^mpany  him  on  his  departure  for  that  country. 

Ihe  Captain  then  consulted  with  his  brother  Sir 
John  regarding  the  pending  dispute  with  Hohenlo. 
His  brother  advised  that  the  Count  should  be  summoned 
to  keep  his  promise,  but  that  Lord  Leicester's  permission 
should  previously  be  requested. 

t:^/  week  before  the  governor's  departure,  accordinglv 
Edward  Noms  presented  himself  one  morning  in  the 
dining-room,  and,  finding  the  Earl  reclining  on  a  window- 
seat,  observed  to  him  that  "  he  desired  his  Lordship's 
favour  towards  the  discharging  of  his  reputation." 
^^      The  Count  HoUock   is  now  well,-  he  proceeded, 

and  18  feasting  and  banqueting  in  his  lodgings, 
although  he  does  not  come  abroad." 

"  And  what  way  will  you  take  ?  "  inquired  Leicester, 

considering  that  he  keeps  his  house." 

"'Twill  be  best,  I  thought,"  answered  Norris,  "to 
write  unto  him  to  perform  his  promise  he  made  me  U 
answer  me  m  the  field." 

Ea^l"^^  ^^^°^  ^'^  ^^  ^^^^  *^^*  promise  ? »  asked  the 
"  To  Sir  Philip  Sidney,"  answered  the  Captain. 

To  my  nephew  Sidney,"  said  Leicester  musingly  • 
very  well ;  do  as  you  think  best,  and  I  will  do  for  you 

what  I  can."  *  "^ 

And  the  governor  then  added  many  kind  expressions 
concerning  the  interest  he  felt  in  the  young  man's 
reputation  Passing  to  other  matters,  Norris  then 
spoke  of  the  great  charges  he  had  recently  been  put  to 
by  reason  of  having  exchanged  out  of  the  States'  ser- 
vice in  order  to  accept  a  commission  from  his  Lordship 
to  levy  a  company  of  horse.  This  levy  had  cost  him 
and  his  friends  three  hundred  pounds,  for  which  he  had 
not  been  able  to  "  get  one  groat." 

•^q'^i.^®®^^  ^^"^  Lordship  to  stand  good  for  me  *• 
said  he ;  ♦'  considering  the  meanest  captain  in  all  the 
country  hath  as  good  entertainment  as  I." 

"I  can  do  but  little  for  you  before  my  departure  " 
said  Leicester;  "  but  at  my  return  I  will  advise  to  do 
more. 


M 


140 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


After  this  amicable  conversation  Norris  thanked  his 
Lordship,  took  his  leave,  and  straightway  wrote  his 
letter  to  Count  HoUock/ 

That  personage,  in  his  answer,  expressed  astonish- 
ment that  Norris  should  summon  him,  in  his  "  weak- 
ness and  indisposition;"  but  agreed  to  give  him  the 
desired  meeting,  with  sword  and  dagger,  so  soon  as  he 
should  be  sufficiently  recovered.  Norris,  in  reply, 
acknowledged  his  courteous  promise,  and  hoped  that  he 
might  be  speedily  restored  to  health.* 

The  state-council,  sitting  at  the  Hague,  took  up  the 
matter  at  once,  however,  and  requested  immediate  in- 
formation of  the  Earl.  He  accordingly  sent  for  Norris 
and  his  brother  Sir  John,  who  waited  upon  him  in  his 
bed-chamber,  and  were  requested  to  set  down  in 
writing  the  reasons  which  had  moved  them  in  the 
matter.  This  statement  was  accordingly  furnished, 
together  with  a  copy  of  the  correspondence.  The  Earl 
took  the  papers,  and  promised  "  to  allow  most  honour- 
ably of  it  in  the  Council."  ' 

Such  is  the  exact  narrative,  word  for  word,  as  given 
by  Sir  John  and  Edward  Norris,  in  a  solemn  memorial 
to  the  Lords  of  her  Majesty's  privy  council,  as  well  as 
to  the  state-council  of  the  United  Provinces.  A  very 
few  days  afterwards  Leicester  departed  for  England, 
taking  Edward  Norris  with  him. 

Count  Hohenlo  was  furious  at  the  indignity,  notwith- 
standing the  polite  language  in  which  he  had  accepted 
the  challenge.  *''Twa8  a  matter  punishable  with 
death,"  he  said,  "  in  all  kingdoms  and  countries,  for  a 
simple  captain  to  send  such  a  summons  to  a  man  of  his 
station,  without  consent  of  the  supreme  authority.  It 
was  plain,"  he  added,  "that  the  English  governor- 
general  had  connived  at  the  affront,  for  Norris  had  been 
living  in  his  family  and  dining  at  his  table.  Nay,  more  : 
Lord  Leicester  had  made  him  a  knight  at  Flushing  just 
before  their  voyage  to  England."  * 


1  Edward  Norris  to  the  Lords,  28  July. 
1687.  Sir  John  Norris  to  Walsingham, 
same  date.    (S.  P.  Office  MS3.) 

"  Edward  Norris  to  Leicester,  (the  cor- 
respondence with  Hohenlo  enclosed), 
Nov.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Compare 
Bmce's '  Leyc  Corresp.,'  Appendix,  474, 
475.    Remooatrance  of  Count  Hohenlo  to 


the   States-General,  3  Dec.  1587,  apud 
Bor,  ill.  xxllL  121-129.    Reyd,  v.  80,  81. 

*  E.  Norris  to  the  Lords.  J.  Norris  to 
Leicester.  (MSS.  before  dted.)  E.  Norrte 
to  Leicester,  21  Nov.  1586.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

*  Remonstrance  of  Hohenlo,  before 
cited.    Hoofd  Vervolgh,  209. 


1587.      THE  EARL'S  PAKTICIPATION  IN  THE  AFFAIR.        141 

There  seems  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  general 
veracity  of  the  brothers  Norris,  although,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  screening  Leicester,  Sir  John  represented  at 
the  time  to  Hohenlo  and  others  that  the  Eari  had  not 
been  privy  to  the  transaction.*  It  is  very  certain,  how- 
ever that  so  soon  as  the  general  indignation  of  Hohenlo 
and  his  partizans  began  to  be  directed  against  Leicester 
he  at  once  denied,  in  passionate  and  abusive  laneuage' 
havmg  had  any  knowledge  whatever  of  Norris's  inten- 
tions. He  protested  that  he  learned,  for  the  first  time 
of  the  cartel  from  information  furnished  to  the  council 
of  state. 

The  quarrel  between  Hohenlo  and  Norris  was  after- 
wards amicably  arranged  by  Lord  Buckhurst,  during  his 
embassy  to  the  States,  at  the  express  desire  of  the 
gueen  Hohenlo  and  Sir  John  Norris  became  very 
good  friends,  while  the  enmity  between  them  and  Lei- 
cester grew  more  deadly  every  day.  The  Eari  was 
trantic  with  rage  whenever  he  spoke  of  the  transaction 
and  denounced  Sir  John  Norris  as  "a  fool,  liar,  and 
coward  on  all  occasions,  besides  overwhelming  his 
brother,  Buckhurst,  Wilkes,  and  every  other  person 
who  took  their  part,  with  a  torrent  of  abuse ;  and  it  is 
well  known  that  the  Eari  was  a  master  of  Billingsgate  * 

"  Hollock  says  that  I  did  procure  Edward  Norris  to 
send  him  his  cartel,"  observed  Leicester  on  one  occa- 
sion, "wherein,  I  protest  before  the  Lord,  I  was  as 
Ignorant  as  any  man  in  England.  His  brother  John 
can  teU  whether  I  did  not  send  for  him  to  have  com- 
mitted him  for  It;  but  that,  in  very  truth,  upon  the 
perusing  of  it  (after  it  had  been  sent),  "  it  was  very 
reasonably  written,  and  I  did  consider  also  the  great 
wrong  ofifered  him  by  the  Count,  and  so  forbore  it  I 
was  so  careful  for  the  Count's  safety  after  the  brawl 


1  "  For  all  this  I  wlH  assure  yon  that 
I  did  always,  both  to  the  Council,  the 
States,  and  Count  Hollock,  confidently 
deny  [i.  e.  maintain]  that  my  Lord  knew 
not  of  it,  because  they  should  not  for 
this  matter  have  any  advantage  against 
his  Lordship  "  Sir  John  Norris  to  Sir 
F.  Walsingham,  before  cited. 

The  two  negatives  do  not  here  make 
an  affirmative;  but  it  Is  evident  that 
Leicester    made    great    use    of    this 


damaging  denial  on  the  part  of  Norris. 

2  J.  Norris  to  Walsingham,  14  March, 
1587.  Same  to  same,  3  June.  1587' 
(S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

"The  best  is,  such  tales  can  no  more 
irritate  my  Lord's  anger  against  me," 
said  sir  John;  for  since  he  afBnneth 
that  I  am  a  fool,  a  coward,  and  a 
hinderer  of  all  these  services,  I  know 
not  what   more   he  can   be  provoked 


142 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  XIII. 


M 


t '  i: 


between  him  and  Norris,  that  I  charged  Sir  John,  if 
any  harm  came  to  the  Count's  person  by  any  of  his  or 
under  him,  that  he  should  answer  it.  Therefore,  I  take 
the  story  to  be  bred  in  the  bosom  of  some  much  like  a 
thief  or  villain,  whatsoever  he  were."  * 

And  all  this  was  doubtless  true  bo  far  as  regarded  the 
Earl's  original  exertions  to  prevent  the  consequences  of 
the  quarrel,  but  did  not  touch  the  point  of  the  second 
correspondence  preceded  by  the  conversation  in  the 
dining-room,  eight  days  before  the  voyage  to  England. 
The  affair,  in  itself  of  slight  importance,  would  not 
merit  so  much  comment  at  this  late  day  had  it  not  been 
for  its  endless  consequences.  The  ferocity  with  which 
the  Earl  came  to  regard  every  prominent  German; 
Hollander,  and  Englishman,  engaged  in  the  service  of 
the  States,  sprang  very  much  from  the  complications  of 
this  vulgar  brawl.  Norris,  Hohenlo,  Wilkes,  Buck- 
hurst,  were  all  denounced  to  the  Queen  as  calumniators, 
traitors,  and  villains  ;  and  it  may  easily  be  understood 
how  grave  and  extensive  must  have  been  the  effects  of 
such  vituperation  upon  the  mind  of  Elizabeth,*  who, 
until  the  last  day  of  his  life,  doubtless  entertained  for 
the  Earl  the  deepest  affection  of  which  her  nature  was 
susceptible.  Hohenlo,  with  Count  Maurice,  were  the 
acknowledged  chiefs  of  the  anti-English  party,  and  the 
possibility  of  cordial  co-operation  between  the  countries 
may  be  judged  of  by  the  entanglement  which  had  thus 

occurred. 

Leicester  had  always  hated  Sir  John  Norris,  but  he 
knew  that  the  mother  had  still  much  favour  with  the 
Queen,  and  he  was  therefore  the  more  vehement  in  his 
denunciations  of  the  son,  the  more  difficulty  he  found  in 
entirely  destroying  his  character,  and  the  keener 
jealousy  he  felt  that  any  other  tongue  but  his  should 
influence  her  Majesty.  "  The  story  of  John  Norris 
about  the  cartel  is,  by  the  Lord  God,  most  false,"  he 
exclaimed ;  **  I  do  beseech  you  not  to  see  me  so  dealt 


I  lieloester  to  Buckhuret,  30  April,  1 587 . 
Same  to  Walslngham,  4  Aug.  1&87. 
(S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

^  Kg.  "  The  lies  which  Lord  Buck- 
huret, Sir  J.  Norrig.  and  Wilkes,  did  wtth 
their  malicious  wits  and  slanderous  tongues 
devise  and  utter,"  wrote  Leicester  t©  the 


Privy  Council,  "  concern  my  honour  and 
my  life,  1  demand  that  I,  being  found 
clear,  and  they  to  have  slandered  me, 
may  have  that  remedy  against  them 
which  18  in  Justice  due."  Leicester  to  the 
Privy  Council,  19  Aug.  16a7.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.) 


1587.  HIS  INCREASED  ANIMOSITr  TO  NORRIS.  143 

withal,  but  that  especially  her  Majesty  may  understand 
these  untruths,  who  perhaps,  by  the  mother^ s  fair  speeches 
and  tliesmi  s  smooth  words,  may  take  some  other  conceit  of 
my  doings  than  I  deserve.'' » 

He  was  most  resolute  to  stamp  the  character  of  false- 
hood upon  both  the  brothers,  for  he  was  more  malignant 
towards  Sir  John  than  towards  any  man  in  the  world 
not  even  excepting  Wilkes.  To  the  Queen,  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Trivy  C'ouncil,  to  Walsingham,  to  Burg-hlev 
he  poured  forth  endless  quantities  of  venom,  enouo-h  to 
destroy  the  characters  of  a  hundred  honest  men. 

"  Ihe  declaration  of  the  two  Norrises  for  the  cartel  is 
most  false,  ^  I  am  a  Christian,"  he  said  to  Walsingham. 
1  nave  a  dozen  witnesses,  as  good  and  some  better 
than  they  who  will  testify  that  they  were  present  when 
1  misliked  the  writing  of  the  letter  before  ever  I  saw 
It.     And  by  the  allegiance  I  owe  to  her  Maiesty    I 
never  knew    ^  the  letter,  nor  gave  consent  to  it,  nor 
neard  ol  it  till  it  was  complained  of  from  Count  HoUock 
Jtiut,  as  they  are  false  in  this,  so  you  will  find  J.  N.  as 
talse  in  his  other  answers ;  so  that  he  would  be  ashamed 
but  that  his  old  conceit  hath  made  him  past  shame,  I 
lear.     His  companions  in  Ireland,  as  in  these  countries 
report  that  Sir  John  Norris  would  often  say  that  he  was 
but  an  a^s  and  a  fool,  who,  if  a  lie  would  serve  his. turn,  would 
spare  it.     I  remember  I  have  heard  t^iat  the  Earl  of  Sussex 
would  say  so ;  and  indeed  this  gentleman  doth  imitate  him  in 
divers  things.'** 


1  Leicester  to  Burghley,  11  Sept  15R7. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Themt'ddlingOtbeman 
seems  to  have  made  himself  privately 
very  busy  in  this  affair.  He  sent  Lei- 
cester copies  of  the  letters  written  by  the 
brothers  Norris,  and  declared  that  he  was 
"enticed  by  them.  In  the  Earl's  absence, 
to  become  a  forger  and  liar  In  this 
matter,  but  utterly  refused."  MS.  last 
cited. 

2  Leicester  to  Walsingham,  12  Aug. 
1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  To  the  Lord 
Treasurer  the  Earl  took  pains  to  narrate 
the  whole  story,  with  much  emphasis, 
and  in  minute  detail ;  and  it  is  important 
to  lay  it  before  the  reader,  as  an  oflTset  to 
the  simple  and  apparently  truthful  nar- 
rative of  Edward  Norris,  because  such 
intimate  revelaUous  indicate   to  U3  the 


really  trifling  springs  of  numerous  great 
events.  As  before  observed,  the  affair  in 
itself  is  one  which  history  should  Justly 
disdain,  but  It  swells  into  considerable  im- 
portance, both  on  account  of  its  extensive 
results,  and  from  the  light  which  it 
throws  on  the  character  of  Leicester,  the 
most  important  personage,  during  his 
lifetime,  in  the  whole  kingdom  of  Eng- 
land. 

'•  Would  God,"  said  I^elcester  to  Burgh- 
ley. "  that  it  had  pleased  her  M^esty  to 
have  suffered  my  Lord  Buckhurst  and  Sir 
John  Norris  to  have  gone  on  with  their 
plot,  for  they  laid  a  most  malicious  plot 
against  me.  As  for  the  answer  that  Sir 
John  Norris  and  his  brother  have  made 
touchhig  their  acquainting  me  with  the 
cartel  to  Count  UoUock,  thus  made  now 


144 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XITI. 


But  a  veiy  ^rave  disaster  to  Holland  and  England 
was  soon  the  fruit  of  the  hatred  borne  by  Leicester  to 


1587. 


SEIZURE  OF  DEVENTER. 


to  your  lx)rdshtp,  if  ever  I  knew  or  h«?ard 
any  news  of  this  cArtel  tiil  complaint 
came  to  me  from  the  Count.  I  renounce 
my  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  my  Sovereign 
Lady.  'ITierefore  mark  the  arrogant  bold- 
ness of  those  young  fellows  that  will  face 
a  He  of  that  sort.    But  I  have  here  Sir 
William  Pelham  and  Sir  William  Russell, 
Ijesides  others  tliat  were  present  when  I 
calle«i  Sir  John  to  me,  and  threatened  to 
lay  his  brother  by  the  heels,  and  himself 
too,  if  he  were  privy  to  it.  ,  He  then  be- 
sought me  to  hear  his  brother  and  xo  see 
the  letters,  assuring  me  there  was  no  such 
cartel  as  was  reported.  I  commanded  him 
to  give  me  the  copy  of  his  letups,  and 
bring  it  to  me.    Meanwhile,  I  was  gone 
to  the  council,  and  whilst  we  were  at 
council,  an  hour  or   two  after,  Etlward 
Norris  sent  me  his  letters,  which  I  took 
to  Wilkes  before  1  did  so  much  as  look 
into  them.    Being  openly  read  there,  we 
did  Indeed  perceive  so  direct  a  airtel  as 
could  be  made,  and  divers  of  the  council 
matle  the  best  of  it,  and  so  did  I,  declar- 
ing what  the  gent.  was.    Yet  did  I  then 
declare  to  them  all  what  order  I  had  taken 
for  Norris,  that  he  should  go  with  me  to 
England,  and  that  her  Majesty  had  also 
sent  for  him,  protesting  to  your  Lordships, 
by  all   faith,  honour,    and  truth,  that 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  did  dare  to 
use  those  speeches  that  they  have  set 
down ;  saving  that  one  of  the  scr\ants  of 
Sir  John  Norris  came  to  me,  hearing  that 
his  brother  should  go  over,  to  know  how 
his   credit  should   be    saved  with  the 
Count  Hollock,  touching  the  disgrace  he 
was  In,  with  such  like  words.    I  answered, 
•The Count  Hollock  Is  now  sick  and  sore, 
and  it  were  no  honesty  for  Sir  John's 
brother  to  offer  him  any  quarrel.    Be- 
sides, I  will  not  suffer  it,  so  long  as  I  am 
here,  and  Wward  Norris  is  commanded 
to  go  into  llngland.    No  doiibt  the  Count 
will  rertiemljer  his  promisf,    which— as 
Sir  John  Norris  had  told  me— was,  that 
when  the  camp  was  broken  up,  he  tnll 
answer  his  brother  in  the  field  like  a  gen- 
tleman:    Never  was  there  more— never 
did  any  of  iheni  tell  me  of  any  cartel  to 
be  sent— never  did  any  speak  with  me  at 
De  venter. 

Besides,  after   1  was  gone,    lying  on 
shipboard  at  Brill,  Edward  Norria  being 


then  In  ship  with  me,  there  came  a  mes- 
senger from  the  Count  Hollock,  with  a 
letter  to  me,  about  midnight.    This  mes- 
senger was  only  to  let  me  know  of  the 
Count's  having  received  such  letters  and 
brags  from  Norris,  and  that  now  he  began 
to  amend,  Norris,  as  he  heard,  was  gone 
away  with  me  into  England.    He  mar- 
velled much  he  would  do  so,  and  sent  his 
messenger  to  see  if  it  were  so.  I  answered 
him.  It  was  so,  for  the  gentleman.  Sir 
Edward  Norris,  lay  th«^e  asleep,  and  he 
was  to  go  into  England  by  her  Majesty's 
express  ccmimandment.    For  my  part,  I 
said,  I  was  willing  also  to  carry  him  with 
me,  for  that  I  would  be  loth  to  leave  any 
occasion  behind  me  of  trouble  or  discord, 
knowing  already  some  mislike  to  be  be- 
tween his  brother  John  and  the  Count. 
This  was  my  answer.    Now,  Judge  how 
likely  these  tales  be  that  I  would  con- 
sent that   Norris  should  send  a  cartel, 
and  yet  take  him  away  when  he  should 
perform  the  matter.  Either  he  must  show 
to  be  a  coward,  or  else,  if  he  were  in 
earnest,  he  must  seem  to  be  angry  with 
me  for  taking  him  away.    If  ever  there 
were  other  speeches,  either  by  the  one 
Norris  or  the  other,  or  if  ever  I  knew  of 
his  cartel,  directly  or  indirectly,  more  than 
your  lx)rdship  that  was  in  England,  till 
the  complaint  came  to  me   of  it,  I  am 
the  falsest  wretch  that  lives.    If  I  had 
liked  of  their  quarrels  or  cartels,  there 
was  means  enough  for  me  to  leave  them 
to  their  own  revenge.    1  have  troubled 
your  lordship  too  long  with  this  trifle, 
but  you  should  know  the  shameless  au- 
dacity of  these    young  fellows,   whose 
cunning  sly  heads  you   had  need  look 
into.'     Leici-ster  to    Burghlcy,  12  Aug. 
1587.    (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  1).  I.  240,  MS.) 
Thus  the  November  letter  was   not 
seen  by  Leicester  before  it  was  sent,  al- 
though he  was  aware  that  It  was  to  be 
sent,  and  in  that  circumstance  seemed  to 
reside  the  whole  strength  of  his  case.  So 
soon  as  it  appeari>d  that  the  state-council 
was  angry,  and  that  the  Count  considered 
himself  outraged,  the  Earl  seems  to  have 
taken  advanti\ge  of  a  subterfuge,  and  to 
have  made  up  by  violence  wliut  he  lacked 
in  argument. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  paltry 
affair  to  occupy  the  atteutiou  of  grave 


145 

tmd«  of  tl.f^v^v.'''  .''"^  ^^^  S'-*^"*  centre  of  the  internal 

tiacy  were   disposed    to    side   with  Parma      It    w,« 
notorious  that  provisions  and  munitions Tere  suLl  «1 

&;^^^ss^Sin^?^ 

ordered  the  magistmtes  to  present  then'elv  ;  foSth 

them  a  S.l^M ""'*"'■  ^^T*^  ^'"^'"^^ fro«  '"''king 
Sir  Philln  Sidn^  -   !'"^  ''^^''  ^"'  Sriof  at  the  death  ol 

lL  disaster  H^^V  °  l?'"''  T  f  "i"  '"'^'  ^^^  ««<->««  of 
reaui,t  tint  H'^^^cellency  had  therefore  sent  him  to 
lequno  the  to^vn  to  receive  an  English  s-arrison  "  4^ 
make  up  your  minds,  and  delay  ^not/'^^lid  P^Iham- 
tor  I  have  many  important  aflairs  on  mv  liands  p,!!,! 
must  send  word  to  his  Excelleney  at  onee^  Tomorrow 

"TeK  If  °'^'?f  ■  }  ^•^"11  -P-'  our  rw"°" 
town  ^...  ^  'w  """gi^t'-ates  were  all  assembled  in  the 
town-house  before  six.  Stanley  had  filled  the  "reat 
square  with  his  troops,  but  he  found  that  the  burghers 
-five  thousand  of  whom  constituted  the  muniVinil 
mil.tia-had  chained  the  streets  and  locked  Z  Sk  " 

^nd'^i^ir  °  tl"^  '^^"^""  ^'^'"'''^'^  to  the  town  4,^:- 
and.  followed  by  his  train,  made  his  appearance  bS 

VOL.   II  Leycester  Correspondence,'  478-480. 

L 


146 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XIH. 


the  magisterial  board.  Tlien  there  was  a  knocking  at 
the  door,  and  Sir  William  Stanley  entered,  having 
left  a  strong  guard  of  soldiers  at  the  entrance  to  the 

"I  am  come  for  an  answer,"  said  the  Lord  Marshal ; 
«'tell  me  straight."  The  magistrates  hesitated,  whispered, 
and  presently°ono  of  iheni  slipped  away.      ^      ^^     .    . 

"There's  one  of  you  gone,"  cried  the  Mai-shal. 
**  Fetch  him  straight  back ;  or,  by  the  living  God  be- 
fore whom  I  stand,  there  is  not  one  of  you  shall  leave 

this  place  with  life."  ,     -^       v       ^ 

So  the  burgomasters  sent  for  the   culprit,  who  re- 
turned. „  -  1  ^i,- 
"Now,  tell  me,"  said  Telham,  "why  you  have,  this 
ni"-ht,  chained  your  streets  and  kept  such  strong  watch 
while  your  friends  and  defenders  were  in  the  town . 
Do  you  think  we  came  over  here  to  spend  our  lives  and 
our  goods    and  to  leave  all  we  have,  to  be  thus  used 
and  thus  betrayed  by  you?     Nay,  you  shall   find   us 
trusty  to  our  friends,  but  as  politic  as  yourselves.    ^  ow, 
then,  set  your  hands  to  this  document,"  he  proceeded 
as  he  gave  them  a  new  list  of  magistrates,  all  selected 
from  stanch  Protestants. 

"  Give  over  your  government  to  the  men  here  nomi- 
nated.    Straight ;  dally  not !  " 

The  burgomasters  signed  the  paper. 
"Now,"    said    Telham,    "let   one  of  you  go  to  the 
watch,  discharge  the  guard,  bid  them  unarm,  and  go 
home  to  their  lodgings." 

A  magistrate  departed  on  the  errand.  ,,_,,, 

"  Now  fetch  me  the  keys  of  the  gate,"  said  Pelham, 
and  that  straightway,  or,  before  God,  you  shall  die." 

The  kevs  were  brought,  and  handed  to  the  peremptory 
old  Marshal.  ITie  old  board  of  magistrates  were  thtii 
clapped  into  prison,  the  new  ones  instalk-d,  and 
Deventer  was  gained  for  the  English  and   rrotestuut 

^^There  could  be  no  doubt  that  a  city  so  important  and 
thus  fortunately  secured  was  woi-thy  to  be  well  guarded. 
lliere  could  be' no  doubt  either  that  it  would  be  well  to 
conciliate  the  rich  and  intluential  Papists  in  the  place, 
who,  although  attached  to  the  ancient  religion,  were 

I  l/tter  of  Ilenrj-  Archer,  &c.,  Just  cited. 


1587. 


STANLEY  APPOINTED  ITS  GOVERNOR. 


147 

Sir  William  was  a  cadet  of  one  of  the  noblest  Fn<.l,M, 
houses     He  was  the  bmvest  of  the  brave     Hi?LlS 

^n^m  neaiiy  all  had  performed  wondrous  ovr^l^i^c   i.  1 
Was  It  stmnge  that  there  should  be  im,  m^  at  tL 

the  service  of  the  republic      "  Tf  .oif  omeily  tioops  m 

vui  TO  i^mzil.         Moreover,  they  were  ill  Var^^^i.    o    i 

STuCS  l:  -'''''  ]^  dVedt  eeTu^  ^t 
^■TJ^Tt       i       ^^'''.  'cl'S'ous  intolerance-whioh 

Detti  as  in  those  of  Philip-it  was  certainly  a  most  fafcil 
pohcy  to  place  such  a  garrison,  at  that  criticaMunctnre 
b,n  i^  newly-acquired  city.     Yet  Leicester,  il  o  M 

iJevenL^     '  ^^'"'^  """"^  ""^""""^  Catholics  in 

Zutphen,  which  was  still  besieged  by  the   Ecglish 

'IbU.        vill.  196.     Mettn.n..xlv.250 

L  2 


A 


143  THE  UNITED  NETHERLASDS.  Chap.  XIII. 

and  the  patriots,  was  much  crippled  by  the  loss  of  the 
S^eat  foil  the  capture  of  which,  mainly  through  the 
Sant  valour  of  Stanley's  brother  Edward,  has  already 
been  related.  The  possession  of  Deventer  and  of  th,s 
fort  <4ve  Uie  control  of  the  whole  north-eastern  territory 
to  the  patriots ;  but,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to  place 
)oventer  in  the  hands  of  Sir  William  Stanley  Leicester 
thought  proper  to  confide  the  Sf^.^^'^'^f,  t*l^^«,.^/*  ?^ 
Rowland  York.    Not  a  worse  choice  could  be  made  m 

^^YoAwaHn"  adventurer  of  the  most  audacious  and 
dissolute  character.     He  was  a  Londoner  by  birth,  one 
ofThose  "ruffling  blades"   inveighed  against  by       o 
"ovemor-gcneral  on  his  first  taking  command  of  the 
forces      A  man  of  desperate  courage,  a  gambler,  a  pru- 
Snal  duellist,  a  bU    famous  in  his  time  among 
the  "  common  hacksters  and  swaggerers     as  the  fii  f.t  to 
ntroduce  the  custom  of  foining,  or  thrusting  with  the 
^^er  in  single  combats-whereas  before  h>s  day   it 
had  been  customary  among  the  English  to  fight  with 
sword  a»d  shield,  and  held  unmanly  to  strike  below 
the^dlo'-he  had  perpetually  changed  sides  in  the 
Netheriand  wars,  with  the  shameless  disregard  to  prin- 
ciple which  chamcterized  all  his  actions.     He  had  been 
Iteutenant  to  the  infamous  John  Van  I mbyze    and  had 
been  concerned  with  him  in  the  notorious  attempt  to 
surLdor  Dendermonde  and  Ghent  to  the  enemy,  which 
hTd  cost  that  traitor  his  head.     York  had  been  throvvii 
into  prison  at  Brussels,  but  there  had  been  some  delay 
S  his  execution,  and  the  conquest  of  *«  «ty  ^y 
Parma  saved  him  from  the  gibbet.     He  had  then  taken 
service  under  the  Spanish  commander-in-chief,  and  had 
distincuished  himself,   as  usual,   by  deeds    of  extia- 
oiSy  valour,  having  sprung  on  board  the  burning 
vScaMship  at  the  siege  of  Antwerp.     Subsequently 
Jetumhit  t'o  England,  he  had,  on  Leicester's  appomt- 
menrobtained  the    command  of  a  company  m  the 
English  contingent,  and  had  been  consi„cuous  on  the 
SofWamsveld;  for  the  courage  which  he  always 
dispkyed  under  any  standard  was  only  equalled  by  the 

audacUrwith  which  t\ ^^^7^^ ""fL*"  ot'/'i^tnh  °u 
it.      Bid  it  seem  credible  that  the  fort  of  /utphcu 

should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  llowland  York? 

1  CMtdcn,  iU.  397.    Baker's  'Chromclc.'  375. 


1587. 


YORK  AND  STANLEY. 


149 


.n!i      u-^r*"''  T'®  "•■^'^'^  ^y  *l^e  States-General  at 
once.     With  regard  to   Stanley,  Leicester  maintained 
that  he  was,  m  his  opinion,  the  fittest  man  to  take  cC'o 
of  the  whole  Enghsb  anny,  during  his  absence  in  Eng- 
land.     In  answer  to  a  petition   made  by  the  Statls 
against  the  appointment  of  York,  "in  respect  o  his  pei' 
fidious  dealings  before,"  the  Earl  replied  that  he  w.S 
answer  for  his  fidelity  as  for  his  own  brother    all 
pei^mptonly     "  Do  you  t.nist  me  ?     Then  trust  York  "" 
«nt,  besides  his  other  qualifications  for  high  command 
Stanley  possessed  an  inestimable  one  in  Leicester's  e  cs 

iNoiris.     To  be  this  made  a  Papist  pardonable.     It  was 
even  bettor  than  to  be  a  Puritan. 

v.^r*  ^^''J^'^  ^'-^  """^  ^^'^  *o  ''PPoint  the  traitor 
T^orkandtho  Papi.st  Stanley  to  these  important  pos^ 
On  the  very  day  of  his  departure,  and  ininediatelv  after 
his  final  quarrel  w  th  Sir  John  about  the  HohenloiarteT, 
which  had  renewed  all  the  ancient  venom,  he  si<nied  a 
secret  paper,  by  which  he  especially  forbade  the  Council 
ot  state  to  interfere  with  or  set  aside  any  appointments 
to  the  government  of  towns  or  forts,  or  to  invoke  any 
inihtai-y  or  naval  commissions,  without  his  consent '' 
tn  t^r  ^"IT""''  <=-^?,'^"t've  authority  had  been  delegated 
to  the  state-council  by  the   Govemor-Geneml  during 
his  absence     Command  in  chief  over  all  the  Eno-lish 
forces,  whether  in  the  Queen's  pay  or  the  States' mv. 
had  been  conferml  upon  Nonis,  while  command  iver 

W  ^"**''./"'^,^*l™""  t'°0P«  belonged  to  Hohenlo  : 
but  by  virtue  of  the  Eari's  secret  paper,  Stanley  and 
lork  were  now  made  independentof  all  authority.  The 
evil  consequences  natural  to  such  a  step  were  not  slow 
m  displaying  themselves. 

Stanley  at  once  manifested  great  insolence  towards 
^x  orris.  J  hat  distinguished  general  was  placed  in  a 
most  painfu  position.  A  post  of  immense  responsibility 
was  confided  to  him.  The  honour  of  Englai' d's  Queen 
fincl  ot  England  s  soldiers  was  entnistcd  to  his  keepin<r 
at  a  moment  full  of  danger,  and  in  a  country  where  evei  y 
Ju'ur  might  bring  forth  some  terrible  change;  yet  ho 
knew  himself  the  maik  at  which  the  most  powerful  man 

(s'p*0ffl«MJT"'""'"  •''■"•  ""•    '■""••28J-™-15l"-    (S.  P.  Offico  MS.) 

i^.M.  s.r.„i.u„„y.o  w».,„6.  ,;7.*'^;^i^!!-^:;.:„r.»»;'''":-"^ 


n 


150 


THE  UN-ITED  KKTHERLANDS. 


CHAr.  XIII. 


1587.  LKICESTER'S  SECRET  INSTRUCTIONS. 


151 


iu  England  was  directing  all  Ins  malice  and  that  tLe 
Oueen;  who  was  wax  in  her  great  favourite  s  hands,  was 
even  then  receiving  the  most  fatal  impres.sions  as  to  his 
character  and  conduct.  "Well  I  know,"  said  he  to 
Burghloy,  "  that  the  root  of  the  former  malice  boino 
me  I  not  withered,  but  that  1  must  look  for  like  frm  s 
therefrom  as  before  ;"  >  and  he  implored  the  Lo'^-^ea- 
Mirer,  that  when  his  honour  and  reputation  should  be 
called  in  que.stion,  he  might  be  '^U^^^^d,,*"  .'/"'". ^» 
England  and  clear  himself.  "  For  myse  f  said  he  I 
ha  °e  not  yet  received  any  commission,  although  I  ha^  o 
attended  his  Lordship  of  Leicester  to  his  ship  It  is 
promised  to  be  sent  me,  and  in  the  mean  time  I  undei- 
itand  that  my  Lord  hath  granted  separate  commissions 
to  Sir  William  Stanley  and  Kowland  \ork  exempting 
them  from  obeying  of  me.  If  this  be  true,  tis  only  done 
to  nourish  factions,  and  to  interrupt  any  better  course  n 
our  doings  than  before  hatli  been."  He  earnestly  re- 
quested to  be  furnished  with  a  commission  dircctlj 
from  her  Majesty.  "  The  enemy  is  remlorcing,  he 
added  "  We  are  very  weak,  our  troops  arc  unpaid 
these  three  months,  and  we  are  grown  odious  to  our 

*' Hot^st  counsellor  AYilkes,  who  did  his  best  to  con- 
ciliate all  parties,  and  to  do  his  duty  to  England  and 
Holland,  to  Leicester  and  toNonis,  had  the  strongest 
sympathy  with  Sir  John.  "  Tnily,  besides  the  value, 
wisdom,  and  many  other  good  parts  that  are  'n  him 
he  said  "  I  have  noted  wonderful  patience  and  mode.sty 
in  the  man,  in  bearing  many  apparent  injuries  done  unto 
hi.u,  which  I  have  known  to  be  countenanced  and 
nourished,  contrary  to  all  reason,  to  disgrace  him  lease 
therefore,  continue  your  honourable  opinion  of  him  u 
his  absence,  whatsoever  may  bo  maliciously  'epoited  to 
his  disadvantage :  for  I  dare  avouch,  of  my  own  poox 
skill,  that  her  Majesty  hath  not  a  second  ^i^J^'^t  ot  h  s 
place  and  quality  so  able  to  servo  in  those  ''"''"*»<=« /^« 
ho  .     .     I  doubt  not  but  God  will  move  her  Ma- 

jesty in   despite  of  the  devU,  to  respect  him  as  ho 

^''sirjohn  disclaimed  any  personal  jealousy  in  regard 

_    ......  ^_      T». -^i-_     ^•^    "Knv     ^K(i': 


1  J.  Norris  to  Burghley,  17  Nov.  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

s  ibia. 


»  Wilkes  to  Burghley,  17  Nov.  1587. 
Same  to  Walslngbam,  17  May,  1587. 
(S.  P.  Oace  MSS.) 


to  Stanley's  appointment,  but,  within  a  week  or  two  of 
the  Earl's  departure,  he  already  felt  strong  anxiety  as  to 
Its  probable  results.  "  If  it  prove  no  hindrance  to  the 
service,  he  said,  -  it  shall  nothing  trouble  me.  I  desire 
that  my  doings  may  show  Avhat  I  am ;  neither  will  I 
seek,  by  indirect  means,  to  calumniate  him  or  anv  other 
but  will  let  them  show  themselves."  ^  "  ' 

Early  in  December  he  informed  the  Lord-Treasurer 
that  Stanley's  uwn  men  were  boasting  that  their  master 
acknowledged  no  superior  authority  to  his  own,  and 
that  he  hath  said  as  much  himself  to  the  magistracy  of 
Deventer.  The  burghens  had  already  complained 
through  the  constituted  guardians  of  their  liberties,  of 
his  insolence  and  rapacity,  and  of  the  turbulence  of 
his  troops,  and  had  appealed  to  Sir  John;  but  the 
colonel-general's  remonstrances  had  been  received  by  Sir 
William  with  contumely  and  abuse,  and  by  the  vaunt 
that  he  had  even  a  greater  commission  than  any  he  had 
yet  shown.^ 

"  Tlu-ee  sheep,  an  ox,  and  a  whole  hog,'*  were  required 
weekly  of  the  peasants  for  his  table,  in  a  time  of  great 
scarcity,  and  it  was  impossible  to  satisfy  the  rapacious 
appetites  of  the  Irish  kenies.^  The  paymaster-general  of 
the  English  forces  was  daily  appealed  to  by  Stanley  for 
funds— an  application  which  was  certainly  not  unreason- 
able, as  her  Majesty's  troops  had  not  received  any  pay- 
ment for  three  months —but  there  *'  was  not  a  denier  m 
the  treasury,"  and  he  was  therefore  implored  to  wait. 
At  last  the  States-General  sent  him  a  month's  pay  for 
himself  and  all  his  troops,  although,  as  he  was  in  the 
Queen's  service,  no  claim  could  justly  bo  made  upon 
them.* 

Wilkes,  also,  as  English  member  of  the  state-council. 


'  J.  Norris  to  Walsiugbam,  9  Dec. 
1586.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  Same  to  Burghley,  12  Dec.  1586. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

3  Wilkes  to  AValslngham,  19  Jan.  1587. 
Ca  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  **  He  is  not  contented  with  the  enter- 
tainment of  40i.  (Sterling  a  month  allowed 
him  by  the  Sutes  as  governor  of  the 
place,  but  hath  taken  perforce  from  the 
commissioners  lately  sent  thltlier  to 
iklivtr  a  month's  pay,  an  allowance  of 
ml  sterlbig  a  month  over  and  besides  for 


every  company  of  his  regiment,  being,  as 
he  sayeth,  ten  coniiuxnles,  amounting  l)>- 
the  muster  to  1400  florins  (I4oZ.),  besides 
a  pay  lor  his  own  company,  which  is 
more  than  is  allowed  to  Sir  J.  Norris  hy 
3(»o  florins  a  month,  and  as  much  as  Is 
given  for  entertainment  to  Count  Ho- 
heiilo,  or  to  any  earl  that  serveth  in  these 
countries.  He  is  charged  furtlier  to  take 
within  the  country  hereabouts,  from  the 
poor  villagers,  weekly,  for  the  provisions 
of  his  table,  one  whole  ox,  three  sheep, 
and  one  hog,  or,  iu  lieu  of  the  bog,  twenty 


i 


152 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIII, 


^ 

n 


faithfully  conveyed  to  the  governor-general  in  England 
the  complaints  which  came  up  to  all  the  authorities  of 
the  republic,  against  Sir  William  Stanley's  conduct  in 
Deventer.     He  had  seized  the  keys  of  the  gates,  he 
kept  possession  of  the  towers  and  fortifications,  be  had 
meddled  with  the  civil  government,  be  had  infringed  all 
their  privileges.     Yet  this  was  the  board  of  magistrates, 
expressly  set  up  by  Leicester,  with  the  armed  hand,  by 
the  agency  of  Marsbal  Pelham  and  this  very  Colonel 
Stanley — a  board  of  Calvinist  magistrates  placed  but  a 
few  weeks  before  in  power  to  control  a  city  of  Catholic 
tendencies.     And  here  was  a  papist  commander  display- 
ing Leicester's  commission  in  their  faces,  and  making  it 
a  warrant  for  dealing  with  the  towTi  as  if  it  were  under 
martial  law,  and  as  if  he  were  an  officer  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma.  It  might  easily  be  judged  whether  such  conduct 
were  likely  to  win  the  hearts  of  Netherlanders  to  Lei- 
cester and  to  England.' 

*'  Albeit,  for  my  owti  part,"  said  Wilkes,  "  I  do  hold 
Sir  William  Stanley  to  be  a  wise  and  a  discreet  gent.,  yet 
when  I  consider  that  the  magistracy  is  such  as  was 
established  by  your  Lordship,  and  of  the  religion,  and 
well  affected  to  her  IVIajesty,  and  that  I  see  how  heavily 
the  matter  is  conceived  of  hero  by  the  States  and  council, 
I  do  fear  that  all  is  not  well.  The  very  bruit  of  this 
doth  begin  to  draw  hatred  upon  our  nation,  ^^'ero  it 
not  that  I  doubt  some  dangerous  issue  of  this  matter, 
and  that  I  might  be  justly  charged  with  negligence  if  I 
should  not  advertise  you  beforehand,  T  would  have  for- 
borne to  mention  this  dissension,  for  the  States  are  about 
to  write  to  your  Lordship  and  to  her  Majesty  for  refor- 
mation in  this  matter."  *  He  added  ^hat  he  had  already 
written  earnestly  to  Sir  William,  "hoping  to  persuade 
him  to  carry  a  mild  hand  over  the  people." 

Thus  wrote  Councillor  Wilkes,  as  in  duty  bound,  to 
Lord  Leicester,  so  early  as  the  9th  December,  and  the 
warning  voice  of  Norris  had  made  itself  heard  in  Eng- 
land quite  as  soon.  Certainly  the  governor-general, 
having,  upon  his  own  responsibility,  and  prompted,  it 


iihnilnjp  sterllnK ;  and  ff  it  be  not  broaght 
every  week,  thoy  sent  the  soldiers  to  take 
It  perforce,"  kc.  kc.   Wilkes  to  Walslng- 
ham,  19  Jan.  isar.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
Ibis  certainly  was  stronger  diet  than 


the  "  hare  cheese  "  of  which  Sir  William 
cotnplalnevi.  Compare  Rcyd,  vi.  96-97. 
lior.  li.  xxli.  878.  879. 

>  Wilkes  to  Leicester,  9   Dec.    i5:^6. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  2  Ibid. 


1587.  WILKES  REMONSTRATES  WITH  STANLEY.  153 

would  seem,  by  passion  more  than  reason,  made  this 
dangerous  appointment,  was  fortunate  in  receiving  time]  v 
and  frequent  notice  of  its  probable  results  ""  ^ 

oA       t^\^?^^f  ^.n^ious  Wilkes  wrote  most  earnestly 
as  he  said  he  had  done,  to  the  turbulent  Stanley.         ^' 
Good  Sir  William,"  said  he,  "the  magistrates  and 
burgesses  of  Deventer  complain  to  this  council,  that  you 
have  by  violence  wrested  from  them  the  keys  of  one  o^' 
heir  gates,  that  you  assemble  your  garrison  in  arms  to 
errify  them  that  you  have  seized  one  of  their  forts,  that 
the  Irish  soldiers  do  commit  many  extortions  and  exac- 
tions upon  the  inhabitants,  that  you  have  imprisoned 
their  burgesses,  and  do  many  things  against  their  laws 
and  privileges,  so  that  it  is  feared  the  best  affected  of 

1  rV   l^^;^*^«\^"y  ^f  these  things  be  true,  yourself 
doth  best  know,  but  I  do  assure  you  that  the  apprehen- 
sion thereof  here  doth  make  us  and  our  government 
hateful,     lor  mine  own  part,  I  have  always  known  you 
for  a  gentleman  of  value,  wisdom,  and  iudgment  and 
therefore  should  hardly  believe  an;  such  thhT 
I  earnestly  require  you  to  take  heed  of  consequences' 
and  to  be  careful  of  the  honour  of  her  Majesty  and  the 
reputation  of  our  nation.     You  will  consider  that  the 
gaming  possession  of  the  town  grew  by  them  that  are 
nowmoffice  who  being  of  the  religion,  and  well  affected 
to  his  Lxcellency  s  government,  wrought  his  entry  into 
tlie  same. ....    1  know  that  Lord  Leicester  is  sworn 
to  maintain  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Provinces  in  their 
ancient  privileges  and  customs.     1  know  further  that 
your  commission  carrieth  no  authority  to  warrant  you 
to  intermeddle  any  further  than  with  the  govemment 
ot  the  soldiers  and  guard  of  the  town.     Well,  you  mav 
m  your  own  conceipt,  confer  some  words  to  authorize  you  in 
some  larger  sort,  but,  believe  me.  Sir,  they  will  not 
warrant  you  sufficiently  to  deal  any  farther  than  I  have 
said,  tor  I  have  penised  a  copy  of  your  commission  for 
that  purpose.     I  know  the  mrm  itself  of  a  governor  of  a  toini 
w  odious  to  this  people,  and  hath  been  ever  since  the  re7mm- 
Orance  of  the  Spanish  government,  and  if  we,  by  any  lack  of 
toresight,  should  give  the  like  occasion,  ice  should  mahc 
ourselves  as  odious  as  they  are,  which  God  forbid. 

*'  You  are  to  consider  that  we  are  not  come  into  these 


154 


THE  UNITED  NETHEKLANDS. 


Chap.  XIII. 


countries /or  their  defence  on\\\  but  for  the  defence  of  her 
Majesty  and  our  own  native  country,  knowing  that 
the  preservatim  of  both  dependeth  altogether  upon  the  preserd) g 
of  these.  Wherefore  1  do  eftsoons  intreat  and  require 
you  to  forbear  to  inteimeddle  any  further.  If  tliere 
hhall  follow  any  dangerous  effect  of  your  proceedings 
after  this  my  friendly  advice,  I  shall  be  heartily  sorry 
for  your  sake,  but  1  shall  be  able  to  testif^v  to  her  Ma- 
jesty that  I  have  dune  my  duty  in  admonishing  you."  * 

Thus  spake  the  stiff  councillor,  earnestly  and  well,  in 
behalf  of  England's  honour  and  the  good  name  of  Eng- 
land's Queen. 

But  the  ))rave  soldier,  whose  feet  were  fast  sliding 
into  the  paths  of  destruction,  replied,  in  a  tone  of  indig- 
nant innocence,  more  likely  to  aggravate  than  to  allny 
suspicion.  "  Finding,"  siiicl  Stanley,  "  that  you  already 
threaten,  I  have  gone  so  far  as  to  scan  the  terms  of  my 
commission,  which  I  doubt  not  to  execute,  according  to 
his  Excellency  s  meanvig  and  mine  honour.  First,  I  assure 
you  that  I  have  maintained  justice,  and  that  severely  : 
else  hardly  would  the  soldiers  have  been  contented  mth 
bread  and  bare  cheese."  * 

He  acknowledged  possessing  himself  of  the  keys  of 
the  town,  but  defended  it  on  the  ground  of  necessity, 
and  of  the  character  of  the  people,  *'  who  thrust  out  the 
Spaniards  and  Almaynes,  and  afterwards  never  would 
obey  the  Prince  and  States."  **  I  would  be,"  he  said, 
**  the  sorriest  man  that  lives ^  if  by  my  negligence  the  place 
should  be  lost.  Therefore  I  thought  goud  to  seize  the 
great  tower  and  ports.  If  1  meant  evil,  I  needed  no  kegs, 
for  /lere  is  force  enough '^^ 

With  much  effrontery,  he  then  affected  to  rely  for 
evidence  of  his  courteous  and  equitable  conduct  towards 
the  citizens,  upon  the  very  magistrates  who  hud  btnai 
petitioning  the  States-General,  the  state-council,  and  the 
English  Queen,  against  his  violence. 

'*  For  my  courtesy  and  humanity,"  he  said,  "  I  refer 
me  unto  the  magistrat<}s  themselves.  But  1  think  they 
sent  some  rhetoricians,  who  coidd  allege  of  little  gi'ief, 
and  speak  pitiful,  and  truly  1  find  your  ears  have  been 
as  pitiful  in  so  timorously  condemning  me.     /  assure  you 


M  Wilkes  to  Stanley.  9  Dec  1586.  (S.  P.        "Stanley  to  Wilkes,  14    Dec.    1586. 
Office  MS.)  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  =  Ibid. 


15S7.        STANLEY'S  INSOLENCE  AND  EQUIVOCATION.        155 

that  her  Maj^ty  hath  not  a  better  servant  than  I  nor  a  more 
faithful  m  these  parts  This  I  will  prove  with  my  Ch 
and  blood.  Although  I  know  there  be  divers  flyW  rt^ 
ports  spread  by  my  enemies,  which  are  come  to  my  far« 
I  doubt  not  my  virtue  and  truth  will  prove  them  caW 
mators »  and  men  of  little.  So,  good  Mr.  AVilkt^  iZy 
you,  consider  gravely,  give  ear  discreetly,  and  advertise 
mto  England  soundly.  For  me,  I  have  been  anfam 
your  friend,  and  glad  to  hear  any  admonition  from  one 
so  wise  as  yourself"  ® 

He  then  alluded  ironically  to  the  "  ffood  favour  and 
tW^Af"  w-n^"^  he  hadVen  so  cLented  of  k^^^^ 
hat  If  Mr.  ^\  likes  would  discharge  him  of  his  promise 
to  Lord  Leicester,  he  would  take  his  leave  with  all  his 
lieai-t      Captain,  officers,  and  soldiers,  had  been  livin- 
on  half  a  pound  of  cheese  a  day.     For  himself,  he  had 
received  but  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  in  five 
months,  and  was  living  at  three  pounds  by  the  day 
Ihis  my  wea  th  will  not  long  hold  out,"  he  observed; 
but  yet  I  will  never  fail  of  my  promise  to  his  Excel- 
lency, whatsoever  I  endure.     It  is  for  her  Majesty's 
service  and  for  the  love  I  bear  to  him." 

He  bitterly  complained  of  the  unwillingness  of  the 
country.people  to  furnish  vivers,  waggons,  and  other 
necessaries,  lor  the  fort  before  Zutphen.  ''  Had  it  not 
been,"  he  said,  "  for  the  travail  extraordinary  of  myself 
and  patience  of  my  brother  York,  that  fort  would  have*  been 
m  danger.  J^\xiiiCCord.mg  to  his  desire  and  forethought  I 
tumished  that  place  with  cavalry  and  infantry ;  for  I 
know  the  troops  there  be  marvellous  weak."  * 

In  reply,  Wilkes  stated  that  the  complaints  had  been 
made  *'  by  no  rhetorician,  but  by  letter  from  the  mao-is- 
trates  themselves  (on  whom  he  relied  so  confidently'?  to 
the  state-council.  The  councillor  added,  rather  tartly 
that  since  his  honest  words  of  defence  and  of  warninw-' 
had  been  "taken  in  so  scoffing  a  manner,"  Sir  William 
might  be  sure  of  not  being  troubled  with  any  more  of 
his  letters.*  '^ 

«.,Vh?J^"*'""^"'"    "^    ^^'   ^^"^'^"'  ""'^   *   °^^    ^  ^^^^  and  80  Gamble 

called  the  men  who  were  speaking  the  should  have  throw  n  himself  awav 

truth  about  him.     (MS.  uW  ««j,.)    He  *  Stanley  to  Wilkes.  uW  ««» 

was  more  used  to  handle  the  sword  than  3  ^yilkes  to  Stanley.   18    Dec     15S6 

the    pen,    yet    the  untaught  vigour   of  (S  p.  Office  MS.) 

hid  style  causes   an  additioial  rearet 


156 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


But,  a  day  or  two  before  thus  addressing  him,  he  had 
already  enclosed   to   Leicester  very  important   letters 
addressed  by  the  council  of  Gelderland  to  Coimt  Moeurs, 
stadholdor  of  the  Province,  and  by  him  forwarded  to  tho 
state-council.     For  there  were  now  very  grave  inimours 
concerning  the  fidelity  of  "  that  patient  and  foreseeing 
brother  York,"  whom  Stanley  had  been  so  generously 
strengthening   in   Fort    Zutphen.      The   lieutenant   of 
York,  a  certain  Mr.  Zouch,  had  been  seen  within  the 
city  of  Zutphen,  in  close  conference  with  Colonel  Tassis, 
Spanish  governor  of  the  placc.^     Moreover  there  had 
been  a  very  frequent  exchange  of  courtesies— by  which 
the  horrors  of  war  seemed  to  be  much  mitigated— be- 
tween York   on  the  outside  and  Tassis  within.      Tho 
English  commander  sent  baskets  of  venison,  wild  fowl, 
and  other  game,  which  were  rare  in  tho  market  of  a 
besieged  town.     The  Spanish  governor  responded  with 
baskets  of  excellent  wine  and  barrels  of  beer.*     A  very 
pleasant  state  of  feeling,  perhaps,  to  contemplate— as  an 
advance  in  civilization  over  the  not  very  distant  days  ot 
tho  Hiuirlera  and  Leyden  sieges,  when  barrels  of  pri- 
Bonei-s'  heads,  cut  off  a  dozen  or  two  at  a  time,  were  the 
social  amenities  usually  exchanged  between  Spaniards 
and  Dutchmen— but  somewluit  suspicious  to  those  who 
had  grown  grey  in  this  hoiTible  warfare. 

The  Irish  kernes,  too,  were  allowed  to  come  to  mass 
within  the  city,  and  were  received  there  with  as  much 
fraternitv  by  the  Catholic  soldiei-s  of  Tassis  as  the  want 
of  any  C()ramon  dialect  would  allow— a  proceeding  which 
seemed  better  perhaps  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls 
than  for  the  advancement  of  the  siege.^ 

The  state-council  had  written  concerning  these  m- 
moui-s  to  Kovvland  York,  but  the  patient  man  had  replied 
in  a  manner  which  Wilkes  characterized  as  " unfit  to 
have  been  given  to  such  as  were  the  executors  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester's  authority."  The  councillor  implored 
the  governor-general  accordingly  to  send  some  speedy 
direction  in  this  matter,  as  well  to  Eowland  York  as  to 
Sir  William  Stanley;    for  he  explicitly  and  earnestly 

1  •  Le  Conseil  de  Gueldrw  au  Comte  de  »  Wilkes  to  Stanley.  17  Dec.  15S6.  MS. 

Moeurs  et  Nieuwenaer.  U  Dec.  1586.'  strougly  remonstrating  against  the  prac- 

WilkestoI^lcester,16Dec.l586.    (S.P.  tice.    Hoofd.  Keyd.  uW  sup.  Wagenaar, 

Uthce  MSS.)  vlll.  196. 

a  Hoofd,  Vervolgb,  220.    Reyd,  vi.  96. 


1587.         PAINFUL  RUMOUx^lS  AS  TO  HIM  AND  YORK.         I57 

warned  him,  that  those  personages  would  pay  no  heed 
to  the  remonstmnces  of  tlie  state-council.* 

Thus  again  and  again  was  Leicester— on  whose  head 
rested,  by  his  own  deliberate  act,  the  whole  responsi- 
bility—forewarned that  some  great  mischief  was  im- 
pending. There  was  time  enough  even  then— for  it  was 
but  the  16th  December— to  place  full  powers  in  the 
hands  of  the  state-council,  of  Norris,  or  of  Hohenlo,  and 
secretly  and  swiftly  to  secure  the  suspected  persons, 
and  avert  the  danger.  Leicester  did  nothing.  How 
could  he  acknowledge  his  eiTor  ?  How  could  he  mani- 
fest confidence  in  the  detested  Norris  ?  How  appeal  to 
the  violent  and  deeply  incensed  Hohenlo  ? 

Three  weeks  more  rolled  by,  and  the  much-enduring 
Rowland  Y^ork  was  still  in  confidential  correspondence 
with  Leicester  and  Walsingham,  although   his   social 
intercourse  with  tho  Spanish  governor  of  Zutphen  con- 
tinued to  be  upon  the  most  liberal  and  agreeable  footing. 
He  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  general  aspect  of 
the  Queen's  cause  in  the  Kethcrlands,  and  wrote  to  tlie 
Secretary  of  State  in  a  tone  of  despondency  and  mild 
expostulation.     Walsingham  would  have  been  less  edi- 
fied by  these  communications,  had  he  been  aware  that 
Y^ork,  u-pon  first  entering  Leicester's  service,  had  immediately 
opened  a  correspondence  with  the  Duke  of  Panna,  and 
had  secretly  given  him  to  understand  that  his  object  was 
to  serve  the  cause  of  Spain.     I'his  was  indeed  the  fact,  as 
the  Duke  infonned  the  King,  "  but  then  he  is  such  a 
scatter-brained,  reckless  dare-devil,"  said  Parma,  "that 
I  hardly  expected  much  of  him."«     Thus  the  astute  Sir 
Francis  had  been  outwitted  by  the  adventurous  Row- 
land, who  was  perhaps  destined  also  to  suipass  the  anti- 
cipations of  the  Spanish  commander-in-chief. 

3Ieantime  Y^ork  informed  his  English  patrons,  on  the 
7th  Januaiy,  that  mattei-s  were  not  proceeding  so 
smoothly  in  the  political  world  as  he  could  wish.  '^  He 
had  found  ''  many  cross  and  indirect  proceedings,"  and 
so,  according  to  Lord  Leicester's  desire,  he  sent  him  a 
"  discourse  "  on  the  subject,  which  he  begged  Sir  Francis 
to  *' peruse,  add  to,  or  take  away  from,"  and  then  to  en- 

ra^V}!^^  ,*?  Leicester,  16  Dec.  1580.    "Tanllvlanoyarrlscado/'&c.    (Arrh.de 
(b.  P.  Office  MS.)  Simuncas  MS.) 

»  Paima  to  riiilip  11.  12  Feb.  15s7. 


158 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIII. 


close  to  the  Earl.  He  hoped  he  should  be  forgiven  il 
the  style  of  the  production  was  not  quite  satistactop' ; 
for,  said  he,  "  the  place  where  I  am  doth  too  much  tor- 
ment my  memor}',  to  caU  every  point  to  my  remem- 
brance/'* ,     ^         1        1  X   .1. 

It  must,  in  truth,  have  been  somewhfvt  a  hard  task 
upon  his  memory,  to  keep  freshly  in  mind  every  detail 
of  the  parallel  correspondence  which  he  was  carrying 
on  with  the  Spanish  and  with  the  English  government. 
Even  a  cool  head  like  Kowland's  might  bo  torgiven  for 
being  occasionally  puzzled.     "  So  if  there  be  anything 
hard  to  be  understood,"  he  observed  to  \Valsingham, 
-advertise  me,  and  I  will  make  it  plainer       Nothing 
could  bo  more  ingenuous.     He  confessed,  however  to 
being  out  of  pocket.     *'  Please  your  honour     said  he, 
"  I  h'ave  taken  great  pains  to  make  a  bad  place  some- 
thing, and  it  ha»  cost  me  all  the  money  1  had  and  here 
I  caS  receive  nothing  but  discontcntinent.     I  dare  not 
tnnt6  you  all   lest   you  should  think  it  impossible,    he 
addcd-and  it  is  quite  probable  that  even  Walsingham 
would  have  been  astonished,  had  Eowland  wntten  all. 
llie  game  playing  by  York  and  Stanley  was  not  one  to 
which  Eimlish  gentlemen  were  much  addicted. 

"  I  trust  the  bearer,  Edward  Stanley,  a  discreet,  brave 
gentleman,"  he  said,  ''with  details."  And  the  remark 
proves  that  the  gallant  youth  who  had  captured  this 
very  Fort  Zutphen  in  so  brilliant  a  manner  was  not 
privy  to  the  designs  of  his  brother  and  of  \ork ;  Jor  the 
object  of  the  "  discourse "  was  to  deceive  the  English 

government.  .,,        _  _  ,  ,, 

»'  I  liumbly  beseech  that  you  will  send  for  me  home, 
concluded  Kowland,  "for  true  as  I  humbhHl  my  mmd  to 
please  her  :Majesty,  your  honour,  and  the  dead,  now  am 
1  content  to  humble  myself  lower  to  please  myself  for 
now,  since  his  Excellency's  departure  there  is^  no  form 
of  proceeding  neither  honourably  nor  honestly.  ^ 

Three  other  weeks  passed  over,  weeks  of  anxiety  and 

dread  throughout  the  republic.     Suspicion  grew  darker 

han  ever,  not  only  as  to  York  and  bt^uiley,  but  as  to  all 

the  English  commanders,  as  to  the  whole  English  nation. 

1  Rowland  York  to  Walslngham.  7  Jan.  friendly  feeling  for  the  adventurer.    Me- 

i\Hl      CSP  Office  MS)  teren,  xlv.  250. 

.  „v'm,!.S,  "  i™nt  Sir  rHUip  '  Vork   to    Walstagham.     (MS.  I» 

S!duij,  who  had  been  dewlTtd  Into  a  cited.) 


15S7. 


DL'PUciTy  OF  yor;K. 


150 


An  Anjoii  plot,  a  general  massacre,  vm  expected  by 
w:my,  yet  there  were  no  definite  gronnds  for  snch  dark 
a  at  cpations.     In  vain  had  painstaking,   tn.th-tdlin^ 
W  likes  suiumoned  Stanley  to  his  dutyrand  cal  o  1  on 
Leicester,  time  after  time,  to  interfere.     In  vain  did  sIr 
John   Non-is,  Sir  John  Conway,  the   membe^  of  the 
state-council,   and  all    others  who    should    have    had 
aiitl  ority,  do   heir  utmost  to  avert  a  catastrophe     Their 
hands  were  all  tied  by  the  fatal  letter  of  t]!e94fh  x" 
veiuber.     Most  anxiously  did  all  implc-e  the  Earl  of 
Leicester  to  return.      Never  was    a   more   danc^Jions 
moment  than  this  for  a  countiy  to  be  left  to  it"  fet" 
.scarcely  over  in  historj- was  there  a  more  striking  exeml 
1  lification  of  the  need  of  a  man-of  an  individual-w ho 
should  embody  the  powers  and  wishes,  and  concentrate 

ANealth.  J, ut  there  was  no  such  man,  for  the  lepublic 
had  lost  Its  chief  when  Orange  died.  There  was  m„  'h 
wisdom  and  patnotisni  now.  (Jlden-Bameveld  was  en 
pet^en  ,  and  .so  was  Buys,  to  direct  the  councils  of  t le 
lopubhc,  and  there  were  few  better  soldiei-s  than  Kon^s 
and  Ilohenlo  to  lead  her  armies  against  Spain.  But  flio 
supreme  autliority  had  been  confided  to  Leicester  He 
had  not  perhaps  proved  himself  extraordinarily  qualified 
for  his  post,  but  he  uas  the  governor-in-chief,  and  his 
departure  w-ithout  resigning  his  powers,  left  lie  con  ? 
mon«ealth  headless,  at  a  moment  when  singlenerof 
action  was  vitally  important. 

At  last,  very  late  in  January,  one  Hugh  Overins  a 
haberdasher  from  Ludgate  Hill,  was  ca,.|ht  at  iXr^ 

fZsTrWni-'''^'^?  Leland  with  a  bundle  of  lettci^ 
t  om  Sir  W  illiam  Stanley,  and  was  sent,  as  a  suspicious 
character,  to  the  state-council  at  the  Hague.'  On  the 
same  day  another  Englishman,  a  small  youth,  "  well- 
tiivoured,  reioicing  in  a  "  very  little  red  '^beard,  and  in 
io  ll?^^"^  clothes,"  unknown  byname,  but ,-.sc;rt^ined 
o  be  in  the  senice  of  Kowland  York  and  to  have  been 
ho  bearer  of  letters  to  Bni.sels,  also  passed  throu.rh 

.k,.^!;  F"-r^'^"''°"'r'""<'°^*''°  innkeeper,  one  Jovc'e, 
also  an  Englishman,  he  succeeded  in  making  his  esca'pe  ' 
Ihe  infoi-mation  contained  in  tho  letters  thus  inter- 
cepted was  important,  but  it  came  too  late,  even  if  tlien 

>  anwnj-  to  Watehigliam,  28  JiUi  I5S1     (S.  P.  CUce  MS.)  2  IblO. 


160  THE  UXITED  SETHERLAKDS.  CiiAP.  XIU. 

the  statc-councU  conld  have  acted  without  giving  mortal 
offeuce  to  Elizabeth  and  to  Leicester  wilHam 

On  the  evening  of  28th  Januarj- (>  .b.)  SirA\iUiam 
StaSey  entertained  the  magistrates  ot  Devcnter  at  a 
sXndid  banquet.     There  was  free  conversation  at  tabic 
concerSng  the  idle  suspicions  which  had  been  nfe  lu 
the  rroviSces  as  to  his  good  intentions  and  the  ccn- 
l"^v.LThfcr,  cast  Upon  him  for  the  repressive 
rSuTe*^  S  thaT  tJught  necessary  to  adopt  for 
Sr^eXitv  of  the   city.     He  took  that  occasion  to 
^nThirln°,ts  that  the  Queen  of  England  had  not  a 
more  loval  subject  than  himself,  nor  the  ^etherlands 
rZe  devoted  friend.     The  company  expressed  them- 
seh-es  fully  restored  to  confidence  in  his  character  and 
™ses    and   the    burgomasters,    having    exchanged 
Kes  of  faith  and  friendship  with  the  commandant  m 
flowfng  goblets,  went  home  comfortably  to  bed,  highly 
pS  with  their  noble  entertainer  and  with  themse  ves." 
^  Very  late   that   same    night,   Stanley   placed  three 

hundred  of  his  wild  Irish  in  the  ^oorenbel•g  tower  a 
hundred  ol        ^^^.^  ^^^^^^^  ^^.^^  commanded  the 

L  Jan.  1587.  j^  °  hen  gate,  and  sent  bodies  of  chosen  troops 
to  surprise  all  the  burgher-guards  at  their  respective 
s  Jions.     Strong  pickets  of  cavalry  were  also  placed  m 
all  the  principal  thoroughfares  of  the  city.     At  thiee 
o'clock  in  the  following  morning  ho  told  his  office™  that 
he  was  about  to  leave  Deventer  for  a  few  hours  in  order  to 
bring  in  some  reinforcements  for  which  he  had  sent  as 
he  htd  felt  much  anxiety  for  some  time  past  as  to  the 
dkposition    of    the    burghers.      His    oiiicers,    honest 
Sushmen,  suspecting  no  evil  and  having  confidence 
Tn  "their   chief,   saw  nothing  strange  ";;1"«  l--^^^; 
ine     and   Sir   William  rode   deliberately   out  ot  Zut- 
phen      After  he  had  been  absent  an  hour  or  two,  the 
clatter  of  hoofs  and  the  tramp  of  infantry  was  heard 
without,  and  presently  the  commandant  returned,  fol- 
lowed by  a  thousand  musketeers   and  three   or  four 
Wred  troopei-s.     It  was  still  pitch-dark ;  but,  d.mly 
iXtA    by  torches,   small    detad,unen,s   of  the   fresh 
tSopB  picked   their  way   through   the   black    narrow 

streets,  while  the  "^^^-^  t'0'J>,  P°«^«^  •**  ^"^'^^"P^^ft  . 
Brink,  or  great  square.     Here,   quietly  and  b^MftlJ, 

I  Rei(i.vt.««. 


158T. 


HE  SURRENDERS  THE  CITT  TO  TASSIS. 


161 

they  were  marshalled  into  onler.  the  cavalry  pikemen 
and  musketeers,  lining  all  sides  of  the  K  a^d  a 

=£i^^  central  space  it.:^^^^^^^, 

ilwrerte  "'"  *nr '"""'^^^'  -d-liied^foSl 
into  the  streets  to  inquire  the  cause  of  the  disturbancw 

they  soon  discovered  that  they  had  in  som«  ml/t.!°    ' 

&  ss  tr-f  ri;j^ii£B 

feaSLShK^quS-^^^^^^^^ 

and  sent  a  militia-captain  to  inqubrtheTa^se  of  t?; 

to  L  Znlt:^ioT  Th^SigKlS  SI- Jr 
gle-ended  houses  r^d^^VlUt^^^^^ 

wifh  cold-fru  h^^h*""^  °^''  *'"^'"'  haff  periXd 
wun  coio— tor  it  had  been  raining  disraallv  all  nitrW 

fTn^  .t  .''"g'^C'«-  ^-iA  wives  afd   children    ttertled 

about,  with  perplexed  faces  and  despairinir  o-eshfr^f 
As  he  approached  the  town-houso-one  of  ?hol  - 

Bor,  li.  xxil.  878-879.     llevd  vi    qr         -  ..  r^  u    . 

220-221.    Le  Petit   ii  ";,      .J^'""'^"'    Sereyst  hadderi.  in  seer  quaet  en  kout 
viU.l96«,.    '"'"•"•3^1-    ^Vagenuur.    weder.  ende  dat  het  den  selven  v^rmW- 
VOL.  II.  '^*'*^'  '^^'^  regheude."  &c     Reyd.  vi.  96. 

M 


— •§ 


1C2 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


and  officers,  in  yellow  jerkin  and  black  bandoleer, 
grouped  in  the  balcony  itself. 

The  Flemish  captain  stood  bewildered,  when  sud- 
denly the  familiar  form  of  Stanley  detached  itself  from 
the  central  group  and  advanced  towards  him.  Taking 
him  by  the  hand  with  much  urbanity,  Sir  William  led 
the  militia-man  through  two  or  three  ranks  of  soldiers, 
and  presented  him  to  the  stmnge  officer  on  horse- 
back.' 

*' Colonel  Tassis,"  said  he,  **I  recommend  to  you  a 
Tery  particular  friend  of  mine.  Let  me  bespeak  your 
best  offices  in  his  behalf."  ^      •    . 

"Ah  God!"  cried  the  honest  burgher,  "lassis! 
Tassis  !  Then  are  wo  indeed  most  miserably  be- 
trayed."* ,  ^^1      .  1       .   • 

Even  the  Spanish  colonel,  who  was  of  Flemish  ongin, 
was  affected  by  the  despair  of  tlie  Netherlander. 

"  Let  those  look  to  the  matter  of  treachery  whom  it 
concerns,"  said  he  ;  "  my  business  hero  is  to  servo  the 
King  ray  master." 

'^  Kender  unto  Cresar  the  things  which  are  Caesar  s, 
and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's,"  said  Stanley, 

with  piety.'  -,    i    .  u 

The  bur^-her-captain  was  then  assured  that  no  harm 
was  intended  to  the  city,  but  that  it  now  belonged  to 
his  most  Catholic  Majesty  of  Spain— Colonel  btanley, 
to  whom  its  custody  had  been  entrusted,  ha\nng  treely 
and  deliberately  restored  it  to  its  lawful  owner.  He 
was  then  bid  to  go  and  fetch  the  burgomasters  and 

magistrates. 

.Presently  they  appcarcd-a  dismal  group,  weeping 
and  woe-begone—the  same  board  of  strict  Calvinists 
forcibly  placed  in  office  but  three  months  before  by 
Leicester,  through  the  agency  of  this  very  Stanley,  wlio 
had  so  summarilv  elected  their  popish  predecessors,  and 
who  only  the  night  before  had  so  handsomely  feasted 
themselves.  "  They  came  fomard,  the  tears  mnnmg 
down  their  cheeks,  crying  indeed  so  pitcously  that  even 
Stanley  began  to  weep  bitterly  himself.  "I  have  not 
done  this,"  he  sobbed,  "for  power  or  pelf,  ^ot  the 
hope  of  reward,  but  the  love  of  God  hath  moved  me. 


1  Rey(l,vi.96. 
>  Ibid. 


«  Ibid. 


♦  «  Sir  William  Stanley  did  fetch  somo 
of  the  conimona  and  magistrates  to  wme 


1587. 


TERMS  OF  THE  BARGAIN. 


163 


Presently  some  of  the  ex-magistrates  made  their 
appearance,  and  a  party  of  leading  citizens  went  into  a 
private  house  with  Tassis  and  Stanley  to  hear  sta?e- 

re^Ltle!^^^^^^^^^^^  ''  ^^>'  ^^^^^^  -- 

Sir  William  still  in  a  melancholy  tone,  be-an  to 
make  a  speech,  through  an  interpreter,  and  a|2  to 
protest  that  he  had  not  been  influenced  by  W  of 
lucre.  But  as  he  stammered  and  grew  incoherent  as  he 
approached  the  point,  Tassis  suddenly  interrupted  the 
conference      "  Let  us  look  after  our  soldiers,"  said    e 

tlie   night.        So   the  Spanish   troops,   who   had   been 
standing  pa  lently  to  be  rained  upin  after  their  lonr. 

Tni}^  ^V^J^'  l>"rghers  had  all  deposited  their  arms 
in  tlie  city-hall,  were  now  billeted  on  the  townspeople 
iassis  gave  peremptory  orders  that  no  injury  should  b<^ 
Iw  w.      4-  Pff'''  """^  property  on  pain  of  death ;  and, 
by  way  of  wholesome  example,  hung  several  Hibernians 

inh^^^^^^^^        "^^  ^^^  ^^^^"  ^^'^^^^^^  '^  plunderingX 

The  citizens  were,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  offered  the 

choice    between   embracing    the   Catholic   religion   or 

going  into  exile,  a  certain  interval  being  allowed  them 

ftS  SZ/'""'  f  ?""  ^''''^  "^^'^  '-^^  requhed  t" 
Kn^/  0/ Me^r  service  since  commg  to  the  Provinces,  and 
to  lassis  three  months'  wages  for  his  Spaniards  ii. 
adAance.^    Stanley  offered  his  troops  the  privik-e  of 


and  welcome  Taxis.  With  weeping  tears 
and  sad  countenances  they  gave  liim  re- 
verence, sorry  Ut  see  themselves  bo  be- 
trayed. 

';  When  Sir  William  Stanley  did  see  the 
pitiful  state  and  sorrowful  hearts  of  the 
burghers,  God  made  him  have  some  feel- 
.  1«K  of  his  sins.  His  own  conscience,  it 
seemed,  accused  him,  and  he  wept  tcith  Oie 
Ouryhtrs  for  company,  protesting  with 
vehement  words  and  oaths  that  lie  had 
done  it  with  no  covetous  mind  for  profit, 
but  only  for  the  discharge  of  his  con- 
science. It  is  now  said  he  hath  and 
slwll  have  30,000i.»     Sir  John  Conway 

to  U  uUhigbam.  2S  Jan.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

Compare  lieyd.  ubi  sup.    Wilkes  to 


Leicester,  MS.  before  cited.      Norrls  to 
Burghley,  ?J  Jan.  15«7.  (S.  P.  Office  ilS.) 
*  Reyd,  ubi  sup. 

2  Willcos  to  Leicester,  24  Jan.  los?    rs 
P.  Office  MS.)  ■  ^ 

"From  the  market-place  Taxis  and 
SUnlcy  went  to  the  town-hcu?e,  whither 
the  woeful  magistrates  were  called  and 
made  to  welcome  Taxis,  and  were  then 
required  with  aU  expedition  to  furnish 
and  make  ready  eo  much  money  as  should 
pay  all  the  arrwirage  due  to  Stanley  and 
his  reghnent,  sithence  their  coming  into 
these  countries,  who  had  received  a 
month's  pay  of  the  States  not  eight  days 
before  he  received  the  enemy  into  the 
town.  They  were  also  required  tofur- 
M   2 


164 


THE  UNITED  NLfHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIII. 


remaining  with  him  in  the  service  of  Spain,  or  of  taking 
their  departure  unmolested.  The  Irish  troops  were 
quite  willing  to  continue  under  their  old  chieftain,  par- 
ticularly as  it  was  intimated  to  them  that  there  was  an 
immediate  prospect  of  a  hrisk  campaign  in  their  native 
island  against  the  tyrant  Elizabeth,  under  the  liberating 
banners  of  Philip.  And  certainly,  in  an  age  where 
religion  constituted  country,  these  fervent  Catholics 
could  scarcely  bo  censured  for  taking  arms  against  the 
sovereign  who  persecuted  their  religion  and  themselves. 
These  honest  barbarians  had  broken  no  oath,  violated 
no  trust,  had  never  pretended  sympathy  with  freedom 
or  affection  for  their  Queen.  They  had  fought  fiercely 
under  iho  chief  who  led  them  into  battle— they  had 
robbed  and  plundered  voraciously  as  opportunity 
served,  and  had  been  occasionally  hanged  for  their 
exploits ;  but  Deventer  and  Fort  Zutphen  had  not  been 
confided  to  their  keeping ;  and  it  was  a  pleasant  thought 
to  them,  that  approaching  invasion  of  Ireland. 

**  I  will  ruin  the  whole  country  from  Holland  to 
Friesland,"  said  Stanley  to  Captain  Newton,  "  and  then 
I  will  play  such  a  game  in  Ireland  as  the  Queen  has 
never  seen  the  like  all  the  days  of  her  life."  ' 

Newton  had  already  been  solicited  by  Rowland  York 
to  take  service  under  Panna,  and  had  indignantly 
declined.  Sir  Edminul  Carey  and  his  men,  four  hun- 
dred in  all,  refused,  to  a  man,  to  take  part  in  the 
monstrous  treason,  and  were  allowed  to  leave  the  city.* 
ITiis  was  the  case  with  all  the  English  officers.  Stanley 
and  York  were  the  only  gentlemen  who  on  this  occasion 
sullied  the  honour  of  England. 

Captain  Henchman,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  in 


nish  and  deliver  as  nimh  more  monpy  as 
might  give  three  montha  to  tlie  troops  of 
the  enemy  then  newly  entered. " 

J  '•  Que  le  Colonel  Stanley  lnl  a  pro- 
fere,  Je  me  comporteral  tellcmint  que 
le  pays  Jusqu'eu  Hollande  el  tntre 
Wezel  et  Embden  serout  en  tout  rulne 
dedans  six  Jours ;  et  causeral  en  Irlaiide 
ttl  jeu  de  guerre  que  la  Relne  ii'u  vu 
en  sa  vie."  Examination  of  Captain 
Thomas  Newton  touching  the  loss  of 
l>eventer,  before   the  Council  of  State, 

SI 


"  That  he  (Lieutenant  John  Reonan,  in 
StanUy's  service,  an  earnot  man)  may 
deliver  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham  pome 
circumstances  of  the  surrendering  of  De- 
vcntfT,  and  what  speeches  parsed  from 
Sir  William  StanUy  touching  Ireland, 
whither  he  thinks  to  be  stiit  to  work  her 
Majesty  some  trouble  and  annoy,  if  be 
shall  bo  able."  Sir  John  Norrls  to  F.  Wal- 
slngham.  29  Jan.  1587.    (S.  P.  Off.  MS.) 

»  Wilkes  to  Leicester,  24  Jan.  (MS. 
before  cited.) 


91 


Jan.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1587.        FEEBLE  DEFENCE  OF  STANLEY'S  CONDUCT.         165 

a  skirmish  a  few  days  before  the  surrender  of  Deventer 
wa^  now  brought  to  that  city,  and  earnestly  entreated 
by  Ta^sis  and  by  Stanley  to  seize  this  opportunky  of 
entering  the  service  of  Spain.  ^  ^ 

"You  shall  have  great  advancement  and  prefer- 
ment, said  Tassis.  "His  Catholic  Majesty  haflot 
ready  very  many  ships  for  Ireland,  and  Sir  Wmm 
btanley  is  to  be  general  of  the  expedition^ 

J'  ^"^^  ir  T  \'^^^  ''^^''^^  y^"^  ^^^^  preferment,"  said 
Stanley,  -  for  I  know  you  to  be  a  brave  man." 

;  I  would  rather,"  replied  Henchman,  "  serve  my 
prince  m  loyal  y  as  a  beggar,  than  to  be  known  and 
reported  a  rich  tmitor,  with  breach  of  conscience." 

/Continue  so,"  replied  Stanley,  unabashed;  -for 
this  IS  the  very  principle  of  my  own  enlargement ;  for. 
before,  I  served  the  devil,  and  now  I  am  serving  God  » * 

The  offers  and  the  arguments  of  the  Spaniard  and  the 
renegade  wore  powerless  with  the  blunt  captain,  and 
notwithstanding  "  divers  other  traitorous  alledgements 
by  Sir  Wil ham  for  his  most  vile  facts,"  as  Henchman 
expressed  It,  that  officer  remained  in  poverty  andTap^ 
tn^ty  until  such  time  as  he  could  be  exchanored  » 

btanley  subsequently  attempted  in  various  ways  to 
defend  his  character.  He  had  a  commission  from  Lei- 
cester,  he  said,  to  serve  whom  he  chose-as  if  the 
governor-general  had  contemplated  his  serving  Philip  II 
with  that  commission  ;  he  had  a  passport  to  go  whither* 
he  hked-as  if  his  passport  entitled  him  to  take  the 
city  of  Deventer  along  with  him :  he  owed  no  alle- 
giance to  the  States;  he  was  discharged  from  his 
promise  to  the  Earl ;  he  was  his  o^vn  master ;  he  wanted 
neither  money  nor  preferment ;  he  had  been  compelled 
b}  his  co^cience  and  his  duty  to  God  to  restore  the  city 
to  its  lawtul  master,  and  so  on,  and  so  on  * 

But,  whether  he  owed  the  States  allegiance  or  not,  it 
IS  certain  that  he  had  accepted  their  money  to  relieve 
himself  and  his  troops  eight  days  before  his  treason. 
Ihat  Leicester  had  discharged  him  from  his  promises 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  justify  his  surrendering  a  town 

-^iml^rx^^^T^  ^f''"^^'    ^  ^'«"*'  Wagenaar.  «6i  ,up.    Bentlvo- 
-2^March.  1587  (S.P.  Office  MS.),  totid^v,    giio.  p.  IL  1.  v.  312.    F.  Ha4l  Amt   iil. 

'B«r.Keyd.Stnula.Hoofd,Vervolgh.    '''•    C^^«^' ^'- 3"-393. 


166 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


committed  to  his  honour  for  safe  keeping,  certainly  de- 
gei-^'cd  no  answer  ;  that  his  duty  to  conscience  required 
him  to  restore  the  city  argued  a  somewhat  tardy  awaken- 
incr  of  that  monitor  in  the  hreast  of  the  man  who  three 
months  before  had  wrested  the  place  with  the  armed  hand 
from  men  suspected  of  Catholic  inclinations ;  that  his 
first  motive,  however,  was  not  the  mere  love  of  money, 
was  doubtless  true.  Attachment  to  his  religion  a  de- 
sire to  atone  for  his  sins  against  it,  the  insidious  tempt- 
incra  of  his  evil  spirit,  York,*  who  was  the  chief  organizer 
of ''the  conspiracy,  and  the  prospect  of  gratifying  a  wild 
and  wicked  ambition— these  were  the  springs  that 
moved  him.  Sums-varj4ng  from  30,000J.  to  a  pension 
of  1 500  pistolets  a  year— were  mentioned,  as  the  stipu- 
lated price  of  his  treason,  by  Norns,  Wilkes,  Conway, 
and  others;*  but  the  Duke  of  Parma,  m  narrating  the 
whole  affair  in  a  private  letter  to  the  King  explicitly 
stated  that  he   had  found  Stanley  "singularly  disin- 

terested 

*'  The  colonel  was  only  actuated  by  religious  motives,' 
he  said,  "  asking  for  no  reward,  except  that  he  might 
gen^e  in  his  Majesty's   aimy  thenceforth- and  this  is 

worthy  to  be  noted."  * 

At  the  same  time  it  appears  from  this  correspondence 
that  the  Duke  recommended,  and  that  the  King  bestowed, 
a  "merced,"  which  Stanley  did  not  refuse  ;*  and  it  was 


1  AccoTdlngto  Camden,  York  had  per- 
suaded Stanley  that  he  had  been  accused 
by  the  conspirators  of  b(?lng  engaged  In 
the  Babington  plot,  and  that  he  was 
"  forthwith  to  be  sent  into  England,  to  be 
hangtd."  Haraeus  {ubi  sap.)  has  a  slight 
allusion  to  the  same  effect,  but  I  have 
found  no  other  intimation  of  this  very 
improbable  suspicion  with  regard  to  Sir 
William.  The  English  historian  also 
states  that  after  the  treason  Stanley  calUxl 
his  troops  the  Seminary  regiment  of  sol- 
diers, to  defend  the  Ilomish  religion  by 
their  swords,  as  the  Seminary  priests  by 
their  writings.  Cardinal  Allen  pralstnl 
bis  deed  in  his  famous  book,  and  excited 
all  others  to  go  and  do  likewise.  Camden, 

b.Ui.398. 

«  MS.  Tetters  before  cited.     Doyley 
to  WalsAngham,25  March,  1587.    (S.  P. 

OmceMS.)  ^     ^ 

3  ••  Que  ha  sldo  de  nota,"  &c  rarma  to 


Philip,  12  Feb.  1587.  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 
*  Ibid.  Compare  Bentlvogllo,  p.  il.  1. 
V,  312.  ••  Era  CattoUco  lo  Stanley,  o 
mostro  di  farlo  per  zelo  principalmente  di 
Religione,"  says  the  Cardinal,  "  contuc- 
clo  ne  fupremiato  largamente  dal  Re,  e 
tanto  plu,  perche  egll  tlr(5  seco  nel  me- 
desimo  servitio  tutti  gli  Inglesi  ch'  era- 
vano  in  Deventer,"  &c.  This  last  state- 
ment we  have  seen  to  be  entirely  a 
mistake. 

Compare  Strada,  11.  46H.  469,  who  is 
very  emphatic  with  regard  to  the  purity 
of  Stanley's  motives:  "  Motum  se  ad  de- 
dendani  urbem  Stanlaeus  a«JJunxit,  nou 
largllionlhus,  aut  honorum  tltulis,  prodl- 
torum  pretiis ;  qitof  qtuimvis  ohiata  res- 
jmerit  utl  allena  a  majorum  claritudino, 
vltaque  sua,"  &c.  The  Jesuit  adds,  that 
the  Duke  warmly  ac^ured  his  sovereign 
not  to  allow  such  disinterestedness  to  go 
unrewarded— and  it  did  not. 


1587.        SUBSEQUENT  FATE  OF  STANLEY  AND  YORK.        107 

very  well  known  that  to  no  persons  in  the  world  was 
Philip  apt  to  be  so  generous  as  to  men  of  high  rank, 
Flemish,  Walloon,  or  P^nglish,  who  deserted  the  cause 
of  his  rebellious  subjects  to  serve  under  his  own  banners. 
Yet,  strange  to  relate,  almost  at  the  very  moment  that 
Stanley  was  communicating  his  fatal  act  of  treason,  in 
order  that  he  might  open  a  high  career  for  his  ambition, 
a  most  brilliant  destiny  was  about  to  dawn  upon  him! 
The  Queen  had  it  in  contemplation,  in  recompense  for 
his  distinguished  services,  and  by  advice  of  Leicester,  to 
bestow  great  honours  and  titles  upon  him,  and  to  ap- 
point him  Viceroy  of  Ireland— of  that  very  country 
which  he  was  now  proposing,  as  an  enemy  to  his  sove- 
reign and  as  the  purchased  tool  of  a  foreign  despot,  to 
invade.' 

Stanley's  subsequent  fate  was  obscure.  A  price  of 
3000  florins  was  put  by  the  States  upon  his  head  and 
upon  that  of  York.*  He  went  to  Spain,  and  afterwards 
returned  to  the  Provinces.  He  was  even  reported  to 
have  become,  through  the  judgment  of  God,  a  lunatic,^ 
although  the  tale  wanted  confirmation;  and  it  is  certain 
that  at  the  close  of  the  year  he  had  mustered  his  regi- 
ment under  Famese,  prepared  to  join  the  Duke  in  the 
great  invasion  of  England.* 

Eowland  York,  who  was  used  to  such  practices,  cheer- 


1  This  is  stated  distinctly  by  Leicester 
In  his  letter  to  the  Stiites-General,  on  first 
being  informed  of  the  surrender  of  Deven- 
ter:— "L'  afTectlon  et  soing  qu  ay  tou- 
jours  eu  a  la  conservation  de  I'estat  des 
prov««  unies  m'auginontent  tant  plus  de 
regrvt  qu  ay  eu  d'entendre  la  trahison  de 
la  ville  de  Deventer,  qu  elle  a  este  forme 
par  la  laschete  de  celuy  auquel  S.  M.  eut 
voulu  confier  royaumes  evtiers  et  lequel 
elle  pensoit  annoblir  des  plus  grands  titres 
avccq  recompenses  condignes,  pour  lepro- 
mouvoir  a  la  dignlte  de  Vice  Koy  d'lr- 
lande,"  &c.  Leicester  to  the  States- 
General,  -  Feb.  1587.  (Hague  Archives, 
MS.) 

2  Bor,  il.  xxii.  882.  Wagenaar,  vili. 
199. 

=*  "  By  letters  from  Deventer,  they 
write  that  the  traitor  Stanley  groweth 
fnmtic— a  Just  punishment  of  God— and 
his  men  very  poor  and  in  misery.    The 


other  traitor,  York,  has  been  seen  of  late 
in  Antwerp  and  Brussels,  little  regarded, 
whose  determination  Is  to  go  to  Spain  or 
Naples,  there  to  live  on  his  stipend,  out 
of  the  stir  of  tLese  wars,  fearing  that 
which  I  hope  to  God  he  shall  never  es- 
cape." Captain  Ed.  Bumham  to  Wal- 
slngham,  7  March,  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

*'  It  is  bruited  that  Stanley  was  now 
lately  become  a  lunatic,  void  of  govern- 
ment and  discretion.  .  .  If  this  be  true, 
as  he  was  known  for  a  traitor,  so  he  may 
be  noted  for  a  fool."  Lloyd  to  Walslng- 
liam,  15  Oct.  1 5.S7.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  •'  Among  them.  Sir  William  Stanley 
was  the  leader  of  his  comj»anie8,  800  or 
900  men,  the  most  part  Irish  and  Scotch, 
and  the  rest  English.  I  heard  an  Italian 
captain  report  that  Stanley's  companies 
were  the  best  that  they  make  account  of." 
John  Giles  to  Walsingham,  4  Dec.  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


108 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


1587. 


BETRAYAL  OF  GELDER  TO  PARMA. 


169 


fully  consiimmated  his  crime  on  the  same  day  that  wit- 
nessed the  surrender  of  Deventer.  He  rode  up  to  the 
gates  of  that  city  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  January, 
inquired  quietly  whether  Tassis  was  master  of  the  place, 
and  then  galloped  furiously  back  the  ten  miles  to  his 
fort.  Entering,  he  called  his  soldiers  together,  bade 
them  tear  in  pieces  the  colours  of  England,  and  follow 
him  into  the  city  of  Zutphen.*  Two  companies  of 
States'  troops  offered  resistance,  and  attempted  to  hold 
the  place  ;  but  they  were  ovei-powered  by  the  English 
and  Irish,  assisted  by  a  force  of  Spaniards,  who,  by  a 
concerted  movement,  made  their  appearance  from  the 
town.  He  received  a  handsome  reward,  having  far  sur- 
passed the  Duke  of  Parma's  expectations,  when  he  made 
his  original  otfer  of  sei-vice.  He  died  very  suddenly, 
after  a  great  banquet  at  Deventer,  in  the  course  of  the 
same  year,  not  having  succeeded  in  making  his  escape 
into  Spain  to  live  at  ease  on  his  stipend.  It  Avas  sup- 
posed that  he  was  poisoned ;  but  the  charge  in  those 
days  was  a  common  one,  and  nobody  cared  to  investigate 
the  subject.  His  body  was  subsequently  exhumed— 
when  Deventer  came  into  the  hands  of  the  patriots — 
and  with  impotent  and  contemptible  malice  hanged 
upon  a  gibbet.     This  was  the  end  of  Rowland  York.* 

Parma  was  highly  gratified,  as  may  be  imagined,  at 
such  successful  results.  "  Thus  Fort  Zutplien,"  said  he, 
"  about  which  there  have  been  so  many  fisticuffs,  and 
Deventer— which  was  the  real  object  of  the  last  cam- 
paign, and  which  has  cost  the  English  so  much  blood 
and*' money,  and  is  the  safety  of  Groningen  and  of  all 
tliose  Provinces— is  now  your  Majesty's.  Moreover,  the 
effect  of  this  treason  must  be  to  sow  great  distrust  be- 
tween the  English  and  the  rebels,  who  will  henceforth 
never  know  in  whom  they  can  confide."  * 

Parma  was  very  right  in  this  conjecture.  Moreover, 
there  was  just  then  a  fearful  nin  against  the  States. 
The  castle  of  Wauw,  within  a  league  of  Bergen-op- 
Zoom,  which  had  been  entrusted  to  one  Le  Marchand,  a 

1  WUkea  to  Leicester,  24  Jan.  1687.  Meteren.  xiv.  249-250.    MS.  Letters  al- 

/«3  p  <>fHr«  MS  ^  ready  cited. 

^  /BoT^yd.  Hoofd.  Wagenaar.  Strada,  »  Pamu.  to  Philip  IL    12  Feb.  1587. 

Bontivoglio.  Cdinden.  Le  PeUt.  Haraeus.  (Arch,  de  Simancas.  Mb.) 
locis  ntatis.     Baker's    Chrunicle,    385. 


Frerichman  m  the  service  of  the  republic,  was  delivered 
by  him  to  Parma  for  16,000  florins.  "  'Tis  a  very  im- 
portant post,"  said  the  Duke,  -and  the  money  was  well 
laid  out.    '  '^ 

The  loss  of  the  city  of  Gelder,  capital  of  the  Province 
of  the  same  name,  took  place  in  the  summer.     This 
town  belonged  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Alartin  Schenk,  and 
was  his  chief  place  of  deposit  for  the  large  and  miscel- 
laneous property  acquired  by  him  during  his  desultory^ 
but  most  profitable,  freebooting  career.      The   famous 
partisan  was  then  absent,  engaged  in  a  lucrative  job  in 
the  way  of  his  profession.     He  had  made  a  contract— in 
a  very  business-like  way-with  the  States,  to  defend 
the  city  ol  Rhemberg  and  all  the  country  round  against 
the  Duke  of  Panna,  pledging  himself  to  keep  on  foot 
tor  that  purpose  an  army  of  3300  foot  and  700  horse. 
±  or  this  extensive  and  important  operation  he  was  to 
receive  20,000  florins  a  month  from  the  general  exche- 
quer, and  in  addition  he  was  to  be  allowed  the  brand- 
schatz— the  black-mail,  that  is    to  say— of  the  whole 
country-side,  and  the  taxation  upon  all  vessels  goinff 
up  and  down  the  river  before  Rheinberg ;  an  ad  valorem 
Uiity,  m  short,  upon  all  river  merchandise,  assessed  and 
collected  m  summary  fashion.*    A  tariff  thus  enforced 
was  not  likely  to  be  a  mild  one ;  and  although  the  States 
considered  that  they  had  got  a  "  good  pennyworth  "  by 
the  job  It  was  no  easy  thing  to  get  the  better,  in  a  bar- 
gain, of  the  vigilant  Martin,  who  was  as  thrifty  a  specu- 
lator as  he  was  a  desperate  fighter.     A  more  accom- 
plished highwayman,  artistically  and   enthusiastically 
devoted  to  his  pursuit,  never  lived.     Kobody  did  his 
work  more  thoroughly— nobody  got  himself  better  paid 
tor  his  T<rork-and  Thomas  AVilkes,  tliat  excellent  man 
ot  business,  thought  the  States  not  likely  to  make  much 
by  their  contract.'     Nevertheless,  it  was  a  comfort  to 
know  that  the  work  would  not  be  neglected. 

Schenk  was  accordingly  absent,  jobbing  the  Ehein- 
berg  siege,  and  in  his  place  one  Aristotle  Patton  a 
Scotch  colonel  in  the  States'  service,  was  command^t 
of  Gelders.     Now  the  thrifty  Scot  had  an  eye  to  busi- 

,a'  TTo  **"  ^"'P  "••  ^^  ^^^-  ^'^"-       '  W«"^<*«  to  Leicester,  3  Dec.  1686.  fS 
(Ardi.de  Simancas.  MS.)    Compare  Bor,    p.  Office  MS.) 

iL  xxii.  878;  Strada,  ii.  466;  Wagenaar,        3  jbij, 
vili.  196 ;  Haraeus.  ili.  397,  et  mult.  al. 


I 


170 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


ClIAP.  XIII. 


ness  too,  and  was  no  more  troubled  with  qualms  of  con- 
science than  Kowland  York  himself.   Moreover  he  knew 
himself  to  be  in  great  danger  of  losing  his  place,  tor 
Leicester  was  no  friend  to  him,  and  intended  to  super- 
sede him.     Patton  had  also  a  decided  grudge  against 
Martin  Schenk,  for  that  tniculent  personage  had  recently 
administered  to  him  a  drubbing,  which  no  doubt  ho 
had  richly  deserved.*     Accordingly,  when  the  Duke  ot 
Parma  made  a  secret  offer  to  him  of  36,000  florins  if  he 
would  quietly  surrender  the  city  entrusted  to  hini,  the 
colonel  lumped  at  so   excellent  an  opportunity  ot  cir- 
cumventing   Leicester,    feeding    his    grudge    against 
Martin,  and  making  a  handsome  fortune  for  himselt. 
He  knew  his  trade  too  well,  however,  to  accept  the  oiler 
too  eagerly,  and  bargained  awhile  for  better  terras  and 
to  such  good  pui-pose,  that  it  was  agreed  he  should  have 
not  only  the  36,000  florins,  but  aU  the  horses    aims, 
plate,  furniture,  and  other  moveables  in  the  city  belong- 
insc  to  Schenk,  that  he  could  lay  his  hands  upon.     Here 
were  revenge  and  solid   damages  for  the  unforgotten 
assault  and  battery-for  Schenk's  property  alone  made 
no  inconsiderable   fortune -and  accordingly  the  city, 
towards  midsummer,  was  surrendered  to  the  beigneur 
d'Haultepenne.*    Moreover,  the  excellent  1  atton  had 
another  and  a  loftier  motive.     He  was  in  love      He  had 
also  a  rival.     The  lady  of  his  thoughts  was  the  wuluw 
of  Pontus  de  Koyelle,  Seigneur  de  Pours,  who  IkkI  once 
saved  the  citadel  of  AntweiT,  and  afterwards  sold  that 
city  and  himself    His  rrv-al  was  no  other  than  the  great 
Seigneur  de  Champagny,  brother  of  Cardinal  Granvelle. 
emment  as  soldier,  diplomatist,  and  financier,  but  now 
growing  old,  not  in  affluent  circumstances,  and  much 
troubled  with  the  gout.     IVIadame  de  Pours  had  how- 
ever, accepted  his  hand,  and  had  fixed  the  day  for  the 
Avedding,  when  the  Scotchman,  thus  suddenly  enriched, 
nnewed  a  previously  unsuccessful  suit.     Ihe  widow 
then,  partially  keeping  her  promise,  actually  celebrated 
her  nuptials  on    the  appointed  evening;    but,  to  tlie 

1  Strada,  11.  600.  Baudartil  roleraogra-  July.  4  Aug.  1587.  Ll^yJi^^Valslnsham 

nh'aiW  Compare  Wageimr.viil.  226.  3  July.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  Mb^O    But 

t^  s  the  autbCnty  for  the  illustrious  Strada  states  that  the  P^to  and  o^h^ 

mgannanieoftheScot.  pn-IK^rty  were  reserved  to  the  Spanish 

a  Ibid.     U'icester  to  Wabingbani,  -1  government. 


1587.     THESE  TREASONS  CAST  ODIUM  OX  THE  ENGLISH.     171 

surprise  of  the  Provinces,  she  became  not  the  haulte  d 
pmssaitte  dame  de  CJuimpagny,  but  Mrs.  Aristotle  Patton.' 

For  this  last  treason  neither  Leicester  nor  the  Eno-- 
lish  were  responsible.  Patton  was  not  only  a  Scot,  but 
a  follower  of  Hohenlo,  as  Leicester  loudly  protested.* 
Le  Marchant  was  a  Frenchman.  But  Deventer  and 
Zutphen  were  places  of  vital  importance,  and  Stanley 
an  Englishman  of  highest  consideration,  one  who  had 
been  deemed  worthy  of  the  command  in  chief  in  Lei- 
cester's absence.  Moreover,  a  comet  in  the  service  of 
the  Earl's  nephew.  Sir  Robert  Sidney,  had  been  seen  at 
Zutphen  in  conference  with  Tassis;  and  the  horrible 
suspicion  went  abroad  that  even  the  illustrious  name  of 
Sidney  was  to  be  polluted  also.^  This  fear  was  for- 
tunately false,  although  the  comet  was  unquestionably 
a  traitor,  with  whom  the  enemy  had  been  tampering  ; 
but  the  mere  thought  that  Sir  Robert  Sidney  couM 
betray  the  trust  reposed  in  him  was  almost  enough  to 
make  the  still  unburied  corpse  of  his  brother  arise  from 
the  dead. 

Parma  was  right  when  he  said  that  all  confidence  of 
the  Ketherlanders  in  the  Englishmen  would  now  be 
gone,  and  that  the  Provinces  would  begin  to  doubt  their 
best  friends.  No  fresh  treasons  followed,  but  they  were 
expected  every  day.  An  organized  plot  to  betray  the 
country  was  believed  in,  and  a  howl  of  execration  swept 
through  the  land.  The  noble  deeds  of  Sidney  and  Wil- 
loughby,  and  Norris  and  Pelham,  and  Roger  Williams, 
the  honest  and  valuable  services  of  Wilkes,  the  gene- 
rosity and  courage  of  Leicester,  were  for  a  season  for- 
gotten. The  English  were  denounced  in  every  city  and 
village  of  the  Netherlands  as  traitors  and  miscreants. 
Respectable  English  merchants  went  from  hostelr}^  to 


I  Baudart,  uU  tup.  Le  Petit,  il.  346- 
347. 

*  "  It  is  so  that  Gelders  is  lost,  given 
up  by  Patton,  the  Scotchman,  and  com- 
manded thither  by  the  Count  Hollock, 
and  hath  been  wholly  at  his  direction 
and  commandment.  Yet  for  the  good 
nature  of  Norris  and  Wilkes,  so  soon  as 
they  heard  of  this,  reported  to  the  States 
that  this  Patton  was  a  colonel  of  my  pre- 
ferment, to  make  the  people  to  hate  me,** 


&c.  Leicester  to  Walslngham,  2  July, 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  occurrence 
has  been  placed  in  Juxtaposition  witli 
similar  occurrences  in  the  nanrative, 
although  a  few  months  removed  from 
them  in  chronological  sequence, 

»  Examination  of  Newton.  (MS.  before 
cited.)  Compare  Meteren,  xiv.  249-2&0. 
Reyd,  vl.  97-98. 


172  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XIII. 

hostelry,  and  from  town  to  town,  and  were  refused  a 
lodKinK  for  love  or  money.  Tho  nation  was  put  under 
ban  •  A  most  melancholy  change  from  the  beginning 
of  the  year,  when  the  very  men  who  were  now  loudest 
in  denunciation,  and  fiercest  m  hate,  had  been  the 
warmest  friends  of  Elizabeth,  of  England,  and  of  Lex- 

"" iTilohenlo's  table  the  opinion  ^,«f.,}?"dly  ffr^T^f  • 
even  in  the  presence  of  Sir  Roger  Wilhamsthat^  it  was 
highly  improbable,  if  a  man  like  Stanley,  of  such  high 
rank  in  the  kingdom  of  England,  of  such  great  connec- 
tions and  large  means,  could  commit  such  a  treason,  that 
he  could  do  so  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of 

^'bSu!  in  council  of  state,  declared  that  Leicester 
by  his  restrictive  letter  of  24th  November,  had  intended 
to  carry  the  authority  over  the  republic  into  England, 
in  orde'r  to  dispose  of  everything  at  his  pleasure,  m  con- 
junction with  the  English  <=f  ^■^^^^''.1  '^ri^^LIt 
country  had  never  been  so  cheated  by  the  French  as  it 
M  n7w  been  by  the  English,  and  that  their  govern- 
ment had  become  insupportable. ' 

Councillor  Carl  Koorda  maintained  at  the  table  of 
Elector  Truchsess  that  the  countiy  had  fdlen  de  tyr<v^ 
tick  m  turannider,'.,  and-if  they  had  spumed  the  oppres- 
s  fn  of  the  Spai^iards  and  the  French-that  it  was  now 
t  me  to  rebel  against  the  English.  Lameveld  and  Buys 
loudly  declared  that  the  Provinces  were  «Wo  to  protect 
themselves  without  foreign  assistance,  and  that  it  was 
verj'  injurious  to  impress  a  contrary  opimon  upon  tne 

^"Xhe  whole  college  of  the  States-General  came  before 
the  state-council,  and  demanded  the  name  of  the  man  to 
^hom  the  Earl's  restrictive  letter  had  ^een  delivered- 
that  document  by  which  the  governor  had  daied  suiiep- 
titiously  to  annul  the  authority  which  pubhcly  he  had 
deleted  to  that  body,  and  thus  to  deprive  it  of  the 

„  ..        n.    Tar,     iKHT     1587     f S.  P.  Offlcc  MS.)    Slf.  J.  NoiTis 
1  ivuicp^  to   Hatton,  24   Jan.    io87.    losi.    ^o.*.  vtx»  '  _     ,c  p 

*"*"':•  .'Sil"'M4''t'*'"°  °?M  Ui«r,St«d..H.469i  Ben- 
16M.    (S.  P.  Office  MSb.)  ^  »  V  !v    312-318:    Bor,  11. 

.  .  AbuBes  offered  to  her  Majesty  and  tlvogUo    P-  ^^ >  J^'  ^^  ^/^ '  ^^  ^'^j,. 

his  Excellency  and  the  whole  English  xxU.  88 J,  Wagenaar, 

nation  by  the  States  and  others.'    April,  al. 


1587.      MISERABLE  PLIGHT  OF  THE  ENGLISH  TROOPS.      173 

po^-er  of  preventing  anticipated  crimes.  After  much 
colloquy  the  name  of  Brackel  was  given,  and,  had  not 
the  culprit  fortunately  been  absent,  his  life  might  have 
been  m  danger,  for  rarely  had  grave  statesmen  been  so 
thoroughly  infuriated.^ 

No  language  can  exaggerate  the  consequences  of  this 
wretched  tre^ison.  Unfortunately,  too,  the  abject  con- 
dition to  which  the  English  troops  had  been  reduced  by 
the  niggardliness  of  their  sovereign  was  an  additional 
cause  of  danger.  Leicester  was  gone,  and,  since  her 
favourite  wa^  no  longer  in  the  Netherlands,  the  Queen 
seemed  to  forget  that  there  was  a  single  Englishman 
upon  that  fatal  soil.  In  Jive  months  not-one  penny  had  been 
sent  to  her  troops.  AVhile  the  Earl  had  been  there  one 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  pounds  had  been  sent  in 
seven  or  eight  months.  After  his  departure  not  five 
thousand  pounds  were  sent  in  one  half-year  * 

The  EngHsh  soldiers,  who  had  fought  so  well  in  every 
Flemish  battle-field  of  freedom,  had  become-such  Z 
were  left  of  them-mere  famishing,  half-naked  vaga- 
bonds and  marauders.     Brave  soldiers  had  been  changed 
by  their  sovereign  into  brigands,  and  now  the  universal 
odium  which  suddenly  attached  itself  to  the  Endish 
name  converted  them  into  outcasts.  Forlorn  and  crippled 
creatures  swarmed  about  the  Provinces,  but  were  for- 
bidden  to  come  through  the  towns,  and  so  wandered 
about,  robbing  hen-roosts  and  pillaging  the  peasantry.  - 
Many  deserted  to  the  enemy.     Many  begged  their  way 
to  England  and  even  to  the  very  gates  of  the  palace, 
and  exhibited  their  wounds  and  their  misery  before  the 
eyes  of  that  good  Queen  Bess  who  claimed  to  be  the 
mother    of   her    subjects,-and   begged    for  bread  in 
>ain. 

The  English  cavalr>^  dwindled  now  to  a  body  of  five 
fiimdred  starving  and  mutinous,  made  a  foray  into  Hol- 
land, rather  as  highwaymen  than  soldiers.  Count  Maurice 
commanded  their  instant  departure,  and  Hohenlo  swore 
tnat  It,  the  order  were  not  instantly  obeyed,  he  would 

'^iE€r  rr"  ^^^^'^^^^'^:^  J' 

wiuces  to  the  (^ueen,  16  Feb.  1587,    Office  MS.)  •»  '.<.».  i. 


174 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XHI. 


1587. 


put  Mmself  at  the  head  of  his  troops  and  cut  every  man 
of  them  to  pieces.*  A  most  painful  and  humiliating 
condition  for  brave  men  who  had  been  fighting  the  battles 
of  their  Queen  and  of  the  republic,  to  behold  themselves 

through  the  parsimony  of  the  one  and  the  infuriated 

sentiment  of  the  other— compelled  to  starve,  to  rob,  or 
to  be  massacred  by  those  whom  they  had  left  their  homes 

to  defend  !  ,  ^  ,    ^ ,  .    -,   . 

At  last,  honest  AYilkes,  ever  watchful  of  his  duty,  suc- 
ceeded in  borrowing  eight  hundred  pounds  sterling  for 
two  months,  by  "pawning  his  own  carcase,"  as  he  ex- 
pressed himself.  This  gave  the  troopers  about  thirty 
shillings  a  man,  with  which  relief  they  became,  for  a 
time,  contented  and  well-disposed.* 


HONESTY  AND  ENERGY  OF  WJLKES. 


70 


«  Wilkes  to  Leicester,  12  March,  1B87. 
(MS.) 

"  Ibtd. "  So  great  is  the  lack  ofdisclpline 
among   the   garrisons,"   wrote    Wllkea, 
*•  especially  of  our  nation,  that  I   am 
ashamed  to  hoar  the  continual  complaints 
which  come  to  this  council  against  th«-m. 
And  albeit  Sir  John  Norris  and  I  have 
written  often  unto  the  captains  and  gover- 
nors to  see  reformation  had  of  the  inso- 
lences and   disorders    of    their    soldiers 
within  the  towns.  It  is  notwithstanding 
so  slenderly  respected  as  there  followeth 
no  amendment  at  all;  so  as  we  begin  to 
grow  as  hateful   to  the   people  as  the 
Spaniard    himself,    irAo    goirmetk   Aw 
toims  of  conquest  icith  a  mil'ler  hand 
than  tve  do  our  friends  and  allies.   The 
causes  hereof  we  And  to  be  two.    The 
one  Is  for  lack  of  pay,  without  which 
it  is  imp«)8sible  to  preserve   discipline 
among  the  soldiers ;  and  most  of  the  troops 
In  her  Majesty's  pay  (excepting  the  gar- 
risons of  Brill  and  Flushing)  have  not 
been  jxiid  from  the  beginning  of  St>ptem- 
ber  last,  being  now  about  live  months. 
The  other  is  lack  of  government  In  the 
captains  and  officers,  who  for  the  most 
part  are  either  such  as  never  served  before, 
and  have  no  judgment— no  not  to  rule 
themselve.^,  and  such  as  make  their  profit 
of  the  iK)or  soldiers  so  extremely  as  they 
are  liateful  to  the  companies,  wherein  if 
there  Is  no  redress,  it  were  better  her 
MiOesty  did  revoke  all ;  for,  as  the  avse  of 
the  comm«)n  soldier  now  standeth.  the 
Sutes  receive  little  or  no  service  of  them 
but  spoil  and  ruin  of  their  towns  and 


countrtes."    Wilkes  to  Walsingham,  19 
Jan.  1587.    (MS.) 

And  again  he  writes   to  the  Queen, 
about  "  the  weakness  and  confusion  to 
which  her  troops  are  reduced  for  want  of 
pay,  having  received  nothing  from  1  Sept. 
to  tliat  day  "  (16  Feb.).   "The  captains  of 
the  horsemen,"  he  says,  "are  all  In  Eng- 
land, and  thereby  the  most  of  the  compa- 
nies evil  le<i  and  governed,  committing 
dally  upon  the  villages  and  people  extreme 
spoils,  insolences,  and  mischiefs,  which, 
together  with  the  example  of  the  late 
treasons  of  Stanley  and  York,  hath  drawn 
our  nation  Into  the  hatred  of  this  people 
very  deeply,  so  as  they  are  for  the  most 
part  turned  out  of  the  towns,  and  re- 
fused to  be  taken  Into  garrison.    The 
horsemen,  destitute  of  money  and  food, 
are,    without   order,  entere<l  now  Into 
Holland  (an  unfit  place  for  their  abode), 
where  the  people  are  risen  against  them, 
and  they  to  the  number  of  500  or  600^  In 
tenns  either  themselves  to  do  mischief, 
or  themselves  to  be  cut  in  pieces  by  the 
country— a  case  very  lamentable  to  m 
thai  feel  the  grief  of  so  hard  a  choice,  and 
can  find  almost  no  way  to  prevent  the 
peril.    I  have  urged  the  Stiites  by  earnest 
letters  (myself  being  at  this  present  sick, 
by  GchVs  visitation,  to  the  danger  of  my 
life)  to  take  some  order  to  relieve  your 
people  in  this  distress,  myself  offering  my 
carouse  in  pawn,  to  answer  as  much  as 
th -y  !«hall  eat,  after  a  certain  rate.  I  find 
tl'.om  reasonably  inclined,  yet  affected  by 
t'.v- 1  iniiKvllnienta— a  strange  Jealousy,  by 
them  conceived  of  all  our  nation;  the 


Is  this  picture  e.xaggerated  ?     Is  it  drawn  by  pencils 
ho&^tile  to  the  English  nation  or  the  English  Queen  '     It 
IS  her  own  generals  and  confidential  counsellors  who 
have  told  a  story  m  all  its  painful  details,  which  has 
hardly  found  a  place  in  other  chronicles.     The  parsi- 
mony of  the  great  Queen  must  ever  remain  a  blemish 
""^-vfv  ^"^fj"^^^^^''   and   it  was  never  more   painfully 
exhibited  than  towards  her  brave  soldiers  in  Flanders 
m  the  year  1587.     Thomas  Wilkes,  a  man  of  truth,  and 
a  man  of  accounts,  had  informed  Elizabeth   that   the 
expenses  of  one  year's  war,  since  Leicester  had  been 
governor-general,  had  amounted  to  exactly  five   hun- 
dred and   seventy-nine   thousand   three    hundred   and 
sixty  pounds  and  nineteen  shillings,  of  which  sum  one 
hundred   and    forty-six   thousand   three    hundred  and 
eighty-six  pounds  and  eleven  shillings  had  been  spent 
by  her  Majesty,  and  the  balance  had  been  paid,  or  was 
partly  owing  by  the  States.'     These  were  not  agreeable 
^gures,  but  the  figures  of  honest  accountant?  rarely 
flatter  and  Wilkes  Avas  not  one  of  those  financiers  who 
have  the  wish  or  the  gift  to  make  things  pleasant.     He 
had  transmitted  the  accomits  just  as   they  had   been 
delivered,  certified  by  the  treasurers  of  the  States  and 
by  the  Enghsh  paymasters,  and  the  Queen  was  appalled 
at  the  sum-totals.     She  could  never  proceed  wit  h  such 
a  war  as  that,  she  said,  and  she  declined  a  loan  of  sixty 
thousand  pounds  which  the  States  requested,  besides 
stoutly  refusing  to  advance  her  darling  Robin  a  penny 
to  pay  off  the  mortgages  upon  two-thirds  of  his  estates, 
on  which  the  equity  of  redemption  was  fast  expirin^r 
or  to  give  him  the  slightest  help  in  furnishing  him  fortTI 
anew  for  the  wars. 

Yet  not  one  of  her  statesmen  doubted  that  these 
JSetherland  battles  were  English  battles,  almost  as  much 


other  their  own  want The  con- 
fusions are  wonderful  that  are  grown  In 
this  State  In  the  absence  of  my  Lord  of 
Leicester,  which  hath  opened  many  gaps 
U)  disoi-ders,"  &c.  Wilkes  to  the  Queen, 
16  Fob.  1587.    (.S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

And  once  more  he  writes,  "  1  saw  no 
remedy  for  them  but  to  eni?age  mj'self  for 
tome  means  to  fetil  them  until  other  order 
iiJlijUt  be  taken,  whereupon  with  the  help 


of  mine  own  credit,  and  pawn  of  my  owjx 
carcase,  to  rep<»y  at  the  end  of  two 
months  »00l.  which  I  divided  among  the 
companies  distressed,  behig  eight  in  num- 
ber, which  extended  to  thh-ty  shillings  a 
man,"  kc.  Wilkes  to  lieicester,  13 
ISIarch,  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

1  Wilkes  to  Wa[slngham,  12  Jan.  1587. 
Same  to  Burghley,  12  Jan.  1587.  (S.  P. 
Office  MSS.) 


1 

/ 


176  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XIK. 

as  if  the  fighting-ground  had  been  the  Isle  of  Wight  or 
the  coast  Sf  Kent,  the  charts  of  which  the  statesmen 
and  generals  of  Spain  were  daily  conning.  ^  ,  .    , 

Wilkes,  too,  while  defending  Leicester  stoutly  behind 
his  back,  doing  his  best  to  explain  his  shortcomings, 
landing  his  courage  and  generosity,  and  advocating  his 
beloved    theory   of    popular    sovereignty   with    much 
ingenuity  and  eloquence,  had  toid  him  the  truth  to  his 
face.     Although  assuring  him  that  if  he  came  back  soon, 
he  might  rule  the  States  *'as  a  schoolmaster  doth  his 
boys  "  '  he  did  not  fail  to  set  before  him  the  disastrous 
effects  of  his  sudden  departure  and  of  his  protracted 
absence  ;  he  had  painted  in  darkest  colours  the  results 
of  the  Deventer  treason,  ho  had  unveiled  the  cabals 
against  his  authority,  he  had  repeatedly   and  velie- 
niently  implored  his  return  ;    he  had  informed  the 
Queen  that,  notwithstanding  some  errors  of  administm- 
tion,  he  was  much  the  fittest  man  to  represent  her  m 
the  Netherlands,  and  that  he   could  accomplish,    by 
reason  of  his  experience,  more  in  three  months  than 
any  other  man  could  do  in  a  year.     He  had  done  his 
best  to  reconcile  the  feuds  which  existed  between  him 
and  important  personages  in  the  Netheriands,  he  had 
been  the  author  of  the  complimentary  letters  sent  to 
him  in  the  name  of  the  States-General— to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  the  Queen,— but  he  had  not  given  up  his 
friendship  with  Sir  John  Norris,  because  he  said  "  the 
virtues  of  the  man  made  him  as  worthy  of  love  as  any 
one  living,  and  because  the  more  he  knew  him,  the 
more  he  had  cause  to  aft*ect  and  to  admire  him. 

This  was  the  unpardonable  otfence,  and  for  this,  and 
for  having  told  the  truth  about  the  accounts,  Leicester 
denounced  Wilkes  to  the  Queen  as  a  traitor  and  a 
hypocrite,  and  threatened  repeatedly  to  take  his  lite. 
He  had  even  the  meanness  to  prejudice  Burghley  against 
him— by  insinuating  to  the  Lord-Treasurer  that  he  too 
had  been  maligned  by  Wilkes— and  thus  most  effec- 
tually damaged  the  character  of  the  plam-spoken  coun- 
cillor with  the  Queen  and  many  of  her  advisers  ;  not- 
withstanding   that    he    plaintively    besought    her    to 

lWUkc8toWabingham.17Feb.1587.    1587.    Same  to  Walsingham,  17    May. 
S.  P.  Office  MS.)  1^87.    (S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

a  ibid.    Same  to  the  Queeu,  10  Feb. 


1587.  INDIGNANT  DISCUSSION  IN  THE  ASSEMBLY.       1 77 

t 

Immediate  action  was  taken  on  the  Deventer  treason 

and  the  English  government.     Barneveld  immediatelv 
i'^^'o  "P  ^  '<=^«'e  l«"er  to  the  Earl  of  Lei^^ter     On 
the  2nd  February  Wilkes  came  by  chance  ![;  *^^ 
assembly  of  the  States-General  with  the   rest   of 
councillors,    and    found    Barneveld    i„st    dom,f  ^• 
'.  T..  \h°^  """'  '■"'^  ^""^  ■"^'1«  ^  few  remarks 

he  obsenod  -T'  '*-^''  '}^'P'n->on  his  Excellency," 
ne  oDser\ed.  Ihere  is  not  a  word  in  it,"  answered 
Barneveld  curtly,  "that  is  not  perfectly  trut -^  and 
with  this  he  cut  the  matter  short,  and  made  a  lon^ 
Temur"  other  matters  which  Were  theT JeVre  "th! 

Wilkes,  very  anxious  as  to  the  effect  of  the  letter 
both  upon  public   feeling   in   En-land  and  T.L,?  ;^^' 

ZnTS  Tr  ^"S"^— "^"ftedtSate'y 
pon  C  ount  Maurice,  President  van  der  Jlyle    and 

pon  A  illiers  the  clergyman,  and  implored  thei^rintot 
position  to  prevent  the   tmnsmissioi  of  the  em"  le 
They  promised  to  make  an  effort  to  delay  its  de^m  ch 

ever    wl  E*",  '''  'T'  ■  ^  ''''*^'^'^'  afLwlrt  'w 
/.if  .    V-  ^  learned  with  dismay  that  the  ducimpnt 
pho  leading  passages  of  which  will  be  given  Wter 
had  been  sent  to  its  destination."  "eieattei; 

Meantime,  a    consultation   of  civilians    and    nf  <l,„ 
family  council  of  Count  Maurice  wa    held  "nd  U  was 

.-"■  (s.l.  Snl^Msr™'  "  ^'■'^•'  '^*  °f"^"^- "  "■'■^  ""  '"'•  '-- 

«■- r.^  -■>  proved  by  wE    Z    vir^r-M",    "''  "^  ^^  '"■  '^'"«'"-^- 

N 


1 


178 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIII. 


Ilolienlo  for  liis  lieutenant-general.*  That  formidable 
personage,  now  fully  restored  to  health,  made  himself 
veiT  busy  in  securing  towns  and  garrisons  for  the  party 
of  Holland,  and  in  cashiering  all  functionaries  sus- 
pected of  English  tendencies.  Especially  he  became 
most  intimate  with  Count  ISIoeurs,  stadholder  of  Utrecht 

the  hatred  of  which  individual  and  his  wife  towards 

Leicester  and  the  English  nation,  springing  originally 
from  the  unfortunate  babble  of  Otheman,  had  gro\NTi 
more  intense  than  ever,— " banqueting  and  feasting" 
with  him  all  day  long,  and  concocting  a  scheme,  by 
which,  for  certain  considerations,  the  pnjvmce  of 
Utrecht  was  to  be  annexed  to  Holland  under  the  per- 
petual stadholderate  of  Prince  Maurice. 

*  Meuren.  xiv.  250.    Wagcnaar,  vUl.  204.    Reyd,  vl.  100. 


1587. 


LEICESTER  L\  ENGLAND. 


179 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Leicester  in  England -Trial  of  the  Queen  vf  Scots- Fearful  Pon^l^xitv  at  the 
Kng  ..h  Court  -  I.ifatuation  and  Obstinacy  of  the  gt.een-  NetiuTla  d  Ernlyl 
m  Kugl.uid- Queen's  bitter  Invective  against  them-AmaJn"nt  o  1 
hnvoy.  -  1  hoy  a^nsult  with  her  chief  Councillors  -  Ke.narks  of  l>,„rd,lev  Z 
bavison^Jourthof  February  Letter  from  the  States -Its  severe  Lan^Ce 
towards  Uu-ester- Painful  position  of  the  Envoys  at  Court  -  Queen's!  "S 
luony  towards  Leicester.  W^it-en  b  i  aisi- 

The    scene   shifts  for  a    brief   interval   to    En-ltnd 
Leicester  had  reached  the  court  late  in  November    Those 
•'  blessed  beams,"  under  whose  shade  he  was  wont  to 
find  so  much  -refreshment  and  nutrition,"  had  again 
fallen  with  lull  radiance  upon  him.     -Never  since  I 
was  born       s^aid  he,  -did  I  receive  a  .more  gracious 
welcome.       Alas  !  there  was  not  so  much  boniLmity  for 
the  starving  English  soldiers,  nor  for  the    IWinces 
which  were  fast  growing  desperate  ;  but  althoucrh  their 
ciiuse  was    so    intimately    connected  with  the  "  e-re^t 
cause,"  which  then   occupied  Elizabeth,  almost  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  matter,  it  was,  perhai-s,  not  wonder- 
liil,  although  unfortunate,  that  for  a  time  the  N  etheriands 
should  be  neglected. 

The  -  daughter  of  debate  "  had  at  last  brought  her- 
self, It  was  supposed,  witliin  the  letter  of  the  law  and 
now  began  those  odious  scenes  of  hypocrisy  on  the  i.art 
of  Elizabeth  that  frightful  comedy-more  melancholv 
even  than  the  solemn  tragedy  which  it  preceded  and 
ollowed--which  nuKst  ever  remain  the  darkest  passage 
in  the  history  ot  the  Queen.  It  is  unnecessary,  iu  these 
pages,  to  make  more  than  a  passing  allusion  to  the  con- 
demnation and  death  of  the  Queen  of  Scots.  Who 
aoiibts  her  participation  in  the  Babington  conspiracy  ^ 
Who  doubts  that  she  was  the  centre  of  one  endless  con- 
.-piracy  by  fepain  and  Kome  against  the  throne  and  life 

in  1^^     1  •     ^^^'^.  ^r'^^'  ^^''"^  ^^^  ^^"g  imprisonment 
n  England  was  a  violation  of  all  law,  all  mstice    all 

Jiumaiuty?     Mho  doubts    that   the    fining, \vhippinsl 

»  Leicester  to  Wilkes.  4  Dec.  1&87.  (S.  P.  Office  MS ) 

.V  2 


I 


180 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


torturing,  lianging,  embowelling  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  guilty  of  no  other  crime  than  adhesion  to  the 
Catholic  faith,  had  assisted  the  Pope  and  Philip,  and 
their  band  of  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  conspirators,  to 
shake  Elizabeth's  throne  and  endanger  her  life  ?  Who 
doubts  that,  had  the  English  sovereign  been  capable  of 
conceiving  the  gi'eat  thought  of  religious  toleration,  her 
i*eign  would  have  been  more  glorious  than  it  was,  the 
cause  of  Protestantism  and  freedom  more  triumphant, 
the  name  of  Elizabeth  Tudor  dearer  to  human  hearts  ? 
Who  doubts  that  there  were  many  enlightened  and 
noble  spirits  among  her  Protestant  subjects  who  lifted 
up  their  voices,  over  and  over  again,  in  parliament  and 
out  of  it,  to  denounce  that  wicked  persecution  exercised 
upon  their  innocent  Catholic  brethren,  which  was  fast 
converting  loyal  Englishmen,  against  their  will,  into 
traitors  and  conspirators  ?  Yet  who  doubts  that  it  would 
have  required,  at  exactly  that  moment,  and  in  the  midst 
of  that  crisis,  more  elevation  of  soul  than  could  fairly 
be  predicated  of  any  individual,  for  Elizabeth  in  1587 
to  pardon  Mary,  or  to  relax  in  the  severity  of  her  legis- 
lation towards  English  Papists  ? 

Yet,  although  a  display  of  sublime  virtue,  such  as  the 
world  has  rarely  seen,  was  not  to  be  expected,  it  was 
reasonable  to  look  for  honest  and  royal  dealing  from  a 
great  sovereign  brought  at  last  face  to  face  with  a  great 
event.  The  *'  great  cause  "  demanded  a  great,  straight- 
forward blow.  It  was  obvious,  however,  that  it  would 
be  difficult,  in  the  midst  of  the  tragedy  and  the  comedy, 
for  the  Netherland  business  to  come  fairly  before  her 
Majesty.  *' Touching  the  Low  Country  causes,"  said 
Leicester,  "very  little  is  done  yet,  by  reason  of  the 
continued  business  we  have  had  about  the  Queen  of 
Scots'  matters.  All  the  speech  I  have  had  with  her 
Majesty  hitherto  touching  those  causes  hath  been  but 
private."^  Walsingham,  longing  for  retirement,  not 
only  on  account  of  *'  his  infinite  grief  for  the  death  of 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,  which  hath  been  the  cause,"  he  said, 
"  that  I  have  ever  since  betaken  myself  into  solitariness, 
and  withdrawn  from  public  affairs,"  but  also  by  reason 
of  the  perverseness  and  difficulty  manifested  in  the 
gravest  affairs  by  the  sovereign  he  so  faithfully  served, 

>  Leicester  to  Wilkes.  4  Dec.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1587. 


TRIAL  OF  THE  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


181 


sent  "ifomation  that,  notwithstanding  the  arrival  of 
some  of  the  States'  deputies,  Leicester  was  persuadino- 
her  Majesty  to  proceed  first  in  the  great  cause.  "  Ce  °- 
tam  principal  persons,  chosen  as  committees,"  he  said 
of  both  Houses  are  sent  as  humble  suitors  to  hei^ 
Majesty,  t^o  desire  that  she  would  be  pleased  to  ffive 
order  for  the  execution  of  the  Scottish  Queen.  Her 
Majesty  made  answer  that  she  was  loath  to  proceed  in 
80  violent  a  course  against  the  said  Qneen  as  the  taking 
away  of  her  life,  and  therefore  prayed  them  to  think  of 

LTt?  Thr^  "r".^  "^'^^^  ^'  '''  ''''  ^-^  -^  '^^ 
safety      They  replied,  no  other  way  but  her  execution 

Her  Majesty,  though  she  yielded  no  answer  to  this  their 
latter  reply,  is  contented  to  give  order  that  the  procla- 
mation  be  published,  and  so  also  it  is  hoped  that  she 
will  be  moved  by  this  their  earnest  instanc^e  to  proceed 
to  the  thorough  ending  of  the  cause."* 

And  so  the  cause  went  slowly  on  to  its  thoroucrh  end- 

Wfo  /'l''A?"^''^•^/^"^^"^>^"  ^^"1^  ^^  thought  of 
but  to  take  Mar/s  life,  and  when  "no  other  way"  of 

taking  that  life  could  be  -devised,"  at  Elizabeth's  suo-- 
geshon,  except  by  public  execution,  when  none  of  the 
gentlemen  -  of  the  association,"  nor  Paulet  nor  Dnir^ 
--how  skilfully  soever  their  -pulses  had  been  felt  "^  by 
f.Zl  n'  ^^"^^^'^d-would  commit  assassination  to 
serve  a  Queen  who  was  capable  of  punishing  them  after- 
wards for  the  murder,  the  great  cause  lime  to  its 
inevitable  cone  usion  and  Mary  Stuart  was  executed  by 
comniand  of  Elizabeth  Tudor.  The  worid  may  continue 
to  differ  as  to  the  necessity  of  the  execution,  but  it  has 
long  since  pronounced  a   unanimous   verdict  as  to  the 

3^1  W  'P>^  "^-""^'"^  ^^Snity  by  the  two  Queens 
upon  that  great  occasion. 

vit^rti^'f  ^^''  'f*'"!?^  the  Netherland  matter,  almost  as 
Tital  to  England  as  the  execution  of  Mary,  was  comna. 
ratively  neglected.     It  was  not  absolutel?  n  TheZle 

stiite  .ff  "''\t".''  *^^.  ^"^^^'«  "-^  colouredCrv 
^xtou!7  "^^^  ''I  *'^^'  ^"^^-     ^^ii-abeth,   harassed, 

querade  T"^'"^^  ^I"'^''  ""^  ^^^^^'^"^  ^  horrible  masl 
?^r  1  7f  '"^  *^^  ^'^^st  possible  temper  to  be 
approached  by  the  envoys.     She  was  furious  with  ihl 

»  Walsingham  to  Wllkes.  3  Dec.  1586.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
>  Davison,  in  Camden,  iii.  39a. 


I 


182 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CiiAP.  XIV. 


I 


Netherlanders  for  having  maltreated  her  favourite.  She 
was  still  more  furious  because  their  war  was  costing  so 
much  money.  Her  disposition  became  so  uncertain,  her 
temper  so  ungovernable,  as  to  drive  her  counsellors  to 
their  wits'  ends.  Burghley  confessed  himself  "  wearj- 
of  his  miserable  life,"  and  protested  '*that  the  only 
desire  he  had  in  the  world  was  to  be  delivered  from  the 
ungrateful  burthen  of  service,  which  her  IMajesty  laid 
upon  him  so  very  heavily."  *  Walsingham  wished  him- 
self "  well  established  in  Basle."  *  The  Queen  set  them 
all  together  by  the  ears.  She  wrangled  spitefully  oyer 
the  sum- totals  from  the  Netherlands;  she  worried 
licicester,  she  scolded  Burghley  for  defending  Leicester, 
and  Leicester  abused  Burghley  for  taking  part  against 

him." 

The  Lord-Treasurer,  overcome  with  "grief  which 
pierced  both  his  body  and  his  heart,"  battled  his  way— 
as  best  he  could— through  the  throng  of  dangers  which 


1  Burghley  to  Leicester,  1  Feb.  1587. 
(Brit.  Mus.  Giilha.  C.  xi.  252.    MS.) 

2  Walsingham  to  Wilkes,  2  May,  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  Burghley  to  I.«icester.    (MS.  before 
cited.) 

"  Your  TiOrdship  is  greatly  ofTended," 
said    the    Lord    Treasurer,     "  lor    my 
eiM-eches    iu    her   Miyesty's    presence. 
What  you   conceive,  my  good  Lord,  Is 
best  known  to  yourself;  what  I  meant 
k  best  known  to  me  :  and- 1  do  avow  in 
the   presence   of  God   that  I  no   more 
meant  to  offend    you    in  any  thing  1 
spoke  than  I  meant  to  offend  the  beat 
and   dearest  friend  I    can    imagine   in 
England.     And  yet  her  Majesty  many 
times    chargeth   me    that  I  conceit,  I 
flatter,  I  dare  not  si>eak  anything  that 
you  should    mislike.     1  stte  my  hard 
fortune  continueth  to  be  subject  to  your 
doubtful  opinion,  howsoever  i  do  b<*have 
myself.    ....    You  believe  me  to 
have  moved  her  Majesty  to  be  offended 
wifh  you  for  lack  of  your  pn curing  a 
more  certainty  of  the  expenses  and  ac- 
counts of  the  last  year's  charges  on  the 
Sutes'  behalf.    .    .    .     But  1  never  did 
say,  nor  mean  to  say,  that  j'our  Lordship 
ought  to  be  blamed  for  tho«e  accounts ; 
for  I  did  say,  and  do  still  say,  that  their 
accounts  are  obscure,  confused,  and  with- 
out credit.  .    I  say  that  they  ought 


to  have  been  commanded  by  your  au- 
thority to  have  refonued  the  Simie,  and 
made  your  Lordship  more  privy  to  their 
doings.    For  not  doing  so  1  condemned 
them,  and  not  your  Lord^hip,  who  had 
so  often  complained  tliat  you  wore  not 
better  obeyed  by  them  in  those  points. 
And  so  your  Lordship  did  fully  answer 
my  speeches,  and  1  also  did  atliim  the 
same  by  often  repetition  to  her  ]M;ycsty 
that  both  in  that  as  in  many  other  thinirs 
the  States  had  grossly  and  most  rudely 
encotmtered   your   Lordship.     And    al- 
though  her   Majesty   was   disposed   to 
leave  the  cause  unrelieved,  persisting  on 
her  misliking  of  the  accounts,  and  so  to 
take  occasion  to  deny  their  requesb*,  yet 
1  trust  that  your  Ijordship  and  the  rest 
did  see  how  earnest  I  was  to  draw  her 
Majesty  from  these    reckonings   of  ex- 
penses, and  to   take  regard  to  the  cause 
which  /  said  and  do  my  u  ay  vot  vow  be 
hjt  at  ratidvmfor  raipert  to  any  charges. 
1  do  persist  iu  the  opinion  that  her  Ma- 
jesty may  not  abandon  the  cause  with- 
out manifest  injury  to  her  state,  as  the 

caae  and  time  now  forceth  her 

Your  I..ordship  hath  seen  and  beard  her 
tax  me  very  sharply,  that  in  not  ap- 
plauding to  her  censures,  I  do  commonly 
flatter  you ;  and  that  I  do  against  m? 
conscience  hold  opinions  to  please  you — 
a  very  bard  cose  held  against  me." 


1587.    FE.^RFUL  PERPLEXITY  AT  THE  ENGLISH  COURT.    183 

beset  the  path  of  England  in  that  great  crisis.  It  was 
most  obvious  to  every  statesman  in  the  realm  that  this 
was  not  the  time— when  the  gauntlet  had  been  thrown 
full  in  the  face  of  Philip  and  Sixtus  and  all  Catholicism, 
by  the  condemnation  of  Mary— to  leave  the  Netherland 
cause  "  at  random,"  and  these  outer  bulwarks  of  her 
own  kingdom  insufficiently  protected. 

**  Your  Majesty  will  hear,"  wrote  Tarma  to  Philip, 
*'  of  the  disastrous,  lamentable,  and  pitiful  end  of  the 
poor  Queen  of  Scots.     Although  for  her  it  will  be  im- 
mortal glory,  and  she  will  be  placed  among  the  number 
of  the  many  martyrs  whose  blood  has  been  shed  in  the 
kingdom  of  England,  and  be  crowned  in  heaven  with  a 
diadem  more  precious  than  the  one  she  wore  on  earth, 
nevertheless  one  cannot  repress  one's  natural  emotions! 
I  believe  firmly  that  this  cruel  deed  will  be  the  con- 
cluding crime  of  the  many  which  that  Englishwoman 
has  committed,  and  that  our  Lord  will  be  pleased  that 
she  shall  at  last  receive  the  chastisement  which  she  has 
these  many  long  years  deserved,  and  which  has  been 
reserved   till  now  for  her  greater  ruin  and  confusion."  ' 
And  with  this,  the  Duke  proceeded  to  discuss  the  all- 
important  and  rapidly  preparing  invasion  of  England. 
FaiTiese  was  not  the  man  to  be  deceived  by  the  affected 
reluctance  of  Elizabeth  before  Mary's  scaflbld,  although 
he  was  soon  to  show  that  he  was  himself  a  master  in  the 
science   of  grimace.     For  Elizabeth— more  than  ever 
disposed  to  be  friends  with  Spain  and  Kome,  now  that 
war  to  the  knife  was  made  inevitable— was  wistfully 
regarding  that  trap  of  negotiation,  against  which  all 
her  best  friends  were  endeavouring  to  warn  her.     She 
was  more  ill-natured  than  ever  to  the  Provinces,  she 
turned   her   back    upon   the   B^amese,    she    affronted 
Henr}'  III.   by  affecting  to  believe  in  the  fable  of  his 
envoy's  complicity  in  the  Stafford  conspiracy  against 
her  life.* 

^^  "I  pray  God  to  open  her  eyes,"  said  Walsingham, 
*'to  see  ihQ  evident  peril  of  the  course  she  nowholdeth. 
.  .  If  it  had  pleased  her  to  have  followed  the  advice  given 

/A  ^u^'^  *°  ^"'P  '^  •  ^2  ^^'*'"'^^'  ^^S'-  P'"*-  »*  ^e  Lord-Treasurer's  house,'  12 

5  .  rU^  Sunancas,  MS.)  Jan.  1587.  in  Murdin,  579-583.    Compare 

iJeclaration     of    the    Negotiations  Mignet,    'Hist,    de  Marie  Stuart,'  3rd 

with  the  French  Ambassador,  I'Aubes-  edition,  ii.  344  seq. 


184 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


her  touching  the  French  ambassador,  our  ships  had  been 
released  .  .  .  but  she  has  taken  a  very  stmnge  course 
by  writing  a  very  ^harp  letter  unto  the  French  King, 
which  I  fear  will  cause  hiui  to  give  ear  to  those  of  the 
League,  and  make  himself  a  party  with  them,  seeing  so 
little  regard  had  to  him  here.  Your  Lordship  may  see 
that  our  coumge  doth  greatly  increase,  for  that  we  make 
no  difficulty  to  fall  out  with  all  the  world.  ...  I  never 
saw  her  worse  affected  to  the  poor  King  of  Navarre, 
and  yet  doth  she  seek  in  no  sort  to  yield  contentment 
to  the  French  King.  If  to  offend  all  the  world," 
repeated  the  Secretary  bitterly,  "  be  a  good  cause  of 
government,  then  can  we  not  do  amiss.  ...  I  never 
found  her  less  disposed  to  take  a  course  of  prevention 
of  the  approaching  mischiefs  towards  this  realm  than  at 
this  present.  And,  to  bo  plain  with  you,  there  is  none 
here  that  hath  either  credit  or  courage  to  deal  effectually 
with  her  in  any  of  her  great  causes."  * 

Thus  distracted  by  doubta  and  dangers,  at  war  with 
her  best  friends,  with  herself,  and  with  all  the  world, 
was  Elizabeth  during  the  dark  days  and  months  which 
preceded  and  followed  the  execution  of  the  Scottish 
Queen.  If  the  great  fight  was  at  last  to  be  fought 
triumphantly  through,  it  was  obvious  that  England  was 
to  depend  upon  Englishmen  of  all  ranks  and  classes, 
upon  her  prudent  and  far-seeing  statesmen,  upon  her 
nobles  and  her  adventurers,  on  her  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Anglo-Norman  blood  ever  mounting  against  oppression, 
on  Howard  and  Essex,  Drake  and  Williams,  N orris  and 
Willoughby,  upon  highborn  magnates,  plebeian  cap- 
tains, London  merchants,  upon  yeomen  whose  limbs 
were  made  in  England,  and  upon  Hollanders  and 
Zeelanders  whose  fearless  mariners  were  to  swarm  to 
the  protection  of  her  coasts,  quite  as  much  in  that  year 
of  anxious  expectation  as  upon  the  great  Qiieen  herself. 
Unquestionable  as  were  her  mental  capacity  and  her 
more  than  woman's  courage,  when  fairly  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  danger,  it  was  fortunately  not  on  one 
man  or  woman's  brain  and  arm  that  England's  salvation 
depended  in  that  crisis  of  her  fate. 

As  to  the  Provinces,  no  one  ventured  to  speak  very 


>  WalBingham  to  Leicester.   8  April.    (Drit.    Mus. 
1587.     Saiue    to  same,   10  April,   1587.    MSS.) 


Galba,    C.    xL     319-321 


1537.     INFATUATION  AND  OBSTINACY  OF  THE  QUEEN.     185 

bcldly  in  their  defence.  «  ^Vhen  I  lay  before  her  the 
penl,  said  Walsmgham,  -she  scometh  at  it.  The 
liope  of  a  peace  with  Spain  has  put  her  into  a  most  dan- 
gerous Becunty. '^  Nor  would  any  man  now  assume 
responsibility.  The  fate  of  Davison-of  the  man  who 
had  already  m  so  detestable  a  manner  been  made  the 
scapegoat  for  Leicester's  sins  in  the  Netherlands  and 
who  had   now   b  13^^^^^.^^^^^  sacrificed  bv  the 

Queen  for  faithfully  obeying  her  orders  in  regard  to  the 
death-warrant,  had  sickened  all  courtiers  and  counsellors 
for  he  time.  "  The  late  severe  dealing  used  by  her 
Highness  towards  Mr.  Secretary  Davison,"  said  AA'al- 
smgham  to  ^Vilkes,  -maketh  us  ver>'  circumspect  and 
careful  not  to  proceed  in  anything  but  wherein  we 
receive  direction  from  herself,  and  therefore  you  must 
not  hnd  it  strange  if  we  now  be  more  sparing  than  liere- 
tofore  hath  been  accustomed."  * 

Such  being  the  portentous  state  of  the  political  atmos- 
phere, and  such  the  stormy  condition  of  the   «.,    ,,  «, 
royal  mmd    it  may  be  supposed  that  the  in-  Ti^T^ 
terviews  of  the  Netherland  envoys  with  her        ^^^'• 
Majesty  during  this  period  were  not  likely  to  be  genial 
±.xactly  at   the   most   gloomy  moment-thirteen  days 
before  the  execution  of  Mar>^-they  came  first  into  Eli- 
zabeth  s  presence  at  Greenwich.^ 

r^^V''7\T''^  ^""^  '"^  ^"^^^^^'  ^^1  ^^  them  expe- 
rienced and  able  statesmen -Zuylen  van  N>-^relt  Joos 
de  Menyn,  Nicasius  de  Silla,  Jacob  Valck,^Tnd  YiL 
van  Kamminga.^  The  Queen  was  in  the  privy  councn! 
chamber  attended  by  the  admiral  of  England,  Lord 
Ihomas  Howard  Lord  Hunsdon,  great- chaiuberlain,  Sir 
Christopher  Hatton,  vice-chamberlain.  Secretary  Davi- 
son and  many  other  persons  of  distinction. 

llie  letters  of  credence  were  duly  presented  but  it 
w^  obvious  from  the  beginning  of^h^  intervL  tlat 
hVA  ^  .  T  T  ^^^-^.^''^P^s^d  towards  the  deputies,  and 
nad  not  only  been  misinformed  as  to  mattei-s  of  fact,  but 

^^^  Walsingham  to  Leicester.  Sec.  MS.    Conipare  Bor.  i,.  «ii.  ,n  ,e^.    Wage 
J  ur  I  ."    .  naar,  viii.  214  tea 

.a«    ^n.XMs?'"'    "  ^'"''  <,.:  ■"™'-»  '-  'P*-!"""^  of   Dort; 

»BriefvanrtA«J      .      .  ^  '^'lla.  Pensionary  of  Amsterdam ;  Valck 

BnefvandeGedeputeerdenultEng.  member   of   the    state-council.    Wagt' 

land,  -3  Feb.  1687.    (Hague  Arch.,  MS.)  °"*'''  ''^^-  ^92. 


180 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


as  to  the  state  of  feeling  of  the  Netherlanders  and  of  the 
States-General  towards  hereelf.^  . 

Menyn,  however,  who  was  an  orator  by  professicn— 
iDeing  pensionary  of  Dort-made,  in  the  name  of  his 
colleagues,  a  brief  but  pregnant  speeeh    to  ^vhic-h  the 
Qneen  listened  attentively,  although  with  frequent  indi- 
cations of  anger  and  impatience.     He  commenced  by 
obsei-ving  that  the  United  Provinces  still  entertained  he 
hope  that  her  IVIajesty  would  conclude,  upon  furtlier 
tUoushts,  to  accept  the  sovereignty  over  them,  with  7Ta. 
somll  conditions  ;  but  the  most  important  passages  of  his 
address  were   those   relating  to  the  cost  of  the  ^  ar. 
"  Besides  our  stipulated  contributions,     said  the  P'^n- 
sionary,  "  of  200,000  florins  the  month,  we  have  tur- 
nished  500,000  as  an  extraordinary  grant;  making  lor 
the  year  2,900,000  florins,  and  this  over  and  above  the  par- 
ticular and  special  expenditures  of  the  Provinces,  and 
other  sums  for  militaiy  purposes.     We  confess,  Madam, 
that  the  succour  of  your  Majesty  is  a  truly  royal  one, 
and  that  there  have  been  few  pnnces  m  history  who 
have  given  such  assistance  to  their  neighbours  unjusly 
oppresed.     It  is  certein  that  by  means  of  that  help 
ioined  with  the  forces  of  the  United  Provinces,  the  Earl 
of  Leicester  has  been  able  to  arrest  the  course  of  the 
Duke  of  Parma  s  victories  and  to  counteract  his  designs. 
>s  evertheless,  it  appears,  IVIadam,  that  these  forces  have 
not  been  sufficient  to  drive  the  enemy  out  of  the  country. 
We  are  obliged,  for  regular  gam  son- work  and  defence 
of  cities,  to  keep  up  an  army  of  at  least  27,000  foot  and 
3500  horse.     Of  this  number  your  Majesty  pays  5000 
foot  and  1000  horse,  and  we  are  now  commissioned, 
Madam,  humbly  to  request  an  increase  o^  }'^;j;;^^^g"^^^' 
succour  during  the  war  to  10,000  foot  and  2000  horse. 
We  also  implore  the  loan  of  60,000/.  steriing,  in  order 
to  assist  us  in  maintaining  for  the  coming  season  a  sufti- 

cient  force  in  the  field."  **  .        ^         .  y.^ 

Such  in  brief,  was  the  oration  of  pensionary  Menyn, 
delivered  in  the  French  language.  He  had  scarcely  con- 
cluded, when  the  Queen— evidently  m  a  great  passion  -- 
rose  to  her  feet,  and,  without  any  hesitation,  replied  m 
a  strain  of  vehement  eloquence  in  the  same  tongue. 

I  Letter  of  the  Deputies   last   cited.    Greenwich.    (lY^'lf^jr^^-^^f}..^  „.,. 
(Hague  Archives.  MS.)  '  "  Z^"  gealtereert.    M.b.  Letter.  t*b. 

>  Diacours   de    Menin  —  Audience   a    mp 


1587.  NETHERLAND  ENVOYS  IN  ENGLAND.  187 

,^.  *7T  I  ft  '"''^  ^^^^^^;^d,  gentlemen,"  she  said,  -  and 
that  which  I  have  been  fearing  has  occurred.     Our  com 
mon  adage,  which  we  have  in  England,  is  a  very  ^o^d 

It  arrives  tJio  better.  Here  is  a  quarter  of  a  year  tb-it  T 
have  been  expecting  yon,  and  certainly,  for  the  great 
benefit  I  have  conferred  on  yon,  yon  have  cxhibi^d  a 
great  mgmtitnde,  and  I  consider  myself  very  ill  treated 
^y  >•»«•.  Tis  very  strange  that  you  sLnld  begin  uZlt 
« tng  still  greater  succonr  without  rendering  litany 
satisfaction  lor  yonr  past  actions,  which  have  been  so 
extraordinary,  that  I  swear  by  the  living  God  I  think  H 
impassible  to  find  peoples  or  states  more  nngra  eful  oi- 
ill-advised  than  yourselves 

,J„^''^.''Z^y''^^!^^^ye^rmeen,  sixteen,  aye  seven- 
teen  or  eighteen  thousand  men.  You  have  left  them 
without  payment,  you  have  let  some  of  them  d  e  of 
Wp^'h'  "^T^" /the"^  to  such  despemtion  that  ftev 
have  deserted  to  the  enemy.  Is  it  not  mortifyin..  for 
the  English  nation  and  a  great  shame  for  /ou  that 
Englishmen  should  say  that  they  have  found  more  cour 
tesy  from  Spaniards  than  from  Netherlanders  ?    Tn.?y 

nities  Rather  will  I  act  according  to  my  will  and  von 
may  do  exactly  as  you  think  best.  ^         '  ^  ^"^ 

"  ^^i^l^of ,  I  could  do  something  ver^-  good  without 
.ron,  although  some  persons  are  so  fond  ?f  slyTng  that 

Xlhe  1°'T"?  ^'^'"  '^'  Q"^*^"  «f  EngLfto  do 
«hat  she  does  for  her  own  protection.  Ko,  no  t  Dis- 
abuse yourselves  of  that  impression.  These  are  but 
Mse  persuasions.     Believe  boldly  that  I  can   play  an 

o„Tth.°n  f ""  "i-5°"*-  r^^  '«^'«*-««'  -"d  ^  ^«tter 
one  than  1  ever  did  witli  it.'     Nevertheless    I  do  not 

choose  to  do  that,  nor  do  I  wish  you  so  m';ch  harm 

laf.,  'T'"  ^'^  \"".*  "^^"'^  '^^^  y°"  ^^O'-W  hold  s™h 
language  to  me.  It  is  true  that  I  should  not  wish  the 
Spaniarf  so  near  me  if  he  should  be  my  enemy     C 

to  each  other?  At  the  commencement  of  my  reitrn  we 
lived  honourably  together,  the  King  of  Spain^dl^and 


I 


188  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XIV. 

h^  pvpn  asked  me  to  marry  him,  and,  after  that,  we  lived 
^lon'timeve,;  peacefully,  without  any  attempt  having 
Len  made  against  my  life.     H  we  both  choose,  we  can 

•=°  "tnX  o?htrhand,  I  sent  yon  the  Earl  of  Leicester. 
a«  lientenant  of  my  forces,  and  ^y^^^'^^^'^^^^^'^^^ 
he  shonld  have  exact  knowledge  of  yo""^  A"^^;^^;^"/^ 
contributions.      But,    on   the   contrary     1  ^   ^as   ne^  er 
known   anything   about  them,   and  you  ha^e  hanUlca 
them  in  your  own  manner  and  amongst  yourselves.  \  ou 
hate  gVen  him  the  title  of  governor    m  order,  under 
thb  nfme,  t»  cast  all  your  evils  on  his  head      That  title 
he  accepted  against  my  will,  ty^doing  which  he^n  the 
risk  of  losing  his  life,  and  his  estates,  and  the  grace  ana 
f  ,™,.r  of  his  Princess,  which  was  more  important  to 
him  thTn  an      But  he  did  it  in  order  to  maintain  your 
^  ttoriTstate      And  what  authority,  I  pray  you,  have 
™u  gfvL  ht  ?     A  shadowy  authority,,  a  pure  y  ima- 
ginary one.     This  is  but  mockery.     He  is   at  any  rate 
a  gentleman,  a  man  of  honour ^d  of  counsel.     \  on  had 
no  right  to  treat  him  thus.    If  I  had  accepted  the  title 
which  you  wished  to  give  me,  by  the  living  God,  I 
would  not  have  suffered  yo"  *  ^  treat  "lo. 

"  But  you  are  so  badly  advised  that  when  theie  is^ 

„an  of  worth  who  discovers  .yof  t"*^„  y^'Jji.eTf 
ill,  and  make  an  outcry  against  him ;  ^nd  j  et  some  oi 
you,  in  order  to  save  your  money,  and  others  ui  the 
Lp;  of  bribes,  have  been  favo-ng^^    Span  ard.  and 

XS  XS'wC t  ^^St^r  benefit  wi.i  to 
roturi  me  so  much  evil.  Believe,  boldly  too,  that  the 
K^n^of  Sp^n  will  never  trust  men  who  have  abandoned 
^.nartv  to  which  they  belonged,  and  from  which  they 
^e'S^efso  manjbenefits,  and  fl  never  brieve 
a  word  of  what  they  promise  him.  ^  ^t.in  order  to  cove 
L  their  filth,  they  spread  the  ?toiy  that  the  Queen  of 
Aland  is  thinking^   tr^aungfor^pe^^^^^^  ^^^^^ 

^rSd  hav:i:So  ^^y  that  l  had  not  kept  my 

•  T:t«f  r^riTipps  must  listcii  to  Dotn  siQCS,  ana 

ZrZ  belonrwThout  breach  of  faith.'    For  they 

"     Tli^r6  is  A 


1587.      QUEEN'S  BITTER  LWECTIVE  AGAINST  THEM.         189 

transact  business  in  a  certain  way,  and  with  a  princely 
mtelhgence,  such  as  private  persons  cannot  imitate  » 
^       You  are  States,  to  be  sure,  but  private  individuals 

In  d'/f  ^  A"  P"^'!^'     ^^^"^^^^'  I  ^^^^d  never  choose 
to  do  anything  without  your  knowledge,  and  I  would 
never  allow  the  authority  which  you  ha%e  among  your 
selves   nor  your  privileges,  nor  your  statutes,  to  be  in- 
fringed.    Isor  will  I  allow  you  to  be  perturbed  in  your 
consciences.    AVhat,  then,  would  you  more  of  me  ^     You 
have  issued  a  proclamation  in  your  country  that  no  one 
IS  to  talk  of  peace.     A'ery  well,  very  goodf    But  per^Tt 
princes  hkewise  to  do  as  they  shall  think  best  for  the 
secunty  of  their  state,  provided  it  does  you  no  iniurv 
Among  us  princes  we  are  not  wont  to  make  such  lonc^ 
orations  as  you  do,  but  you  ought  to  be  content  with  tht 

$uTet7wfc*  '"^^  ^'''""'  '"^"''  ^^""'  "^^  ^"^^  ^'^^^^^^^f 

"If  1  ever  do  anything  for  you  again,  I  choose  to  be 

reated   more  honourably.      I   shal?  therefore   appoint 

some  personages  of  my  council  to  communicate  with 

}ou.     And  m  the  first  place  I  choose  to  hear  and  see  for 

tioii  about  that,  before  I  make  any  reply  to  what  you 
have  said  to  me  a^  to  greater  assistance.  And  so  I  will 
leave  you  to-day,  without  troubling  you  further.'" 

>N  ith  this  her  Majesty  swept  from  the  apartment 
leaving  the  deputies  somcNvhat  astounded  at  the  fiercJ 
but  adroit  manner  in  which  the  tables  had  for  a  moment 
been  turned  upon  them.  ^i"«iii, 

It  wa^s  certainly  a  most  unexpected  blow,  this  charge 

nmn^       fl?'  n ''"'^  ['^^  *^"  ^""^^'^^  soldiers-whose 
numbers   the   Queen   had   so   suddenly  multiplied  by 

hree-unpaid  and  unfed.     Those  Englishmen  who,  as 
ndividuals,  had  entered  the  States'  service  had  beek^ 
iiKe  all   the  other  troops— regularly  paid.     This  dis- 
tinctly appeared  from  the  statements  of  her  own  coun- 


whlch  seems  to  require  a  phrase  similar 
to  the  one  which  I  have  supplied  •  Ke- 
I-onse,'  &c.,  just  cited. 

"Car   iU    besoignent    avecq    une 

maiuere    de    fuire    et    intelligence    des 

princes,    ce    que    lea   particulicrs    ue 

tcaiiroient  faire."   Ibid. 

'  "  Eutre  nous  princes  nous  ne  scavons 


ainsi  orercomme  vous  faictes,  mais  vous 
devriez  estre  contentz  ^vecq  ce  peu  de 
parollcs  quon  vous  diet,  et  voua  as- 
seurer  la  dessus."  •  Reponse.'  &c..  just 
cited. 

3  ibid.     Compare  Bor.   ii,  xxii. 
874.    Wagcnaar,  vui.  193-194. 


873« 


I'lM) 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


1587 


AMAZEMENT  OF  THE  ENVOYS. 


sellers  and  generals.^  On  the  other  hand,  the  Queen's 
contingent,  now  dwindled  to  about  half  their  original 
number,  had  been  notoriously   unpaid  for  nearly   six 

months. 

This  has  already  been  made  sufficiently  clear  from 
the  private  letters  of  most  responsible  persons.  That 
these  soldiers  were  starving,  deserting,  and  pillaging, 
was,  alas !  too  true ;  but  the  envoys  of  the  States  hardly 
expected  to  be  censured  by  her  Majesty  because  she  had 
neglected  to  pay  her  own  troops.  It  was  one  of  the 
points  concerning  which  they  had  been  especially  en- 
joined to  complain,  that  the  English  cavalry,  converted 
into  highwaymen  by  want  of  pay,  had  been  plundering 
the  pciisantry,"  and  Ave  have  seen  that  Thomas  Wilkes 
had  "  pawned  his  carcase  "  to  provide  for  their  tempo- 
rary relief. 

With  regard  to  the  insinuation  that  prominent  per- 
Bonao-es  in  the  country  had  been  tampered  with  by  the 
enemy,  the  envoys  were  equally  astonished  by  such  an 
attack.  The  great  Deventer  treason  had  not  yet  been 
heard  of  in  England— for  it  had  occurred  only  a  week 
before  this  first  interview — but  something  of  the  kind 
was  already  feared ;  for  the  slippery  dealings  of  York 
and  Stanley  with  Tassis  and  Parma  had  long  been 
causing  painful  anxiety,  and  had  formed  the  subject  of 
repeated  remonstrances  on  the  part  of  the  States  to 
Leicester  and  to  the  (Jueen.  The  deputies  were  hardly 
prepared  therefore  to  defend  their  own  people  against 
dealhig  privately  with  the  King  of  Sj^ain.  The  only 
man  suspected  of  such  practices  was  Leicester's  own 
favourite  and  financier,  Jacques  Kingault,  whom  tlie 
Earl  had  persisted  in  employing  against  the  anj^ry 
remonstrances  of  the  States,  who  believed  hiui  to  be  a 


>  Memorial  given  by  Wilkes  to  Sir  R. 
Williams,  Feb.  1587.    (S.  I*.  Office  MS.) 

3  "  Ijes  compiigniert  Aiiglaiee*,"  wrote 
the  States-Genenil  to  Li  icester,  "  taut  de 
cheval  quo  de  pied  h  la  charge  de  S. 
M.jjeste.  ayans  delai8s«<  les  fronti^res  se 
sont  jevtez  en  HoUatide.  ou  ils  foulenl  et 
mangent  le  bon  homme  soubs  pretexte 
qu'ils  diseiit  n'avoir  re^u  aulcun  pay- 
ment en  cincq  niois.  ce  que  cause  grande 
aiteniiion   paidoiisuii   ramoiudrinbement 


des  contributions  du  Plat  Pays.  Kt 
commc  ils  tiennent  journtllcment  plu- 
sieura  propos  estrunpos  contre  la  dite 
province  d  Hollande,  et  qu'ils  y  veuillont 
iwurchasser  leur  imyom'  nt,  a  est^  trouve 
bon  de  les  faire  contenir  on  ils  sont,"  Ike. 
Sta'es-General  to  Leicester,  1  March, 
15»7.    (Hague  Archives,  MS.) 

Tlie  stattuienis  of  Wilkes  to  hitf  go- 
vernment, of  like  Import,  have  b«*en 
givtii  \u  the  notes  onpivceding  pai;eii. 


191 

Spanish   spy;    and   the   man  was  now  in  Drison    o«^ 
threatened  with  capital  punishment  ^         '  ^^ 

lo  snppose  that  Buys  or  Bameveld,  Roorda   MePt 
kerk,  or  any  other  leading  statesman  in  the  NetheViands" 
was  contemplating  a  private  arrangement  wifh  PhTl  p  II  ' 
was  as  ludicrous  a  conception  as  to  imagine  \Vals  .tliam 
a  pensioner  of  the  l>ope,  or  Cecil  in  league  wi"rtZ 
Uukc  ofGu.se.     The  end  and  aim  of  the^StatJs'  m  tv 
wa-s  war      In  war  they  not  only  saw  the  safety  of    hi 
reformed  religion,  but  the  only  means  of  n  a  nt^ l;,  ! 
.he  commercial  prosperity  of  tli  comn  onl^    f'''^;  f 
■hole  correspondence  of  the  times  shows  tha   no  poH 
tician  in  the  country  dreamed  of  peace,  either  b,  public 
or  secret  negotiation.     On  the  oflier  hand-as\v'  H  lo 
made  st> II  clearer  than  ever-the  Queen  was  Ion  Jni  t 
l-eaco  and  was  treating  for  peace  at  that  momeSro^.o 
I'nvate  agents  quite  without  the  knowledge  orthe  States 
tll^'en^C  """'''  '"'''«"^"*  '"«^--l«  -  hei  sje'echt 
Yet  if  Elizabeth  could  have  had  the  priviler^e  of 
en  ering-a_s  we  are  about  to  do-into  the  private  cabinet 
of  that  excellent  King  of  Spain,  with  whom  she  had  once 
hcen  such  good  friends,  who  had  even  sought  her  C| 

fi,  f  it"'  should  not  hve  at  peace,  she  might  have  modi- 
fied her  expressions  on  this  subject.     Certainlv  if  .1. . 

luti'rd^^'f-  I'^r^'^  t'^'^  ri'esof7pei-ast 
1  ?u  '^°-'^hich  lay  upon  that  library-table    fir 
heyond  the  seas  and  mountains,  she  would  have' per 
ce.ved  some  objections  to  the  scheme  of  °  vino^arpeC; 
with  that  diligent  letter-writer.  °      ^"^^ 

nl^nlT^P"'  '""^  v-'*"  '"'°'''°  ''°-  *he  subtle  Farnese  wis 

l"uti:,rTAHrr"'' 'iT'*^™'"^'  '^-^  fi-t-appro"  i^l 
ixccution  of  JIary    and  the  as  inevitably  impending 

destruction    ot    "that    Englishwoman"    thr3i     h^ 

schemes  of  his  master  and  himself,  she  would  have  pSd 

ess  heed  to  the  sentiments  couched  in  most  exnuR^i^ 

alian  which  Alexander  was  at  the  same  timethiZ  W 

already  somewhat  discomfited  the  dopmies" 


192 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CUAP.  XIV. 


Twn  d  W8  afterwards,  tho  five  envoys  liad  an  inter- 

the  private  apartment  of  ^^^'^^^J^^^,,  iyi„. 
.vicli  Palace.     Bu.ghley    bem  ^  P^  ^^^^^^^ 

npon  his  ted-    L«  ^«stm    Aa         ^^^^  p^.^hurst,  and 

Hunsdon,  Sir  Ch"stopuer  ""^  ^  Lord-Treasurer 

Si>rretarv  Davison,  were  present,  auu  I""  t  „♦;„  <l,ot 
proposed  that  the  conversation  should  be  '»  L^*-"' ^'^f, 
Cng  the  common  language  ^^f^^^^l^  '^Zmoi 
rri.^^  tnrnino-  over  the  leaves  of  the  leport,  a  copy  oi 

rh'ad  Sl^^derlrS  of  Leicester,  their  country 

would  not  have  been  utterly  """^d- 

"  To  all  appearance,  yes,"  replied  Menyn.  . 

"  Tint  ••  continued  1  nrghlcy,  still  running  through 
the  Ss  onhe  document,"and\ere  and  ^ere  deman^^^^^^ 
an  explanation  of  an  obscure  passage  or  two      j  ou  a^e 

?So7=Tn^^o^s^or%^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

2000  ^I'O'^^'  •?"_„„_:,„  Nobodu  tciK  ever  dare  even  to 
monstrous  and  oxcchsi\e.  ^'.  "^•^  ,,.,^„  ,„„£„*  „ame 
fiieak  to  her  Majesty  on  the  subject,  ^\hen  jou  hrst  came 
?^,  ro.  '  ,  asked  for  12,000  men,  but  you  were  fuUj 
in  1585,  jou  asKea  w'       •  ,  ^^  ^j^j  j    tj^o  case 

autliorized  to  accept  COOO.     INo  Qouot  luai. 

""^n  that  occasion,"  answered  Menyn  "o"r  main 
^n,™so  was  to  induce  her  Majesty  to  accept  the 
^3^niTv  01  "at  least  the  perpetual  protection  of  our 
Tm  tT  FaWng  in  that,  wUroached  the  thud  point 

Tnd l^-beliig  able  to  get  12  000  -1^?^ -?  ^^Slon 
for   5000,. the  ^f ~t  b^ng^jl^ect^    .^^^^^^^^^ 
by  our  principals.      We  ga%o  ^P'«  ^^   ^^         ^^ 

of  the  mortgaged  cities,     liut  expeiience  i^  = 
^LltiiZ  forces  and  this  succour  are  insufficient,     ^\o 
£1  therefore  been  sent  to  beg  her  Majesty  to  make  up 
the  coX-ent  to  the  amount  originally  requested. 
"Rut  we  are  obliged  to  increase  the  garnsons  in  the 
liut  we  are  ^""h  „  ^    Engl  sh  councillors, 

rautionarv  towns,    saul  one  oi  tu"  •""&  i.»4i„  » 

^'^  800  men  in  a  city  like  Flushing  ai^  very  little. 
^ Pardon  me,'' replied  Valck,  "the  burghers  are  not 

^  Rapport  deU  Legation.    Conference    M..^  Feb.    1587.     (Hague    Archive., 
des  Deputes  avec  les  Commissaires  de  S.    ^^ )  i  Ibid. 


1587.    THEY  CONSULT  WITH  HER  CHIEF  COUNCILLORS.   193 

enemies  but  friends  to  her  Majesty  and  to  the  English 
itation.  Ihey  are  her  dutiful  subjects,  like  aU  the  in- 
liabitants  of  the  Netherlands." 

-It  is  quite  true  "  said  Burghley,  after  having  made 
some  critical  remarks  upon  the  military  system  of  the 
1  rovmces,  "  and  a  very  common  adage,  quod  tunc  tua  re, 
agitur,  panes  cum  proximus  ardet,  but,  nevertheless  this 
war  principally  concerns  you.  Therefore  you  are  bound 
to  do  your  utmost  to  meet  its  expenses  in  your  own 
country,  quite  as  much  as  a  man  who  means  to  build  a 
hoyse  is  expected  to  provide  the  stone  and  timber  him- 
selt.  But  the  States  have  not  done  their  best.  They 
have  not  at  the  appointed  time  come  forward  with  their 
extraordinary    contributions    for    the    last    campaign 

How  many  men,"  he  asked,  "are  required  for  gar- 
risons m  all  the  fortresses  and  cities,  and  for  the  field  '  " 

"  But,"  intei-posed  Lord  Hunsdon,  -  not  half  so  many 
men  are  needed  in  the  garrisons ;  for  the  burghers  ought 
to  be  able  to  defend  their  own  cities.  Moreover  it  is 
probable  that  your  ordinary  contributions  might  be  continued 
and  doubled,  and  even  tripled,"  » 

c.  A  ^I"^  ""V^^.  T^'^^^'"  observed  the  Lord  Admiral, 
don  t  you  think  that  the  putting  an  army  in  the  field  mia-hi 
be  dispensed  with  for  this  year  ?  Her  Majesty  at  present 
must  get  together  and  equip  a  fleet  of  war-vessels  against 
the  King  of  fepam,  which  will  be  an  excessively  large 
pennyworth,  besides  the  assistance  which  she  gives  her 
neighbours."  ^ 

Vffi  ^'?f' i^d^^d,"  said  Secretary  Davison,  "it  would  be 
diftcult  to  exaggerate  the  enormous  expense  which  her 
Majesty  must  encounter  this  year  for  defending  and 
liberating  her  own  kingdoms  against  the  King  of  Spain. 
Ihat  monarch  IS  making  great  naval  preparations,  and 
IS  treating  all  Englishmen  in  the  most  hostile  manner. 

the  h  rench  King,  who  is  arresting  all  English  persons 
and  property  within  his  kingdom,  tnd  with  Scotll^d,  all 
Which  countnes  are  understood  to  have  made  a  leaL^ie 
^gether  on  account  of  the  Queen  of  Scotland,  whom  it  wUl  he 
oftrM  ^T^^'^y.^^i^"^  io  death  in  order  to  preserve  the  life 
Tl^s  miff  ^ir^  aiX3  about  to  make  war  upon  England. 
Ihis  matter,  then,  will  cost  us,  the  current  year,  at  least 

>  MS.  lieport  laat  cited. 

0 


194 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


lii 


eiglit  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling.  Nevertheless 
her  Majesty  is  sure  to  assist  you  so  far  as  her  means 
allow  ;  and  I,  for  my  part,  will  do  my  best  to  keep  her 
Majesty  well  disposed  to  your  cause,  even  as  I  have  ever 
done,  as  you  well  know." ' 

Thus  spoke  poor  Davison,  but  a  few  days  before  the 
fatal  8th  of  February,  little  dreaming  that  the  day  for 
his  influencing  the  disposition  of  her  Majesty  would  soon 
be  gone,  and  that  he  was  himself  to  be  crushed  for  ever 
by  the  blow  which  was  about  to  destroy  the  captive 
Queen.  The  political  combinations  resulting  from  the 
tragedy  were  not  to  be  exactly  as  he  foretold,  but  there 
is  little  doubt  that  in  him  the  ]S  etherlands,  and  Lei- 
cester, and  the  Queen  of  England,  were  to  lose  an 
honest,  diligent,  and  faithful  friend. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,"  said  the  Lord-Treasurer,  after  a 
few  more  questions  concerning  the  financial  abilities  of 
the  States  had  been  asked  and  answered,  *'  it  is  getting 
late  into  the  evening,  and  time  for  you  all  to  get  back 
to  London.  Let  me  request  you,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to 
draw  up  some  articles  in  writing,  to  which  we  will 
respond  immediately."* 

IMenyn  then,  in  the  name  of  the  deputies,  expressed 
thanks  for  the  urbanity  shown  them  in  the  conference, 
and  spoke  of  the  deep  regret  with  which  they  had  per- 
ceived, by  her  Majesty's  answer  two  days  before,  that 
she  was  so  highly  olfended  with  them  and  with  the 
States-General.  He  then,  notwithstanding  Burghley's 
previous  hint  as  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  took  up  the 
Queen's  answer,  point  by  point,  contradicted  all  its 
statements,  appealing  frequently  to  Lord  Leicester  for 
confirmation  of  what  he  advanced,  and  concluded  by 
begging  the  councillors  to  defend  the  cause  of  the 
Netherlands  to  her  Majesty.  Burghley  requested  them 
to  make  an  excuse  or  reply  to  the  Queen  in  writing,  and 
send  it  to  him  to  present." 

Thus  the  conference  terminated,  and  the  envoys  re- 
turned to  London.  They  were  fully  convinced  by  the 
result  of  these  interviews,  as  they  told  their  con- 
stituents, that  her  Majesty,  by  false  statements  and 
reports  of  persons  either  grossly  ignorant  or  not  having 


>  MS.  Report  last  cited. 
3  Ibid. 


3  Ibid.     Compare    Bor.  ii.  xxii.  875- 
877  seq. 


1587.  FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  LETTER  FROM  THE  STATES.  195 

tiie  good  of  the  commonwealth  before  their  eyes  had 
been  veiy  incorrectly  informed  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
1  rovinccs,  and  of  the  great  efforts  made  by  tlie  States- 
Geneiul  to  defend  their  country  against  the  enemy.  It 
was  obvior,s,  they  said,  that  their  resources  had  been 

And  tlius  statements  and  counter-statements,  protocols 

mali^'rubbft  ""^"^  ^•'^'^'  ^^^S^A,  the  hea  /of  diplo! 
mafic  rubbish  was  rising  higher  and  higher,  and  the 
councillors  and  envoys,  pleased  ^-ith  their  wmk  were 
growing  more  and  more  amicable,  when  the  court  was 
suddenly  startled  by  the  news  of  the  Beventer  Tml 
Zutphcn  trea..on.  The  intelligence  was  accompanied  bv 
,ke  ^Tl  ,"n  °^  ^^^''"''>'  '''*t'^^'  ^^^'^^  descended 
chamber"  ^  1^  T  *'  ""'?"'.  °^  '^'  '^*'°«'"»«  ^ouncil- 
the  F.rl  nf  T  •  l""^"'"?''  l''*'^  '■'''■^•y  ^^^"^  addressed  to 
the  Karl  of  Leicester,  and,  through  him,  to  the  imperious 
sovereign  lierse  f,  as  the  h<,mely  truths  wit^Xh 
Rirneveld,  spealcing  with  the  voice  of  the  States^ 
General   nowsmote  the  delinquent  govemor. 

Aly  Lord,     said  he,  "  it  is  notorious,  and  needs  no 
illns  ration  whatever,  wi.h  what  true  confidence  and 

knd'^tt'''st'^*r°r"  '""ri^  your  Excellencrfn  our 
land,  the  States-General,  the  States-Provincial  the 
magistrates,  and  the  communities  of  the  chief  cities  in 
the  Ln,  ed  Provinces,  all  uniting  to  do  honour  to  her 

upon  jou  the  government-general  over  us  And 
a  hough  we  should  willingi;  have  placed  some  itm 

iat  bv  S'^'  "*''"*^  **""*  ^''^^*°"'^' ""  y""'  i"  o^de'- 
and  con.r,  .•  ^°»"^e  J-o""-  0"n  honour  and  the  good 
and  constitutional  condition  of  the  country  micht  be 

SVirZ'*  r*-^'^"'^  y^-  ^-ellen^ylfltS 
ned  ^Mth  those  limitations,  we  postponed  every  obieo 
ti-a,  and  conformed  oureelves  to  your  ple^itr?     Yet 

thtrT.'^  *"  *•"*  ^'TT  ^^''^'^  tir:o"sider:d 

ambitin,,^  ^  '°^^  ""^^*  ^^  "P'^^'^g  <»  door  to  many 

?h^e  conntnr""rf '  ^"d  pernicics  persons,  both  of 

the  occasron  to  ^A    ^''"^,^^^'''  "«««"«.  who  might  seize 

ne  occasion  to  advance  their  own  private  profits,  to  the 


'{ 


•  MS.  Rtport,   -  Feb.  1587,  before  died. 


0  2 


196 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


P\ 


/ 


detriment  of  the  country  and  the  dishonour  of  your 

Excellency. 

**  And  in  truth,  such  persons  have  done  their  work  so 
efficiently  as  to  inspire  you  with  distrust  against  the 
most  faithful  and  capable  men  in  the  Provinces,  against 
the  Estates  General  and  Provincial,  magistrates,  and 
private  persons,  knowing  very  well  that  they  could  never 
arrive  at  their  own  ends  so  long  as  you  were  guided  by 
the  constitutional  authorities  of  the  country.  And  pre- 
cisely upon  the  distrust,  thus  created  as  a  foundation, 
they  raised  a  back-stairs  council,  by  means  of  which  they 
were  able  to  further  their  ambitious,  avaricious,  and 
seditious  practices,  notwithstanding  the  good  advic^e  and 
remonstrances  of  the  council  of  state,  ^nd  the  btates 
General  and  Provincial. '  ^  *.   ,      -r.     v  i. 

He  proceeded  to  handle  the  subjects  of  the  J^nglish 
rose-noble,  put  in  circulation  by  Leicester's  finance  or 
back-stairs  council  at  two  florins  above  its  value,  to  the 
manifest  detriment  of  the  Provinces,  to  the  detestable 
embargo  which  had  prevented  them  from  using  the  means 
bestowed  upon  them  by  God  himself  to  defend  their 
country,  to  the  squandering  and  embezzlement  of  the 
large  sums  contributed  by  the  Provinces  and  entrusted 
to  the  Earl's  administration,  to  the  starving  condition  of 
the  soldiers,  maltreated  by  government,  and  thus  com- 
pelled to  prey  upon  the  inhabitants— so  that  troops  m 
the  States'  service  had  never  been  so  abused  during  the 
whole  war,  although  the  States  had  never  before  voted 
such  largo  contributions  nor  paid  them  so  promptly,— to 
the  placing  in  posts  of  high  honour  and  trust  men  of 
notoriously  bad  character  and  even  Spanish  spies  ;  to  the 
taking  awky  the  public  authority  from  those  to  whom  it 
legitimately  belonged,  and  conferring  it  on  incompetent 
and  unqualified  persons ;  to  the  illegal  banishment  of 
respectable  citizens,  to  the  violation  of  time-honoured 
laws  and  privileges,   to  the  shameful  attempts  to   re- 
pudiate the  ancient  authority  of  the  States,  and  to  usurp 
a  control   over  the  communities  and  nobles  by  them 
represented,  and  to  the  perpetual  eftbrts  to  foster  dis- 
sension, disunion,  and  rebellion  among  the  inhabitants. 
Having   thus   drawn  up   a  heavy  bill   of  indictment, 

1  Uttre  des  Etats  k  Leycestre.  4  Feb.     Bor.  il.  xxii.  944  seq.  Wagenaar.  viil.  202. 
15«7.    (Hiigiit:  Ardiivea.  MS.)    Compare     U  Petit,  ii.  xiv.  541. 


1587.    ITS  SEVERE  LANGUAGE  TOWARDS  LEICESTER.        197 

nominally  against  the  Earl's  illegal  counsellors,  but  in 
reality  against  the  Earl  himself,  he  proceeded  to  deal 
witn  the  most  important  matter  of  all. 

"  The  principal  cities  and  fortresses  in  the  country 
have  been  placed  m  hands  of  men  suspected  by  the 
States  on  legitimate  grounds,  men  who  had  been  con- 
victed of  treason  against  these  Provinces,  and  who 
continued  to  be  suspected,  notwithstanding  that  your 
frif/'^%>^^  P[^dg^d  your  own  honour  for  their 
fidelity  Finally  by  means  of  these  scoundrels,'  it  was 
brought  to  pass,  that-the  council  of  state  havii^  been 
invested  by  your  Excellency  with  supreme  authority 
dunng  your  absence— a  secret  document  was  brought  to 
light  after  your  departure,  by  which  the  most  sub- 
stantial matters,  and  those  most  vital  to  the  defence  of 
the  country,  were  withdrawn  from  the  disposition  of 

ScesT  ^^  ^""^  "^"'^  ^^  ^^  '^'  ^^^^^  ^^  '^'^^ 

'*  Sir  William  Stanley,  by  you  appointed  governor  of 
Deventer,  and  Kowland  York,  governor  of  Fort  ZuTphen 
have   refused,   by  virtue  of  that  secret   document    to 
acknowledge  any  authority  in  this  country.     And  iiot^ 
withstanding  that  since  your  departure  they  and  thet 
o  diers  have  been  supported  at  our  expense,  and  had 

CetTr'^  ^^"  r^if  ^  P"^  ^^^^  *^^  States,  they 
thTfoHti  Tl^  ^""^  villanously  delivered  the  city  and 
Stl^     ?l!^*l*^^.r?"'^'  ^'^^  *  declaration  made  by 
Stanley  that  he  did  the  deed  to  ease  his  conscience  and 
to  render  to  the  King  of  Spain  the  city  wh^^of  riS 
wai,  belonging  to  him.     And  this  is  a  crime   so  dis- 
thaTr^^'*   scandalous,   ruinous,   and   treasonaWe,   as 
that,  during  this  whole  war,  we  have  never  seen  the 
iiKe.     And  we  are  now  in  daily  fear  lest  the  English 
commanders    in   Bergen-op-Zoom,   Ostend,    and    either 
c  les,  should  commit  the  same  crime.   And  although  wl 
fully  suspected  the  designs  of  Stanley  and  York    It 
Cpol^lTcf  «^^^^*  '^^^^^*  ^^^  depri^ef  ;.^:^ 

»  "Gibler."    MS.  tetter  U«t  cited. 


198 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


our  repeated  remonshances,  and  that,  moreover,  this 
Tery  Stunlev  should  have  been  recoDimended  by  your 
Excellency  ifor  general  c.f  all  the  forces.  And  although 
^ve  had  many  just  and  grave  reasons  for  opposing  your 
administration— even  as  our  ancestors  were  otten  wont 
to  rise  against  the  sovereigns  of  the  countiy— vv^J  have, 
nevertheless,  patiently  sutlered  for  a  long  time,  in  order 
not  to  diminish  your  authority,  which  we  deemed  so 
important  to  our  welfare,  and  in  the  hope  that  you  would 
at  last  be  moved  by  the  perilous  condition  of  the  com- 
monwealth,  and  awake  to  the  artifices  of  your  advisers 

"  But  at  last-feeling  that  the  existence  of  the  state 
can  no  longer  be  preserved  without  proper  authority 
and  that  the  whole  community  is  full  of  emotion  and 
distrust,  on  account  of  these  great  treasons-we,  the 
States-General,  as  well  as  the  States-Provincial,  have 
felt  constrained  to  establish  such  a  government  as  we 
deem  meet  for  the  emergency.  And  of  this  we  think 
proper  to  apprise  your  Excellency." 

He  then  expressed  the  conviction  that  all  these  evil 
deeds  had  been  accomplished  against  the  intentions  ot  the 
Earl  and  the  English  government,  and  reqiiested  his 
Excellency  so  to  deal  with  her  Majesty  that  the  contin- 
gent of  horse  and  foot  hitherto  accorded  by  her  '  might 
be  maintained  in  good  order,  and  m  better  pay. 

Here,  then,  was  substantial  choleric  phraseology,  as 
good  plain-speaking  as  her  Majesty  had  just  been  employ- 
ing and  with  quite  as  sufficient  cause.  Here  was  no 
pleasant  diplomatic  fencing,  but  straight foi-ward  vigorous 
thrusts.  It  was  no  wonder  that  poor  W  ilkes^  should 
have  thought  the  letter  -  too  sharp,"  when  he  heard  it 
read  in  the  assembly,  and  that  he  should  have  done  his 
best  to  prevent  it  from  being  despatched.  He  would 
have  thought  it  sharper  could  he  have  seen  how  the 
pride  of  her  Majesty  and  of  Leicester  was  wounded  by 
It  to  the  quick.  Her  list  of  grievances  against  the  State^ 
seemed  to  vanish  into  air.  ^^  ho  had  been  tampering  with 
ihe  Spaniards  now  ?  Had  that  -  shadowy  and  imagmaiy 
authority  "  granted  to  Leicester  not  proved  substantial 
enough?  Was  it  the  States-General,  the  state-council, 
or  was  it  the  "  absolute  governor  "—who  had  carried 
off  the  supreme  control  of  the  commonwealth  m  his 
pocket— that  was  responsible  for  the  ruin  effected  by 


1587.     PAINFUL  POSITION  OF  THE  ENVOYS  AT  COURT.     199 

Englishmen  who  had  scorned  all  "  authority "  but  his 
own  ? 

The  States,  in  another  blunt  letter  to  the  Queen  her- 
self, declared  the  loss  of  Deventer  to  be  more  disastrous 
to  them  than  even  the  fall  of  Antwei-p  had  been ;  for  the 
republic  had  now  been  split  asunder,  and  its  most 
ancient  and  vital  portions  almost  cut  away.  Neverthe- 
less they  were  not "  dazzled  nor  despairing,'' they  said,  but 
more  determined  than  ever  to  maintain  their  liberties, 
and  bid  defiance  to  the  Spanish  tyrant.  And  again  they 
demanded  of,  rather  than  implored,  her  Majesty  to  be 
tnie  to  her  engagements  with  them.^ 

The  interviews  which  followed  were  more  tempestuous 
than  ever.  '*  1  had  intended  that  my  Lord  of  Leicester 
should  return  to  you,"  she  said  to  the  envoys.  **  But 
that  shall  never  be.  He  has  been  treated  with  gross 
ingratitude,  he  has  served  the  Provinces  with  ability, 
he  has  consumed  his  own  property  there,  he  has  risked 
his  life,  he  has  lost  his  near  kinsman.  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
whose  life  I  should  be  glad  to  purchase  with  many 
millions,  and,  in  place  of  all  reward,  he  receives  these 
venomous  letters,  of  which  a  copy  has  been  sent  to  his 
sovereign  to  blacken  him  with  her."  She  had  been 
advising  him  to  return,  she  added,  "  but  she  was  now 
resolved  that  he  should  never  set  foot  in  the  Provinces 
again."  * 

Here  the  Earl,  who  was  present,  exclaimed— beating 
himself   on    the    breast — "  A   tali    officio   libera    nos 
Domine  !  "  * 

But  the  States,  undaunted  by  these  explosions  of 
wrath,  replied  that  it  had  ever  been  their  custom, 
when  their  laws  and  liberties  were  invaded,  to  speak 
their  mind  boldly  to  kings  and  governors,  and  to  pro- 
cure redress  of  their  grievances,  as  became  free  men.* 


*  "  Car  si  k  perte  d'Anvera  a  estd  tres 
grande  pour  tout  le  pays,  ceste  cy  tire 
avec  8oi  plus  graude  consequence,  tout 
au  regard  de  plusieurs  autres  villes  cir- 
cumvoibines  de  Deventer,  lesquelles  ne 
pourront  etre  avictuaillees  que  par  force, 
que  aultrement.  Non  pas  que  nous 
diaons  cesq  comme  esblouys  et  par  de- 

^"Po'r Car  nous  ne  nianquerons 

jamais  en  nos  premieres  resolutions  de 
nouft  vouloir  maintenir   contre    le  Roi 


d'Espaigne,  pour  la  conservation  de  la 
religion  Chrestienne,  nos  privileges,  fran- 
chises, et  libertc's."  States-General  to 
the  Queon,  6  Feb.  1587.  (Hague  Ar- 
chives, MS.) 

'  Bor.  ii.  xxlL  949. 

»  Ibid. 

*  "  Nous  sommes  accoustumez,  comme 
aussi  ont  ete  nos  predecesseurs,  d©  re- 
monstrer  a  nos  princes  et  gouverneurs 
librement  des  desordres  et  contraveutiuus 


200 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIV. 


During  that  whole  spring  the  Queen  was  at  daggers 
drawn  with  all  her  leading  counsellors,  mainly  in  regard 
to  that  great  question  of  questions — the  relations  of 
England  with  the  Netherlands  and  Spain.  "VValsingham 
— who  felt  it  madness  to  dream  of  peace,  and  who 
believed  it  the  soundest  policy  to  deal  with  Parma  and 
his  veterans  upon  the  soil  of  Flanders,  with  the  forces 
of  the  republic  for  allies,  rather  than  to  await  his  arrival 
in  London — was  driven  almost  to  frenzy  by  what  he 
deemed  the  Queen's  perverseness. 

"  Our  sharp  words  continue,"  said  the  Secretary, 
"which  doth  greatly  disquiet  her  Majesty,  and  dis- 
comfort her  poor  servants  that  attend  her.  The  Lord- 
Treasurer  remaineth  still  in  disgrace,  and,  behind  my 
back,  her  Majesty  giveth  out  very  hard  speeches  of  my- 
self, which  I  the  rather  credit,  for  that  I  find,  in  dealing 
with  her,  I  am  nothing  gracious ;  and  if  her  Majesty 
could  be  otherwise  served,  I  know  I  should  not  be  used. 
.  .  .  .  Her  Majesty  doth  wholly  bend  herself  to 
devise  some  further  means  to  disgrace  her  poor  council, 
in  respect  whereof  she  neglecteth  all  other  causes. 
.  .  .  .  The  discord  between  her  Majesty  and  her 
council  hindereth  the  necessary  consultations  that  were 
to  be  destined  for  the  preventing  of  the  manifold  perils 

that  hang  over  this  realm Sir  Christopher 

Hatton  hath  dealt  very  plainly  and  dutifully  with  her, 
which  hath  been  accepted  in  so  evil  part  as  he  is  re- 
solved to  retire  for  a  time.     I  assure  you  I  find  every 

man  weary  of  attendance  here I  would  to 

God  I  could  find  as  good  resolution  in  her  Majesty  to 
proceed  in  a  princely  course  in  relieving  the  United 
Provinces  as  1  find  an  honourable  disposition  in  your 
Lordship  to  employ  yourself  in  their  service." ' 

The  Lord-Treasurer  was  much  puzzled,  very  wretched, 
but  philosophically  resigned.  *'  VV  hy  her  Majesty  useth 
me  thus  strangely,  I  know  not,"  he  observed.  "To 
some  she  saith  that  she  meant  not  I  should  have  gone 
from  the  court ;  to  some  she  saith,  she  may  not  admit 
me,  nor  give  me  contentment.     I  shall  dispose  myself 

que  nous  trouvons  coutre  nos  privileges  ordres,"&c.    States-Geueral  to  Leicester, 

elllbertes,  comme  avons   fait  a  V.   K.  1  Alaivh,  1587.    (Hague  Arcbives,  MS.) 

etant  ici,— ce  que  nous  avons  toujours  >  Walsinghara  to  Leicester,  3  April, 

tenu  eire  de  notre  devoir  et  vrai  nioyen  158t.    Same    to   same,  10  April,  1587. 

pour  parvtuir  au  redres  des  dites  d«j-  (BriU  Mu8.Galba,  C.  xL  316-319.) 


1587.        QUEEN'S  PARSIMONY  TOWARDS  LEICESTER.         201 

to  enjoy  God's  favour,  and  shall  do  nothing  to  deserve 
her  dLsfavour.  Aud  if  I  be  suff-ered  to  be  a  stranger  to 
her  attairs,  I  shall  have  a  quieter  life  "  * 

Leicester,  after  the  first  burst  of  his  anger  was  over 

Zm  *'  ''l''"'^^  ^"  Provinces.     He  protested 
that  he  had  a  greater  aff-ection  for  the  Netherland  people 
-not  for  the  governing  powers-even  than  he  felt  for 
the  people  of  Eugland. »     -  There  is  nothing  sticks  iu 
my  stomach,'  he  said   "  but  the  good-wiU  of^that  poor 
afflicted  people  for  whom,  I  take  God  to  record,  I  could 
^content  to  lose  any  limb  I  have  to  do  them  good  "  ^ 
But  he  was  cnppled  with  debt,  and  the  Queen  resolutely 
refused  to  lend  him  a  few  thousand  pounds,  without 
which  he  could  not  stir.    Walsingham  in  vain  did  battle 
with  her  parsimony,  representing    how  urgently  and 
vividly  the  necessity  of  his  return  had  been  depicted  by 
all  her  ministers  m  both  countries,  and  how  much  it 
imported  to  her  own  safety  and  service.     But  she  was 
obdurate.      "She  would    rather,"  he    said  bitterly  to 
Leicester,      hazard  the  increase  of  confusion    there-^ 
which  may  put  the  whole  country  in  peril-than  supply 
your  want.     The  like  course  she  holdeth  in  the  rest 
of  her  causes,  which  maketh  me  to  wish  myself  from 
the  helm.         At  last  she  agreed  to  advance  him  ten 


'    Burghley   to   Leicester,    16   April, 
1587.    (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  C.  xi.  333). 

'  Bor.  iL  xxii.  95(t-952. 

'  Leicester  to  Walsingiiam,  16  April. 
1687.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  "  For  the  10,000/.  for  your  particular," 
F*id  Walsingham,  "  I  have  dealt  very 
earnestly,  but  cannot  prevail  to  win  her 
iMajesty  to  assent  thereunto.  I  caused 
Mr.  Barker  to  set  down  a  note  of  your 
mortgages  that  stand  upon  forfeiture  for 
lack  of  this  promLsed  support  of  the 
10,0001.,  wherewith  ohe  has  been  made 
acquainted,  but  not  moved  thereby  to 
relieve  you."  Walsingham  to  Leicester. 
6  April,  1587.  (Brit.  Muri.  Galba,  C.  xi. 
323.    MS.) 

And  again,  two  days  later—"  I  am 
sorry  that  her  Majesty  sticketh  with  you 
for  the  loan,  for  I  see,  without  your  re- 
turn, both  the  cause  and  many  an  honest 
man  that  have  showed  them  most  con- 
stantly affet  ted  to  you  will  go  to  ruin. 
I  wish  you  had  it,  though  it  were  but  for 


two  months.  The  enemy  is  not  like  to 
attempt  any  great  matter  in  respect  of 
his  wants.  But  I  am  most  sorry  to  see 
so  great  an  advantage  lost  as  her  Majesty 
might  have  had,  in  case  slie  had  been  in- 
duced to  contribute  towards  the  putting 
an  army  Into  the  field."  Same  to  same. 
8  April,  1587.     Ibid.  p.  321-331.     MS. 

And  once  more,  a  week  afterwards— 
"  She  can  be  content  to  funiish  you  with 
10,000^,  so  as  you  would  devise,  out  of 
her  entertainment  and  the  States,  to  pay 
her  In  one  year  the  said  sum,  which  she 
saith  you  promised  unto  herself,  and 
therefore  willed  me  to  write  to  you  to 
know  whether  you  can  make  repayment 
in  such  order  as  she  requireth."  Same 
to  same,  14  April.  1587.    Ibid.  326. 

There  was  not  much  sentiment  be- 
tween the  "  throned  vestal  "  and  "  Sweet 
Robin  "  when  pounds  and  shillings  were 
discusj;ed ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
Karl  was  rendered  quite  frantic  by  the 
screwing  process  to  which  he  found  him- 


O02  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Ghap.  XIV. 

thousand  pounds,  but  on  so  severe  conditions,  that  the 
Eavl  declared  himself  heart-broken  again,  and  protested 
that  he  would  neither  accept  the  money  ^^I'^^^V^^ 
foot  in  the  Netherlands.  "  Let  Norns  stay  there  he 
s^id  in  a  fury  ;  "  he  will  do  admirably,  no  doubt.  Only 
k  it  not l7suppo«ed  that  I  can  be  there  also.  No 
for  one  hundred"^  thousand  pounds  would  I  be  in  that 

''"Meantime  it  T^  agreed  that  Lord  Buckhurst  should 
be  sent  forth  on  what  Wilkes  termed  a  mission  of  ex- 
postulation, and  a  very  ill-timed  one.     This  new  envoy 
las  to  inquire  into  the  causes  ot  the  di^co^t^"^*-  -"f  *» 
do  his  best  to  remove  tbem  :  as  if  any  man  in  Lngland 
or  in  Holland  doubted  as  to  the  causes,  or  as  to  the  best 
means  of  removing  them  ;  or  as  if  it  were  not  absolutely 
certain  that  delay  was   the  very  worst   specific   that 
co^d  be  adopted-delay-which  the  Netheiland  states- 
men   as  well  as  the  Queens  wisest  counsellors,  most 
SecTted,  which  Alexander  and  Philip  most  desired, 
and  bv  indulging  in  which  her  Majesty  was  most  directly 
p?ayin  "nto  he?  adversary's  hand.     Elizabeth  was  pre- 
Lring'to  put  cards  upon  the  table  against  an  antagonist 
Ihose  game  was  close,  whose  honesty  was  always  to  be 
suspected,  and  who  was  a  consummate  master  in  what 
was   then  considered  diplomatic   sleight  of  hand.     So 


self  subjected  by  her  whose  "  blessed 
beams"  had  formerly  betn  so  "nutri- 
tious." 

»  ••  I  perceive  by  your   letters,"  said 

I^icester,  "  that  her  Majesty  would  now  1 

should  go  over,  and  will  lend  me  10,0001. 

8o  she  may  be  sure  to  receive  it  back 

within  a  year.    I  did  offer  to  her  M ajesty 

heretofore   that  she   should  have  all  1 

receive  of  her  entertainment,  and  as  much 

besides  as  shall  yield  her   2000l.,  paid 

either  lOOOl.  at  Michaelmas  and  the  other 

at  our  Lady-day,  or  else  both  at  our  l.Ady, 

which  is  less  than  a  year  ;  and  so  long  as 

I  shall  receive,  then  her  Majesty  shall 

receive  after  this  sort  till  her  lO.OOOi.  be 

paid.    And  this  Is  more,  I  am  now  per 

i«uaded,  than  I  shull  be  able  to  do,  and 

keep  any  countenance  fit  for  the  place 

....  but  seeing  I  find  her  Majesty's 

hardness  continue  still  to  me  as  it  doth, 

I  pray  you  let  me  your  earnest  and  true 

furtherance  for  my  abode  at  home  and 


discharge   ...   for  my  heart  is  more 
than  balf-broken,  and  1   do    think   her 
Majesty  had  rather  far  continue  Sir  J. 
Norris  there,  in  respect  to  the  reconcilia- 
tion  between  him  and  Count  Hollock. 
....  But  I  will  never  serve  with  him 
^ain  as  long  as  I  live ;  no,  not  for  to 
have  lOO.OOoL  given  me  ....  1  know 
the  man  too  well  to  trust  to  his  service. 
I  shall  have  no  good  thereby- not  if  1 
wore  an  angel,  for  he  cannot  obey  nor 
almost  like  of  an  equal  ....  and  al- 
ready he  hath  taken  advantage  to  curry 
favour  with  captains  and  soldiers.  .   .   . 
He  shall  never  bear  sway  under  me ;  his 
di.->dain  and  craft  hath  no  moderation; 
and  I  know,  for  all  those  speeches  of  my 
going,  his  friends  make  full  account  that 
he  shall  remain  there  as  her  M^esty's 
general  of  the  forces."   Leicester  to  Wal- 
singham.  16  April,  1587.    (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 


1587.         BUCKHURST  SENT  TO  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


203 


Lord  Buckhurst  was  to  go  forth  to  expostulate  at  the 
Hague,  while  transports  were  loading  in  Cadiz  and 
Lisbon,  reiters  levying  in  Germany,  pikemen  and 
musketeers  in  Spain  and  Italy,  for  a  purpose  concern- 
ing which  Walsingham  and  Bameveld  had  for  a  long 
time  felt  little  doubt. 

Meantime  Lord  Leicester  went  to  Bath  to  drink  the 
waters,  and  after  he  had  drunk  the  waters,  the  Queen, 
ever  anxious  for  his  health,  was  resolved  that  he  should 
not  lose  the  benefit  of  those  salubrious  draughts  by 
travelling  too  soon,  or  by  plunging  anew  into  the 
fountains  of  bitterness  which  flowed  perennially  in  the 
Netherlands.' 


*  •*  Finding  your  presence  here  neces- 
sary," wrote  Walsingham,  "  for  the  ex- 
pedition of  the  Low  Country  causes,  I 
moved  her  M^esty  that  I  might  be 
authorised  In  her  name  to  hasten  your 
repair  hither,  whereunto  she  would  in  no 
Bort  consent,  prttending  that,  after  the 


use  of  the  Bath,  it  would  be  dangerous 
for  your  Lordship  to  take  any  extra- 
ordinary travail.  There  is  some  doubt 
tliat  Ostend  will  be  presently  besieged," 
Sec.  &c.  Walsingham  to  Leicester,  17 
April,  1587.  (B.  Mus.  Galba,  0.  xi.  327. 
M&) 


204 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CuAP.  XV. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Biickhurst  sent  to  the  Netherlanda— Alarming  State  of  Affairs  on  hia  Arrival— His 
Efforts  to  conciliate— Dem(XTatic  Theories  of  Wilkes— vSophistry  of  ^he  Argu- 
ment—Dispute  between  Wilkes  and  Bumeveld— Religious  Tolerance  by  the 
States— Their  Couatitutional  Theory— Deventer's  bad  Counsels  to  Leicester— 
Their  pernicious  Effect— Real  and  supposed  Plots  against  Hohenlo— Mutual 
Suspicion  and  Distrust— Buckhurst  seeks  to  restore  good  Feeling— The  Queen 
angry  and  vindictive— She  censures  Buckhurst's  Course— Leicester's  Wraih  at 
Hoheulo's  charges  of  a  Plot  by  the  I-^rl  to  murder  him— Buckhurst's  eloquenc 
Appeals  to  the  Queen— Her  perplexing  and  contradictory  Ordern— Despair  of 
Wilkes— Leicester  announces  his  Return— His  Instructions— Letter  to  Junius 
— Bameveld  denounces  him  in  the  States. 

We  return  to  the  Ketherlands.  If  ever  proof  were 
afforded  of  the  influence  of  individual  character  on  the 
destiny  of  nations  and  of  the  world,  it  certainly  was 
seen  in  the  year  1587.  We  have  lifted  the  curtain  of 
the  secret  council-chamber  at  Greenwich.  We  have 
seen  all  Elizabeth's  advisers  anxious  to  arouse  her  from 
her  fatal  credulity,  from  her  almost  as  fatal  parsimony. 
We  have  seen  Leicester  anxious  to  return,  despite  all 
fancied  indignities,  Walsingham  eager  to  expedite  the 
enterprise,  and  the  Queen  remaining  obdurate,  while 
month  after  month  of  precious  time  was  melting  away. 

In  the  Netherlands,  meantime,  discord  and  confusion 
had  been  increasing  every  day ;  and  the  first  great  cause 
of  such  a  dangerous  condition  of  affairs  was  the  absence 
of  the  governor.  In  this  all  parties  agreed.  The  Lei- 
cestrians,  the  anti-Leicestrians,  the  Holland  party,  the 
Utrecht  party,  the  English  counsellors,  the  English 
generals,  in  private  letter,  in  solemn  act,  all  warned 
the  Queen  against  the  lamentable  effects  resulting  from 
Leicester's  inopportune  departure  and  prolonged  ab- 
sence.* 

On  the  first  outbreak  of  indignation  after  the  Deventer 
affair,  Prince  Maurice  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
general  government,  with  the  violent  Hohenlo  as  his 
lieutenant.*  The  greatest  exertions  were  made  by  these 
two  nobles  and  by  Bameveld,  who  guided  the  whole 


»  Documents  In  Bor,  ill.  xxiii.  76-80. 


•  Wogenaar,  vili.  204. 


1587.         BTOKHURST  SENT  TO  THE  NETHERLANDS.  205 

policy  of  the  party,  to  secure  as  mauy  cities  as  possible 
to  their  cause.  Magistrates  and  commandants  of  gar- 
risons in  many  towns  willingly  gave  in  their  adheS.n 
TV  A^  ^^I  government ;  othere  refused,  especiallv 
Diednch   Soaoy.   an   officer  of    distinction     who   wE 

IwTh  n     /"''''"y^e".  and    influential  througho^ 
>.orth  Ho  land,  and  who  remained  a  stanch  partisan  of 
Leicester.'     Utrecht,  the  stronghold  of  the  Lcicestrians 
was  wavermg  and  much  torn  by  faction;  Hohenlo  and 
Moeurs  had   ''banqueted  and  feasted"  to  such  g^d 
purpose  that  they  had  gained  over  half  tho  captains  of 
the  burgher-guard,  and,  aided  by  the  branch  of  nobles 
were  making  a  good  fight  against  the  Leicester  magisi 
r^lTr  .."  f'T^  force,  enriched  by  the  plundefof 
the  old  tathoho  livings,  who  denounced  as  Papistical 

and  fiSeir  °  ^^^""""'"^  *^'  ^^""^  ^^  ^^^'^^ 

By  the  end  of  March  the  envoys  returned  from  Lon- 
don, and  in  their  company  came  Lord  Buckhurst,  as 
special  ambassador  from  the  Queen  * 

-Diomas  Sackville,  Lord  Buckhurst-afterwards  Earl 
ot  Uorset  and  lord-treasurer— was  then  fifty-one  years 
^iT;  K  rr^i'*'"^^  culture-poet,  dramatist,  diplo 
matist-bred  to  the  bar ;  afterwards  elevated  to  the 
peerage ;  endowed  with  high  character  and  strong  in! 
Ind'wV;  W  /  ^.'*V°"S^|/nd  pen,  handsome  of  person, 
and  with  a  fascinating  address,  he  was  as  fit  a  person 
to  send  on  a  mission  of  expostulation  as  any  man  to  be 
found  in  England.  But  the  author  of  the  '  InducHon 
to  the  Mirror  for  Magistrates'  and  of  <  Gorboduc "  h°d 
come  to  the  Netherlands  on  a  forlorn  hope  To  et 
postulate  in  favour  of  peace  with  a  people  who  knew 
that  their  existence  depended  on  war,  to  reconcile  thosi 

InimSieltt'''*  *'"'  '''t'  ^"^  ^^^*^'  and  to t  1 
mZs  f.  tl.  •      ^^°  ""'^  ^^°,  ^'^^«  ^"•^•"'es  from  their 

cW  n  J  ^r/  ^^*'''  "T  ^  •''*8™lt  n>i««ion-  But  the 
chief  ostensible  object  of  Buckhurst  was  to  smooth  the 

SramlrTt*"  *^^  ^""^  inclinations  of  the  English 
§°\®"""ent.  This  was  no  easy  task,  for  they  knew  thnt 
their  envoys  had  been  dismissed,  witkout  ev?n  a  roS 

' ''"™"-  ^"-  "••  "MrAV,'r V  '^''  '"■  =-^'"-  ■»  *^-   «^^-^'  V'-  '«'■ 

i>or,  x\ii.  952.    Wagenaar,  ai6. 


206 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


of  subsidy.  They  had  asked  for  twelve  thousand  soldiers 
and  sixty  thousand  pounds,  and  had  received  a  volley  of 
abuse.  Over  and  over  again,  through  many  months, 
the  Queen  fell  into  a  paroxysm  of  rage  when  even  an 
allusion  was  made  to  the  loan  of  fifty  or  sixty  thouKand 
pound«;  and  even  had  she  promised  the  money,  it 
would  have  given  but  little  satisfaction.  As  Count 
Moeurs  observed,  he  would  rather  see  one  English  rose- 
noble  than  a  hundred  royal  promises.  So  the  Hollanders 
and  Zeehmders— not  fearing  Leicester's  influence  within 
their  little  morsel  of  a  territory— were  concentrating 
their  means  of  resistance  upon  their  own  soil,  intending 
to  resist  Spain,  and,  if  necessary,  England,  in  their  last 
ditch,  and  with  the  last  drop  of  their  blood. 

While  such  was  the  condition  of  affairs,  Lord  Buck- 
hurst  landed  at  Flushing— four  months  after  the  de- 
parture of  Leicester— on  the  24th  March,  having  been 
tossing  three  days  and  nights  at  sea  in  a  great  storm, 
*'  miserably  sick  and  in  great  danger  of  drovming."  ^  Sir 
William  llussell,  governor  of  Flushing,  informed  him  of 
the  progress  making  by  Prince  Maurice  in  virtue  of  his 
new  authority.  He  told  him  that  the  Zeeland  regiment, 
vacant  by  Sidney's  death,  and  which  the  Queen  wished 
bestowed  upon  Russell  himself,  had  been  given  to 
Count  Solms— a  circumstance  which  was  very  sure  to 
excite  her  Majesty's  ire ;  but  that  the  greater  number, 
and  those  of  the  better  sort,  disliked  the  alteration  of 
government,  and  relied  entirely  upon  the  Queen.  Sainte 
Aldegondo  visited  him  at  Middleburgh,  and  in  a  "long 
discourse"  expressed  the  most  friendly  sentiments 
towards  England,  with  free  offers  of  pei-sonal  service. 
*'  Nevertheless,"  said  Buckhurst,  cautiously,  "  I  mean  to 
trust  the  effect,  not  his  words,  and  so  I  hope  he  shall 
not  much  deceive  me.  His  opinion  is  that  the  Earl  of 
Leicester's  absence  hath  chiefly  caused  this  change,  and 
that  without  his  return  it  will  hardly  be  restored  again, 
but  that  upon  his  arrival  all  these  clouds  will  prove  but 
a  summer-shower."  * 

As  a  matter  of  course  the  new  ambassador  lifted  up 
his  voice,  immediately  after  setting  foot  on  shore,  in 
favour  of  the  starving  soldiers  of  his  Queen.     "  'Tis  a 

1  Buckhurst  to  WaUingham,  26thMarch,  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

a  Ibid. 


1587.    ALARMING  STATE  OF  AFFAIRS  AT  HIS  ARRIVAL.    207 

most  lamentable  thing,"  said  he,  "  to  hear  the   com- 
]>laints  ot  soldiers  and  captains  for  want  of  pay  " 
W  hole  companies  made  their  way  into   his   presence! 
literally  crying  aloud  for   bread.     "For  Jesus'  sake," 
wrote  Luckhurst,  'Miasten  to  send  relief  with  all  speed 
and  let  such  victualleis  be  appointed  as  have  a  con- 
Mience  not  to  make  themselves  rich  with  the  famine  of 
poor  soldiers      if  her  Majesty  send  not  money,  and  that 
with  speecl,  for   their  payment,  I  am  afraid  to  think 
wliat  misihiet  and  miseries  are  like  to  follow." » 
^    Then  the  ambassador  proceeded  to  the  Hague,  holdinc 
interviews  witli  influential  personages  in  private,  and 
with  the  btiites-Geueral  in  public.    Such  wa^  the  charm 
ot  his  manner,  and  so  firm  the  conviction  of  sinceriiv 
and  good-will  which  he  inspired,  that  in  the  course  of  a 
tortnight  there  was  already  a  sensible  change  in  the 
aspect  of  aftairs.     The  enemy,  who,  at  the  time  of  their 
arrival,  had  been  making  bcnfires  and  holding  triumphal  "^ 
proces.sions  for  joy  of  the  great  breach  between  Holland 
and  England,  and  had  been  -  hoping  to  swallow  them 
all  up,  while  there  were  so  few  left  who  knew  how  to 
act     were  already  manifesting  disappointment.'^ 

In  a  solemn  meeting  of  the  States-General  with  the 
state-council,  Buckhurst  addressed  the  assembly  ui.on 
the  general  subject  of  her  Majesty's  goodness  ^to  the 
^etherlands.     He  spoke  of  the  gracious  assistance  ren- 
rtered  by  her,  notwithstanding  her  many  special  charges 
tur  the  common  cause,  and  of  the  mighty  enmities  which 
she  hac   incurred  for  their  sake.     He  sharply  censured 
t^e  Hullanders  for  their  cruelty  to  men  who  had  shed 
tneir  blood  m  their  cause,   but  who  were  now  driven 
torth  from  their  to^^•ns,  and  left  to  starve  on  the  hioh- 
ways,  and  hated  for  their  nation's  sake ;  as  if  the  whole 
J'^nghsh  name  deserved  to  be  soiled  ''for  iho  treachery 
"t  two  miscreants."     He  spoke  strongly  of  their  de- 
meanour  towards   the    Karl    of  Leicester,   and   of  the 
wrongs  they  had  done  him,  and  told  them  that   if  they 
were  not  ready  to  atone  to  her  Majesty  for  such  injuries 
they  were  not  to  wonder  if  their  deputies  received  no 
better  answer  at  her  hands.     -  She  who  embraced  your 

^^^J^uckhurst  to  WaUingham.    MS.  last       «  Bartholomew  Clerk  to  Burghley   12 

April.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


(I 


208 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVt 


cause,"  he  said,  "  when  other  mighty  princes  forsook 
you,  will  still  stand  fast  unto  you,  yea,  and  increase  her 
goodness,  if  her  present  state  may  suffer  it."  ^ 

After  being  addressed  in  this  manner  the  council  of 
state  made  what  Counsellor  Clerk  called  a  ''very 
honest,  modest,  and  wise  answer;"  but  the  States- 
General,  not  being  able  "  so  easily  to  discharge  that 
which  had  so  long  boiled  within  them,"  deferred  their 
reply  until  the  following  day.  They  then  brought  for- 
ward a  deliberate  rejoinder,  in  which  they  expressed 
themselves  devoted  to  her  Majesty,  and,  on  the  whole, 
well  disposed  to  the  Earl.  As  to  the  4th  February 
letter,  it  had  been  written  "in  amaritudine  cordis," 
upon  hearing  the  treasons  of  York  and  Stanley,  and  in 
accordance  with  "  their  custom  and  liberty  used  towards 
all  princes,  whereby  they  had  long  preserved  their 
estate,"  and  in  the  conviction  that  the  real  culprits  foi- 
all  the  sins  of  his  Excellency's  government  were  certain 
*'  lewd  persons  who  sought  to  seduce  his  Lordship,  and 
to  cause  him  to  hate  the  States.'* 

Buckhurst  did  not  think  it  well  to  reply,  at  that 
moment,  upon  the  ground  that  there  had  been  already 
crimination  and  recrimination  more  than  enough,  and 
that  a  "  little  bitterness  more  had  rather  caused  them  to 
determine  dangerously  than  resolve  for  the  best."  * 

They  then  held  counsel  together— the  envoys  and  the 
States-General,  as  to  the  amount  of  troops  absolutely 
necessary— casting  up  the  matter  "as  pinchingly  as 
possibly  might  be."  And  the  result  was,  that  20,000  foot 
and  2000  horse  for  garrison  work,  and  an  army  of  13,000 
foot,  5000  horse,  and  1000  pioneers,  for  a  campaign  of 
five  or  six  months,  were  pronounced  indispensable. 
This  would  require  all  their  240,000/.  sterling  a-year, 
regular  contribution,  her  Majesty's  contingent  of 
140,000/.,  and  an  extra  sum  of  150,000/.  sterling.  Of 
this  sum  the  States  requested  her  Majesty  should  furnish 
two-thirds,  while  they  agreed  to  furnish  the  other  third, 
which  would  make  in  all  240,000/.  for  the  Queen,  and 
290,000/.  for  the  States.  As  it  was  understood  that  the 
English  subsidies  were  onlv  a  loan,  secured  by  mortgage 
of  the  cautionary  towns,  this  did  not  seem  very  unrea- 


1  Barthulumew  Clerk  U>  Burghley,  lUti  sup. 


2  Ibid. 


15S7. 


HIS  EFFORTS  TO  CONCILIATE. 


209 


^'Ar^^l^^t'''^^^^    blending  of  England's  welfare 
>vitli  that  ot  the  Provinces  was  considered  * 

Thus  it  will  be  observed  that  Lord  Buckhurst-while 
domg  his  best  to  conciliate  personal  feuds  and  heart- 
bummgs-had  done  full  justice  to  the  merits  of  Leicester 

bf  htr  VS       ^'"''"'  ''"'*  ^'^  '^^^^"'^  ^^^^"^^ 
He  then  proceeded  to  Utrecht,  where  he  was  received 
with  many  demonstrations   of  respect,  -  with   solemn 
speexjhes     from  magistrates  and  bui^her-captains,  with 
military  processions,  and  with  great  banquets,  Which 
were,  however,  conducted  with  decorum,  and  at  which 
even  Count  Moeurs  excited  universal  astonishment  by 
his  sobriety.^    It  was  difficult,  however,  for  matters  to 
f  i^F   s^^oothly,   except   upon   the   suri-ace.      What 
could  be  more  disastrous  than  for  a  little^ommonwealth 
-a  mere  handful  of  people,  like  these  Netherlanders 
engaged   m   mortal    combat   with   the   most  powerful 
monarch  in  the  worid,  and  with  the  fii^t  general  of  the 
age,  withm  a  league  of  their  borders-thus  to  be  de- 
prived of  a  1  organized  government  at  a  most  critical 
moment  and  to  be  left  to  ^vrangle  with  their  allies  and 
among  themselves  as  to  the  form  of  polity  to  be  adopted 

ihf'''^    *¥  J^^y  foimdation  of  the  autboritv  by  which 
ff%rr^r^'t'^^   ^^^^   ^^J'»'^d»  the;o^4eignty 

^.^Ted  o^  T  -'"^f  ^'  ""^i^^  government-general  fon^ 
leiTed  on  Leicester,  was  fiercely  assailed  by  the  confi- 
dential agents  of  Elizabeth  herself.  The  dfspute  went 
111  o  the  veiy  depths  of  the  social  contract.  Already 
VV  likes,  standing  up  stoutly  for  the  democratic  views  of 

as.sured  the  English  government  that  the  "  people  were 

om^tn^'^^  *^"J^'  ^'  '^^  States-Gen^era?  'at  any 
ton^enlent  moment.  The  sovereign  people  not  thi 
depu  les,  were  alone  to  be  heeded,  h^e  sa^d  although 

learned   tl!''^T'^'-l^  '^''  '^''^^  ^^  ^^^*  Pr«^^««  ^^  l^ad 

here   h.*.\^"^'^"'^*"   opinion  of  that  sovereign,   as 

tiiere  had   been   no   assembly  excepting  those  of  the 

,.^.  (b.  r.  Office  MS,) 

VOL.   II.  '' 

P 


210 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


1587. 


Stiites  General  and  States-Provincial— he  was  none  the 
less  fully  satisfied  that  the  people  were  all  with  Lei- 
cester, and  bitterly  opposed  to  the  States.         ^^ 

"  For  the  sovereignty,  or  supreme  authority,    said  he, 
"through  failure  of  a  legitimate  prince,  belongs  to  the 
people,  and  not  to  you,  gentlemen,  who  are  only  ser- 
vants, ministers,  and  deputies  of  the  people.     \ou  have 
vour  commissions  or  instructions  surrounded  by  limita- 
tions—which conditions  are  so  widely  diflferent  from  the 
power  of  sovereignty  as  the  might  of  the  subject  is  m 
regard  to  his  prince,  or  of  a  seivant  in  respect  to  his 
master.     For  sovereignty  is  not  limited  either   as   to 
power  or  as  to  time.      Still  less  do  you  represent   tho 
sovereignty ;  for  tho  people,  in  giving  the  general  and 
absolute   government  to  the   Earl  of  Leicester,  have 
conferred  upon  him  at  once  the  exercise  of  justice,  the 
administration  of  polity,  of  naval  affairs,  of  war,  and 
of   all  the  other   points  of    sovereignty.     Of  these  a 
governor-general  is,  however,   only  the   depositary  or 
jruardian,  until  such  time  as  it  may  please  the  prince  or 
people  to  revoke  the  trust,  there  being  no  other  m  this 
state  who  can  do  this,  seeing  that  it  was  the  people  who, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  your  offices— through 
you  as  its  servants— conferred  on  his  Excellency  this 
power,  authority,  and  government.     According  to  the 
common  rule  of  law,  therefore,   quo  jure  quid  datmtur 
eodemjure  tdli  debet     You  having  been  fully  empowered 
by  the  provinces  and  cities,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly, 
bv  vour  masters  and  superiors,  to  confer  the  government 
on  his  Excellency,  it  follows  that  you  require  a  like 
power  in  order  to  take  it  away  either  in  whole  or  in 
part      If   then,  you  had  no  commission  to  curtail  his 
authoritv,  or  even  that  of  the  state-council,  and  thus  to 
tread  u^n  and  usurp  his  power  as  governor-general  and 
absolute,  there  follows  of  two  things  one  :  either  you 
did  not  well  understand  what  you  were  doing,  nor  duly 
consider  how  far  that  power  reached;  or    much  more 
probably,  you  have  fallen  into  the  sm  of  disobedience, 
considering  how  solemnly  you  swore  allegiance  to  him. 

'^r^Jrr^r\::::To^r..  t.at  thegueen  on  the  Uth  ^u.y  15«T  that 
W  Ikes  retracts!  the^  democratic  views  in  case  she  refused  the  Bovercignty.  it 
blfore  tTe  end  of  the  «ummer.  and  gm-    -  should  remain  with  such  a.  by  the  lau, 


SOPHISTRY  OF  THE  ARGUMENT. 


211 


Thus  subtly  and  ably  did  Wilkes  defend  the  authority 
of  the  man  who  had  deserted  his  post  at  a  most  critical 
moment  and  had  compelled  the  States,  by  his  derelic- 
tion, to  take  the  government  into  their  own  hands 

For,  after  all,    the  whole  argument  of  the  Endish 
counsellor    rested   upon  a  quibble.      The  people  were 
absolutely  sovereign,  he  said,  and  had  lent  that  sove- 
reignty to  Leices^ter.     How  had  they  made  that  loan  ? 
i  hrough  the  machinery  of  the  States-General.     So  lono- 
then,  as  the  Earl  retained  the  absolute  sovereicmty  the 
States  were  not  even  representatives  of  the  soverei^ 
peeple       The  sovereign  people  was  merged    in   one 
English  Earl.     The  English  Eari  had  retired-indefi- 
nitely— to  England.     Was  the  sovereign  people  to  wait 
for  months  or  yeai-s  before  it  regained  its  existence  ? 
And  if  not  how  was  it  to  reassert  its  vitality  ?     How 
but  through  the  agency  of  the  States-Geneml,  who- 
according  to  Wilkes  himself~Aa^  been  fuU^  e^npowered  by 
the  Frovmces  and  Cities  to  confer  the  government  on  the  EarU 
Ihe  people  then,  after  all,  were  the  provinces  and  cities. 
And  the  States-General  were  at  that  moment  as  much 
qualified  to  represent  those  provinces  and  cities  as  they 


of  Vie  country  do  retain  it,  which  is  not 
in  the  common  people,  but  in  some  fifty 
or  sixty  persons  in  every  city  and  town 

called  by  the  name  of  Vroedschap 

If  the  F^rl  of  Leicester,"  said  he,  "should 
attempt  to  remove  any  of  those  persons, 
constituting  this  Vroedschap,  as  it  is  ru- 
moured he  intends  doing,  it  will  hazard 
the  ruin  of  the  whole  country,  endanger 
tiie  Earl  greatly,  and  prove  the  loss  of  all 
her  Majesty's  charge  employed  in  the 
defence  of  the  country.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  it  will  be  a  facile  matter 
to  carry  the  common  people  icto  any  such 
violence  at  any  time  agahist  the  States ; 
«or  tlie  magistrates  of  every  city  and 
town,  upon  premonition  already  given 
are  holding  a  vigilant  eye  and  severe 
hand  over  any  that  shall  stir  withm  any 
of  their  jurisdiction. 

"The  remedy,"  continued  Wilkes.  "  to 
prevent  any  mischief  that  might  ensue 
ot  any  popular  commotion,  would  be  to 
I«^ave  that  course,  and  to  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  the  late  I>rince  of  Orange,  who 
had  quite  as  many  difficulties  to  contend 
w.  h  as  the  Iv.rl  of  Leicester,  and  yet 
lo.bore  to  discredit  the  States  with  the 


people— gaining  five  or  six  of  the  States' 
members  that  had  the  most  credit  with 
the  assemblies,  and  through  them  work- 
ing upon  all  the  rest;  there  being  no- 
thing determined  or  to  be  handled  in 
their  assemblies  but  he  knew  of  it  always 
beforehand ;  and  whensoever  he  had  any- 
thing  to  propound  ur  bring  to  pass  among 
them,  he  first  consulted  with  these  per- 
sons, and  by  them  was  made  acquainted 
whether  the  matter  would  pass  or  be 
inipugned,  and  acted  accordingly.  The 
lYince,"  said  Wilkes.  ••  never  attempted 
anything  of  importance  without  consult- 
ing the  Sutes.  The  people  are  the  same 
now  as  they  were  then,  and  do  not  love 
to  be  subject  to  any  monarchical  govern- 
ment." Wilkes  to  the  Queen.  12  July 
1587.    (S.K  Office  MS.) 

It  is  obvious,  from  this  change  of  opl- 
nion  on  the  part  of  the  counsellor,  that 
he  would  become  liable  to  the  disappro- 
bation of  Leicester ;  but  it  seems  hardly 
credible  that  he  should  have  thereby  in- 
spired the  Earl  witJi  such  a  hatred  and 
longing  for  revenge  against  him  as  he 
unquestionably  did  excite. 

P2' 


212 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XT. 


ever  had  been,  and  they  claimed  no  more.    Wilkes,  nor 
any  other  of  the  Leicester  party,  ever  hinted  at  a  general 
assembly  of   the   people.    Universal  suffrage  was  not 
dreamed  of  at  that  day.     By  the  people  he  meant,  if  he 
meant  anything,  only  that  very  small  fraction  ot  the 
inhabitants  of  a  country  who,  according  to  the  J^ngUsli 
system  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  constituted  its  Com- 
mons.    Ho  chose,  rather  from  personal  and  political 
motives  than  philosophical  ones,  to  draw  a  distinction 
between  the  people  and  the  -  States,"  but  it  is  quite 
obvious,  from  the  tone  of  his  private  communications, 
that  by  the  -States"   he  meant  the  individuals  who 
happened,  for  the  time  being,  to  be  the  deputies  of  the 
States  of  each  province.     But  it  was  almost  an  affecta- 
tion to  accuse  those  individuals  of  calling  or  considering 
themselves  "sovereigns,"  for  it  was  very  well  known 
that  they  sat  as  envoys,  rather  than  as  immhers  of  a  con- 
gress, and  were  pei-petually  obliged  to  recur  to  then- 
constituents,  the  States  of  each  Province,  for  instructions. 
It  was  idle,  because  Buys  and  Bameveld,  and  Koorda, 
and  other  leaders,  exercised  the  influence  due  to  then- 
talents,  patriotism,  and  experience,  to  stigmatise  tlicni  as 
usurpei-s  of  sovereignty,  and  to  hound  the  rabble  upon 
them  as  tyrants  and  mischief-makers,     let  to  take  tins 
course  pleased  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  saw  no  hope 
for  the  liberty  of  the  people,  unless  absolute  and  uncon- 
(  itional  authority  over  the  people,  in  war,  naval  attairs, 
justice,  and  polity,  were  placed  in  his  hands,     llus  was 
the  view   sustiiined  by    the   clergy   of  the   Keformed 
Church,  because  they  found  it  convenient,  through  such 
a  theory,  and  by  Leicester's  power,  to  banish  1  apists, 
exercise  intolerance  in  matters  of  religion,  sequestrate 
for  their  own  private  uses  the  property  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  obtain  for  their  own  a  political  power  which 
was  repugnant  to  the  more  libeml  ideas  of  the  Barneveld 

^The  States  of  Holland— inspired  as  it  were  by  the 
memory  of  that  great  martyr  to  religious  and  political 
liberty,   William  the    Silent-maintamed    freedom  of 

conscience.  . 

The  Leicester  party  advocated  a  different  theory  on 
the  religious  question.  They  were  also  determined  to 
omit  no  effort  to  make  the  States  odious. 


1587.    DISPUTE  BETWEEN  WILKES  AND  BAKNEVELD.       213 

*;  Seeing  their  violent  courses,"  said  Wilkes  to 
Leicester,  "I  have  not  been  negligent,  as  well  by  soli- 
citations ^o  tlie  ministers,  as  by  my  letters  to  such  as  have 
continued  constant  m  affection  to  your  Lordship,  to  have 
the  people  informed  of  the  ungrateful  and  dangerous  pro- 
ceedings of  the  States.  They  have  therein  ti^vailed  with 
so  good  effect,  as  the  people  are  now  wonderfully  well 
disposed  and  have  delivered  everywhere  in  speeches, 
that  if,  by  he  overthwart  dealings  of  the  States,  her 
Majesty  shall  be  drawn  to  stay  her  succours  and  goodness 
to  them  and  that  thereby  your  Lordship  be  also  dis- 
couraged  to  return,  they  will  cut  timr  throats^' 

wl/i    f^n""    "^'Tf^'."  ^^^""^^^  ^^^^'  *^at  tad  been  so 
wonderfully   well   disposed   to    throat-cutting    by   the 

ministers  of  the  Gospel,  did  not  distinctly  appeal-      It 
Avjis  certain,  however,  that  they  were  the  special  fiiends 
auCo^    :  greatorators,  very  pious,  and  the  sovereigns 
of  the  country.     So  much  could  not  be  gainsaid, 
nillnr  u^f  Lordship  would  wonder,"  continued  the  coun- 
f  !2  '     •?  ^l^  *^^  people-who  so  lately,  by  the  practice 
of  the  said  States  and  the  ac(»dent  of  beventc?r,^^re 
notably  ahenated-so  returned  to  their  former  devXn 
tovv^jrds  her  Majesty,  your  Lordship,  and  our  nation/' 
vn^'  "^^1  ^^\^^:eover  to  gratify  the  absent  go- 

vernor-general with  the  intelligence-of  somewhat 
questionable  authenticity,  however-that  the  Stat"e 
very  "  much  terrified  with  these  threats  of  the  people." 
Lut  Bameveld  came  down  to  the  council  to  inquire  wha^ 
mernber  of  that  body  it  was  who  had  accused VsLt^ . 
of  violating  the  Earl's  authority.  -  Whoever  he  is  " 
said  the  Advocate,   '' let  him  deliver  hisS  fitkT; 

muoW  "^fh.  ^^r^'l^-'     The  man  did   no     seem 
much  terrified  by  the  throat-cutting  orations.     -It  is 

Ir-  .^"^h^  ^^,'^^^"'  perceiving  himself  to  be  the  per! 
Bon  intended,  -  that  you  have  ve^ry  injuriously,  in  many 

a  itC[J'?T^?^^'^  ^'""^^'^^  *^^°^  -«d  tr'^dden  the 
ft4t » « .  ^  of  his  Lordship  and  of  this  council  under  your 

^i~*^tr«  ^^  Tf  V^^*^   particulai^,  and  discussed, 
more  5,^,  the  constitutional  question,  in  which  various 
Leicestnan  counsellors  seconded  him. 
±5ut  Bameveld  grimly  maintained  that  the  States  were 

Wilke,  to  Leicester,  12  Ma«:h,  1587.    (S.  P.  OfBce  MS.)  ,  RiO. 


I 


'!♦ 


214  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XV. 

the  sovereigns,  and  that  it  was  therefore  unfit  that  the 
aam  y^ho  drew  his  auth^ty  from  th.m^  ^^^^^^^/^^^^ 
th?m  t^  account  for  their  doings.  "It  was  as  if  the 
xnem  tu  a^  .,  ^  ..^^  o  nharles  V  said  the  Advocate, 
governors  m  the  time  ot  i^naries  v.,    »«*iu  ^  ,  . 

S  should  have  taxed  that  Emperor  for  any  action  ot  his 

^Tt^err^Sd'Barneyeld.  with  «^ing 
voice  and  lion  port,  seemed  to  impersonate  the  btates 
and  to  hold  reclaimed  sovereignty  in  his  grasp.     It 
seemed  difficult  to  tear  it  from  him  again. 

^I  did  what  I  could,"  said  Wilkes,  "to  heat  themfi^n 
rt«  hanwuv  of  their  sovereignty  Aowing  that  ^'^'^^^ 
error    they    had    grounded    the    rest    of    their   wUJul 

'^^IxtZu  he  drew  up  sixteen  articles  showing  the 
disorders  of  the  States,  their  breach  of  oaths,  and 
violations  of  the  Earl's  ''»thori«y ;  and  wiA  that  com- 
menced a  series  of  papers  interchanged  by  the  two 
St  in  which  the  topics  of  the  origin  of  government 
D  the  principles  of  religious  freedom  were  handled  with 
much  ability  on  both  sides,  but  at  unmerciful  length. 

On  Ae  religious  question,  the  States-General,  led  by 
Bameveld  and  by  Francis  Franck,  expressed  themselves 
manfully  on  various  occasions  during  the  mission  ot 

^"^ThTnoblos  and  cities  constituting  the  States,"  they 
said  "  have  been  denounced  to  Lord  Leicester  as  enemies 

S  religfon,  by  the  self-seeking  "li^^lV'^""^'':^';^ 
surround  him.'  Why  ?  Because  they  had  >cfeed  the 
demand  of  certain  preachers  to  call  a  general  sj-nod,  m 
defiance  of  the  States-General,  and  to  introduce  a  set  ot 
ordinances  with  a  system  of  discipline  according  to  «ter 

States-General  had  always  thought  detomentol  both  to 
religion  and  polity.  They  respected  the  difference  in 
Sous  opiSons,  and,  leaving  all  churches  in  their 
freedom,  they.cAose  to  compel  no  ,mn's  co-^'jce-a  cou^e 
which  all  statesmen,  knowing  the  diversity  of  human 
opinions,  had  considered  necessary  in  order  to  maintam 
fraternal  harmony."" 


1587.  RELIGIOUS  TOLERANCE  Br  THE  STATES.  215 

Such  words  shine  through  the  prevailing  darkness  of 
the  religious  atmosphere  at  that  epoch,  like  characters 
of  light.     They  are  beacons  in  the  upward   path  of 
mankind.     Never  before  had  so  bold  and  wise  a  tribute 
to   the  genius   of  the  Reformation    been   paid  by   an 
organized  community.     Individuals  walking  in  advance 
of  their  age  had  enunciated  such  truths,  and  their  voices 
had  seemed  to  die  away ;  but  at  last,  a  little,  strugglinc- 
half-developed  commonwealth  had  proclaimed  thlriffhts 
of  conscience  for  all  mankind— for  Papists  and  Calvinists 
Jews  and  Anabaptists-because,  "having  a  respect  for 
diiferences  m  religious  opinions,  and  leaving  all  churches 
in    their  freedom,   they    chose    to  compel  no    man's 
conscience.  *^ 

On  the  constitutional  question,  the  States  commenced 
by  an  astounding  absurdity.  "  These  mischief-makers, 
moreover,  said  they,  "  have  not  been  ashamed  to  dispute 
and  to  cause  the  Earl  of  Leicester  to  dispute,  the  la\vfiii 
constitution  of  the  Provinces ;  a  matter  which  has  Mt 
been  disputed  for  eight  hundred  years."  ' 

This  was  indeed  to  claim  a  respectable  ape  for  their 
republic  Eight  hundred  years  took  them  back  to  tho 
(lays  ot  Char  emagne,  m  whose  time  it  would  have  been 
somewhat  difficult  to  detect  a  germ  of  theTstates 
General  and  States-Pi.,vincial.  That  the  consJitut W  • 
government  —  consisting  of  nobles  and  of  the  vroeds- 
chaps  of  chartered  cities -sliould  have  been  in  existence 


I  Wilkes  to  UJcestcr,  MS  last  cited. 
Coiupare  Kluit,  ii  281  »eq.  Bor.  ii. 
xxU.918,  9il  Sfi  Wdgenaar,  vill.  208. 


t  Wilkes  to  Ijeicegtcr,  MS.  last  cited. 

»  Meteren,  xiv.  250-253. 

The  States  of  Holland,  under  the  guid- 


ance of  Barneveld,  took  strong  ground, 
on  several  occasions  this  year,  against 
attempts  made  by  the  Reformed  Church 
to  meddle  with  secular  matters.    On  the 
presentation  of  a   petition    relative    to 
politics,  by  a  committee  of  four  preachers 
representing  the  churches    of  Holland,' 
wiswer  was  made,  through  the  mouth  of 
Barneveld.  that   "  the  Stiites  were  very 
well  acquainted  with  the  matters  men- 
ti')ned  in  the  petition,  and  with   many 
other    things   besides;   that    the  States 
were  quite  as  much  Interested  as   the 
churches  could  be  in  the  welfare  of  the 
land,  and  that  they  could  provide  for  It 
without  the  asblstance  of  the  preachers  " 
ihe   petitioners    were   accordingly   atl- 
vised  to  go  home,  and  leave  the  States  to 

A  few  days  later,  a  resolution  upon  the 


subject  of  the  petition  was  passed  by  the 
States,  printed,  and  sent  to  all  the  cities 
in  the  Province,  with  an  order  to  the 
magistrates  to  summon  the  preachers 
before  them,  deliver  them  a  copy  of  the 
resolution,  warn  them  to  keep  their  con- 
gregations in  tranquillity  and  harmony 
and,  for  their  own  part,  to  occupy  them-* 
selves  with  praying,  teachhig.  and  preach- 
ing, and  to  allow  the  States  and  the 
magistrates  to  administer  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  resolution  itself— which  the 
preachers  characterised  as  a  rude  answer 
to  a  courteous  request-was  conceived 
much  m  the  spirit  of  Bameveld's  ori- 
ginal  verbal  reply.  (See  the  documents 
In  Bor,  iil.  xxiii.  76,  85  seq.) 

^  Bor.  Iil.  xxlil.  76-84.  Meteren,  xiv. 
250-253.    Kluit,  ii.  286  *C2. 


216  THE  U.NITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XV. 

four  hundred  and  seventeen  years  before  the  first  charter 
had  ever  been  granted  to  a  city,  was  a  very  W  style 

the  ^W  ^"^'T^'J  ^^  ^'°'^"*^  ''"'^  Co„n';esses,  on  wK 
let^ZlZf  a'''^'^'  ?"  '•«P'-e«enting  the  States,  had 
legally  conferred  sovereignty." ' 

laml°tw  ®  ^"^^  incorporated  city  of  Holland  and  Zee- 
land  that  ever  existed  was  Middelburg,  which  received 

e^s  jtf  Jf  F1?J"""* ''?^"*"  ^- ''^  H°"-'»  »^ 

that  ^»^  Of  *^landers,  in  the  year  1217.     The  first  Count 

that  had  any  legal  or  recognized  authority  was  Dirk  the 

General  f,;  J  '<'/*«'"«-P»*?°t'  "«  922.  Yet  the  S.ates- 
.Uf  7f. '  •  ^^""^^  ^^  eloquent  document,  gravelv 

Se  r^eS^r  Z^  --*^«<^  1^  «-  year  787,  and  Sll 
tut  regular  possession  and  habitual  delegation  of  sove- 
reignty  from  that  epoch  down ' 

th„^*'t!/''^/f  »J°'».«  P^aniWe,  they  proceeded  to  handle 

thev^d  ?h  ^f  ir\Vf.'^'''='*'  P--^^'^'""-  It  ^««  -absurd! 
aZtM;    f      Mr.  Wilkes  and  Lord  Leicester  should 

semblv  ,^f;r\v  f^r^""',  ^^^  "PP^^^^i  '"  *e  as 
cSd  nr\  ^  ^^*?  themselves ;  a«  if  those  individuals 
ofcd  wwTT^  sovereignty.     Any  man  who  had 
ve^rtil       ^  tfen  passing  during  the  last  fifteen 
nnr^ol  "2  ""f}  t*"**  ^^^  ^"P'emo  authority  did 

not  belong  to  the  thirty  or  forty  individuals  who  •came 

^c?entd?™-f-  •^-  •  ■,  The  "obles,  by  reason  of  th^ir 
^^Shl£.Vf  'P*^"**'"^  possessions,  took  counsel 
together  over  state  matters,  and  then,  appearins  at  tb« 

SS  if  h"^'"*,'^  "'*  *'■<'  deputieroScHes 
1  he  cities  had  mainly  one  form  of  govemment^a  college 

of  counsellors,  or  wise  men  40  V>  9a  r,,  9j  •  T^ 

ot  the  most  respectable  out  of  the  whole  communitv 

my  were  chosen  for  life,  and  vacancies  were  supplkd 

by  the  colleges  themselves  out  of  the  mass  of  citSs 

ITiese  colleges'  alone  governed  the  city,  and  tLt  wWch 


1587. 


THEIR  CONSTITUTIONAL  THEORY. 


217 


»  Bor.  Meteren.  Kluit,  ubi  sup. 

2  "  These  colleges,"  says  the  document, 

are  as  old  as  the  cities;  or  so  old  at 
»^t,  that  there  is  no  memory  left  of 
their  commencement." 

Here,  too,  was  a  gross  misstatement, 


for  the  colleges  of  Vroedschappen  dated 
only  from  the  time  of  Philip  the  Good- 
not  much  more  than  a  century  before 
the  publication  of  this  document;  and 
the  cities  Uiomselvep,  as  orgarHzed  cor- 
porations, were   but  350  years  old,  at 


had  been  ordained  by  them  was  to  be  obeyed  by  all  \hQ 
inhabitants-a  system  against  which  there  had  never 
been  any  rebellion.     The  colleges   again,  united  with 
those  of  the  nobles,  represented  the  whole  state,  the  whole 
body  of  the  population ;  and  no  form   of  government 
could  be  imagined,  they  said,  that  could  resolve,  with  a 
more   thorough   knowledge  of   the    necessities   of   the 
country    or  that  could  execute  its  resolves  with  more 
miity  of  purpose  and  decisive  authority.     To  bring  the 
colleges  into  an  assembly  could  only  be  done  by  means 
of  deputies      These  deputies,  chosen  by  their  colleges 
and  properly  instructed,  were  sent  to  the  place  of  meet! 
mg.      Uunng   the   war   they   had   always  been   com- 
missioned to  resolve  in  common  on  matters  regarding 
the  liberty  of  the  land.     These  deputies,  thus  assembled 
presented,  by  commission,  the  States ;  but  they  are  not  in 
their  own  persons  the  States,  and  no  one  of  them  had 
any  such  pretension.     "  The  people  of  this  country,"  said 
the  btates,  -  have  an  aversion  to  all  ambition :  and  in 
these  disastrous  times,  wherein  nothing  but  trouble  and 
odium  IS  to  be  gathered  by  public  employment,  these  com- 
missions  are  accounted  jnunera  necessaria.  ,  .  .  This  form 
of  government  has,  by  God's  favour,  protected  Holland 
and  Zeeland,  during  this  war,  against  a  powerful  foe 
wi  hout  loss  of  teiTitoiy,  without  any  popular  outbreak 
without  military  mutiny,  because  all   business  has  been 
transacted  xotth  open  doors,  and  because  the  very  smallest 
towns  are  all  represented,  and  vote  in  the  assembly."  i 

In  brief  the  constitution  of  the  United  Provinces  was 
a  matter  of  fact.  It  was  there  in  good  working  order, 
and  had,  for  a  generation  of  mankind,  and  throughout  a 
tremendous  war,  done  good  service.  Judged  by  the 
pnnciples  of  reason  and  justice,  it  was  in  the  main  a 
Wholesome  constitution,  securing  the  independence  and 
welfare  of  the  state,  and  the  liberty  and  property  of  the 
individual,  as  well  certainly  as  did  any  polity  then 
existing  m  the  world.     It  seemed  more  hopeful  to  abide 

«w  ^1.*  t^  ^^"^^^  *^^"^  *^  ^^^P*  t^e  throat-cutting 
system  by  the  people,  recommended  by  Wilkes  and 
x^eicester  as  an  improvement  on  the  old  constitution. 

Tf\  ^*  '*  ^^^'^^^  *o  understand  how    Kliiit.  •  Hull.  Staatsrcgerlne '  H  291  ^ 


21S 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


This  was  the  view  of  Lord  Buckhurst.     He  felt  that 
threats   of  throat-cutting   were   not  the   best  means  of 
smoothing  and  conciliating,  and  he  had  come  oyer  to 
smooth  and  conciliate.     "  To  spend  the  time,"  said  he, 
*'  in  private  brabbles  and  piques  between  the  States  and 
Lord  Leicester,   when  we  ought  to  prepare  an  anny 
against  the  enemy,  and  to  repair  the  shaken  and  torn 
state,  is  not  a  good  course  for  her  Majesty's  service."  * 
Letters  were  continually  circulating  from  hand  to  hand 
among  the  antagonists  of  the  Holland  party,  written  out 
of  England  by  Leicester,   exciting  the   ill-will   of  the 
populace  against  the  organized  government.     "  By  such 
means  to  bring  the  States  into  hatred,"  said  Buckhurst, 
"  and  to  stir  up  the  people  against  them,  tends  to  great 
damage  and  miserable  end.     This  his  Lordship  doth  full 
little  consider,  being  the  very  way  to  dissolve  all  govern- 
ment, and  so  to  bring  all  into  confusion,  and  open  the 
door  for  the  enemy.     But  oh,  how  lamentable  a  thing  it 
is,  and  how  doth  my  Lord  of  Leicester  abuse  her  Majesty, 
making  her  authority  the  means  to  uphold  and  justify, 
and  under  her  name  to  defend  and  maintain,  all  his  in- 
tolerable errors !     I  thank  God  that  neither  his  might 
nor  his  malice  shall  deter  me  from  laying  open  all  those 
things  which  my  conscience  knoweth,  and  which  apper- 
taineth  to  be  done  for  the  good  of  this  cause  and  of  her 
Majesty's  service.     Herein,  though  I  were  sure  to  lose 
my  life,  yet  will  I  not  offend  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  knowing  very  well  that  I  must  die ;  and  to  die  in 
her  Majesty's  faithful  service,  and  with  a  good  conscience, 
is  far  more  happy  than  the  miserable  life  that  I  am  in. 
If  Leicester  do  in  this  sort  stir  up  the  people  against 
the  States  to  follow  his  revenge  against  them,  and  if  the 
Queen  do  yield  no  better  aid,  and  the  minds  of  Count 
Maurice  and  Hohenlo  remain  thus  in  fear  and  hatred  of 
him,  what  good  end  or  service  can  be  hoped  for  here  ?"  * 
Buckhurst  was  a  man  of  unimpeached  integrity  and 
gentle  manners.     He  had  come  over  with  the  best  in- 
tentions towards  the  governor-general,  and  it  has  been 
seen  that  he  boldly  defended  him  in  his  first  interviews 
with  the  States.     But  as  the  intrigues  and  underhand 
plottings  of  the  Earl's  agents  were  revealed  to  him,  he 

»  Buckhurst  to  Walalngham,  13lh  Jnne,  1587.    (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  1.  p.  96,  MS.) 
>  ibid. 


1587.       DEVENTER'S  BAD  COUNSELS  TO  LEICESTER.         219 

felt  more  and  more  convinced  that  there  was  a  deep-laid 
scheme  to  destroy  the  government,  and  to  constitute  a 
virtual  and  obsolute  sovereignty  for  Leicester.  It  was 
not  wonderful  that  the  States  were  standing  vigorously 
on  the  defensive. 

The  subtle  Deventer,  Leicester's  evil  genius,  did  not 
cease  to  poison  the  mind  of  the  governor,  during  his 
protracted  absence,  against  all  persons  who  offered  im- 
pediments to  the  cherished  schemes  of  his  master  and 
himself.  "  Your  Excellency  knows  very  well,"  he  said, 
"  that  the  state  of  this  country  is  democratic,  since,  by 
failure  of  a  prince,  the  sovereign  disposition  of  affairs 
has  returned  to  the  people.  That  same  people  is  every- 
where so  incredibly  affectionate  towards  you  that  the 
delay  in  your  return  drives  them  to  extreme  despair. 
Any  one  who  would  know  the  real  truth  has  but  to  re- 
member the  fine  fear  the  States-General  were  in  when 
the  news  of  your  displeasure  about  the  4th  February 
letter  became  known." ' 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  efforts  of  Lord  Buckhurst  in 
calming  the  popular  rage,  Deventer  assured  the  Earl  that 
the  writers  of  the  letter  would  "  have  scarcely  saved 
their  skins ;"  and  that  they  had  always  continued  in 
great  danger. 

He  vehemently  urged  upon  Leicester  the  necessity  of 
his  immediate  return— not  so  much  for  reasons  drawn 
from  the  distracted  state  of  the  country,  thus  left  to  a 
provisional  government  and  torn  by  faction— but  because 
of  the  facility  with  which  he  might  at  once  seize  upon 
arbitrary  power.  He  gratified  his  master  by  depicting 
m  lively  colours  the  abject  condition  into  which  Barne- 
veld,  Maurice,  Hohenlo,  and  similar  cowards,  would  be 
throM-Ti  by  his  sudden  return. 

"  If,"  said  he,  *'  the  States'  members  and  the  counts, 
every  one  of  them,  are  so  desperately  afraid  of  the  people 
even  while  your  Excellency  is  afar  off,  in  what  trepi- 
dation will  they  be  when  you  are  here  !  God,  reason,  the 
attection  of  the  sovereign  people,  are  on  vour  side. 
Ihere  needs,  in  a  little  commonwealth  like  ours,  bat  a 
wink  of  the  eye,  the  slightest  indication  of  dissatisfaction 
on  your  part,  to  take  away  all  their  valour  from  men  who 

Ga'lK  D.  l!^"lT  MsJ''^''^^'^  '"  ^""^^  ^^  Leycestre,  22  May.  158T.    (Brit  Mu3. 


220 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


are  only  brave  where  swords  are  too  short.  A  magnani-* 
inous  prince  like  yourself  should  seek  at  once  the  place 
where  such  plots  are  hatching,  and  you  would  see  the 
fury  of  the  rebels  change  at  once  to  cowardice.  There 
is  more  than  one  man  here  in  the  Netherlands  that  brags 
of  what  he  will  do  against  the  greatest  and  most  highly 
endowed  prince  in  England,  because  he  thinks  he  shall 
never  see  him  again,  who,  at  the  very  first  news  of  your 
return,  my  Lord,  would  think  only  of  packing  his  port- 
manteau, greasing  his  boots,  or,  at  the  very  least,  of 
sneaking  back  into  his  hole.'* ' 

But  the  sturdy  democrat  was  quite  sure  that  his 
Excellency,  that  most  magnanimous  prince  of  England, 
would  not  desert  his  faithful  followers— thereby  giving 
those  "filthy  rascals,"  his  opponents,  a  triumph,  and 
"  doing  so  great  an  injury  to  the  sovereign  people,  who 
were  ready  to  get  rid  of  them  all  at  a  single  blow,  if  his 
Excellency  would  but  say  the  word."  * 

He  then  implored  the  magnanimous  prince  to  imitate 
the  example  of  Moses,  Joshua,  David,  and  that  of  all 
great  emperors  and  captains,  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Roman,  to  come  at  once  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  to 
smite  his  enemies  hip  and  thigh.  He  also  informed  his 
Excellency  that,  if  the  delay  should  last  much  longer, 
he  would  lose  all  chance  of  regaining  power,  because 
the  sovereign  people  had  quite  made  up  their  mind  to 
return  to  the  dominion  of  Spain  within  three  months, 
if  they  could  not  induce  his  Excellency  to  rule  over 
them.  In  that  way  at  least,  if  in  no  other,  they  could 
circumvent  those  filthy  rascals  whom  they  so  much 
abhorred,  and  frustrate  the  designs  of  Maurice,  Hohenlo, 
and  Sir  John  Norris,  who  were  represented  as  occupying 
the  position  of  the  triumvirs  after  the  death  of  Julius 
Ca3sar. 


1  "  Tel  bravera  es  Pays  Bas  centre  le 
plus  grand  ei  qualifie  prince  d'Angle- 
terre,  lequel  il  s'asseure  ne  revolr  Jamais 
pardefa,  qui  aux  denileres  nouvellea  de 
votre  retour,  Monseigneur,  ne  pensolt 
qu'ji  trousser  bagage  et  falre  graisaer  aes 
bottes,  ou  du  moins  se  desrober  en  sa 
taniere,"  4c.  (G.  de  Pronlnck.  MS.  last 
cited.) 

'  "  Mais  im  prince  si  trea  magnanlme, 
ne  fera  jamais  ce  tort  ny  a  soy  musme,  ni 


au  bon  peuple  belgique.  Point  a  soy 
mesme,  comme  s'll  avalt  cedd  a  la 
bravade  des  pouceux,  dont  toute  sa 
jxisterit^  et  histoires  et  memoires  du 
temps  a  venir  portera  I'ignominie.  Point 
au  peuple,  lequel,  comme  souverain,  ne 
dolt  recevoir  le  tort  de  cette  ir\Juro, 
puisque  ne  luy  que  I'lnformatlon  de 
vostre  mescontentement  pour  se  desfaire 
en  un  coup  de  cest  obstacle,"  &c.    (Ibid.) 


1587. 


THEIR  PERNICIOUS  EFFECT. 


221 


To  place  its  neck  under  the  yoke  of  Philip  II.  and  tlio 
Inquisition,  after  having  so  handsomely  got  rid  of  both, 
did  not  seem  a  sublime  manifestation  of  sovereignty  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  and  even  Deventer  had  some 
misgivings  as  to  the  propriety  of  such  a  result.  "  What 
then  will  become  of  our  beautiful  churches?"  he  cried 
'*  What  will  princes  say,  what  will  the  world  in  general 
say,  what  will  historians  say,  about  the  honour  of  the 
English  nation?"' 

As  to  the  first  question,  it  is  probable  that  the  prospect 
of  the  reformed  churches  would  not  have  been  cheerful 
had  the  Inquisition  been  re-established  in  Holland  and 
Utrecht,  three  months  after  that  date.  As  to  the  second 
the  world  and  history  were  likely  to  reply,  that  the 
honour  of  the  English  nation  was  fortunately  not  en- 
tirely entrusted  at  that  epoch  to  the  ''  magnanimous 
prince  of  Leicester,  and  his  democratic  counsellor-in- 
chief,  burgomaster  Deventer. 

^  These  are  but  samples  of  the  ravings  which  sounded 
incessantly  in  the  ears  of  the  governor-general.  Was  it 
strange  that  a  man,  so  thirsty  for  power,  so  gluttonous 
ot  llatteiy,  should  be  influenced  by  such  passionate 
appeals?  Addressed  in  strains  of  fulsome  adulation 
convinced  that  arbitrary  power  was  within  his  reach* 
and  assured  that  he  had  but  to  wink  his  eye  to  see  his 
enemies  scattered  before  him,  he  became  impatient  of 
all  restraint,  and  determined,  on  his  return,  to  crush  the 
otates  into  insignificance. 

Thus,  while  Buckhurst  had  been  doing  his  best  as  a 
mediator  to  prepare  the  path  for  his  return,  Leicester 
liimself  and  his  partisans  had  been  secretly  exertin<r 
themselves  to  make  his  arrival  the  signal  for  discord' 
perhaps  of  civil  war.  The  calm,  then,  immediately  sud 
ceeding  the  mission  of  Buckhurst,  was  a  deceitful  one  • 
but  It  seemed  very  promising.     The  best  feelings  were 


*  "  II  plaira  a  V.  Exc  de  nous  veolr 
Incontinent  Espagnol.  ou  de  nous  en  con- 
server  par  I'empescbement  de  ce  dcsseing. 
•  .  .  .  Car  il  ne  pent  lomber  en  aucune 
imagination  raisonnable,  en  cas  que  ce 
desseing  ne  se  renverse  tout  subit.  que 
raute  d'autorile  Jolnte.  un  desespoir  ex-    4u.   .eur  auroni  r 
lw"IT^'^"^^*''^^'P^^*^''^^''^"'    Votre    Excellence."    &c 
de^^  n?..        .T*"'    ^»«  «^~  ce  alors    ninck.  MS.  Just  cited.) 
OfiKwpauvresdelabsez.?    Que  devicnd- 


ront  ces  belles  eglises.que  dlra  le  monde, 
que  diront  les  princes,  que  ^liront  les 
bistoriens,  de  I'honneur  de  la  nation 
Anglaise.'  Le  desespoir  enrage  du 
peuple  choislra  plutot  quel  parti  que  ce 
soit  avec  I'Espagnol,  que-  dVndurer  ceux 
qui   leur  auront  renvers^  le  retour  de 

(G.   de   Pro- 


\ 


\ 


222 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


avowed,  and  perhaps  entertained.  The  States  professed 
great  devotion  to  her  Majesty  and  friendly  regard  for 
the  governor.  They  distinctly  declared  that  the  arrange- 
ments hy  which  Maurice  and  Hohenlo  had  heen  placed 
in  their  new  positions  were  purely  provisional  ones, 
subject  to  modifications  on  the  arrival  of  the  Earl.* 
"  All  things  are  reduced  to  a  quiet  calm,"  said  Buck- 
hurst,  "  ready  to  recive  my  Lord  of  Leicester  and  his 
authority,  whenever  he  cometli."  ■ 

The  quarrel  of  Hohenlo  with  Sir  Edward  Norris  had 
heen,  by  the  exertions  of  Buckhurst,  amicably  arranged :  * 
the  Count  became  an  intimate  friend  of  Sir  John,  "  to 
the  gladding  of  all  such  as  wished  well  to  the  country ;"  * 
but  he  nourished  a  deadly  hatred  to  the  Earl.  He  ran 
up  and  down  like  a  madman  whenever  his  return  was 
mentioned.*  "  if  the  Queen  be  willing  to  take  the 
sovereignty,"  he  cried  out  at  his  own  dinner-table  to  a 
large  company,  "and  is  ready  to  proceed  roundly  in 
this  actior.,  1  will  serve  her  to  the  last  drop  of  my 
blood;  but  if  she  embrace  it  in  no  other  sort  than 
hitherto  she  hath  done,  and  if  Leicester  is  to  return, 
then  am  I  as  good  a  man  as  Leicester,  and  will  never 
be  commanded  by  him.  I  mean  to  continue  on  my 
frontier,  where  all  who  love  me  can  come  and  find  me."  * 

He  declared  to  several  persons  that  he  had  detected  a 
plot  on  the  part  of  Leicester  to  have  him  assassinated ; 
and  the  assertion  seemed  so  important,  that  Villiers 
came  to  Councillor  Clerk  to  confer  with  him  on  the 
subject.  The  worthy  Bartholomew,  who  had  again, 
most  reluctantly,  left  his  quiet  chambers  in  the  Temple 
to  come  again  among  the  guns  and  drums,  which  his 
soul  abhoned,  was  appalled  by  such  a  charge.  It  was 
best  to  keep  it  a  secret,  he  said,  at  least  till  the  matter 


1  Wilkes  to  Walslngham,  8  April,  1587. 
Same  to  same.  13  and  19  April,  15H7. 
Cleric  to  Burghlty,  12  April,  1587  (S.  P. 
Office  MSS.) 

2  Buckhurst  to  Burghlcy,  19  April, 
1687.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  Wilkes  to  Walslngham,  8  April, 
1587.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  Memorandum  of  a  speech  between 
the  Ijord  Buckhurst  and  Count  Hohenlo, 
n  April,  15!J7.  (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  xi. 
345.  MS.) 


»  Otheman  to  Walsingham,  23rd 
March.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

•■•  Wilkes  to  Walslngham,  29  April, 
15-7.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'•  Hohenlo  is  their  Hercules,"  said 
Wilkes,  *•  and  a  man  fit  for  any  desperate 
attempt,  altogether  directed  by  Bameveld 
and  Paul  Buys,  who  seeks  (viz.  P.  B.)  by 
all  naanniT  of  devices  to  be  revenged  of 
1-ord  lieicester  for  his  imprisonment." 
AVilkes  t<^  the  Queen,  12  jAily,  15»7.  (S. 
P.  Office  MS.) 


1587.  REAL  AND  SUPPOSED  PLOTS  AGAINST  HOHENLO.    223 

could  be  thoroughly  investigated.     Villiers  was  of  the 
same  opinion,   and  accordingly  the  councillor,  in  the 
excess  of  his  caution,  confided  the  secret  only— to  whom  ? 
To  Mr.  Atye,  Leicester's  private  secretary.      Atye    of 
course,  instantly  told  his  master-  his  master,  in  a  frenzy 
of  rage,  told  the  Queen,  and  her  Majesty,  in  a  paroxysm 
of  royal  indignation  at  this  new  insult  to  her  favourite 
sent  furious  letters  to  her  envoys,  to  the  States-General* 
to  everybody  m  the  Netherlands— so  that  the  assertion 
of  Hohenlo  became  the  subject  of  endless  recrimination. 
Leicester  became  very  violent,  and  denounced  the  state- 
ment as   an   impudent  falsehood,   devised  wilfully  in 
order  to   cast   odium   upon    him   and  to  prevent   his 
return. »    Unquestionably  there  was  nothing  in  the  storv 
but  table-talk;  but  the  Count  would  have  been  still 
more  ferocious  towards  Leicester  than  he  was,  had  he 
known   what    was    actually    happening   at   that   very 
moment.  *^ 

While  Buckhurst  was  at  Utrecht,  listening  to  the 
*' solemn  speeches"  of  the  militia-captains  and  ex- 
changing friendly  expressions  at  stately  banquets  with 
Moeurs,  he  suddenly  received  a  letter  in  cipher  from 
her  Majesty.  Not  having  the  key,  he  sent  to  Wilkes 
at  the  Hague.  Wilkes  was  very  ill ;  but  the  despatch 
was  marked  pressing  and  immediate,  so  he  got  out  of 
bed  and  made  the  journey  to  Utrecht.  The  letter  on 
being  deciphered,  proved  to  be  an  order  from  the  Queen 
to  decoy  Hohenlo  into  some  safe  town,  on  pretence  of 
consultation,  and  then  to  throw  him  into  prison,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  been  tampering  with  the  enemy 
and  was  about  to  betray  the  republic  to  Thilip.*  ' 

The  Queens  letter  is  as  follows:— 
"  Finding  by  a  later  letter  written  to  our 
secretary  by  our  ambassador  Willses,  that 
lie  hath  been  given  to  understand  how 
Hollock  should  have  some  secret  intel- 
ligence with  the  Prince  of  Parma.  wh.ch 
being  true,  considering  how  the  said 
Hollock  is  possessed  of  divers  principal 
towns,  in  tlie  which  the  captains  and 
soldiers  are  altogether  at  his  devotion,  it 
is  greatly  to  be  doubted  that  he  may  be 
drawn  by  comiptlon  U)  deliver  up  into 
the  lYlnce  of  I'arma's  hmids  the  said 
towns,  whereby  the  enemy  may  have  the 
more  easy  entry  Into  those  countries. 
We   have   therefore   thought   good,  for 


'  '  Kffect  of  what  passed  between  Dr. 
Villers  and  me,  Bartholomew  Clerk, 
touching  the  discontentment  of  Count 
Hohenlo.'  22  May,  I5b7.  (S.  P.  Office 
M.S.) 

Wilkes  to  Lord  Chancellor,  3  June, 
15«7.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Ci.mpare 
klU'rs  of  Leicester  to  Sonoy,  and  of 
Buclihurst  to  Treslong,  in  Bor.  ii.  xxii. 
99-2.  Groen  v.  I»rlnst.  Archives,  1.  63, 
6P,  69. 

2  <^»^n  to  Buckhurst,  15  April.  1587. 
Wilkes  to  Wal^iiigham,  29th  April,  1587. 
Buckhurst  to  same.  29  April,  1587.  Same 
to  same,  30th  April,  1687.  (S.  P.  Office 
MbSJ. 


\ 


224  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XV 

The  commotion  which  would  have  been  excited  hv 
any  attempt  to   enforce    this    order    could    be   easily 
imagined  by  those  familiar  with  Hoheulo  and  with  the 
powerful  party  in  the  Netherlands  of  which  he  was  cue 
of  the  chiefs.     Wilkes  stood  aghast  as  he  deciphered  the 
letter.     Buckhurst  felt  the  impossibility  of  obeying  the 
royal  will.     Both  knew  the  cause,  and  both  /oresaw 
thi  consequences  of  the  proposed  step      ^^^^,^^;jf 
heard  some  rumours  of  intrigues  between  ranna  s  agent, 
at  Deventer  and  Hohenlo,  and  had  confided  them  to 
Walsingham,  hoping  that  the  Secretary  would  keep  the 
matter  in  hi^  own  breast,  at  least  till  further  advice. 
He  was  appalled  at  the  sudden  action  proposed  on  a 
mere  rumoir,  which  both  Buckhurst  and  liimself  had 
becrun  to  consider  an  idle  one.     He  protested,  therefore, 
to  Walsingham  that  to  comply  with  her  Majesty  s  com- 
mand would  not  only  be  nearly  impossible  but  would 
if  successful,  hazard  the  mm  of  the  republic      \Nilkes 
was  also  very  anxious  lest  the  Earl  of  Leicester  should 
hear  of  the  matter.    He  was  already  the  object  uf  hatred 
to  that  powerful  personage,  and  thought  him  capable 
of  accomplishing  his  destruction  in  any  m<.dc.     But  it 
Leicester  could  wreak  his  vengeance  upon  his  enemy 
W^ilkes  bv  the  hand  of  his  other  deadly  enemy  Hohenlo, 
the  councillor  felt  that  this  kind  of  revenge  would  have 
a  double  sweetness  for  him.     llie  Queen  knows  what 
I  have  been  saying,   thought  Wilkes,   and  therefore 
Leicester  knows  it;  and  if  Leicester  knows  it  he  will 
take  care  that  Hohenlo  shall  hear  of  it  too,  and  then  ^vo 
be  unto  me.     "  Your  honour  knoweth,'  he  said  to  \Val- 
Bingham,  -  that  her  Majesty  can  holdm  secrets,  and  if  she 
do  impart  it  to  Leicester,  then  am  I  sped.''  * 

Nothing  came  of  it,  however,  and  the   relations  ot 
W'ilkes  and  Buckhurst  with  Hohenlo  continued  to  be 


prevntion  thereof,  that  you  should  con- 
fV^i-  with  our  sen-ants  Colonel  Norrla  and 
V/ilkes  whut  course  were  meet  to  be 
taken  therein,  which,  as  we  perceive, 
may  be  best  performed  by  staying  of  the 
person  of  Hollock ;  wherein.  U'fore  the 
execution  thereof,  espc-cial  care  would  lie 
had  that  he  might  be  drawn,  under 
oiour  of  conference  with  you  abi)Ut 
matters  of  great  importance  cuntainod  in 
certain  Utters  sent  fri)m  us  unto  you 
in  groat diligeuce,  int«)  some  of  th?  towns 


which  you  shall  understand  to  be  devoted 
to  us,  and  not  affected  to  liim  ;  whereia 
you  may  take  order  fur  his  restraliiT. 
being  first  well  furnish.Hi  with  sufflcicut 
matter  to  charge  hlra  witlial,  which  wc 
wish  to  be  done  in  the  presence  of  such 
principal  persons  of  the  country  as  nr- 
held  for  pood  patriots  and  have  credii 
with  the  people  " 
»  Wilkes  to  Walsingham,    29   Apnli 

15s7. 


If  t  I 


1587. 


MUTUAL  SUSPICION  AND  DISTRUST. 


225 


friendly.  It  was  a  lesson  to  Wilkes  to  be  more  cautious 
even  with  ihe  cautious  W^alsingham.  "  We  had  but 
bare  suspicions,"  said  Buckhurst,  ''  nothing  fit,  God 
knoweth,  to  come  to  such  a  reckoning.  Wilkes  saith 
lie  meant  it  but  for  a  premonition  to  you  there ;  but  I 
think  it  will  henceforth  be  a  premonition  to  himself— 
there  being  but  bare  presumptions,  and  yet  shrewd 
lircsumptions."  * 

Here  then  were  Deventer  and  Leicester  plotting  to 
overthrow  the  government  of  the  States ;  the  States  and 
Hohenlo  arming  against  Leicester ;  the  extreme  demo- 
cnitic  party  threatening  to  go  over  to  the  Spaniards 
within  three  months ;  the  Earl  accused  of  attempting 
the  life  of  Hohenlo ;  Hohenlo  offering  to  shed  the  last 
drop  of  his  blood  for  Queen  Elizabeth  ;  Queen  Elizabeth 
giving  orders  to  throw  Hohenlo  into  prison  as  a  traitor ; 
I'ouncillur  Wilkes  trembling  for  his  life  at  the  hands 
both  of  Leicester  and  Hohenlo ;  and  Buckhurst  doing 
his  best  to  conciliate  all  parties,  and  imploring  her 
I^Iajesty  in  vain  to  send  over  money  to  help  on  the  war, 
and  to  save  her  soldiers  from  starving. 

For  the  Queen  continued  to  refuse  the  loan  of  fifty 
thousand  pounds  which  the  Provinces  solicited,  and  in 
hope  of  which  the  States  had  just  agreed  to  an  extra 
contribution  of  a  million  florins  (100,000/.),  a  larger 
sum  than  had  been  levied  by  a  single  vote  since  tlie 
commencement  of  the  war.  It  must  be  remembered, 
too,  that  the  whole  expense  of  the  war  fell  upon  Holland 
and  Zeeland.  The  Province  of  Utrecht,  where  there 
was  so  strong  a  disposition  to  confer  absolute  authority 
Ti^l^on  Leicester,  and  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  States- 
Gtineral,  contributed  absolutely  nothing.  Since  the  loss 
of  Deventer,  nothing  could  be  raised  in  the  Provinces 
of  Utrecht,  Geldcrland,  or  Overyssel ;  the  Spaniards 
levying  black  mail  upon  the  whole  territory,  and  im- 
poyenshing  the  inhabitants  till  they  became  almost  a 
nullity.*  Wag  it  strange  then  that  the  States  of  Holland 
and  Zeeland,  thus  bearing  nearly  the  whole  burden  of 
tlie  war,  should  be  dissatisfied  with  the  hatred  felt 
towards  them  by  their  sister  Provinces  so  generously 
protected  by  them  ?     Was  it  unnatural  that  Bameveld, 

already  dtJ'  '"  ^^''^'''''  ''  "^P"^'  ^^^-       "  ^^"^^^    ^   Walsingham.    15   JIay. 
vn,      „  1587.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

VOL.  11,  ''  _ 


II 


22i5 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CuAP.  XV. 


I*»!     ,' 


N' 


and  Maurice,  and  ITolienlo,  should  be  disposed  to  bridle 
the  despotic  inclinations  of  Leicester,  thus  fostered  by 
those  who  existed,  as  it  were,  at  their  expense  ? 

But  the  Queen  refused  the  50,000/.,  although  Holland 
and  Zeeland  had  voted  the  100,000/.  *'No  reason  that 
breedeth  charges,"  sighed  Walsingham,  "can  in  any 
sort  be  digested." ' 

It  was  not  for  want  of  vehement  entreaty  on  the  part 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  of  Buckhurst  that  the  loan 
was  denied.  At  least  she  was  entreated  to  send  over 
money  for  her  troops,  who  for  six  months  past  were 
unpaid.  "Keeping  the  money  in  your  cotters,"  said 
Buckhurst,  "  doth  yield  no  interest  to  you,  and— which 
is  above  all  earthly  respects -it  shall  be  the  means  of 
preserving  the  lives  of  many  of  your  faithful  subjects 
which  otherwise  must  needs  daily  perish.  Their 
miseries,  through  want  of  meat  and  money,  I  do  protest 
to  God  so  much  moves  my  soul  with  commiseration  of 
that  which  is  past,  and  makes  my  heart  tremble  to  think 
of  the  like  to  come  again,  that  I  humbly  beseech  yonr 
Majesty,  for  Jesus  Christ*  sake,  to  have  compassion  on 
their  lamentable  estate  past,  and  send  some  money  to 
prevent  the  like  hereafter."* 

These  were  moving  words,  but  the  money  did  not 
come— charges  could  not  be  digested. 

*'  The  eternal  God,"  cried  Buckhurst,  "  incline  your 
heart  to  grant  the  petition  of  the  Stiites  for  the  loan  of 
the  50,000/.,  and  that  speedily ;  for  the  dangerous  terms 
of  the  State  here  and  the  mighty  and  forward  prepara- 
tion of  the  enemy  admit  no  minute  of  delay,  so  that 
even  to  grant  it  slowly  is  to  deny  it  utterly."  ^  ^ 

He  then  drew  a  vivid  picture  of  the  capacity  of  the 
Netherlands  to  assist  the  endangered  realm  of  England, 
if  delay  were  not  suffered  to  destroy  both  common- 
weahhs,  by  placing  the  Provinces  in  an  enemy's  hand. 

"  Their  many  and  notable  good  havens,"  he  said,  "  the 
great  number  of  ships  and  mariners,  their  impregnable 
towns,  if  they  were  in  the  hands  of  a  potent  prince  that 
would  defend  them,  and,  lastly,  the  state  of  this  shore, 
so  near  and  opposite  unto  the  land  and  coast  of  England 
— lo,  the  sight  of  all  this  daily  in  mine  eye,  conjoined 

»  Walsingham  to  Wilkes,  2  May.  1587.        *  Buckhurst  to  the  Queen,  19  April, 


(S.  r.  Oaice  ilS.) 


1587.    C-.  ^-  Office  Ai: .) 


»  ibid 


1587.    BUCKHURST  SEEKS  TO  RESTORE  GOOD  FEELING.    227 

with  the  deep,  enrooted  malice  of  that  your  so  mighty 
enemy  who  seeketh  to  regain  them ;  these  things  enterin^^ 
continually  into  the  meditations  of  my  heart-so  much 
do  they  import  the  safety  of  yourself  and  your  estate- 
do  enforce  me,  m  the  abundance  of  my  love  and  duty  to 
your  Majesty,  most  earnestly  to  speak,  write,  and  weep  unto 
ym,  lest  when  the  occasion  yet  offered  shall  be  gone  by 
this  blessed  means  of  your  defence,  by  God's  provident 
goodness  thus  put  into  your  hand,  will  then  be  utterly 
lost,  Jo,  never,  never  more  to  be  recovered  again." ' 

It  was  a  noble,  wise,  and  eloquent  appeal,  but  it  was 
uttered  m  vain.  Was  not  Leicester— his  soul  filled  with  • 
petty  schemes  for  reigning  in  Utrecht,  and  destroy  in  o- 
the  constitutional  government  of  the  Provinces— in  full 
j)ossession  of  the  royal  ear  ?  And  was  not  the  same  ear 
lent,  at  that  most  critical  moment,  to  the  insidious 
Alexander  Farnese,  with  his  whispers  of  peace,  which 
were  potent  enough  to  drown  all  the  preparations  for 
the  Invincible  Armada  ? 

Six  months  had  rolled  away  since  Leicester  had  left 
the  ^etherlands;  six  months  long,  the  Provinces,  left 
in  a  condition  which  might  have  become  anarchy,  had 
been   saved^  by   the   wi«o   government   of  the   States- 
General ;    SIX   months   long   the   English   soldiers   had 
remained  unpaid  by  their  sovereign ;  and  now  for  six 
W  .\^%^''^'^^^?^"^''*'  intrepid,  but  gentle  Buck- 
Z^^t    T.t\  ^^f  ^  conciliate  all  parties,  and  to 
mould  the  Netherlands  into  an  impregnable  bulwark 
for  the  realm  of  England.     But  his  efforts  were  treated 
with  scorn  by  the  Queen.     She  was  still  maddened  by 
a  sense  of   he  injuries  done  by  the  Stiites  to  Leicester 
:^he  was  indignant  that  her  envoy  should  have  accepted 

insoW  ^  Y^^  received  no  better  atonement  for  their 
insolent  infringements  of  the  Earl's  orders  during  his 
absence;  that  he  should  have  excused  the7r^coii! 
temptuous  proceedings ;  and  that,  in  short,  he  shou  d 
.h2uT  ^'^^'"'^  *^  conciliate  and  forgi;e  when  he 

eeme1h^'''-A"'"??  -""^  '^^''^'     ^'  You  conceived,  it 
seemeth,    said  her  Majesty,  -that  a  more  sharper  man 

SieptelfTh  ""^'^  ^--exasperated  m^tterto 
"t  prejudice  of  the  service,  and  therefore  you  did  think 

1  Buckhurtt  to  the  Queen,  MS.just  cited. 

q2  ^ 


I 


*  I 


228 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


1587. 


THE  QUEEN  ANGRY  AND  VINDICTIVE. 


229 


IX     ' 


M- 


' 


it  more  fit  to  wash  the  wounds  rather  with  water  than 
vinegar,  wherein  we  would  rather  have  wished,  on  the 
other  side,  that  you  had  better  considered  that  festering 
wounds  had  more  need  of  corrosives  than  lenitives. 
Your  own  judgment  ought  to  have  taught  that  such  a 
slight  and  mild  kind  of  dealing  with  a  people  so  mgrate 
and  void  of  consideration  as  the  said  Estates  have 
showed  themselves  towards  us,  is  the  ready  way  to 
increase  their  contempt."  *  ,    ,.     .       xv  x     * 

The  envoy  might  be  forgiven  for  believing  that  at 
any  rate  there  would  be  no  lack  of  corrosives  or  vinegar, 
.  so  long  as  the  royal  tongue  or  pen  could  do  their  office, 
aK  the  unfortunate  deputies  had  found  to  their  cost  m 
their  late  interviews  at  Greenwich,  and  as  her  own 
envoys  in  the  Netherlands  were  perpetually   finding 
now.«     The  Queen  was  especially  indignant  that  the 
Estates  should  defend  the  tone  of  their  letters  to  the 
Eirl   on  the  ground   that  he  had  written  a  piqiiant 
epistle  to  them.     "  But  you  can  manifestly  see  their 
untruths  in  naming  it  a  piquant  letter,"  said  Elizabeth, 
*•  for  it  has  no  sour  or  sharp  word  therein,   nor  any 
clause  of  reprehension,  but  is  full  of  gravity  and  gentle 
admonition.     It  deserved  a  thankful  answer,  and  so  you 
may  maintain  it  to  them  to  their  reproof." ' 

The  States  doubtless  thought  that  the  loss  of  Deventer, 
and,  with  it,  the  almost  ruinous  condition  of  three  out 
of  the  seven  Provinces,  might  excuse  on  their  part  a 
little  piquancy  of  phraseology,  nor  was  it  easy  for  them 
to  express  gratitude  to  the  governor  for  his  grave  and 
gentle  admonitions,  after  he  had,  by  his  secret  document 
of  24th  November,  rendered  himself  fully  responsible 
for  the  disaster  they  deplored.  .  ,   tt  v     i 

She  expressed  unbounded  indignation  with  Hohenlo, 
who,  as  she  was  well  aware,  continued  to  chensh  a 
deadly  hatred  for  Leicester.  Especially  she  was  exas- 
perated, and  with  reason,  by  the  assertion  the  C  ount 
had  made  concerning  the  governor's  murderous  designs 
upcm  him.  "  'Tis  a  matter,"  said  the  Queen,  "  so  foul 
and  dishonourable  that  doth  not  only  touch  greatly  the 
credit  of  the  Earl,  but  also  our  o\\ti  honour,  to  have 

1  gueen   to  Buckhurst.  3  May.  1587.        '   Qtie^n    to    Buckhurst.      (MS.   last 
(Bt.  Mas.  Galba,  I)  1.  4,  MS.)  cited.) 

2  Leicester  to  Wiikiugbam. 


one  who  hath  been  nourished  and  brought  up  by  us, 
and  of  whom  we  have  made  show  to  the  world  to  have 
extraordinarily  favoured  above  any  other  of  our  own  sub- 
jects, and  used  his  service  in  those  countries  in  a  place 
of  that  reputation  he  held  there,  stand  charged  with  so 
horrible  and  unworthy  a  crime.  And  therefore  our 
pleasure  is,  even  as  you  tender  the  continuance  of  our 
favour  towards  you,  that  you  seek,  by  all  the  means  you 
may,  examining  the  Count  Hollock,  or  any  other  party 
in  this  matter,  to  discover  and  to  sift  out  how  this 
malicious  imputation  hath  been  wrought ;  for  we  have 
reason  to  think  that  it  hath  grown  out  of  some  cun- 
ning device  to  stay  the  Earl's  coming,  and  to  dis- 
courage him  from  the  continuance  of  his  service  in 
those  countries." ' 

And  there  the  Queen  was  undoubtedly  in  the  right. 
Hohenlo  was  resolved,  if  possible,  to  make  the  Earl's 
government  of  the  Netherlands  impossible.  There  was 
nothing  m  the  story,  however ;  and  all  that  by  the  most 
diligent  *^' sifting"  could  ever  bo  discovered,  and  all 
that  the  Count  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  confess,  was 
an  opinion  expressed  by  him  that  if  he  had  gone  with 
Leicester  to  England,  it  might  perhaps  have  fared  ill 
with  him.«  But  men  were  given  to  loose  talk  in  those 
countries.  There  was  great  freedom  of  tongue  and  pen  • 
and  as  the  Earl,  whether  with  justice  or  not,  had  always 
been  suspected  of  strong  tendencies  to  assassination,  it 
was  not  very  wonderful  that  so  reckless  an  individual 
as  Hohenlo  should  promulgate  opinions  on  such  subjects 
without  much  reserve.  -  The  number  of  crimes  that 
have  been  imputed  to  me,"  said  Leicester,  "  would  be 
incomplete,  had  this  calumny  not  been  added  to  all 
preceding  ones."«  It  is  possible  that  assassination, 
especially  poisoning,  may  have  been  a  more  common- 
place aff-air  m  those  days  than  our  own.  At  any  rate, 
It  18  certain  that  accusations  of  such  crimes  were  of 
ordmary  occurrence.  Men  were  apt  to  die  suddenly  if 
mey  had  mortal  enemies,  and  people  would  gossip.  At 
ine  very  same  moment,  Leicester  was  deliberately 
accused   not  only   of   murderous    intentions    towards 

I  Queen  to  Buckhuret.  MS.  last  cited.        MS). 

June  Ts^T^^JbAt^^*'^'"?'*"''    '^'^       »  G«>cn  V.  Prtnst.     Archives.  1.  36. 
June.  1587.    (Br.  Mus.  Gall>a,  D  I.  «»6,    Compare  Bor.  U.  xxU.  992. 


9 


i| 


^1 


230 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


,i 


Hohenlo,  but  towards  Thomas  Wilkes  and  Count  Lewis 
William  of  Nassau  likewise.     A  trumpeter,  arrested  ni 
Friesland,  had  just  confessed  that  he  had  been  employed 
by    the    Spanish  governor    of  that  province,  Colonel 
Verdugo,  to  murder  Count  Lewis,  and  that  four  other 
persons  had  been  entrusted  with  the  same  commission. 
The  Count  wrote  to  Verdugo,  and  received  in  reply  an 
indignant  denial  of  the  charge.     "  Had  I  heard  ol  such 
m  project,"  said  the  Spaniard,  "  I  would,  on  the  con- 
trary, have  given  you  warning.     And  I  give  you  one 
now."     He  then  stated,  as  a  fact  known  to  him  on  un- 
questionable authority,  that  the  Earl  of  Leicester  had 
assassins  at  that  moment  in  his  employ  to  take  the  lite 
of  Count  Lewis,  adding,  that  as  for  the  trumpeter,  who 
had  just  been  hanged  for  the  crime  suborned  by  the 
writer,  he  was  a  most  notorious  lunatic.     In   reply, 
Lewis,  while  he  ridiculed  this  plea  of  insanity  set  up 
for  a  culprit  who  had  confessed  his  crime  succinctly  and 
voluntarily,  expressed  great  contempt  for  the^  counter- 
charge against  Leicester.     "  His  Excellency,    said  the 
sturdy  little  Count,  "  is  a  virtuous  gentleman,  the  most 
pious  and  God-fearing  I  have  ever  known.     I  am  very 
sure  that  he  could  never  treat  his  enemies  m  the  man- 
ner stated,  much  less  his  friends.     As  for  yourself,  may 
God  give  me  grace,  in  requital  of  your  knavish  tnck,  to 
make  such  a  war  upon   you  as  becomes  an  upnght 
soldier  and  a  man  of  honour.'  . 

Thus  there  was  at  least  one  man— and  a  most  im- 
portant one— in  the  opposition-party  who  thoroughly 
believed  in  the  honour  of  the  governor-general. 

The  Queen  then  proceeded  to  lecture  Lord  Buck- 
hurst  very  severely  for  having  tolerated  an  instant  the 
States'  proposition  to  her  for  a  loan  of  50,000^  "  Ihe 
enemy,"  she  observ^ed,  "  is  quite  unable  to  attempt  tlie 

siege  of  any  town."  *  ^     -  n 

Buckhurst  was,  however,  instructed,  m  case  tlie 
States'  million  should  prove  insufficient  to  enable  the 
army  to  make  head  against  the  enemy,  and  in  the  event 
of  »'  any  alteration  of  the  good-will  of  the  people  towards 
her,  caused  by  her  not  yielding,  in  this  their  necessity, 
some  convenient  support,"  to  let  them  then  understand, 

1  Letters  of  Verdugo    and   of  Count       «  Queen  to  Buckburet,  3  May  (MS. 
Lewis  William,  In  Bor.  UI.  xxIiL  p.  U.      last  cited.) 


1587.  SHE  CENSURES  BUCKHURST'S  COURSE. 


231 


"  as  of  himself,  that  if  they  would  be  satisfied  with  a 
loan  often  or  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  he  would  do  his  best 
endeavour  to  draw  her  Majesty  to  yield  unto  the  fur- 
nishing of  such  a  sum,  with  assured  hope  to  obtain 
the  same  at  her  hands."  ' 

Truly  Walsingham  was  right  in  saying  that  cliaro-os 
of  any  kind  were  difficult  of  digestion.  Yet,  even^'at 
that  moment,  Elizabeth  had  no  more  attached  subjects 
in  England  than  were  the  bur^ghers  of  tlie  Netherlands, 
who  were  as  anxious  a^  ever  to  annex  their  ten-itory  to 
her  realms. 

Tlins,   having  expressed  an   affiiction  for   Leicester 
which  no   one  doubted,  having  once  more  thorou«-hly 
hrowheaten   the    States,   and  having   soundly  lectured 
Bnckhurst— as  a  requital  for  his  successful  efforts  to 
hrirjg  about  a  more  wholesome  condition  of  affairs— she 
gave  the  envoy  a  parting  stab,  with  this  postscript  •— 
"There  is  small  disproportion,"  she  said,  ''betwixt  a 
fool  who  useth  not  vdt  because  he  hath  it  not,  and  him 
that  useth  it  not  when  it  should  avail  him."*   Leicester 
too,  was  very  violent  in  his  attacks  upon  Buckhurst! 
J  ho  envoy  had  succeeded  in  reconciling  Hohenlo  with 
the  hrothers  Xorris,  and  had  persuaded  Sir  John  to  offer 
the  liand  of  friendsliip  to  Leicester,  provided  it  were 
sure  of  being  accepted.     Yet  in  this  desire  to  conciliate, 
the  Earl  found  renewed  cause  for  violence.     *'  I  would 
have  had  more  regard  of  my  Lord  of  Buckhurst,"  he 
Kiiid   *' if  the  case  had  been  between  him  and  Nonns 
l»ut  I  must  regard  my  own  reputation  the  more  that  I 
see  others  would  impair  it.     Yon  have  desei-^'cd  little 
thanks  of  me,  if  I  must  deal  plainly,  who  do  equal  me 
-itter  this  sort  w^ith  liim,  whose  best  place  is  colonel 
under  me,  and  once  my  servant,  and  preferred  bv  me  to 
all  lionourable  place  he  had."«     And  thus  were  enter- 
l»rises  of  great  moment,  intimately  affecting  the  safety 
«'f  Hoi  and    of   England,  of  all    Protestantism,  to  be 
Mispeiuled  between  triumph  and  ruin,  in  order  that  the 
bo  in^  f  'T  i"^i^i<i"^l-one  Queen's  favourite -might 
1)0  indulged      llie  contempt  of  an  insolent  grandee  for 
a  distinguished  commander-himself  the  son  of  a  Baron, 

Jt^^tT  "^  ^"'""^''^  '  ""^  '^'^'       '  '-'-^^^   to    Buckhurst.  30  April. 
2Xl,ij.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


i 


232 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


with  a  mother  the  dear  friend  of  het  sovereign— was  to 
endanger  the  existence  of  great  commonwealths.  Can 
the  influence  of  the  individual  for  good  or  had  upon 
the  destinies  of  the  race  ho  douhted,  when  the  characters 
and  conduct  of  Elizabeth  and  Leicester,  Burghley  and 
Walsingham,  Philip  and  Parma,  are  closely  scrutinized 
and  broadly  traced  throughout  the  wide  range  of  their 

effects? 

"  And  I  must  now,  in  your  Lordship's  sight,"  con- 
tinued Leicester,  "  be  made  a  counsellor  with  this  com- 
panion, who  never  yet  to  this  day  hath  done  so  much 
as  take  knowledge  of  my  mislike  of  him ;  no,  not  to  say 
this  much,  which  I  think  would  well  become  his  better, 
that  he  was  sorry  to  hear  I  had  mislike  to  him,  that  ho 
desired  my  suspension  till  he  might  either  speak  with 
me,  or  be  charged  from  me,  and  if  then  he  were  not 
able  to  satisfy  me,  he  would  acknowledge  his  fault,  and 
make  me  any  honest  satisfaction.  This  manner  of  deal- 
ing woidd  have  been  no  disparagement  to  his  better. 
And  even  so  I  must  think  that  your  Lordship  doth  mo 
wrong,  knowing  what  you  do,  to  make  so  little  diiFer- 
ence  between  John  Nonis,  my  man  not  long  since,  and 
now  but  my  colonel  under  mo,  as  though  w^  were  equals. 
And  I  cannot  but  more  than  marvel  at  this  your  proceed- 
ing, when  I  remember  your  promises  of  friend.ship,  and 

your  opinions  resolutely  set  down You  wero 

so  determined  before  you  went  hence,  but  must  have 
become  wonderfully  enamoured  of  those  men's  unknown 
virtues  in  a  few  days  of  acquaintance,  from  the  altera- 
tion that  is  gi-own  by  their  own  commendations  of 
themselves.  You  knew  very  well  that  all  the  world 
should  not  make  me  serve  with  John  Norris.  Your 
sudden  change  from  mislike  to  liking  has,  by  conse- 
quence, presently  cast  disgrace  upon  me.  But  all  is 
not  gold  that  glitters,  nor  every  shadow  a  perfect  re- 
presentation  You  knew  he  should  not  servo 

with  me,  but  either  you  thouglit  me  a  very  inconstant 
man,  or  else  a  very  simple  soul,  resolving  with  you  as 
I  did,  for  you  to  takfe  the  course  you  have  done."* 
He  felt,  however,  quite  strong  in  her  INIajesty's  favour. 
He  knew  himself  her  favourite,  beyond  all  chance  or 

»  Leicester  to  Buckhurst.    The  letter  is  from  Ciojdou,  and  pathetically  signed, 
"  Your  poor  friend,  K.  Leyceater." 


1587.    LEICESTER'S  WRATH  AT  HOHENLO'S  CHARGES.      233 


change,  and  was  sure,  so  long  as  either  lived,  to  thrust 
his  enemies,  by*  her  aid,  into  outer  darkness.  Woe  to 
Buckhurst,  and  Norris,  and  Wilkes,  and  all  others  who 
consorted  with  his  enemies.  Let  them  flee  from  tho 
wrath  to  come  I  And  truly  they  were  only  too  anxious 
to  do  so,  for  they  knew  that  Leicester's  hatred  was 
poisonous.  "  He  is  not  so  facile  to  forget  as  ready  to 
revenge,"  *  said  poor  Wilkes,  with  neat  alliteration. 
*'  My  very  heavy  and  mighty  adversary  will  disgrace 
and  undo  me."* 

'*  It  sufificeth,"  continued  Leicester,  "  that  her 
Majesty  doth  find  my  dealings  well  enough,  and  so,  I 
trust,  will  graciously  use  me.  As  for  the  reconciliations 
and  love-days  you  have  made  there,  truly  I  have  liked 
well  of  it ;  for  you  did  show  me  your  disposition  therein 
before,  and  I  allowed  of  it,  and  I  had  received  letters 
both  from  Count  Maurice  and  Hohenlo  of  their  humility 
and  kindness,  but  now  in  your  last  letters  you  say  they 
have  uttered  the  cause  of  their  mislike  towards  me, 
which  you  forbear  to  write  of,  looking  so  speedily  fur 
my  return."  ^ 

But  the  Earl  knew  well  enough  what  the  secret  was, 
for  had  it  not  been  specially  confided  by  the  judicious 
Bartholomew  to  Atye,  who  had  incontinently  told  his 
master  ?  "  This  pretence  that  I  should  kill  Hohenlo," 
cried  Leicester,  "is  a  matter  properly  foisted  in  to 
bring  me  to  choler.  I  will  not  suffer  it  to  rest  thus. 
Its  authors  shall  be  duly  and  severely  punished.  And 
albeit  I  see  well  enough  the  plot  of  this  wicked  device, 
yet  shall  it  not  work  the  effect  the  devisers  have  done 
it  for.  No,  my  Lord,  he  is  a  villain  and  a  false,  lying 
knave  whosoever  he  be,  and  of  what  nation  soever,  that 
hath  forged  this  device.  Count  Hohenlo  doth  know  I 
never  gave  him  cause  to  fear  me  so  much.  There  were 
ways  and  means  offered  me  to  have  quitted  him  of  the 
country  if  I  had  so  liked.  This  new  monstrous  villany 
which  is  now  found  out  I  do  hate  and  detest,  as  I  would 
look  fur  the  right  judgment  of  God  to  fall  upon  myself, 
if  I  had  but  once  imagined  it.  All  this  makes  good 
proof  of  Wilkes's  good  dealing  with  me,  that  hath  heard 

»  Wilkes  to  Walsingham,    13  April,    June,  158t.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  »  l^icester   to  Buckhurst,   30  April. 

«  Same   to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  3rd    (MS.  already  cited.) 


234 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


of  so  vile  and  villanous  a  reproach  of  me,  and  never 
gave  me  knowledge.  But  I  trust  your  Lordship  shall 
receive  her  Majesty's  order  for  this,  as  for  a  matter  that 
toucheth  herself  in  honour,  and  me  her  poor  servant 
and  minister,  as  dearly  as  any  matter  can  do  ;  and  I  will 
so  take  it  and  use  it  to  the  uttermost."  * 

We  have  seen  how  anxiously  Buckhurst  had  striven 
to  do  his  duty  upon  a  most  difficult  mission.  Was  it 
unnatural  that  so  fine  a  nature  as  his  should  be  dis- 
heartened, at  reaping  nothing  but  sneers  and  contumely 
from  the  haughty  sovereign  he  served,  and  from  the 
insolent  favourite  who  controlled  her  councils.  *'  I 
beseech  your  Lordship,"  he  said  to  Burghley,  "keep 
one  ear  for  me,  and  do  not  hastily  condemn  me  before 
you  hear  mine  answer.  For  if  I  ever  did  or  shall  do  any 
acceptable  service  to  her  Majesty,  it  was  in  the  stay  and 
appeasing  of  these  countries,  ever  ready  at  my  coming 
to  have  cast  off  all  good  respect  towards  us,  and  to  have 
entered  even  into  some  desperate  cause.  In  the  mean 
time  1  am  hardly  thought  of  by  her  IMajesty,  and  in  her 
opinion  condemned  before  mine  answer  be  understood. 
Therefore  I  beseech  you  to  help  me  to  return,  and  not 
thus  to  lose  her  Majesty's  favour  for  my  good  desert, 
wasting  here  my  mind,  body,  my  wits,  wealth,  and  all, 
with  continual  toils,  cares,  and  troubles,  more  than  I 
am  able  to  endure."  * 

But  besides  his  instructions  to  smooth  and  expostulate, 
in  which  he  had  succeeded  so  well,  and  had  been  re- 
quited so  ill,  Buckhurst  had  received  a  still  more  difficult 
commission.  He  had  been  ordered  to  broach  the  subject 
of  peace,  as  delicately  as  possible,  but  without  delay ; 
first  sounding  the  leading  politicians,  inducing  them  to 
listen  to  the  Queen's  suggestions  on  the  subject,  per- 
suading them  that  they  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
principles  of  the  pacificjition  of  Ghent,  and  that  it  was  f 
hopeless  for  the  Provinces  to  continue  the  war  with 
their  mighty  advei-sary  any  longer.' 


1  Ijeiceater  to  Buckharst,  30  April. 
(MS.  already  cittKi.) 

«  Buckhurst  to  Bnrgbley,  27th  May, 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  "  Whereas  we  have  late  used  your 
service  in  an  intended  treaty  of  peace 
betwixt  the  King  of  Spain  and  us,  dealt 


in  by  tlie  Duke  of  Parmd  ...  we  send 
you  copies  of  such  letters  as  have  lately 
been  written  to  ourself  by  the  Duke,  and 
by  Champagny  to  the  Controller.  .... 
We  have  taken  order  that  the  Duke 
shall  be  put  in  mind  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  auno  '7 6  .  .  .  which  being  after- 


1587.  BUCKHURSrs  ELOQUENT  APPEALS  TO  THE  QUEEN.  235 

Most  reluctantly  had   Buckhurst  fulfilled  his   sove- 
reign's commands  in  this  disastrous  course.     To  talk  to 
the  Hollanders  of  the  Ghent  pacification  seemed  puerile. 
That  memorable  treaty,  ten  years  before,  had  been  one 
of  the  great  landmarks  of  progress,  one  of  the  gi-eat 
achievements  of  William  tlie  Silent.     By  its  provisions, 
public  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion  had  been  secured 
for  the  two  Provinces  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  and  it 
had  been  agreed  that  the  secret  practice  of  those  rites 
should  be  elsewhere  winked  at,  until  such  time  as  the 
States-General,  under  the  auspices  of  Philip  II.,  should 
otherwise  ordain.     But  was  it  conceivable,  that  now,— 
after  Philip's  authority  had  been  solemnly  abjured,  and 
the  reformed  worship  had  become  the  public  dominant 
religion  throughout  all  the  l^rovinces,— the  whole  re- 
public should  return  to  the  Spanish  dominion,  and  to 
such  toleration  as  might  be  sanctioned  by  an  assembly 
professing  loyalty  to  the  IVIost  Catholic  King? 

Buckhurst  had  repeatedly  warned  the  Queen,  in  fervid 
and  eloquent  language,  as  to  the  intentions  of  Spain. 
''  Ihere  was  never  peace  well  made,"  he  observed, 
;'  without  a  mighty  war  preceding,  and,  always,  the  sword 
m  hand  is  the  best  pen  to  write  the  conditions  of  peace." 

*' If  ever  prince  had  cause,"  he  continued,  "to  think 
himself  beset  with  doubt  and  danger,  you,  sacred  Queen, 
have  most  just  cause  not  only  to  think  it,  but  even 


wards  approved  by  the  King,  was  pub- 
lished in  1577,  .  .  .  having  just  cjiuse  to 
hope  that,  if   the  King  be   willing  to 
embrace  peace,  and  the  Duke  to  further 
the  same,  as  he  pretendeth,  he  may  be 
induced  to  assent  to  such  a  tolerance  as 
in  the  said  pjicification  is  contained.  Now 
it  resteth  that  you  should  seek  to  frame 
the  minds  of  the  people  of  those  coun- 
tries to  such  good  means  as  by  you  shall 
ba  thought  expedient  to  content  them- 
selves witii  the  said  tolerance  ;  for  which 
purpose  you  shall,  as  of  yourself,  as  one 
that  wisheth  well  to  those  countries,  deal 
with    some  well-chosen    persons   there, 
such   as  you   shall   learn    to  be   good 
patriots,  .  .   .  laying  before  them  how 
impossible  it  is  for  them,  by  moans  of 
•heir   contributions,   with    the    burden 
whereof  the  people  do  already  find  them- 
•Hves  so  much  grieved,  to  continue  the 
war,  and  to  make  head  any  longer  against 


so  mighty  and  puissant  a  prince  as  the 
King  of  Spain,  and  how  unable  ourselves 
shall  be  to  (supply  them  still  with  such 
relief  as  the  necessity  of  their  state  shall 
require.  .  .  .  You  may  advise  them  to 
dispose  both  their  own  minds  and  those 
of  the  people  to  a  sound  peace,  which,  in 
your  opinion,  they  cannot  at  any  time 
treat  of  with  greater  advantage  than  at 
this  present,  the  King  of  Spain  being  aJt 
to  U)iv  an  ebb  both  at  home  and  in  these 
countries,  for  want  as  well  of  victuals  as 
of  other  necessary  things  to  continue  the 
wars.  .  .  .  And  if  you  shall  find  that  the 
using  of  these  reasons  and   persuasions 
in  our  vame  may  further  the  cause,  by 
moving    them    rather  to  hearken  unto 
peace,  we  leave  it  to  yourself  to  use.  in 
such  case,  your  own  discretion  therein," 
&c.    Queen  to   Buckhurst.  May,  i587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


236 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS, 


Chap.  XV. 


certainly  to  believe   it.      The  Pope   doth  daily  plot 
nothincr  else  but  how  he  may  bring  to  pass  your  utter 
overthrow ;  the  French  King  hath  already  sent  you 
threatenings  of  revenge,  and  though  for  that  pre  ended 
cause  I  think  little  will  ensue,  yet  he  is  blind  that  seetli 
not  the  mortal  dislike  that  boileth  deep  m  his  heart  tor 
other  respects  a|^inst  you.      Tlie  Scottish  King,  not 
only  in  regard  of  his  future  hope,  but  also  ^y  J-^'^smi 
of  some  over-conceit  in    his   heart    may  be  thought 
a  dangerous  neighbour  1^  you.     The  King   of  bpani 
armeth  and  extendeth  all  his  power  to  ruin  both  you 
and  your  estate.    And  if  the  Indian  gold  have  corrupted 
also  the   King  of   Denmark,  and    made  him   likewise 
Spanish,  as  1  marvellously  fear ;  why  will  not  your 
Maiesty,  beholding  tne  flames  of  your  enemies  on  every 
Bide  kindling  around,  unlock  all  your  coffers  and  convert  your 
treasure  for  the  admncmg  of  worthy  mni,  and  jor  tlie  ami^(7 
of  ships  and  men-of-war  that  may  defe  id  you,  siiwe  princes 
treasures  serve  only  to  that  end,  ai,d,  lu  they  never  so  fast  or 
so  full  in  their  chests,  can  no  ways  so  defend  them  /        . .  .   _ 
"  The  eternal  God,  in  whose  hands  the  hearts  of  kings 
do  rest,  dispose  and  guide  your  sacred  Majesty  to  d.) 
that  which  may  be  most  according  to  His  blessed  will, 
and  best  for  you,  as  I  trust  he  will,  even  for  His  mercy  s 
sake,  both  toward  your  Majesty  and  the  whole  realii 
of    England,   whoso    desolation   is    thus    sought  and 

compassed."  *  .    ,  .  ...  „^-,  ^ 

Was  this  the  language  of  a  mischievous  intriguer,  who 
was  sacrificing  the  true  interests  of  his  country  and 
whose  proceedings  were  justly  earning  for  him  rebuke 
and  disgrace  at  the  hands  of  his  sovereign  ?  Or  was  it 
rather  the  noble  advice  of  an  upright  statesman,  a  lover 
of  his  country,  a  faithful  servant  of  his  Queen,  whu 
had  looked  through  the  atmosphere  of  falsehood  m 
which  he  was  doing  his  work,  and  who  had  detected, 
with  rare  sagacity,  the  secret  pui-poses  of  those  who 
were  then  misruling  the  world? 

Buckhurst  bid  no  choice,  however,  but  to  obey,  iiis 
private  efforts  were  of  course  fruitless,  but  he  announced 
to  her  Majesty  that  it  was  his  intention  very  shortly  to 
bring  the  matter— according  to  her  wish-before  the 
assembly. 

1  Buckhurst  to  the  Queen.  30  AprU.  1587.    (Br.  Mus.  Galha.  C.  xl.  p.  438.  MS.) 


1587.  HER  PERPLEXING  AND  CONTRADICTORY  ORDERS.    237 

But  Elizabeth,  seeing  that  her  counsel  had  been  un- 
wise and  her  action  premature,  turned  upon  her  envoy, 
as  she  was  apt  to  do,  and  rebuked  him  for  his  obedience] 
80  soon  as  obedience  had  proved  inconvenient  to  herself 

"  Having  perused  your  letters,"  she  said,  "  by  which 
you  so  at  large  debate  unto  us  what  you  have  done  in 
tlie  matter  of  peace  ...  we  find  it  strange  that  you 
should  proceed  farther.  And  although  we  had  given 
you  full  and  ample  direction  to  proceed  to  a  public 
<lealing  in  that  cause,  yet  your  own  discretion,  seeing  tho 
diflSculties  and  dangers  that  you  yourself  saw  in  the 
))ropounding  of  the  matter,  ought  to  have  led  you  to 
delay  till  further  command  from  us."  ^ 

Her  Majesty  then  instructed  her  envoy,  in  cjuse  he 
had  not  yet  "  propounded  the  matter  in  the  state-house 
to  the  general  assembly,"  to  pause  entirely  until  he 
heard  her  further  pleasure.  She  concluded,  as  usual, 
with  a  characteristic  postscript  in  her  owti  hand. 

;'0h!  weigh  deeplier  this  matter,"  she  said,  "than, 
with  so  shallow  a  judgment,  to  spill  the  cause,  impair 
my  honour,  and  shame  yourself,  with  all  your  wit,  that 
once  was  supposed  better  than  to  lose  a  bargain  for  the 
handling."* 

Certainly  the  sphinx  could  have  propounded  no  more 
puzzling  riddles  than  those  which  Eh'zabeth  thus  sug- 
gested  to  Buckhurst  To  make  war  without  an  army 
to  siipport  ananny  without  pay,  to  frame  the  hearts  of  a 
whole  people  to  peace  who  were  unanimous  for  war,  and 
this  without  saying  a  word  either  in  private  or  public  • 
to  dispose  the  Netherlanders  favourably  to  herself  and 
to  Leicester,  by  refusing  them  men  and  money,  brow- 
beating  them  for  asking  for  it,  and  subjecting  them  to 
a  course  of  perpetual  insults,  which  she  called  "  corro- 
sives, '  to  do  all  this  and  more  seemed  diflficult.  If  not 
to  do  It  were  to  spill  the  cause  and  to  lose  the  bargain, 
It  was  more  than  probable  that  they  would  be  spilt  and 

IJnt  the  ambassador  was  no  (Edipus— although  a  man 
<'t  dtdicate  perceptions  and  brilliant  intellect- and  he 
t  umed  imploringly  to  a  wi«e  counsellor  for  aid  against  the 
tormentor  who  chose  to  be  so  stony-faced  and  enigmatical. 

1  Qvjeen  to  Buckhurst,  4  Juno.  1587.  (S.  T.  Office  MS.) 

»  Ibid. 


\ 


238 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


*'  Touching  the  matter  of  peace,"  said  he  to  Walsing- 
ham,  *'I  have  written  somewhat  to  Her  Majesty  in 
cipher,  so  as  I  am  sure  you  will  be  called  for  to  decipher 
it.  If  you  did  know  how  infinitely  her  Majesty  did  at  my 
departure  and  before— for  in  this  matter  of  peace  she  hath 
specially  used  me  this  good  while — command  me,  pray  me,  and 
persuade  7ne  to  further  and  hasten  the  same  with  all  the  speed 
possible  that  might  be,  and  Aoic,  on  the  other  side,  I  have  con- 
tinually been  the  man  and  the  mean  that  have  most  plainly 
dehorted  her  from  such  post-haste,  and  that  she  should  never 
make  good  peace  without  a  puissant  army  in  the  field, 
you  would  then  say  that  I  had  now  cause  to  fear  her 
displeasure  for  being  too  slow,  and  not  too  foi-ward.  And  as 
for  all  the  reasons  wliich  in  my  last  letters  are  set  down, 
her  Majesty  hath  debated  them  with  me  many  times."  * 

And  thus  midsummer  was  fast  approaching,  the  com- 
monwealth was  without  a  regidar  government,  Leicester 
remained  in  England  nursing  his  wrath  and  preparing 
his  schemes,  the  Queen  was  at  Greenwich,  corresponding 
with  Alexander  Farnese,  and  sending  riddles  to  Buck- 
hurst,  when  the  enemy— who,  according  to  her  Majesty, 
was  *'  quite  imable  to  attempt  the  siege  of  any  town  " — 
suddenly  appeared  in  force  in  Flanders,  and  invested 
Sluys.  This  most  important  seaport,  both  for  the  des- 
tiny of  the  republic  and  of  England  at  that  critical 
moment,  was  insufficiently  defended.  It  was  quite  time 
to  put  an  army  in  the  field,  with  a  governor-general  to 
command  it. 

On  the  5th  June  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  state- 
council  at  the  Hague.  Count  Maurice,  Hohenlo,  and 
Moeurs  were  present,  besides  several  members  of  the 
States-General.  Two  propositions  were  before  the 
council.  The  first  was  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  safety  of  the  republic,  now  that  the  enemy  had 
taken  the  field,  and  the  important  city  of  Sluys  was 
besieged,  for  Prince  Maurice  to  be  appointed  captain- 
general,  until  such  time  as  the  Earl  of  Leicester  or  some 
other  should  be  sent  by  her  Majesty.  The  second  was 
to  confer  upon  the  state-council  the  supreme  govern- 
ment in  civil  affairs,  for  the  same  period,  and  to  repeal 
all  limitations  and  restrictions  upon  the  powers  of  the 
council  made  secretly  by  the  Earl. 

\  Buckhuwt  to  Wal»ingl»am,  13  June.  1587.    (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  D  I.  96.  MS.) 


1587.  LEICESTER  ANXOUNCES  HIS  RETURN.  239 

Chancellor  Leoninus,   -  that  grave,  wise  old  man  " 
moved  the  propositions.     The   deputies   of  the   States 
were  requested  to  withdraw.     Thi  vote  of  eac^i  coun- 
cillor was  demanded.     Buckhurst,  who,  as  the  Queen's 
representative-together  with  Wilkes  a'nd  M.nlZ'l 
-had  a  seat  in  the  council,  refused  to  vote.     "  It  was  a 
matter,"  he  discreetly  observed,  "  with  which  he  had 
not  been  mstnictec    by  her  Majesty  to    intermeddle  " 
Wi«  and  AV  likes  also  begged  to  be  excused  from  voting, 
and,  although  earnestly  urged  to  do  so  by  the  whole 
council,  persisted  in  their  refusal.     Both  measures  were 
tlien  earned.'  . 

No  sooner  was  fhe  vote  taken,  than  an  English  courier 
entered  the  council  chamber,  with  pressing"  despatches 

tZf^H      ^'^"''^^'Tu-  ^'^'  ^'^^'^'-^  «"^  ^^  o°cl  read 
The  Earl  announced  his  .peedy  arrival,  and  summoned 

both  the  Sta  es-Ge„eral  and  the  council  to  meet  him  a^ 

Uort,  where  his  lodgnigs  were  already  taken.     All  were 

siirprised  but  none  more  than  Buckhurst,  Wilkes,  and 

Wr."r  '  ^  'JV"!V"''*'°"  °^  ""■«  ^"•^'l^"  resolution  had 
been  received  by  hem,  nor  any  answer  given  to  various 
propositions,  considered  by  her  Majesty  as  indispensable 
piehminaries  to  the  governors  visit ' 
The  council  adjourned  till  after  dinner,  and  Buckhurst 
eld  conference  meantime  with  various  counsellors  and 
deputies.  On  the  reassembling  of  the  board,  it  was 
urged  by  Banieveld,  in  the  name  of  the  States, 'that  th^ 

"  Al,r  i  /  'If  *    ^^^""'^'^   "''""I'l  «*'"    I'"!'!  good. 

that  her  Majesty  had  resolved  upon  the  speedy  return  of  ' 
his  Excellency,  yet,  inasmuch  as  the  counsels  and  reso- 
tutions  of  princes  are  often  subject  to  change  upon  new 
occasion  it  does  not  seem  fit  that  our  late  purpose  con- 
cerning Prince  Maurice  should  receive  any  interruption  " 
Accordingly,  after  brief  debate,  both  resolutions^ voted 
in  the  morning  were  confirmed  in  the  afternoon. 

bo  now,"  said  Wilkes,  "Maurice  is  general  of  all 
me  torces,  et  quid  sequitur  nesclmus."  ' 

that  VvTl^*^"^'"  i!"  '^"^  ^  ^""°^'  ^'  ^"^  ^•e'-y  certain 
that  W  likes  would  not  stay.     His    great  enemy  had 

Mvorn  his  destruction,  and  would  now  take  his  choice, 

Wilkes  to  Walslngham,  8  June,  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS  ) 
'  Ibid.  1  u,^ 


I 


llj 


240 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


whetlier  to  do  him  to  death  himself,  or  to  throw  him 
into  the  clutch  of  the  ferocious  Hohenlo.  "  As  for  my 
own  particular,"  said  the  counsellor,  **  the  word  is  go, 
whosoever  cometh  or  cometh  not," »  and  he  announced 
to  Walsingham  his  intention  of  departing  without  per- 
mission, should  he  not  immediately  receive  it  from 
England.  "  1  shall  stay  to  be  dandled  with  no  love- 
days  nor  leave-takings,"  he  observed.^ 


•  Wilkes  to  Walsingham,   29  April, 
1587.    (S.  P.  0fflc«  MS.) 

«   Wilkes    to  Walsingham,    8  June, 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

From  the  very  moment  of  I^icester's 
arrival  in  England,  he   seems  |to  have 
( onceived  a  violent  hatred  to  Councillor 
AVilkes.    Yet  a  careful  inspection  of  tlie 
correspondence   shows  that   never  was 
hatred  more  unjust.     Wilkes   had  told 
the  truth  concerning   the  expenses  in- 
curred by  England  and  the  States  during 
the  Earl's  first  term  of  administration. 
He  could  not  have   done    less  without 
fUreliction  of  duty,  and   he    for^^'arded 
certified  vouchers  for  all  his  statements. 
He  always  did  his  best  to  sustain  the 
governor's  character,  and  to  carry  out 
his  legitimate  views.    As  time  wore  on, 
he  was  obliged  to  state  tlie  disadvantapes 
resulting   from  his  protracted  absence, 
and  he  was  forced,  at  last,  to  admit  the 
truth  as  to  his  great  unpopularity.    He 
<>ven  admitted  privately,  on  one  occasion, 
that.  In  consequence  of  that  unpopu- 
larity, some   other  governor  might  be 
sent  from  England  more  acceptable  to 
the  Provinces.    This  was  the  sura  of  his 
offences  in  regard  to  Leicester,    Towards 
the  tiueen  he  manifested  himself  an  in- 
telligent, honest,  and    most    assiduous 
servant,  but  he  had  incurred  the  hostility 
of  the  favourite,  and  for  that  there  was 
no  redri'ss.    Even  so  early  as  January 
he  felt  that  he  had  lost  l^eicester's  favour, 
although  he   protested  he  "  would   re- 
purchase it  with  the  loss  of  his  two  best 
fingers  "  (Wilkes  to  lieicester,  27  Jan. 
J5H7.—S.  P.  Office  MS.);  and  he  wrote 
at  the  same  time  to  the  yueen,  complain- 
inj;  that  he  was  in  danger  of  his  life,  as 
r»comi>cnse  for  his    faithful  service— a 
life  which  he  hoped  to  venture  in  better 
Fort  for  her  Majesty's  service.    He  was 
threatened  at  home,  he    said,  and    en- 
dangered  abroad.    Wilkes  to  the  (jueen, 


30  Jan.  1687.      (S.  P.  Office  MS.)     A 
few  months    later,  matters  had  grown 
much  worse.     Leicester  was  intending 
to   wreak   his    revenge   upon  him   by 
means    of   third  persons,  who,  by  his 
malignant  insinuations,  had  been  made 
hostile  to  the  councillor.    "  Whereunto 
is  now  added  the  danger  of  my  poor 
life,"  he  says, "  and  fortune,  for  that  I 
am  secretly  given  to  understand,  by  a 
doar  friend  of  mine,  and  inward  with  my 
great  and  heavy  enemy,  tliat  he  hath 
sworn  and  protested,  even  now  of  late, 
to  take  his  revenge  on  me— how  or  in 
what  sort  I  know  not,  but  have  good 
cause  to  doubt,  considering  the  mind  of 
my  enemy,  that  he  will  not  be  satisfied 
with  any  mere  offence  to  be  done  unto 
me,  which  I  suppose  he  will  never  do  of 
himself,  nor  by  any  of  his  o>*-n,  but  a 
third  means,  whereunto  he  hath  a  gap 
opened  unto   him  by  my  own  letters 
written  unto  him  from  hence,  wherein 
I  had  touched  some  persons  of  quality 
here  for  their  indirect  proceedings  against 

her  Mt^Jesty  and  our  nation 

Therefore,  I  humbly  beseech  yon  to 
move  her  Mt^jesty  for  my  speedy  return." 
WUkes  to  Hatton,  19  April,  1587.  (S,  P. 
Office  MS.)  In  a  letter  to  Walsing- 
ham of  same  djite,  ho  alluded  to  the 
"  deadly  revenpe  threatened  against  him 
by  the  Earl  with  very  bitter  words,"  and 
indicates  the  same  scheme  by  which  third 
persons  are  to  inflict  it.  "  I  would  l>e 
loth  to  commit  myself  to  his  mercy, "  he  '' 
says ;  "  your  honour  knoweth  him  better 

than  I  do Ood  is  my  witness, 

I  have,  since  his  departiire  from  these 
countries,  deserved  as  well  of  him  as 
ever  did  any.  ...  1  will  stand  to 
my  justification,  and  prove  that  1  have 
done  him  with  her  Majesty  as  many  pood 
offices  as  any  man  that  came  from 
hence,"  and  he  then  most  urgently 
solicited    pertnission   to    depart     This 


^^''^  DBSPAIR  OF  WILKES.  241 

But  Leicester  had  delayed  his  comiDe  too  lono-  TJ,^ 
county  felt  that  it  had  4en  trifled  ^th  b?  iislbse^^ 
-at  so  cnhcal  a  period-of  seven  monfhs  It  was 
known  too  that  the  Queen  was  secretly  treating  widiThp 
enemy,  and  that  Buckhurst  had  been  pri'atehfsZdin^ 
leadmg  person^es  upon  that  subject,  Cher  orderf 
This  had  caused  a  deep,  suppressed  indication  tZ^ 
and  over  again  had  the  EngliA  govemSbeen  waraed 
as  to  the  danger  of  delay.     "  Y^ur  length  in  resoS  " 

.'   .^  P"*  "?,to  new  plunges  before  lon<r." «    The 
mission  of  Buckhurst  was  believed  to  be  "but  a  stale 
haying  some  other  intent  than  was  expressed  "    Ind  at 
last,  the  new  plunge  had  been  fairly  taken      It  stemed 

TuXrTS  1 1    ''"rr   "%  -gain  ihe  abXtJ 
autnority  which  he  coveted,  and  which  he  had  for  a 

bnef  season  possessed.  The  States-Genewl,  under  able 
^ders,  had  become  used  to  a  government  whch  had 
been  forced  upon  them,  and  which  they  hrd  wielded 
with  success  Holland  and  Zeeland,  pa/inrthe  whole 
expense  of  the  war,  were  not  likely  t^Srea^aSe 
absolute  sovereignty  of  a  foreigner,  guided  by^a  back 
stairs  council  of  reckless  politiciLs-most  of  whom  were" 


pemnssion  the   government  were  most 
reluctant  to  grant,  and  Wilkes  protested 
loudly  ajfainst  his  continuance  in  office 
at  such  "  hazard  to  bis  poor  life,  without 
means  of  defence,  in  the  quality  of  his 
rum  or  death.    '•  Tis  a  hard  reward  for 
"ly  faithful  services,"  he  said.  "  to  be  left 
to  the  mercy  of  such  as  have  will  and 
means  by  revenge  to  bereave  her  Majesty 
'•fa  true  and  obedient  servant,  and  me 
of  my  life,  in  an  obscure  sort,  to  my  per- 
petual infamy,  to  the  pleasing  of  mine 
j-nemies,  and   the    discomlbrting   of  all 
honest  men.  by  an  example,  from  servingi 
of  her  M^esty  with  sincerity."  &c.    W 
Jo  Walsing.,   29th   April,  1587.    (S.  P. 
f>ffice  MS.)      And  he    soon  after^^ards 
decartHi  to  Walsingham  (15  May.  1587. 
^  I.  Office  MS.),  that,  in  case  be  should 
oe  left  there  to  the  mercy  of  his  great 
enemy,  if  he  returned,  he  would  venture 
to  hazard  her  M^esty's  favour  in  re- 
tummg   home    without  license."     His 
alarm   was  no  greater  for  his  life  than 
Jor  his  reputation,  both  which  Leicester 
m  his  belief,  was  sworn  to  destroy     ••  1 
VOL.  11. 


do  find  that  my  very  heavy  and  mighty 
adversary,"  he  writes  to  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor (3  June,  1 587.     S.  P.  Office  MS  ) 
''  doth  perpetually  travail  with  her  Ma- 
jesty to  disgrace  and  undo  me.  and  I  have 
cause  to  doubt  that  he  doth  or  shall  pre- 
vail  against  me.  considering  the  goodness 
ot  her  Majesty's  nature  to  be  induced  to 
believe  whom  she    favoureth.   and  his 
subtlety  to  persuade.    I  have  therefore 
no  mean  in  respect   of  the   great    in- 
equality between  him  and  me.  but  either 
to  be  held  up  by  my  honourable  friends 
assisted  with  the  wings  of  mine  ovm* 
integrity,  or  to  fall  to  the  ground  with 
disgrace  and  infamy,  to  the  discourage- 
ment of  all  that  shall  serve  her  MaJestv 
in  like  places."  ^ 

Such  passages  paint  the  condition  of 
the  civil  service  in  England,  during  the 
reign  of  Leicester  and  Elizabeth,  more 
vividly  than  could  be  done  by  a  lone 
dissertation. 

'  Wilkes    to    Walsingham.    17  Mav 
15S7.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  ^' 


242 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


unprincipled,  and  some  of  whom  had  been  proved  to  be 
felons— and  established  at  Utrecht,  which  contributed 
nothing  to  the  general  purse.  If  Leicester  were  really 
coming,  it  seemed  certain  that  he  would  be  held  to  ac- 
knowledge the  ancient  constitution,  and  to  respect  the 
sovereignty  of  the  States-General.  It  was  resolved  that 
he  should  be  well  bndled.  The  sensations  of  Barneveld 
and  his  party  may  therefore  be  imagined,  when  a  private 
letter  of  Leicester  to  his  secretary—"  the  fellow  named 
Junius,"  as  Ilohcnlo  called  him— having  been  inter- 
cepted at  this  moment,  gave  them  an  opportunity  of 
Studying  the  Earl's  secret  thoughts. 

The  Earl  infoinied  his  correspondent  that  he  was  on 
the  i)oint  of  starting  for  the  Netherlands.     He  ordered 
him  therefore  to  luoceed  at  once  to  reassure  those  whom 
he  knew  well  disposed  as  to  the  good  intentions  of  her 
Majesty  and  of  the  goveraor-general.     And  if,  on  the 
part  of  Lord  Buckhurst  or  others,  it  should  be  intimated 
that  the  Queen  was  resolved  to  treat  for  peace  with  the 
King  of  Spain,  and  wished  to  have  the  opinion  of  the 
Netherlanders  on  that  subject,  he  was  to  mt/  huklh/  that 
Lord   Huckhurd  never  had  any  such  charge,  and  that  her 
3Iajesty  had  not  been  treating  at  all.     She  had  only  been 
attempting  to  sound  the  King's  intentions  towards  the 
Netherlands,   in  case  of  any  accord.     Having  received 
no  satisfactory  assurance  on  the  subject,  her  Majesty  was 
determined  to  proceed  with  the  defence  of  these  corm- 
tries.     This  appeared  by  the  expedition  of  Drake  against 
Spain,  and  l)y  the  return  of  the  Earl,  with  a  good  num- 
ber of  soldiers  paid  by  her  Majesty  over  and  above  her 
ordinary  subsidy.' 

'*  You  are  also,"  said  the  Earl,  "  to  tell  those  who  have 
the  ctire  of  the  people  "  (the  ministers  of  the  reformed 
church  and  others),  "that  lam  returning  in  the  confi- 
dence that  they  will,  in  futuH),  cause  all  past  difficulties 
to  cease,  and  'that  they  will  yield  to  me  a  legitimate 
authority,  such  as  befits  for  administering  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Provinces,  without  my  being  obliged  to  endure 
all  the  oppositions  and  counterminings  of  the  States,  as 
in  times  past.  The  States  must  content  themselves  >yith 
retaining  the  power  which  they  claim  to  have  exercised 

1  liCicoster  to  Junius,  Greenwich,  15    pure  Meterin,  xiv.  266.  Hoofd,  Vervolgb, 
June,  15»T.     (S.  P.  Offlce  MS.)     Com-    249,  et  mult.  al. 


1587.  LEICESTER'S  INSTRUCTIONS-LETTER  TO  JUNIUS.    243 

under  the  governor  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Kin., 
without  attempting  anything  farther  during  my  goverSI 
mont,  smce  I  desire  to  do  nothing  of  importance  without 
tne  advice  of  the  council,  which  will  bi  composed  legi- 

Lem l^at  hoHf""'  f  *^'  ^"'"^'y-  ^ou  wifl  also  tell 
them  that  hor  Majesty  commands  me  to  return  unless  I 
can  obtain  from  the  States  the  authority  which  is  neces- 
sary, m  ordern„t  to  be  governor  in  appeamnce  only  and 
on  paper.  And  I  wish  that  those  who  are  good  ra^v  be 
appmed  of  all  this,  in  order  that  nothing  ^may  halen 
wishe!"'  ^'■'•'      ''    ^""^    ™^"'    ^""^   contrary  to  thek 

r,^!!^Z'^T  ^^^  '■®'y  "^''^""^  comments  to  be  made 
upon  this  document.  Firstly,  the  States-^  Jure,  as 
hey  claimed,  and  do  facto  most  unquestionably-were  i^ 
the  position  of  the  Emperor  and  King.  They  wire  Z 
soverc^s.  The  Earl  wished  them  to  content  t^hemsdves 
with  the  power  which  they  exercised  under  the  Em- 
peror s  governors  This  was  like  requesting  the  Emper^ 
when  in  the  Netherlands,  to  consider  himlelf  suWt  to 
SatTeTT'"-  ,.Th«.«'>o-d  obvious  reflection  ' 
that   the  Earl,    m  limiting  his   authority  bv  a  state- 

"Zt'tlT^'V^'"''^'^  ^"^PI'^'"*  that^bodvliimse^ 
-as  he  had  done  before -and  to  allow  the  members  only 

enf  J      °V«l'"ng.a.nd  of  voting,  without  the  power  of 
enforcing  their  decisions.     In  short,  it  was  very  plain 
that  Leicester  meant  to  be  more  absolute  than  ever 
As  to  the  flat  contradiction  given  to  Buckhuret's  pro- 

TJnT  r  *>^  '°''"°''  "^  V""-"^'  »h**  statement  could 
scarcely  deceive  any  one  who  had  seen  her  Maiesty's 
letters  and  mstmctions  to  her  envoy.  ^ 

It  was  also  a  singularly  deceitful  couree  to  be  adonted 
by  Leicester  towards  Buckhurst  and  towards  the  Nether- 
lands, because  his  own  private  instructions,  dra^-n  up  at 

WW  K ^  uu"'^"*^:  Jl'^'^'^y  «°J""ied  him  to  do  exactly 
what  Buckhurst  had  been  doing.  He  was  most  strictly 
and  earnestly  commanded  to  deal  privately  with  all  such 
per^ons^  as  had  influence  with  the  "  common  sort  of 
people     in  order  that  they  should  use  their  influence 

7ividIvTf  ""T*""  11°^^"  '"  ^*^°'"'  °f  P'^^e-  bringing 
vividly  before  them  the  excessive  burthens  of  the  war 

meir  inability  to  cope  with  so  potent  a  prince  as  Thilip' 

*  Leicester  to  Junius,  ubi  sup. 

R  2 


ii; 


244 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


and  the  necessity  tlie  Queen  was  under  of  discontinuing 
her  contributions  to  their  support.  He  was  to  make  the 
same  representations  to  the  States,  and  he  was  further 
most  explicitly  to  inform  all  concerned,  that,  in  case 
they  were  unmoved  by  these  suggestions,  her  Majesty 
had  quite  made  up  her  mind  to  accept  the  handsome 
offers  of  peace  held  out  by  the  King  of  Spain,  and  to 
leave  them  to  their  fate. 

It  seemed  scarcely  possible  that  the  letter  to  Junius 
and  the  instructions  for  the  Earl  should  have  been  dated 
the  sam^  week,  and  should  have  emanated  from  the 
same  mind ;  but  such  was  the  fact. 

He  was  likewise  privately  to  assure  Maurice  and 
Hohenlo — in  order  to  remove  their  anticipated  opposi- 
tion to  the  peace — that  such  care  should  be  taken  in 
providing  for  them  as  that  "  they  should  have  no  just 
cause  to  dislike  thereof,  but  to  rest  satisfied  withal." 

With  regard  to  the  nature  of  his  authority,  he  was 
instructed  to  claim  a  kind  of  dictatorship  in  everything 
regarding  the  command  of  the  forces,  and  the  distri- 
bution of  the  public  treasure.  All  offices  were  to  be  at 
his  disposal.  Everj'  florin  contributed  by  the  States 
was  to  be  placed  in  his  hands,  and  spent  according  to 
his  single  will.  He  was  also  to  have  plenary  power  to 
prevent  the  trade  in  victuals  with  the  enemy  by  death 
and  confiscation. 

If  opposition  to  any  of  these  proposals  were  made  by 
the  States-General,  he  was  to  appeal  to  the  States  of 
each  Province,  to  the  towns  and  communities,  and  in 
case  it  should  prove  impossible  for  him  "  to  be  furnished 
with  the  desired  authority,"  he  was  then  instructed  to 
say  that  it  was  **  her  Majesty's  meaning  to  leave  them 
to  their  own  counsel  and  defence,  and  to  withdraw  the 
support  that  she  had  yielded  to  them ;  seeing  plainly 
tliat  the  continuance  of  the  confused  government  now 
reigning  among  them  could  not  but  work  their  ruin."  * 

Both  these  papers  came  into  Bam e veld's  hands, 
through  the  agency  of  Ortel,  the  States'  envoy  in  Eng- 
land, before  the  arrival  of  the  Earl  in  the  Netherlands.* 


1  Ingtruclions  for  the  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter. 20  June.  1587.  Corrected  by  Lord 
Burghley  and  Secretary  WaUingham. 
(8.  P.  Office  MS.)   Compare  Bor,  II.  xxi. 

906,  91'7. 


«  Bor,  IL  xxll.  906.  907.  "  By  the 
way."  writes  Leicester  to  Burghley, "  send 
away  Ortel ;  he  is  a  bad  felU»w."  Lei- 
cester to  Burghley,  17th  Aug.  1587. 
(3.  P.  Office  MS. 


1587.    BARNEVELD  DENOUxVCES  HIM  TO  THE  STATES.      245 

Of  course  they  soon  became  the  topics  of  excited  con- 
versation and  of  alann  in  eveiy  part  of  the  country. 
Buckhurst,  touched  to  the  quick  by  the  reflection  upon 
those  proceedings  of  his  which  had  been  so  explicitly 
enjoined  upon  him,  and  so  reluctantly  undertaken,  ap- 
pealed  earnestly  to  her  Majesty.     He  reminded  he^,  L 
delicately  as  possible,  that  her  honour,  as  well  as  his 
own,  was  at  stake  by  Leicester's  insolent  disavowals  of 
her  authorised  ambassador.      He  besought  her  to  re- 
member "what  even  her  own  royal  hand  had  written 
to  the  Duke  of  Parma;"  and  how  much  his  honour  was 
interested     by  the  disavowing  of  his  dealings  about  the 
peace  begun  by  her  Majesty's  commandment  "    He  ad- 
jured her  with  much  eloquence  to  think  upon  the  conse- 
quences of  stirring  up  the  common  and  unstable  multi- 
tude against  their  rulers;  upon  the  pernicious  effects 
of  allowing  the  clergy  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the 
people  against  the  government.     *'  Under  the  name  of 
such  as  have  charge  over  the  people,"  said  Buckhurst, 
are   understood  the  ministers  and  chaplains  of  the 
churches  m  every  town,  by  the  means  of  whom  it  seems 
that  his  Lordship  tendeth  his  whole  purpose  to  attain  to 
ins  desire  of  the  administration  of  the  sovereigntv  "    He 
assured  the  Queen  that  this  scheme  of  Leicester  to  seize 
virtual  y  upon  that  sovereignty  would  be  a  disastrous 
one.        The  States  are  resolved,"  said  he,  "since  your 
Majesty  doth  refuse  the  sovereignty,  to  lay  it  upon  no 
creature  else,  as  a  thing  contrary  te  their  oath  and  allo- 
wance to  their  country."     He  reminded  her  also  that 
the  fetates  had  been  dissatisfied  with  the  Earl's  former 
administration,  believing  that  he  had  exceeded  his  com- 
.  mission,  and  that  they  were  determined  therefore  to 
limit  his  authority  at  his  return.    "  Your  sacred  Maiestv 
may  consider,"  he  said,  "  what  effect  all  this  may  work 
among  the  common  and  ignorant  people,  by  intimating 
that,  unless  they  shall  procure  him  the  administration 
ot  such  a  sovereignty  as  he  requireth,  their  ruin  may 
ensue  Buckhurst   also   informed  her  that  he  had 

despatched  Councillor  Wilkes  to  England,  in  order  that 
ne  might  give   more  ample   information  on  all   these 
atlairs  by  word  of  mouth  than  could  well  be  written 
It  need  hardly  be  stated  that  Bameveld  came  down 

i  Buckhurst  to  the  Queen.  28  June.  1587.    (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  C.  xi.  p.  61,  MS.)  * 


ll 


246 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XV. 


lii 
"'1 


''|ii 


to  tlie  States'-hoTise  with  these  papers  in  his  hand,  and 
thundered  against  the  delinquent  and  intriguing  go- 
vernor till  the  general  indignation  rose  to  an  alarming 
height.  False  statements  of  course  were  made  to  Lei- 
cester as  to  the  substance  of  the  Advocate's  discourse. 
He  was  said  to  have  charged  upon  the  English  govern- 
ment an  intention  to  seize  forcibly  upon  their  cities, 
and  to  transfer  them  to  Spain  on  payment  of  the  sums 
due  to  the  Queen  from  the  States,  and  to  have  declared 
that  he  had  found  all  this  treason  in  the  secret  instruc- 
tions of  the  Earl.*  But  Bameveld  had  read  the  mstmc- 
tions,  to  which  the  attention  of  the  reader  has  just  been 
called,  and  had  strictly  stated  the  tmth,  which  was 
damaging  enough,  without  need  of  exaggeration. 


1  Memorial  in  Burghley's  hand,  Sept. 
1687.  Killigrew  and  Beale  to  the  I^rds, 
11th  Sept.  1587.  Leicester  to  Burghley, 
17  Aug.  1587.  Same  to  same,  11  Sept 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

"Those    persuasions    of    this   fellow 
Bamevelt,"  says  the  Earl  in  the  last- 
cited  letter,  "  wrought  great  impressionB 
in  many  men  that  her  Majesty  had  a 
former  resolution  in   herself  to  make 
peace  without  these  countries,  and  that 
my  now  sending  was  only  to  get  autho- 
rity   here    with   the    commandmtnt  of 
places  and   people,  that,  if  these  men 
would  not  agree  to  such  peace  as  her 
Majesty  would  appoint,  they  should  be 
comiielled  thereto  by  such  forces  &a  I 
ghould  have  at  my  disposition ;  alleging 
also   that    these  few  supplies  which   1 
brought  was  to  augment  my  power  the 


stronger  for  this  only  end.    These  infor- 
mations, assistfxi  with  the  report  of  the 
copy  of  my  instructions  and  letters,  for 
the  verifying  of  which  the  party  took 
new  oath  that  they  were  the  true  copies 
which  he  had,  and  moved  him  to  speak 
so  plainly,  which  matters  were  very  pro- 
bable  and   greatly  persuadable  to    the 
common  sort ;  yet  is  the  matter  so  used 
as   notwithstanding   all   his    allegations 
both  of  instructions  and  letters,  all  men 
are  satisfied  ;  and  I  have  not  denied  but 
such  words  are  in  my  instructions  and 
such  a  letter  written,  and  yet  we  made 
all  to   agree  with  an   honourable   and 
gracious     intention     in    her    Majesty 
towards  them  all,"  &c.    (Compare  Jkle- 
tereu,  xiv.  255  seq.  Bor.ll.xxii.  906,907. 
Hoofd  Vervolgh,  239.     Wagenaar,  viii. 
223.  224. 


H 


') 


Chap.  XVI. 


SITUATION  OF  SLUYS. 


247 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Norris  WilkpITn^  R  ^^K  ~      ^  ^'''^'^  *"^  ^'^'^  theAnti-Leicestrians- 

lIfe™o^'*fl'''t^  passed  throngh  the  thirf  circle  of  the 

Infemo-a  desert  of  red-hot  sand,  in  which  lay  a  multi- 

ude  of  victims  of  divine  wrath,  additionally  tortured  by 

caufewav  4  "'  /r'"^  ^ildeniess  along  a  narrow 
causeway.  This  path  was  protected,  he  said,  against 
the  showers  of  flame  by  the  lines  of  vapour  which  rose 
e  emally  from  a  boiling  brook.  Kven  by  such  shadowy 
bulwarks,  added  the   poet,  do  the  Flemings  betvv^Tn 

tSrl™ t!:>"^^  ^^°*^«'  *^-  ^"^  «S^-*  the  ev:r^ 

pilV?,!  ^"'T^'^^y  '^'"""g  these  slender  dykes  between 
^l!«^H  ll";^  /"^''  that  Alexander  Farnese  had  now 
planted  all  the  troops  that  ho  could  musler  in  the  field 
n  was  his  determination  to  conquer  the  city  of  Sluvs  • 
for  he  possession  of  that  important  seaport  was  necesl 
wW-  i  ""  "".  ^"^  f"''  'J^e  invasion  of  England 

Exactly  opposite  the  city  was  the  island  of  Kadzand, 

r^V '"■  """If  ^'^'^"'^  *"'T'tory,  with  a  city  and  man^ 
flourishing  villages  upon  its  surf^ace,  but  at  that  epoch 

m^t^K^nf  It      *"  ""^^  ^'^^"^  sand-bank  by  the  encroach- 
inents  or  the  ocean. 


»  "Hora  cen   porta   1'  un   de*  duri 
margin! 

E  il   fumo   del  rusceP   dl  sopra 

aduggia 
Si  ciie  d;il  fuoco  salva  1'  acqua  e  gP 

arglnl 


Temendo  il  fiotto  che  ver  lor  s' 

avventa 
Fanno  li  schermi  acciochb  '1  mar  si 
fuggia." 

Inferno,  Canto  xv. 
Compare  Guicciardinl,    •  Descript.  des 


^^"^  487.    BentivogUo,  p.  ii.  1.  V.  313. 


pi 


248 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


1  *'■[) 


h 


A  stream  of  inland  water,  rising  a  few  leagues  to  the 
south  of  Sluys,  divided  itself  into  many  branches  just 
before  reaching  the  city,  converted  the  surrounding 
territory  into  a  miniature  archipelago — the  islands  of 
which  were  shifting,  treacherous  sand-banks  at  low 
water,  and  submerged  ones  at  flood — and  then  widening 
and  deepening  into  a  considerable  estuary,  opened  for 
the  city  a  capacious  harbour,  and  an  excellent  although 
intricate  passage  to  the  sea.  The  city,  which  was  well 
built  and  thriving,  was  so  hidden  in  its  labyrinth  of 
canals  and  streamlets,  that  it  seemed  almost  as  difficult 
a  matter  to  find  Sluys  as  to  conquer  it.  It  afforded  safe 
harbour  for  five  hundred  large  vessels ;  and  its  posses- 
sion, therefore,  was  extremely  important  for  Parma. 
Besides  these  natural  defences,  the  place  was  also  pro- 
tected by  fortifications,  which  were  as  well  constructed 
as  the  best  of  that  period.  There  was  a  strong  rampire 
and  many  towers.  There  was  also  a  detached  citadel 
of  great  strength,  looking  towards  the  sea ;  and  there 
was  a  ravelin,  called  St.  Anne's,  looking  in  the  direction 
of  Bruges.  A  mere  riband  of  dry  land  in  that  quarter 
was  all  of  solid  earth  to  be  found  in  the  environs  of 
Sluys. 

The  city  itself  stood  upon  firm  soil,  but  that  soil  had 
been  hollowed  into  a  vast  system  of  subterranean  maga- 
zines, not  for  warlike  purposes,  but  for  cellars,  as  Sluys 
had  been  from  a  remote  period  the  great  entrepot  of 
foreieii  wines  in  the  Netherlands.* 

While  the  eternal  disputes  between  Leicester  and  the 
States  were  going  on  both  in  Holland  and  in  England, 
while  the  secret  negotiations  betweeli  Alexander  Far- 
nese  and  Queen  Elizabeth  were  slowly  proceeding  at 
Brussels  and  Greenwich,  the  Duke,  notwithstanding  the 
destitute  condition  of  his  troops,  and  the  famine  which 
prevailed  throughout  the  obedient  Provinces,  had  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  a  little  army  of  five  thousand  foot, 
and  something  less  than  one  thousand  horse,  into  the 
field.'    A  portion  of  this  force  he  placed  under  the  com- 

1  Authorities  last  cited.    Meteren.xlv.  ever,  to  arrive  at  the  exact  numbers. 

254'">,  255.    Hoofd,  Verv.  254.  They  are  not  stated  by  Farnese  in  his 

«  Parma  to  Philip  II.,  6  Aug.  16S1.  letters  to  the  King,  preserved   in   the 

(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.)  Archives  of  Siniancas.    Strada  (ii.  489) 

This    force    was   subsequently    very  gives  the  numbers  as  stated  in  the  t«xt. 

much  Increased.    It  is  impossible,  how-  Roger  Williams,  however,  in  a  letter  to 


1587.  ITS  DUTCH  AND  ENGLISH  GARRISON.  249 

mand  of  the  veteran  La  Motte.      That  distinguished 
campaigner  had  assured  the  commander-in-chfef  that 
the  reduction  of  the  city  would  be  an  easy  achievement ' 
Alexander  soon  declared  that  the  enterprise  w^Ae 
most  difficult  one  that  he  had  ever  undertaken.'    Yet 
two  years  before,  he  had  carried  to  its  triumphant  con- 
clusion the  famous  siege  of  Antwerp.     He  stationed  Ws 
own  division  upon  the  isle  of  Kadzand,  and  strengthened 
his  camp  by  additionally  fortifying  those  shadowy  C 
warks  by  which  the  island,  since  the  age  of  Dante  h^ 
entrenched  itself  against  the  assaults  of  ocean. 
On  the  other  hand,  La  Motte.  by  the  orders  of  his 

til-  ^Vr?*^"*^  ^^'''  "■  *^T  «t"^ggle  in  camming 
the  fort  of  bt.  Anne.  A  still  more  important  step  w^ 
the  surprising  of  Blankenberg.  a  small  fortified  pkce^ 
the  coast   about  midway  between  Ostend  and  sfuys,  by 

tT.  ^»r  f%'!t*'r!"'"''''**'°°«  ^'^^  tlie  former  city  for 
the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  town,  were  interrupted.' 

■Ji^ll^  T'^^^^T^  against  Sluys  had  commended 
in  the  early  days  of  June.  The  commandant  of  the 
place  was  Arnold  de  Groenevelt.  a  Dutch  nob  e  of 
ancient  lineage  and  approved  valour.  His  force  wa^ 
however,  very  meagre,  hardly  numbering  more  than 
eight  hundred,  all  Ke.herlandL.  but  counting  a~ 
Its  officers  several  most  distinguished  personaires 
Nicholas  de  Maulde.  Adolphus  de  MeetkeAe  aThk 

successor  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  in  the   g^ver^mTnf/f 
Flushing.     He  had  received  from  him.  in  consequence 
a  remfoi-cement  of  eight  hundred  Englidi  soldier?  unde; 

grapher  of  the  Duke  allows.  R  Williams 


Qaeen  Elizabeth,  sent  from  Sluys  at  an 
early  period  of  the  siege,  says  that  the 
^Ke  of  Parma  had  come  before    the 
town,  a  week  before.  In  person,  with  four 
ryraents  of  Walloons,  four  of  Germans, 
mty-two  companies  of  Spaniaids,  twenty- 
four  comets   of  horse,  and   forty^ight 
pieces  of  battery,  and  that  the  next  day 
there  arrived  one   regiment  of  Italians 
and  one  of  Burgundians.     This  would 
g^ve  a  total  of  at  least  17,600  men.  more 
tnan  thrice  as  many  as    the   historio- 


to  the  Queen  ^  June,  1687.    (Brit.  Mus. 

Galba,  D.  I.  p.40,MS.) 

»  Parma  to  Philip  II.,  6  Aug.  1587. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 

»  Ibid.  "  En  mio  poco  Jnlcio  la  mas 
diflcultosa  y  laboriosa  cosa  que  bo  visto 
e  acometldo  en  Flandes." 

'Strada,  il.  488.  ^  Meteren.  vbi  mp 
Bor.  II.  xxli.  984.  Bentivogllo,  Hoofd 
ubi  sup. 


Iiif 


250 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


several  eminent  chieftains,  foremost  among  whom  were 
the  famous  Welshman  Roger  Williams,  Captain  Huntley, 
Baskei-ville,  Sir  Francis  Vere,  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and 
Captain  Hart.  This  combined  force,  however,  was  but 
a  slender  one,  there  being  but  sixteen  hundred  men  to 
protect  two  miles  and  a  half  of  rampart,  besides  the 
forts  and  ravelins.* 

But,  such  as  it  was,  no  time  was  lost  in  vain  regrets. 
The  sorties  against  the  besiegers  were  incessant  and 
brilliant.     On  one  occasion  Sir  Francis  Vere — conspi- 
cuous in  the  throng  in  his  red  mantilla,  and  supported 
only  by  one  hundred  Englishmen  and  Dutchmen  under 
Captaiia  Baskervillo— held  at  bay  eight  companies  of 
the  famous  Spanish  legion  called  the  Terzo  Veijo,  at 
push    of  pike,    took  many  prisoners,   and  forced    the 
Spaniards  from  the  position  in  which  they  were  en- 
trenching themselves.*      On  the  other  hand,  Famese 
declared  that  he  had  never  in  his  life  witnessed  any- 
thing so  unflinching  as  the  courage  of  his  troops ;  em- 
ployed as  they  were  in  digging  trenches  where  the  soil 
was  neither  land  nor  water,  exposed  to  inundation  by 
the  suddenly-opened  sluices,  to  a  phmging  fire  from  the 
forts,  and  to  perpetual  hand-to-hand  combats  with  an 
active  and  fearless  foe,  and  yet  pumping  away  in  the 
coffer-dams — which  they  had  invented  by  way  of  ob- 
taining   a    standing -ground   for    their    operations — as 
steadily  and  sedately  as  if  engaged  in  purely  pacific 
employments.'*     The  besieged  were  inspired  by  a  cou- 
rage  equally  remarkable.      The  regular  gamson  was 
small  enough,  but  the  burghers  were  courageous,  and 
even  the  women  organized  themselves  into  a  band  of 
pioneers.     This  corps  of  amazons,  led  by  two  female 
captains,  rejoicing  in  the  names  of  *  May  in  the  Heart  * 
and  *  Catharine  the  Rose,'  actually  constructed  an  im- 
■  portant  redoubt  between  the  citadel  and  the  rampart, 
which  received,  in  compliment  to  its  builders,  the  ap- 
pellation of  *  Fort  Venus.'  * 

The  demands  of  the  beleaguered  garrison,  however, 
upon  the  States  and  upon  Leicester  were  most  pressing. 


»  Parma   to  Philip  II.  ^~^,    1587. 

6  Auk. 


»  Strada,  Meteren,   Bor,    Bentlvogllo, 
Hoofd,  ttW  sup.    RoRer  Williams,  'Dis- 
course of  War.'  aptMf  Grimstone.  'Hist    (Arch,   de  Simancas.   MS.)     Strada,  ii. 
Neihorlnnds,' I.  xili.  902.  •*9'- 

»  K.  WiUiams.  ubi  sup.  *  ^^'  ^^^-  ^^^-  ^  «=2- 


1587.  WILLIAMS  WRITES  FROM  SLUYS  TO  THE  QUEEX.    261 

Captein  Hart  swam  thrice  out  of  the  city  with  letters  to 
he  htates  to  the  governor-general,  and  to  Queen  Eliza- 
beth ;  and  the  same  perilous  feat  was  perfomed  seveml 
times  by  a  Iv  etherland  officer.-  The  besieged  meant  To 
selltieir  lives  dearly;  but  it  was  obvioufly  imZ"ib k 

"Our  ground  is  great  and  our  men  not  so  many  " 
^vrote  Roger  VVilhams  to  his  sovereign;  "  but  wTt^k 
m  God  and  our  valour  to  defend  it.  .  ^  .  .  .      Vvrme^n 
w.th  God's  help,  to  make  their  downs  red  and  Uack 
Sr\i^sterdZr:l""/  ^^-^^  ^orathousattf 

.^th^tfT""  """"^  "°  l"-aggart.  and  had  proved  often 
3ses       .  W.Tn  r''  r'""  *°  P<^rformances  than   ' 
us" TeL-d    "?  doubt  not  your  Majesty  will  succour 
us,    he  said,      for  our  honest  mind  and  plain  dealinfr 
toward  your  royal  person  and  dear  eounfyFldding  J 

m  icu  your  peace-makers.     Had  thev  their  mind  +l,n^ 
will  not  only  undo  your  friends  abroad  but  i^  th^  end 
your  royal  estate." "  '  ®''^' 

from  wte'^ti*/"'  from  no  want  of  wholesome  wai-ning 
irom  wise  statesmen  and  blunt  soldiers  that  the  Queen 
was  ventunng  into  that  labyrintt  of  negotiation  wWch 
might  prove  so  treacherous.  Never  had  been  ^°noppo7 
tune  a  moment  for  that  princess  to  listen  to  the  voTce  of 
him  who  was  charming  her  so  wisely,  while  he  ^^s  at 
he  same  moment  battering  the  place  which  was  to  be 
the  basis  of  his  operations  against  her  realm.    Her  delav 

ILrnt"}^  fr''  '"''"''"'''  "•*''  ^*  '«««*  -  modei^te  c^- 

-ir^rlt  of  tr'n  '  ^''f  """^  P«™i«i°»«-    The  States 
Ignorant  of  the  Queen's  exact  relations  with  Snain 

peidrf:"*"^  her  disingenuousness  into  absS 
pel  hdy -became  on  their  own  part  exceedingly  to  blame 
Ihere  ,s  no  doubt  whatever  that  both  Hoflande^ Td 

adrSuv^lf  r?  P''^y'"g  ,«*«  the  hands  of  Pama  as 
adroitly  as  if  he  lad  actually  directed  their  movements 
Deep  were  the  denunciations  of  Leicester  and  C  par- 
tisans by  the  States'  party,  and  incessant  the  compS 

.  Mete...  Bo,  r.  WH.Un.,,  ^-  „,.     ,5,,     (Brit.  Mu.,  Galba.  r>.  I.  p.  ,.. 
'  R.  Williams  to  the  (Jueeo,  -  June     "^  ) 

>»         '       '  Ibid. 


252 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


V, 


1  i 


of  the  Englisli  and  Dutch  troops  shut  up  in  Sluys  against 
the  inactivity  or  treachery  of  Maurice  and  Hohenlo. 
"  If  Count  Maurice  and  his  base  brother,  the  Admiral 

gustinus  de  Nassau),  be  too  young  to  govern,  must 
olland  and  Zeeland  lose  their  countries  and  towns  to 
make  them  expert  men  of  war  ?"  asked  Roger  Williams.* 
A  pregnant  question  certainly,  but  the  answer  was,  that 
by  suspicion  and  jealousy,  rather  than  by  youth  and 
inexperience,  the  arms  were  paralyzed  which  should 
have  saved  the  garrison.  "  If  these  base  fellows  (the 
States)  will  make  Count  Hollock  their  instrument," 
continued  the  Welshman,  "to  cover  and  maintain  their 
folly  and  lewd  dealing,  is  it  necessary  for  her  royal 
Majesty  to  suffer  it  p  These  are  too  great  matters  to  be 
rehearsed  by  me;  but  because  I  am  in  the  town,  and  do 
resolve  to  sign  with  my  blood  my  duty  in  serving  my 
sovereign  and  country,  I  trust  her  Majesty  will  pardon 
me."*  Certainly  the  gallant  adventurer  on  whom  de- 
volved at  least  half  the  work  of  directing  the  defence  of 
the  city,  had  a  right  to  express  his  opinions.  Had  he 
known  the  whole  truth,  however,  those  opinions  would 
have  been  modified.  And  he  wrote  amid  the  smoke  and 
turmoil  of  daily  and  nightly  battle. 

"  Yesterday  was  the  fifth  sally  we  made,"  he  observed. 
"  Since  I  followed  the  wars  I  never  saw  valianter  cap- 
tains, nor  willinger  soldiers.  At  eleven  o'clock  the 
enemy  entered  the  ditch  of  our  fort,  with  trenches  upon 
wheels,  artillery-proof.  We  sallied  out,  recovered  their 
trenches,  slew  the  governor  of  Dam,  two  Spanish  cap- 
tains, with  a  number  of  others,  repulsed  them  into  their 
artillery,  kept  the  ditch  until  yesternight,  and  will 
recover  it,  with   God's  help,  this  night,  or   else   pay 

dearly  for  it I  care  not  what  may  become  of 

me  in  this  world,  so  that  her  Majesty's  honour,  with  the 
rest  of  honourable  good  friends,  will  think  nw  an  honest 


"8 


man. 

No  one  ever  doubted  the  simple-hearted  Welshman's 
honesty,  any  more  than  his  valour ;  but  he  confided  in 
the  candour  of  others  who  were  somewhat  more  sophis- 
ticated than  himself.  When  he  warned  her  royal 
Majesty  against  the  peace-makers,   it  was  impossible 

»    WlUlama  to  Walslngham,  "''."1^  ,  1687.    (Brit  Mus.  Galba,  C.  xi.  102,  MS.) 


>  Ibid. 


9  July 


3  Ibid. 


1587.      JEAIOUSV  BETWEEN  THE  EARL  AND  STATES.      253 

teth  h"rsd?°"  ''''  *^^  ^'^'  peace-maker  was  Eliza- 
ruotf  fatSin?''^''"  °^"  r^*'^  '^^^ori  had  become 

been  pushed    forward    towISde^tC*.?'"'-''  "^'  ^'^ 
caverns  below  the  citv  «Z!h!  a  ^^^'"^i"^  wine- 

seemed  to  the  inhabitants  imminent.     Eight  dav7lrZ' 

pTe  ^^^^^''^^'^^^ 

earth.'^        ■   ^""^    "^"Sger,  within  the   bowels  ^f  the 
me^dablr'''^!  ?P«^«°'^?  of  .the  States  were  not  com- 

c£M?,r£^^^^^^^^ 

rhere  was  no  hearty  effort  for  the  relief  of  Sluv«      Thl 
tional    vanta^e-no;n7  fi    ,!.ll^".r**^'-'  ^  ^"^  ''^di- 


prioeforneace      tL     '^  "^  ^I'^^fbeth  as  part  of  the 

part  of  the  Holknrtpr«    t  J!  <•        i  disposition  on  the 
mainedrf  FlanS  and    wf""'/"  ^T*""*  ^*"'*  '^^ 

of  her  whom  the;;  we"  W  ^nin  '  to^fo  T  '^'  ^^"''^ 
enemy'  oegmning  to  look  upon  as  an 

'■^■M,  lii.  «02.404.  "''"^l      Ha-    J^J-^Kllency  f.,r  the  Relief  of  Slavs 

26July,  16»7.    (S.  r.  Office  ILS.)  . 


If 


254 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


>     ■<! 


»t 


'I 


unsuccessful.  There  was  some  sharp  skinnishing  be- 
tween Hohenlo  and  Haultepenne,  in  which  the  Litter, 
one  of  the  most  valuable  and  distinguished  generals  on 
the  royal  side,  was  defeated  and  slain  ;  the  fort  of  Engel, 
near  Bois  le-I)nc,  was  taken,  and  that  important  city 
itself  endangered  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  contin- 
gent on  which  Leicester  relied  from  the  States  to  assist 
in  relieving  Slnys  was  not  forthcoming.^ 

For,  meantime,  the  governor  general  had  at  last  been 
sent  biick  by  his  sovereign  to  the  post  which  he  had  so 

wjune    long  abandoned.     Leaving  Leicester  IIou.se  on 

i?ju^yr  the  4th  July  (N.S.),  he  had  come  on  board  the 
1587.  £^g^  |^<3  (Jays  afterwards  at  Margate,  lie  was 
bringing  with  him  to  the  Netherlands  three  thousand 
fresh  initmtry,  and  thirty  thousand  pounds,  of  which  sum 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  had  been  at  last  wrung  from 
Elizabeth  as  an  extra  loan,  in  place  of  the  sixty  thousand 
pounds  which  the  States  had  requested.  As  he  sailed 
past  Ostend  and  towards  Flushing,  the  Earl  was  witness 
to  the  constant  cannonading  between  the  besieged  city 
and  the  camp  of  Famese,  and  saw  that  the  work  could 
hardly  be  more  serious  ;  for  in  one  short  day  more  shots 
were  fired  than  had  ever  been  known  before  in  a  single 
day  in  all  Parma's  expenence.' 

Arriving  at  Flushing,  the  governor-general  was  well 
received  by  the  inhabitants ;  but  the  mischief  which 
had  been  set  a-foot  six  months  before  had  done  its  work. 
ITie  political  intrigues,  disputes,  and  the  conflicting 
party-organizations,  have  already  been  set  in  great 
detail  before  the  reader,  in  order  that  their  effect  might 
now  be  thoroughly  undei-stood  without  explanation. 
The  governor-general  came  to  Flushing  at  a  most 
critical  moment.  The  fate  of  all  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands, of  Sluys,  and  with  it  the  whole  of  Philip  and 
Parma's  great  project,  were,  in  Farnese's  own  language, 
hanging  by  a  thread.* 

It  would  have  been  possible — had  the  transactions  of 
the  \WL&t  six  months,  so  far  as  regarded  Holland  and 
Eno-land,  been  the  reverse  of  what  they  had  been— to 


1  BoT,  Meteren,  Hoofd,  Bentivogllo, 
Slrada,  ubi  sup. 

2  Authorities  last  cited.  Lloyd  to 
Walsin«?hain,  25  June,  1587.  (S.  P. 
Office  MS.)     Baudart,  PoUmog.  ii.  96, 


"  IT, 800  shots." 

3  Parma  to  Philip  II.,  6  Aug.  1587. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.)  "  Colgados  da 
un  hilo  todos  los  estados  y  todo  lo 
dcpendlcntc,"  &c 


1587. 


SCHEMES  TO  RELIEVE  SLUYS. 


255 

that  summer,  a^  would  hiT"''^  T^""  ^"^^^  «  blow 
time  to  come  and  have  ^W^  paralyzed  it  for  a  long 
comparative  security       ^  ^^^  commonwealths  iS 

lousrprevSol!  ^'feS^^S*"^^*  ''"'^  ""*-'  i- 
departuro  from  England  s,?^.       '^  P|-eviously    to    his 

Such  of  the  Ite-councmo,^\.  :*  ^  T^  "PPearcd. 
came  to  him.  and  Count  Ar?-;  -^^^  creatures 

mony.  M^cussions  Xut  a X  f ""  ?-^  •'''*  "^  '''■^- 
became  mere  scenes  of   Lt"^-  'lelieving  the  siege 

officers  within  Sluys  were  ^/-"^  *!  confusion.  The 
force  its  way  into  tie  harW  "T,  ^''^  ^  ^''^^  ^^ould 
the   Englisli   arm      s   eJ^T;  ^^[^"'f- '-^t  the  same  time, 

-1.ich  Leicester  hid  d  3ed"fimVs.  T *'>^"* 
advance  against  the  Duko  f  T-o!  t^^c  *>*ates,  should 
in  truth,  the  onl v  w  v%n  ^^™''  ^y^'"''^-  it  was, 
scheme  wa«  qui^e  p^racttLbTe  "T"""  J^'  P'^<^«-  '^'^^ 
Jt,  the  Hollldcrs^remeJ^,  tTirr'^Z''"' 
Groenevelt  and  Roger  Williams  u'^ed  iJ     '^'''""^'"'''^"t 

LeicestTr,'^' Ifto'u  wiU^om*^  '^/  ''T''  ''''^'^^"^'^-  *» 
'nany  galliots  a'nd  ^IZTs^tZ""'  Z",""'  "'*»'  «« 
cause  two  men-of-war  to  entfrf^."'''  ^°^**  '^  «*» 
passage,  if  yo„r  maHners  will  t^'  """""i:*  '*°P  *^<-'''- 
d;.ty  as  I  saw  them  do  divert  tmes  'rIT':."*"  *''^^' 
their  entrance,  we  wll  rnm^  !  vf '       f  "'"*'  ^''^J"  make 

with  the  greatk  plrt  a^d  sW  tlC t^*^'"  ''"'  ^^'^^ 
great  danger.     \\  ere   it  w  f  "^'^  '^  "^  such 

>vould  be  Fn  your  first  boat  tn      .  ""^  ^^ounded  am,  I 

I  and  other ^Englie^tira?pro,i:1r-''r"'^'"^' 
such  sort,  that  we  will  force  fh£T-  *'''f  ^°^^^  '" 
of  artillery  upon  us  f  -nnr  p!  if  ^"^  *^''"  ^^ker 
unto  those  false  lewd  felioZ  "  rih!  r "?  ^'"  ^ive  ear 
States -General)    "  vou   Zll  '"''P**'"  '"^'^'^t  the 

,\Vithin  ten  or  twelve  dav«  1  '^  «^^  opportunity, 
l^ridge  from  Kadllnd  unto  s/  a  """""y  ^'"  '"''ke  his 
^azard  battle  l^C  vou  suclotirTv"".'^  '""'"^'^  ^'°«  *<> 
I^ord  WiUoughbv  and  <^ir  u^v  '^  J^'"''-  ^^^  my 
Terhoven,  rifht  a-afnst  I^^/  i'*""  •  ?"^«'"  l«"d  at 
trench  hard  by  ^f  walr^fn  V"^'*  4000,  and  en- 
oy  tue  water-side,  where  their  boats  can 


^ 


I 


II. 


P" 


li 


256 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


carry  them  victual  and  munition.     They  may  approach 

by  trenches  without  engaging  any  dangerous  fight 

We  dare  not  show  the  estate  of  this  town  more  than  we 
have  done  by  Captain  Herte.  We  must  fight  this  night 
within  our  rampart  in  the  fort.  You  may  assure  the 
world  here  are  no  Hamerts,  but  valiant  captains  and 
valiant  soldiers,  such  as,  with  God's  help,  had  rather  be 
buried  in  the  place  than  be  disgraced  in  any  point  that 
belongs  to  such  a  number  of  men-of-war."  ^ 

But  in  vain  did  the  governor  of  the  place,  stout 
Arnold  Groenevelt,  assisted  by  the  rough  and  direct 
eloquence  of  Roger  Williams,  urge  upon  the  Earl  of 
Leicester  and  the  States-General  the  necessity  and  the 
practicability  of  the  plan  proposed.  The  fleet  never 
entered  the  harbour.  There  was  no  William  of  Orange 
to  save  Antwerp  and  Sluys,  as  Leyden  had  once  been 
saved,  and  his  son  was  not  old  enough  to  unravel  the 
web  of  intrigue  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  or  to 
direct  the  whole  energies  of  the  commonwealth  towards 
an  all-important  end.  Leicester  had  lost  all  influence, 
all  authority,  nor  were  his  military  abilities  equal  to  the 
occasion,  even  if  he  had  been  cordially  obeyed. 

Ten  days  longer  the  perpetual  battles  on  the  ram- 
parts and  within  the  mines  continued,  the  plans  con- 
veyed by  the  bold  swimmer,  Captain  Hart.,  for  saving 
the  place  were  still  unattempted,  and  the  city  was 
tottering  to  its  fall.  **  Had  Captain  Hart's  words  taken 
place,"  wrote  \\  illiams,  bitterly,  *'  we  had  been  suc- 
coured, or,  if  my  letters  had  prevailed,  our  pain  had 
been  no  peril.  All  wars  are  best  executed  in  sight 
of  the  enemy.  .  .  .  The  last  night  of  June  (10th 
July,  N.S.)  the  enemy  entered  the  ditches  of  our  fort  in 
three  several  places,  continuing  in  fight  in  mine  and  on 
rampart  for  the  space  of  eight  nights.  The  ninth  he 
battered  us  furiously,  made  a  breach  of  five  score  paces 
saltable  for  horse  and  man.  That  day  he  attempted  us 
in  all  places  with  a  general  assault  for  the  space  of 
almost  five  hours."  * 

S9  June  first  year  of  Leicester's  administration. 

1  Williams  to  Leicester,  -r-rr '  1*^'*  ,  ,            »   r  .     ,ro, 

»  J»>y  •  Williams  to  Leicester,  -  July,  1587. 

(Brit.  Mus  Galba,  P.  I.  p.  152,  MS.)  ,     ^  ^'\^^  ^    ^ 

It   will   be   remembered  Uiat   Baron  (Brit  Miw.  Galba,  I).  I.  179.  MS.)    Com- 

Homart  was  the  unfortunate  ollicfr  who  pare   Uor,  MeUren,  Hoofd.  B^ntlvogU-'. 

•o  dlsgracctully  surrendered  Grave  in  the  Strada,  Haraeus,  ubi  tup.  et  mult.  al. 


1587.         WHICH  ARE  FEEBLE  AND  UNSUCCESSFUL  257 

resolutelv  to  LT  •  J        ,   ^"'  *'^'"®  ""^e  do  remain 
[n£St  JoLt."  ■  "''•  '"'''''  ^'^^'^  *°  ">'  dishonoured 
It  was  still  possible  for  the  fleet  to  succour  the  citv 
'I  do  assure  you,"  said  Williams,  "  that  your  capS 

no trtToL"  h"  r  ''"'''  •'"*y  ^'-^^^  thi;  enters 
r  S  SJ'"]^'°''  """^t  <'°°«ider  that'^^,  wars  may 
'«  tnaae  without  danger.     What  you  mean  to   do    w« 

se  t  that  we  will  die  valiant  honest  men.     Your  Ex- 
£S  foV:."^"  *°  ^^.-"^  *«  "Id  President  de 

now  rndfrtoorth?*^  ^''  °"*r^  ^"''^'''  '^'  ^dmiml, 
iiuw  unaertook  the  succour  by  sea;  but   accordino-  tn 

Xir^T'  t^y, -»*--d  dilatVandt-m- 

Ki  IW  W'  ''  '^'="^'''  ^J""'  tW  did  nothing. 
At  last,  1  arma  had  completed  the  brido-e   whoso  cnn 
struction  was  so  much  drPA/1<.,1      T^k     i?      ^"°^®  "^O"" 
enclosed  hv  o  cTil  dreaded.     The  haven  was  now 

on  a  ^r»   •^  *    •,    "S  "^r*^^"  structure,  resting  on  boats 

Z,^.U^l  VT^^'  *°  "^''*  °f  the  famous  bridge  with 

Sys\t^h1,""  'T  YT  ''"•^'^d  *e  Scheldt,  and 
shi^^  Z  complflely  shut  in  from  the  sea.     Fire- 

tWhaTw„f«r'^^r^''l"'P'*"**  conduct  a  floet  into 
ine  harbour  of  feluys.'    But  the  Nassa.is  are  said  to  have 


to  Leicester.     (MS.  last 


*  Williams 
cited) 

'R.  Williams  to  Walsingham,  1  July. 

1587.  (Brit.  Mus. Galba,  D.L p.  179.  MS) 
Compare   'Discourse   of   War'   apud 

>utch  and  Walloons,"  says  Sir  IJoger, 
showed  themselves  consfant.  re.olL 

Zi!^        '  ''P*^'*"^  ^^"^  ^'^^^  and 
^alunt  captama  Meetkerke  and  Herau- 

VOL.  IJ. 


g«ere.  •  He  also  especially  commends 
the  valour  of  Huntley.  Udall,  Scott. 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  St.  Leger.  and 
Nicholas  Baskerville. 

3  A  brief  Report  of  the  Proceedings  of 
his  ^:xa'llency  for  the  relief  of  Sluys  26 
July,  1597.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Wil- 
loughby.  Russell.  Pelham.  and  others  to 
the  Lords.  12  Aug.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
Mb.) 


8 


258 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


I'    / 


'  It 


hi 


expressed  great  disgust  that  low-bom  burghers  should 
presume  to  meddle  with  so  important  an  enterprise, 
which  of  right  belonged  to  their  family.'  Thus,  in  the 
midst  of  these  altercations  and  contradictory  schemes, 
the  month  of  July  wore  away,  and  the  city  was  reduced 
to  its  last  gasp. 

For  the  cannonading  had  thoroughly  done  its  work. 
Eighteen  days  long  the  burghers  and  what  remained  of 
the  garrison  had  lived  upon  the  ramparts,  never  leaving 
their  posts,  but  eating,  sleeping,  and  fighting  day  and 
night.     Of  the  sixteen  hundred  Dutch  and  English  but 
seven  hundred   remained.     At  last  a  swimming  mes- 
senger was  sent  out  by  the  besieged  with  despatches 
for  the  States,  to  the  purport  that  the  city  could  hold 
out  no  longer.     A  breach  in  the  wall  had  been  effected 
wide  enough  to  admit  a  hundred  men  abreast.     Sluys 
had,  in  truth,  already  fallen,  and  it  was  hopeless  any 
longer  to  conceal  the  fact.     If  not  relieved  within  a  day 
or  two,  the  garrison  would  be  obliged  to  surrender; 
but  they  distinctly  stated,  that  they  had  all  pledged 
themselves,  soldiers  and  burghers,  men,  women,  and  all, 
unless  the  most  honourable  terms  were  granted,  to  set 
fire  to  the  city  in  a  hundred  places,  and  then  sally,  in 
mass,  from  the  gates,  determined  to  fight  their   way 
through,  or  be  slain  in  the  attempt.     The  messenger 
who   carried   these  despatches  was  drowned,  but  the 
letters  were  saved,  and  fell  into  Parma's  hands.* 

At  the  same  moment,  Leicester  was  making,  at  last, 
an  effort  to  raise  the  siege.  He  brought  three  or  four 
thousand  men  from  Flushing,  and  landed  them  at 
Ostend  :  thence  he  marched  to  Blanckenburg.  He  sup- 
posed that  if  he  could  secure  that  little  port,  and  thus 
cut  the  Duke  completely  off  from  the  sea,  he  should 
force  the  Spanish  commander  to  raise  (or  at  least 
suspend)  the  siege  in  order  to  give  him  battle.  Mean- 
time, an  opportunity  would  be  afibrded  for  Maurice  and 

»  '•  Burghers    of    Flushing    proffered  fearing  to  offend  them,  gave  his  consent, 

their  services,  which  were  accepted  with  ....  Maurice  declared  the  enterprise 

thanks ;  but  that  upon  Count  Maurice  to  be  impossible  without  better  means. 

and  Admiral  Nassau  being  applied  to  for  from  which  It  appeared  plainly  that  all 

necessaries,  they  seemed  to  be  touched  had  been  devised  on  purpose  of  delay, 

very  much  in  reputation  that  a  piece  of  until  it  should  be  too  late  to  help  the 

service  so  respectable  should  have  been  town."    Willoughby,  Russell,  et  al.  to 

left  to  persons  of  base  quality  instead  of  the  Lords.    (MS.  last  cited.) 
to  themselves,  who  readily  would  adven-        '  Strada,    Bor,    Meteren,    Hoofd,    R. 

ture  their  best  means.    His  Excellency,  WlUiama,  in  Grimstone,  uW  tup.  el  aU 


1587.  THE  RELIEVING  FLEET  SAILS  AWAY.  259 

Hohenlo  to  force  an  entrance  into  the  harbour  of  Sluvs 
In  this   conjecture  he  was  quite  correct ;    but   unfor- 
tunately  he   dul   not   thoroughly   cariy   out  his    owq 
scheme    If  the  Earl  had  established  himself  at  Blancken- 
burg.  It  would  have  been  necessary  for  Parma-as  he 
himself  subsequently  declared— to  raise  the  siege  »     Lei 
cester  carried  the  outposts  of  the  place   successfully' 
but  so  soon  a^  1  arnese  was  aware  of  this  demonstration 
he  detached  a  few  companies  with  orders  to  skirmish 
with  the  enemy  until  the  commander-in-chief  with  as 
large  a  force  as  he  could  spare,  should  come  ik  person 
to  his  support.     To  the  unexpected  gratification  of  Far- 
nese,  however,  no  sooner  did  the  advancing  Spaniards 
come  m  sight,  than  the  Earl,  supposing  himself  invaded 
by  the  whole  of  the  Duke^s  army,  under  their  famous 
general,  and  not  feeling  himself  strong  enough  for  such 
an  encounter,  retired,  with  great  precipitation,  to  his 
boats,  re-embarked  his  troops  with  the  utmost  celerity 
and  set  sail  fur  Ostend."  ^' 

The  next  night  had  been  fixed  for  spending  forth  the 
fire-ships  against  the  bridge,  and  for  the  entrance  of  the 
lieet  into  the  harbour.     One  fire-ship  floated  a  little  way 
towards  the  bridge  and  exploded  ingloriously.     Leicester 
rowed  m  his  barge  about  the  fleet,  supenntendine;  the 
soundings  and  markings  of  the  channel,  and  hastening 
the  preparations ;  but,  as  the  decisive  moment  approached 
the  pilots  who  had  promised  to  conduct  the  expedition 
came  aboard  his  pinnace  and  positively  refused  to  have 
aught  to  do  with  the  enterprise,  which  they  now  declared 
an  impossibility.^     The  Earl  was  furious  with  the  pilots 
with  Maurice,  with  Hohenlo,  with  Admiral  de  Nassau' 
with  the  States,  with  all  the  worid.     He  stoi^ned  and 
raged  and  beat  his  breast,  but  all  in  vain.     His  ferocity 
would  have  been  more  useful  the  day  before,  in  face  of 
the  Spaniards,  than  now,  against  the  Zeeland  mariners 
^ut  the  invasion  by  the  fleet  alone,  unsupported  ]>y  a 
successtul  land  operation,  was  pronounced  impracticable 
and  very  soon  the  relieving  fleet  was  seen  by  the  dis- 
tressed garrison  sailing  away  from  the  neighbourhood 
and  It  soon  disappeared  beneath  the  horizon.     Their  fate 

'  Strada,  ii.  508,  5(»e,  sea.  ,  ,  ,  »_  .  , 

J  Strada,  Bor,  Meteren.  Hoofd.  Haraeus,  ^'^^^^  *<^  Walsingham.  f^''^\  iggj. 

Bentivoglio,  u6i«ui>.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  '^' 

S    2 


260 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


was  sealed.  They  entered  into  treaty  with  Parma,  who, 
secretly  instructed,  as  has  been  seen,  of  their  desperate 
intentions,  in  case  any  but  the  most  honourable  con- 
ditions were  offered,  granted  those  conditions.  The 
garrison  were  allowed  to  go  out  with  colours  displayed, 
lighted  matches,  bullet  in  mouth,  and  with  bag  and 
baggage.  Such  of  the  burghers  as  chose  to  conform  to 
the  government  of  Spain  and  the  church  of  Kome,  were 
permitted  to  remain.  Those  who  preferred  to  depart 
were  allowed  reasonable  time  to  make  their  necessary 
arr.angements."  ^ 

*'  We  have  hurt  and  slain  very  near  eight  himdred," 
said  Sir  Koger  Williams.  "We  had  not  powder  to 
fight  two  hours.  There  was  a  breach  of  almost  four 
hundred  paces,  another  of  three  score,  another  of  fifty, 
ealtable  for  horse  and  men.  Wo  had  lain  continually 
eighteen  nights  all  on  the  breaches.  He  gave  us  honour- 
able composition.  Had  tlie  state  of  England  lain  on  it, 
our  lives  could  not  defend  the  place  three  hours,  for 
half  the  rampires  were  his,  neither  had  we  any  pioneers 
but  ourselves.  We  were  sold  by  their  negligence  who 
are  now  angry  with  us."  * 

On  the  5th  August  Parma  entered  the  city.     Eoger 
Williams— with  his  gilt  morion  rather  battered,  and  his 
great  plume  of  feathers  much  bedraggled — was  a  witness 
to  the  victor's  entrance.     Alexander  saluted  respectfully 
an  officer  so  well  known  to  him  by  reputation,  and  with 
some  complimentary  remarks  urged  him  to  enter  the 
Spanish  service,  and  to  take  the  field  against  the  Turks.^ 
*'  My  sword,"  replied  the  doughty  Welshman,  "  be- 
longs to  hef  royal  Majesty,  Queen  Elizabeth,  above  and 
before  all  the  world.  '  A\  hen  her  Highness  has  no  farther 
use  for  it,  it  is  at  the  service  of  the  King  of  Navarre."  * 
Considering  himself  sufficiently  answered,  the  Duke 
then  requested  Sir  Eoger  to  point  out  Captain  Basker- 


J  Brief  Report,  &c.  MS.  alretuJy  cited. 
Lloyd  to  WalsinRlmm.  MS.  already 
cited.  Lelcest«r  to  >anie,  12  Aug.  1587. 
Willoughby  and  utiitrs  to  the  Lords,  12 
Aug.  1687.  Lekfstir  to  same,  12  Aug. 
1587.  Same  to  Burfthloy.  27  July,  16S7. 
Same  to  uaino,  13  July,  1587.  Siime  to 
the  Ijords,  27  July,  lii!*".  S;ime  to  same, 
17  Aug.  I5»7.  F.  Ncetlliam  to  W'alslng- 
ham,  12  Aug.  1587.     (S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 


Compare  Bor,  Meteren,  Hoofd,  Haraeus, 
Ik'ntivoglio,  Strada,  R.  Williams,  mW  sup. 
Wagenaar,  vlii.  225-227.  Baudart.  Pole- 
mog.,  li.  96,  et  mult.  cd. 

«  W^illiams  to  Leicester,  5  Aug.  1587. 
(Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  I).  I. p.  214,  MS) 

3  Needham  to  Walsingham,  12  Aug. 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  Ibid. 


158; 


THE  TOWN  CAPITULATES,  AND  fARMA  ENTERS.   261 
tw  „ffi  I         "  Welshman  himself— and  embraced 

"'TLt::;v:^n7SYn  %iz  y™-""'^ 

this  Englishman,"  S Ve^Twho  wKew  tZ 
to  appreciate  high  military  qualities  ^^h^Cr  in  W 
army  or  in  that  of  his  foes  -  '"'^etlier  m  his  o«t^ 

The  garrison  then  retired,  Sluys  became  Spanish  and 
f  on'e^  w"lV°"^  ''''  9"^^«  "^«  requesid  t;  cf  ri«h  tt 

against^W^/""°-'  ^^  j?^ec«ves  against  Hohenio, 
thflos^  of  StT'°1-*'  ^^*^''  unifonnly  ascribing 
Tnhn  V  -J  ^  negligence  and  faction.  As  for  Sir 
John  Morris,  he  protested  that  his  misdeeds  in  re^rd  to 


^  R.  Williams,  in  Grimstone,  Ixiii.  962. 
"I  pray  you  be  gooii  to  this  bearer 
Sir  Roger  Williams,  for   he   is    to    b^ 
cherished.    Her  M^esty   I   trust   will 
help  him ;  and  if  these  wars  continue 
return  him  with  speed,  but  set  him  well 
on  horseback,  for  he  Is  not  worth   the 
saddle  of  a  horse."    I^icester  to  AVal- 
singhani,    12  Aug.   I5b7.     (S.  P.  Office 
■Mb).    Yet  according  to  the   report   of 
Captain  Needham.  even  Williams  had  at 
ast  become    an    ebject    of  the  Earl's 
jealousy  and  suspicion,  on  account  of  the 
natu-ring  offers  made  to  him  by  Farnese. 
1  be  Duke  of  Parma  had  essayed."  says 
^oedl^am.  «  by  all  possible  means  to  g>ain 
Sir  Roger  Williams,  but  could  not  pre- 
vail  although  he  thought  the  hard  us.,ge 
he  had  received  from    the  E^irl  of  Lei- 
cester  would  be  an  occasion  to  make  him 
leave  his  party.  Themistocles  (Ix>icester) 
had  hereupon  conceived  great  jealousy, 
and  hath  not  spared  to  give  warning  to 
^'r  W.  Russell  to  beware  of  Williams  as 
Of  one  who  would  be  his  undoing,  and  as 
It  seems  reported  as  much  to  the  Lord 
■North  and  Sir  W.  Pelham.    ...    The 
gentleman  (Williams)  was  wonderfully 
perplexed  that  for  his  faithful  service  he 


should  reap  his  utter  undoing,  and  to  be 
accounted  a  traitor  to  his  prince.  He 
wished  he  were  at  home,  upon  condition 
he  should  never  bear  arms  here,  for  he 
knew  the  nature  of  Themistocles.  as  he 
would  leave  no  means  unsought  to  over- 
throw his  credit,"  &c.  The  conversation 
of  the  Duke  with  the  Welshman  has  been 
reported  in  the  text. 

"  The  I>:arl  of  Essex  promises   me  " 
wrote  Williams  subsequently,  "  that  her 
Majesty  will  do  something  for  me     For 
my  part  I  do  hardly  believe  it,  for  I  can 
get  no  countenance  from  her  Highness 
1  humbly  desire  your  Excellency  to  T^Tite 
this  for  me,  either  to  give  me  something 
or   discharge    me  away    with   nothing. 
....  I  fear  things  will  not  fall  out 
here  as  well  as  you  would  wish.    Were 
your  Excellency  here,  her  Majesty  would 
do  more.    The  more  the  merrier.    With- 
out your  presence  your  friends  dare  not 
speak  what  they  would,  for  the  simplest 
that  speaks  of  the  peace  is  better  here 
than  the  wisest  that  contraries  it.    I  fear 
me  It  is  passed  so  far  that  the  King  of 
Navarre  is  like  to  smart  for  it,"  &c.    R 
AVilliams    to   Leicester,   i    Sept    1587* 
(Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  IL  p.  4,  MS  )      *  ' 


262  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XVI. 

this  business  would,  in  King  Henry  YIH.'s  time,  have 

**  cost  him  his  pate."  ^       ,    ,      .     •  ^  «„;«  fr^rpshidowed 
The  loss  of  Sluys  y^  the  begjnmng^^^^^^^^^^ 

the  inevitable  end  of  Leicester  s  ^eco^u  "" 
The  inaction  of  the  States  wa«  one  of  tj^o  causes  of  m 
loss  Distrust  of  Leicester  was  the  cause  of  the  "lact  on. 
§T' William  Kussell,  Lord  WiUoughby  S'^ JVilliam 
Pelham.  and  other  English  officers,  ^-^^t^d  in  sU^ements 
exonerating  the  Earl  from  all  blame  for  the  great  to.lure 

t^Z^:^^^^^  tTBia^eSu^r^ 

"en^orrcoit^mtl^^^^  H 


1  Leicester  to  Walsingham.  12  Aug. 
1687.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  As  for  this  matter  of  Slnys,'   said 
the  Earl,  ••  I  may  stand  before  the  tri- 
bunal seat  of  God  for  any  fault  in  me.  '1  he 
greatest  is  that  I  did  trust  Count  Maurice 
too  much,  but  either  I  must  have  trusted 
him  or  not  have  had  any  means  at  all  for 
shipping.    As  it  is  well  known  l)e8ide, 
he  offered  his  service  most  frankly  and 
Villingly,  and  did  take  upon  him  and  his 
bautard  brother  to  attempt  the  bridge  by 
such  men  as  they  had  chosen,  to  whom  I 
gave  301.  beforehand."     And  in  the  same 
▼ein  he  says  to  Burghley,  "  i  am  grieved 
to  think,  much  more  to  speak,  of  the  loss 
of  Sluys.  God  knoweth  we  have  done  for 
our  parts  as  much  as  If  a  kingdom  had  stood 
upon  it.     But  these  men  have  strange 
designs  in  their  heads,  which  will  in  the 

end  breed  their  own  ruin Tl>e 

dregs  of  their  dealing  will,  I  fear,  remain 
a  good  while,  for  the  practice  and  fashion 

continue 1  must  beg  you  to  bear 

with  me,  for  I  scarce  know  what  I  write, 
what  with  grief  for  the  loss  of  this  town, 
ffud  with  anger  for  the  vile  lewd  dealing 
of  these  men  that  have  so  naughtily 
carried  themselves  in  this  matter  for 


Sluys.   Fi rst.  bv  lotting  me  have  no  men 
of  theirs,  when  I  had  but  a  few  men 
fumisluMl;  then,  their  long  deferring  our 
men  to  be  turnished ;  after,  their  lack  of 
provisions    of   all   sorts ;  lastly,  vessels 
and  Urk.s  to  land  our  men.    And  these 
With  such  like  hath  brought  this  poor 
town  to  be  lost."  ....  He  then  makes 
an  insinuation  against  the  brave  and  true- 
hearte^i  Welshman,  who  had  been  fight- 
ing night  and  day.  from  the  begliming  of 
the  siege  to  the  end.    "And  yet  lean- 
not,  for  many  respecta,  how  well  soever 
I  think  of  Sir  Roger  Williams'  valour  and 
the  other   captolns,  give  them  counte- 
nance w  access  to  me,  before  they  do  give 
some  good  reasm  for  the  delivery  of  the 
town  without  sending  to  me  first."    Lei- 
cester to  Burghley,  ^-j^'    (S-  T-  Office 

MS.)  , ,     , 

«  "  Your  honour  may  see."  said  Lloyd. 
'•  how  Cotmt  Ilohenlo's  proceedings,  an-l 
States'  practices,  and  this  late  action,  il" 
concur  as  matters  that  have  been  ham- 
mered on  one  anvil  and  issued  from  one 

forge."  Ri  Lloyd  to  WaUUifiham,  —|j  ■ 

1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1587.     QUEEN  ANGRY  WITH  THE  ANTI-LEICESTRIANS.      263 

the  fall  of  the  city.  She  severely  denounced  the  Xether- 
landers,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  express  dissatis- 
foction  with  the  great  Leicester  himself.*  Meantime 
Farnese  was  well  satisfied  with  his  trinmph,  for  he  had 
heen  informed  that  -all  England  was  about  to  charge 
upon  him,  m  order  to  relieve  the  place,*  All  England 
however,  had  been  but  feebly  represented  by  three 
thousand  raw  recruits,  with  a  paltry  sum  of  15,000/.  to 
help  pay  a  long  bill  of  arrears. 

Wilkes  and  Norris  had  taken  their  departure  from  the 
Netherlands  before  the  termination  of  the  siege    and 
immediately  after  the  return  of  Leicester.     TheV  did 
not  think  It  expedient  to  wait  upon  the  governor  before 
leaving  the  countiy,3  for  they  had  very  good  reason  to 
believe  that  such  an  opportunity  of  personal  vengeance 
would  be  turned  to  account  by  the  Earl.     Wilkes  had 
already  avowed  his  intention  of  making  his  escape  with- 
out being  dandled  with  leave-takings,  and  no  doubt  he 
was  right.  ^  The  Earl  was  indignant  when  he  found  that 
they  had  given  him  the  slip,  and  denounced  them  with 
freshacrimony  to  the  Queen,  imploring  her  to  wreak  full 
measure  of  wrath  upon  their  heads  ;  *  and  he  well  knew 
that  his  intreaties  would  meet  with  the  royal  attention. 

Buckhurst  had  a  parting  interview  ^vith  the  governor- 
general  at  which  Killigrew  and  Beale,  the  new  Eno-lish 
counsellors  who  had  replaced  Wilkes  and  Clerk,  were 
present,  llie  conversation  was  marked  by  insolence 
on  the  part  of  Leicester,  and  by  much  bitterness  on  that 
of  Buckhurst  The  parting  envoy  refused  to  lay  before 
the  Earl  a  ful  statement  of  the  grievances  between  the 
fetates- General  and  the  governor,  on  the  ground  that 
Leicester  had  no  right  to  be  judge  in  his  own  cause. 


1  Essex  to  I^lcester.    ^}J^    1537. 

10  Aug- 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Walsingham  to  same. 
2  Aug.  1587.  (Brit.  Mus.  Galba.  I).  I. 
p.  234,  MS.)  «  The  ill  success  of  Sluys 
causeth  her  to  pick  some  quarrel  towards 
your  Ldship  in  that  action,  as  by  her 
letters  you  may  perceive." 

«  •'Corria  la  voz  que  cargava  toda 
Inglaterra. '  Parma  to  Philip.  6  Aug. 
15»<7.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 

'  Wilkes  to  the  Ix)rds  20th  July,  1587 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.),  explaining— what  had 
been  sufficiently  explained  before -why 


he  left  the  Netheriands  without  greeting 
Leicester,  "  for  that  he  was  too  terrified 
to  come  into  his  presence,  knowing  his 
animosity."  He  expresses  the  hope 
that  "her  Majesty,  being  the  image  of 
God  on  earth,  will  be  like  to  Him  in 
mercy,  and  not  suffer  more  to  be  laid 
uix)n  him  than  flesh  and  blood  can 
bear." 

*  Leicester  to  Walsingham,  4  July, 
1587.  Same  to  Queen,  7  July,  1587.  Same 
to  Burghley.  13  July,  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
MSS.) 


iti 


264 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


The  matter,  he  said,  should  be  laid  before  the  Queen  in 
council,  and  by  her  august  decision  he  was  willing  to 
abide.  On  ever}'  other  subject  he  was  ready  to  give 
any  information  in  his  power.  The  interview  lasted  a 
whole  forenoon  and  afternoon.  Buckhnrst,  according 
to  his  own  statement,  answered  freely  all  questions  put 
to  him  by  Leicester  and  his  counsellors ;  while,  if  the 
report  of  those  personages  is  to  be  trusted,  he  passion- 
ately refused  to  make  any  satisfactory  communication. 
Under  the  circumstances,  however,  it  may  well  be 
believed  that  no  satisfactory  commimication  was 
possible.^ 

On  arriving  in  England,  Sir  John  Norris  was  for- 
bidden to  come  into  her  Majesty's  presence,  Wilkes  was 
thrown  into  the  Fleet  Trison,  and  Buckhnrst  was  con- 
fined in  his  own  country-house.* 

Norris  had  done  absolutely  nothing,  which,  even  by 
implication,  could  be  construed  into  a  dereliction  of 
duty ;  but  it  was  sufficient  that  he  was  hated  by  Leices- 
ter, who  had  not  scrupled,  over  and  over  again,  to 
denounce  this  first  general  of  England  as  a  fool,  a  coward, 
a  knave,  and  a  liar. 

As  for  Wilkes,  his  only  crime  was  a  most  consci- 
entious discharge  of  his  duty,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  had  found  cause  to  modify  his  abstract  opinions  in 
regard  to  the  origin  of  sovereignty,  and  had  come  re- 
luctantly to  the  conviction  that  Leicester's  unpopularity 
had  made  perhaps  another  governor-general  desirable. 
But  this  admission  had  only  been  made  privately  and 
with  extreme  caution  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had 
constantly  defended  the  absent  Earl,  with  all  the  elo- 
quence at  his  command.  But  the  hatred  of  Leicester 
was  sufficient  to  consign  this  able  and  painstaking 
public  servant  to  a  prison  ;  and  thus  was  a  man  of  worth, 
honour,  and  talent,  who  had  been  placed  in  a  position 
of  grave  responsibility  and  immense  fiUigue,  and  who 
had  done  his  duty  like  an  upright,  straightforward 
Englishman,   sacrificed  to   the    wrath  of    a  favourite. 

1  Killigrew  and  Beale  to  Wnlslngham,  «  Buckhuret  to  Walsingham.  24  July, 

13th  July.  1587.   Buckhurat  to  Burgbley.  1587.    Same  to  Burghley.  24  July,  15M7. 

22  July,  1587.    A  true  Declaration  of  the  Same  to  same,  28  July,  1587.    Walsing- 

Proceedings  of  Lord  Buckhurst  and  Dr.  ham  to  Leicester,  29  July,  1587.    (S.  P. 

Clerke,   24    July,    1687.     (S.  P.  Office  Office  MSS.) 
MSS.) 


1587.     XORRIS.  WILKES.  AND  BlTCICHtTRST  PUXKHED.      265 

As  for  Buckhurst  himsplf    ;+  ;«  , 

word  in  his  defence.     The  stoi^  of  W«"'''' •'''\*°  l*^  * 

xiitj  sTory  ot  ills  mission  has  been 


1  Leicester  to  Walsingham,  4  Aue 

'r'\f'  ^'  ^'"^^  ^^'^    i^"<^khurst  w^' 
of  a  different  opinion. 

"  Mr.  Wilkes,  having  had  so  long  expe- 
nence  in  these  parts,"  he  wrote,  "and 
being  so  careful  and  diligent  for  the  good 
preservation    and    furtherance    of    tlie 
cause,  whereof   in   the  late  dangerous 
times  and  troubles  here  he  made  right 
good  testimony,  is  able   therein  1o  do 
your  M^esty  most  especial  and  notable 
service,  being  also    otherwise  so  suffi- 
ciently  practised  in  the  estate  of  other 
countries  and  so  well  trained  in  your 
affairs   at   home,  with    such    excellent 
gifts  of  utterance,  memary.  uH,  courage 
and  knowledge,  and  mth  $o  faithful  and 
careful  a  heart  to  serve  your  Majesty, 
as  It  uere  a  woful  coK  if  such  a  worthy 
servant  should  for  any  respect  be  dis- 
comforted  and  disgraced  by  your  Mi^esty's 
.lispleasure."    Buckhurst  to  the  Queen 
28  June,  1687.    (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  C  xi' 
p.  61,  MS.) 

Yet  such  a  euiogy  from  so  illustrious 
a  man,  and  fully  borne  out  by  the  deeds 
and  words  of  Wilkes  himself,  could  not 
save  the  councillor  from  the  gaol  He 
had  loved  Sir  John  Norris.  which  was 
enough  to  secure  him  the  hatred  of 
i^icester,  and  consequently  the  unmiti- 
gated wrath  of  the  Queen. 

But  these  pages  have  already  illus- 
trated the  copiousness  of  the  great  P:arrs 
vocaculary  in  vituperation.    Mr.  P.  B 
Sir  John  Norris,  Hollock,  Wilkes,  Buck- 
hurst himself,  the   States-General,  the 
btates-Provlncial,  and,  in  brief,  any  one 
who  crossed  his  schemes,  were  sure  to 
draw  down  the  fiiU  tempest  of  wrath. 
He  was  now  very  angry  with  those  who 
surrounded  young   Maurice,   especially 
with  the  minister  Villiers,  whom  he  pro- 
nounced to  be  « a  condemned  man.  not 
only  among  all  honest  and  godly  men 
but  also  with  all  the  churches  through 
all  the  Provinces."     Sainte  Aldegonde. 
too.  whom  before  and  after  this  point  of 
time,  he  seemed  to  appreciate  and  ap- 


plaud, was  now  held  up  as  an  object  of 
suspu  ion.    ..  I  have  found  cause  of^te '' 
he«ays.  "to  fear  Sainte  Aldegonde  to 
be  an  unsound  and  hollow  man     There 
are  great  presumptions  that  he  is  dealine 
ta    secret  with   Parma.     He   is   lately 
married.    All  men  condemn  him  for  it 
ai^hls  best  friends  did  greatly  dissuade 
him  from  it.  but  it  would  not  be.    And 
now  Is  he  to  return  again  for  two  or 
three  months,  being  known  to  be  greatly 
favoured  on  the  other  side,  and  can  enjoy 
no  penny  but  by  that  favour.    I  see  he 
takes  no  course  to  please  the  church.  The 
young  Count  is  directed  by  both  him  and 
Villiers,  albeit  the  one.  Sainte  Aldegonde 
doth    make    less  show  than   the  other! 
Oh  God,  what  a  world  it  Is!    Both  these 
hot  men  heretofore  are  become  less  than 
lukewarm  now.   and   wholly   given    to 
policy."    Leicester  to  Walsingham.  MS 
above  £l  ted. 

Yet  Wore  the  end  of  the  year  Sainte 
Aldegonde  was  violently  abused  by  others 
for  opposite  tendencies.    "  The  Count  of 
Hollock  being  dnmk  the  other  day,"  says 
Sir  Robert  Sidney,  "took  a  quarrel  to 
Monsieur  de  Sainte  Aldegonde,  saying  he 
was  wont  to  be  a  lover  of  the  house  of 
Nassau,  but  now  he  was  grown  altogether 
a   Lelce.-trian,    the    which  he  repeated 
sundry  times  upon  him  before  the  Count 
Maurice  and  many  other  gentlemen.    In 
truth.   I    think  Sainte  Aldegonde  very 
well    affected    unto    your    Excellency. 
Surely  he  mislikes  the  proceedings  here 
and  meddles  nothing  with  them."  Sidney 
to  Lei(^8ter,  31  Dec.  1687.    (Brit.  Mus. 
Galba,  D.  II.  p.  288.) 

Nothing  could  be  more  unscrupulous 
than  the  denunciations  of  Leicester 
whenever  he  was  offended.  They  would 
seem  almost  risible,  were  it  not  that  the 
capricious  wrath  of  the  all-powerful 
favourite  was  often  sufficient  to  blast 
the  character,  the  career,  the  hopes, 
and  even  take  away  the  lives,  of  honest 
men. 


266 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


completely  detailed  from  the  most  authentic  and  secret 
documents,  and  there  is  not  a  single  line  written  to  the 
Queen,  to  her  ministers,  to  the  States,  to  any  public 
body  or  to  any  private  friend,  in  England  or  elsewhere, 
that  does  not  reflect  honour  on  his  name.     With  sagacity, 
without  passion,  with  unaffected  sincerity,  he  had  un- 
ravelled the  complicated  web  of  Netherland  politics, 
and,  with  clear  vision,  had  penetrated  the  desips  of 
the  mighty  enemy  whom  England  and  Holland  had  to 
encounter  in  mortal  combat.     He  had  pointed  out  the 
enors  of  the  Earl's  administration— he  had  feailessly, 
earnestly,  but  respectfully  deplored  the  misplaced  par- 
simony of  the  Queen— he  had  warned  her  against  the 
delusions  which  had  taken  possession  of  her  keen  intel- 
lect—he had  done  his  best  to  place  the  governor-general 
upon  good  terms  with  the  States  and  with  his  sovereign ; 
but  it  had  been  impossible  for  him  to  further  his  schemes 
for  the  acquisition  of  a  virtual  sovereignty  over  the 
Netherlands,   or  to   extinguish  the   suspicions   of  the 
States  that    the  Queen  was  secretly  negotiating  with 
the  Spaniard,  when  he  knew  those  suspicions  to  be  just. 
For  deeds  such  as  these,  the  able  and  high-minded 
ambassador,  the  accomplished  statesman  and  poet,  was 
forbidden  to  approach  his  sovereign's  presence,  and  was 
itrnominiously  imprisoned  in  his  own  house  until  the 
death  of  Leicester.  After  that  event,  Buckhurst  emerged 
from  confinement,    received  the    Order  of  the  Garter 
and  the  Earldom  of  Dorset,  and  on  the  death  of  Burgh- 
ley   succeeded  that  statesman  in  the   offioe  of  Lord- 
Treasurer.     Such  was  the  substantial  recognition  of  the 
merits  of  a  man  who  was  now  disgraced  for  the  con- 
scientious discharge  of  the   most  important  functions 
that  had  yet  been  confided  to  him. 

It  would  be  a  thankless  and  superfluous  task  to  give 
the  details  of  the  renewed  attempt,  during  a  few  months 
made  by  Leicester  to  govern  the  Provinces.  His  second 
administration  consisted  mainly  of  the  same  altercations 
with  the  States,  on  the  subject  of  sovereignty,  the  sanif 
mutual  recriminations  and  wranglings,  that  had  charac- 
terized the  period  of  his  former  rule.  He  rarely  met 
the  States  in  person,  and  almost  never  resided  at  the 
Hague,  holding  his  court  at  Middelburg,  Dort,  ov 
Utrecht,  as  his  humour  led  him. 


1587. 


DRAKE  SAILS  FOR  SPAIN. 


267 


The  one  great  feature  of  the  autumn  of  1587  was  the 
C  ^'^"*^^*^^^  ^^t---^  Elizabeth  and  the  Duke  of 
Before  taking  a  glance  at  the  nature  of  those  secrets 

e\TnrwU\"Srh^*^  "^'^  5  r^-^  alhrnTotn 
event  wnich  m  ght  have  seemed  likely  to  render  «11 

For  while  so  much  time  had  been  lost  in  England  and 
Holland  by  misunderstandings  and  jealousies.fhTre  wa^ 
^e  Englishman  who  had  not  been  losing  time  InZ 
^nter  and  early  spring  of  1587,  the  Devonshire  skipper 
had  organized  that  expedition  which  he  had  come  to 

mtn'to  S':  n '  p'Ti'^s  ^"^"-"-^  *«  discur  h: 

^K^^V,.-?      **  ^^""^  ^*  ^^^  ^eiy  heart  of  that  proiect 
wS  J^wlZr  ''^'■°'"^'"^  ""^  «°  """^h  myste^  ind 

mo*Jth*^tjf?'^  ^^'^^'  ^T"''  ^'^^"^  ^"ed  from  Ply. 
tZntv  four  fil'-tP/M?S^°Sto  the  Queen,  and  wi4 
oaer^nHvJt^  ™'r'^-^  ^^  the  merchants  of  London  and 
SediC  nn"^-''-'^"*\-  ^t  ^"^  *  ^°^^  buccaneering 
chance  r7r^""°S  chivalrous  enterprise  with  thi 
caance  of  enormous  profit— which  was  most  suited  to 

ltV''-f  English  adventurers  aT  tCex'^'ding 
tte  Quarr!?  w-.t7?  ^^  ^"S^""'''  »°*  ^y  Elizabeth,  that 
^LVZ     r*  .^P*"*  ^"^  '■^It  to  be  a  mortal  one.     It 

r™iS^it°fil"°*-?  T''''^'  ^^'  ^'^  instinctively 
arming,  at  all  points,  to  grapple  with  the  great  enemy 

self  rXC?    '^'^     ^*  ^""«  '^^  «P'rit  of  self.help,Tf 

to  take  th«'cf^  T  P/TP""g  *'"'  English  nation 
to  take  the  great  work  of  the  age  into  its  own  hands 

lie  mercantile  instinct  of  the  nation  was  flattred  wS 

the  <,L\  pP  tf"  ^'""•^  "^^  •'''S®'-  to  confront  danger 
ttnln  comwf  "*  "^f^^^  against  a  decrepid  supeStil 
nelled  tTr^  t  ""  "^  •*  ^"^  aggressive  tyranny,  all  im- 
pelled the  best  energies  of  the  English  people  asrainst 
Spain,  as  the  embodiment  of  all  which  was  odiouTa^d 

Tnd  S  ':.  *'^''?'  "°^r"^  "'^'^'^  t^«y  felt  tCt  th^  S 
A  r^T^  «t™ggle  could  not  long  be  deferred. 
And  of  these  various  tendencies,  there  were  no  moro 

fitting  representatives  than  Drake 'and  Frobrhe^^K 


268 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


1587. 


H! 


kins  and  Essex,  Cavendish  and  Grenfell,  and  the  other 
privateersmen  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  same  greed 
for  danger,  for  gold,  and  for  power,  which,  seven  cen- 
turies before,  had  sent  the  Norman  race  forth  to  conquer 
all  Christendom,  was  now  sending  its  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Anglo-Norman  kindred  to  take  possession  of  the  old 

world  and  the  new.  .     -r.    i  4.1, 

"  The  wind  commands  me  away,'*  said  Drake  on  the 
2nd  April,  1587  ;  "  our  ship  is  under  sail.  God  grant 
that  we  may  so  live  in  his  fear,  that  the  enemy  may 
have  cause  to  say  that  God  doth  fight  for  her  Majesty 
abroad  as  well  as  at  home."  *  .      .    1  •  j 

But  he  felt  that  he  was  not  without  enemies  behind 
him,  for  the  strong  influence  brought  to  bear  against 
the  bold  policy  which  Walsingham  favoured,  was  no 
secret  to  Drake.     "  K  we  deserve  iU,"  said  he,  *'  let  us 
be  punished.     If  we  discharge  our  duty,  in  doing  our 
best,  it  is  a  hard  measure  to  be  reported  ill  by  those 
who  will  either  keep  their  fingers  out  of  the  fire,  or  who 
too  well  affect  that  alteration  in  our  government  which 
I  hope  in  God  they  shall  never  live  to  see."*     In  lati- 
tude 40°  he  spoke  two  Zeeland  ships,  homeward  bound, 
and  obtained  information  of  great  warlike  stores  accu- 
mulating in  Cadiz  and  Lisbon.    His  mind  was  instantly 
made  up.     Fortunately,  the  pinnace  which  the  Queen 
despatched  with  orders  to  stay  his  hand  *  in  the  very 
act  of  smiting  her  great  adversary,  did  not  sail  fast 
enough  to  overtake  the  swift  corsair  and  his  fleet,     bir 
Francis  had  too  promptly  obeyed  the  wind,  when   it 
"commanded  him  away,"  to  receive  the  royal  counter- 
mand.    On  the  19th  April,  the  English  ships  entered 
the  harbour  of  Cadiz,  and  destroyed  ten  thousand  tons 
of  shipping,  with  their  contents,  in  the  very  face  of  a 
dozen  great  galleys,  which  the  nimble  English  vessels 
soon  drove  under  their  forts  for  shelter.     Two  nights 
and  a  day.  Sir  Francis,  that  **  hater  of  idleness,"  was 
steadily  doing  his  work ;  unloadmg,  rifling,  scuttling, 
sinking,  and  burning  those  transport-ships  which  con- 
tained a  portion  of  the  preparations  painfully  made  by 

»  Drake  to  Walsingham  fn  Barrow's  1587.     Same  to  same,  11  April.  1587. 

'Life  of  Drake'  (Murray,  1843),  p.  223.  (BriU  Mus.  Galba,   C.   xL  p.   327-344. 

t  n,id.  MSS.) 
»  Wdlsint^uon  to  Leicester,  17  April. 


HIS  EXPLOITS  AT  CADIZ  AND  LISBON. 


269 


figs,  misins,  biscS  a^d  STm,-r*^r'''  ^'"''  °"' 
ingredients  long  brew.W  W  V),  "^'^""H^^^ous  mass  of 
were  emptied  into  Z.  £  Z  **  *?^^^^  °^  England, 
night,  the^  blal  of  a  J:„dSrnd'fift  t°''  >'"^  «"  *'°''<i 
played  merrily  upon  the  «-imwi^f  ^1^™'"^  vessels 
Some  of  these  shLswere^ftw,?      l^^'^t  fortresses. 

There  was  one  belZfnf  tt  fc Quif  s' *^"n  """"• 
1500  tons,  there  wa«  »  «•        ^*'^1'"s  Santa  Cruz  of 

seveml  othe^'of  Two    SoTS  1  ''"','  '^''''  ^'^^ 
mansions.  '   ^""'  ^^  "^  '•^arly  equal  di- 

Thence  sailina:  for  Lklmti    q;-  t?_     • 
destroyed  a  hundred  vessdsiZ"'  ''■^^"'^  t"<^ 
^vas  portable  of  the  caries    and  « .^J?  I'T-'''*"'?  ^^""^ 
At  Lisbon,  Marquis  ZSTbZ^,  Cd  wftmLrf 
bpam  and   £renerali>!R;nir.  ^f  *i,     ■         .  »     aannrai  of 

mortified  an^  amtSl  b'.^^ff  '  '°^^''"''  ^""^^^  °'' 
the  Plymouth  SeiVfZfth:  Z^^!'  ""^I" 
great  monarch  of  the  world     Aftlr  it         m  "^  °^  *^^ 

II «,  ^n.&rtv^oEETn  'ts'-  Iff- 

fell  in  with  nn^  r.f +l^      ^     ^^.a^ues.  iiom  fet.  Michaels, 
Mould  be  forty  thousand  men  ,mder  way  ore  Ion/'  T 

*  Barrow,  232,  233.  " 


J 


\ 


I.'  , 


■ar*- 


270 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVI. 


K! 


:1. 


^ 


^ 


not  he  too  energetic  in  its  measures  of  resistance.     He 
had  done  something  with  his  little  fleet,  but  he  was  no 
braggart,    and  had    no    disposition    to   underrate   the 
enemy's  power.     "  God  make  us  all  thankful  agam  and 
aeain,"  he  observed,  that  we  have,  although  it  be  little, 
2juie  a  beginning  upon  the  coast  of  Spaing  '     And  modestly 
BS  he  spoke  of  what  he  had  accomplished,  so  with  quiet 
self-reliance  did  he  allude  to  the  probable  consequences. 
It  was  certain,  he  intimated,  that  the  enemy  would  soon 
seek  revenge  with  all  his  strength    and  "with  all  the 
devices  and  traps  he  could  devise."     This  was  a  matter 
which  could  not  be  doubted.     "  But,"  said  Sir  Francis 
«*  I  thank  them  much  that  they  have  staid  so  long,  and 
when  they  come  they  shall  be  but  tJie  sons  of  mortal  men. 

Perhaps  the  most  precious  result  of  the  expedition 
was  the  lesson  which  the  Englishmen  had  thus  learned 
in  handling  the  great  galleys  of  Spain.  It  ^iigbt  soon 
stand  them  in  stead.  ITie  little  war-vessels  which  had 
come  from  Plymouth,  had  sailed  round  and  round  these 
vast  unwieldy  hulks,  and  had  fairly  driven  them  off 
the  field,  with  very  slight  damage  to  themselves,  bir 
Francis  had  already  taught  the  mariners  of  England, 
even  if  he  had  done  nothing  else  by  this  famous  Cadiz 
expedition,  that  an  armada  of  Spain  might  not  be  so 
invincible  as  men  imagined. 

Yet  when  the  conqueror  returned  from  his  great  toray, 
he  received  no  kurels.  His  sovereign  met  him,  not 
with  smiles,  but  with  frowns  and  cold  rebukes.  He  had 
done  his  duty,  and  helped  to  save  her  endangered 
throne,  but  Elizabeth  was  now  the  dear  friend  ot  Alex- 
ander Famese,  and  in  amicable  correspondence  with  his 
royal  master.  This  -little"  beginning  on  the  coast  of 
Spain  might  not  seem  to  his  Catholic  Majesty  a  matter 
to  be  thankful  for,  nor  be  likely  to  further  a  pacifica- 
tion, and  so  Elizabeth  hastened  to  disavow  her  1  lymouth 
captain.* 


I  Barrow,  233. 

»  IbW.  Compare  Camden,  iil.  396. 
Meteren.  xiv.  253, 254.  Bor,  II.  xxl.  753- 
768.  xxii.  9S1,  xxill.  77. 

»  *•  True  it  la,  and  I  avow  It  on  my 


which  messenger  by  contrary  winds  could 
never  come  to  the  place  where  he  was, 
but  was  constrained  to  come  home,  and 
hearivg  of  Sir  F.  Drake's  actions,  her 
M^esty   commanded    the    party    that 


pSy^t^l^  wtnt  "c^iix  wlu,  .  he  «:nu..«d  him«lf  by  the  cOis  of 
SZVby  letters  charging  Sir  Francis  himseVf  .n1  .11  "»  ~7'"£-  ^"^  " 
Uiake^  to  rtew  any  <M  <if  ImtUitv.    mmttmg  ya.  unvMxng  to  her  Mojal) 


1587. 


HE  IS  REBUKED  BY  ELFZABETH. 


those  actions  were  committed  by  Sir  F 
Drake,  for  the  which  hor  Majesty  is  as 
yetgi-eatly  offended  with  him.''    Burgh- 
ley  to  Andreas  de  Loo,  is  July,  1587 
'  Flanders  Correspondence.'    (S.  P.' Office* 

"There   are   letters    written    to   Sir 
Francis  Drake."  said  Walslngham,  "  sent 
unto  him    by  a    pinnance  sent   forth 
especially  for  that  purpose,  to  command 
him  not  to  attempt  anything  by  land 
nor  to  enter  into  the  ports  to  distress  the 
ships.    This  resolution  proceedeth  alto- 
getber  upon  a  hope  of  peace  which  I  fear 
w,l    draw  a   dangerous  war  upon  her 
:M'\jesty.  by  the  alienation  of  the  hearts 
of  the  well-affected  people  in  the  Low 
Countries."     Walslngham  to  Leicester 
11  April  1587.    (Brit.  Mu8.Galba  Cxi' 
p.  344.  MS.)  '      ^'* 

And  again,  a  week  later-"  As  for 
Span./'  says  the  Secretarjr,  ••  they  are  so 
far  off  from  any  intention  to  assail 
tngland.  as  they  stand  now  upon  their 
own  guard  for  fear  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
There  are  letters  written  from  certain  of 


271 

commandment,  to  inhibit  him  to  attempt 

thJ.  '"f  ^^  ''^"^'  ^^  ^'^h'"  the  pom  of 
the  kingdom  of  Spain.  He  is  at  hberty 
to  take  any  of  the  Kings  fleets  eiSer 
going  out  of  Spain  or  ^eturnfngtL 

the  despatch  of  these  letters  that  therj^s 
order  pven  for  his  revocaUon."    Sa^'  to 

S  r'"?   ^P'^''   '''''     (Brit!Tu^ 
<»alba,  C.  XI.  p.  327.  MS.) 

haiV'toTrT^f  "^"''"«'  "°  '^'  °'her 
hand,  to  find  Leicester  claiming  credit  for 

her   Majesty,    for    this    domcnstra  ion 

against  Spain,  and  using  it  in  his  cL^ 

raunications  with  the  States  as  a  proof  of 

Xr  ""  A,  "^"^'^"^    ^^--^'    that 
Kr';      ^^"^  ''  °°  «"<=h  meaning  in 
her  Majesty  to  abuse  you."  he  observed 
as  you  might  perceive   both    by  the 
sending  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  into  Spain 
and  by  the  return  of  myself  hither  to 
have  prosecuted  the  war  If  I  had  found 
any  means  here."  Leicester  to  the  Stated 
6  Sept.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.i  ^ 


i' 


vi 


\      , 


272 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


CHAPTER   XVIT. 


t) 


Secret  Treating  between  Queen  and  Parma  —  Excitement  and  Alarm  in  the  States 

—  Religious  Persecution  in  England  —  Queen's  Sincerity  towards  Spain  — 
Language  and  Letters  of  Parma  —  Negotiations  of  De  Loo  —  English 
Commissioners  appointed  —  Parma's  affectionate  letter  to  the  Queen - 
Philip   at   his   Writing-Table  —  His    Plots   with    Parma   against    England 

—  I'arma's  Secret  Letters  to  the  King  —  Philip's  Letters  to  Parma  — 
Wonderful  I>upliclty  of  Philip  —  His  sanguine  Views  as  to  EngUind  —  He  i,* 
reluctant  to  hear  of  the  Obstacles  —  And  imagines  Parma  in  England  —  But 
Alexander's  Difficulties  are  great  —  He  denounces  Philip's  wild  Schemes- 
Walsingham  aware  of  the  Spanish  Rot  -  Which  the  States  well  understatid 

—  Leicester's  great  Unpopularity  —  The  Queen  warned  against  Treating  - 
I^lcester's  Schemes  against  Bameveld  -  Lelcestrian  Conspiracy  at  Leyden  - 
The  Plot  to  seize  the  City  discovered  -  Three  Ringleaders  sentenctd 
to  Death— Civil  War  in  France  —  Victory  gained  by  Navarre,  and  one 
by  Guise  —  Queen  recalls  Leicester  —  Who  retires  on  ill  Tenns  with  the 
States -Queen  warned  as  to  Spanish  Designs -Results  of  Leicester's 
Administration. 

The  course  of  Elizat)etli  towards  the  Provinces,  in  tlio 
matter  of  the  peace,  was  certainly  not  ingenuous,  but  it 
was  not  absolutely  deceitful.  She  concealed  and  denied 
the  negotiations,  when  the  Ketherland  statesmen  were 
perfectly  aware  of  their  existence,  if  not  of  their  tenor ; 
but  she  was  not  prepared,  as  they  suspected,  to  sacrifice 
their  liberties  and  their  religion,  as  the  price  of  her  own 
reconciliation  with  Spain.  Her  attitude  towards  the 
States  was  imperious,  overbearing,  and  abusive.  She 
had  allowed  the  Earl  of  Leicester  to  return,  she  said, 
because  of  her  love  for  the  poor  and  oppressed  people, 
but  in  many  of  her  official,  and  in  all  her  private  com- 
munications, she  denounced  the  men  who  governed  that 
people  as  ungrateful  wretches  and  impudent  liars.^ 


1  E.  g.  "Nous  avons  renvoy^  notre 
cousin  de  Ijeyce»tre— nonobstant  que 
nous  fussions  k  pen  pres  degoutes.  .  .  . 
vus  les  deaordres  et  confusions  depuls  son 
partement  de  li  .  .  .  les  traverses  In- 
grates  de  quelques  uns  mal  affectes  par 
de  la,  dont  nous  memes  avons  eu  occasion 
de  bien  fort  nous  repentlr.  Touiefois  la 
consideration  que  nous  avons  eu  de  I'lnno- 
cence  d'un  si  bon  peuple,  et  le    desir 


qu'avons  eu  de  leur  bien  Jointe  la 
prompte  volonie  de  notre  cousin,  ont  eu 
plus  de  force  a  nous  retenlr  en  notre 
premiere  aCTection .  .  .  et  attendons  qu<> 
ce  qu'est  pass^  sera  repare  k  I'avenir 
.  ,  .  ."  Queen  to  State-Council,  20  Jun<', 
158T.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  A  letter  to  tb.' 
States,  of  nearly  the  same  date,  is  Ukewlr-' 
filled  with  expressions  of  her  disgust  at 
the  "  etrange  et  h)grate  maniere  de  vos 


1587.  SECRET  TREATING  BETWEEN  QUEEN  AND  PARMA.   273 

These  were  the  corrosives  and  vinegar  which  she 
thought  suitab  e  for  the  case;  and  the  irl  was  never 
weaiy  m  depicting  the  same  statesmen  as  seditions  pes- 
tilent   self-seeking,  mischief-making  tiuitore      The'e 

jim^Ornft  '"*^' '    ^°'  •*  7'"   ""'  recollecterthat  S 

alwavs  W  Trr^'  fj'"^  '"*"*'°'=^«  ^Wlities,  had 
always  been  more  busy  than  any  other  Eno-lish  noli 
tician  m  these  transactions.     He  acted,  however  on^fte 

SedYhe^Li-as  hSreTdfdniJsdtl 

upon  Its  treacherous  suggestions.'  When  the  S  ^ote 

inaZrtw'h:^  '":'  *°  ^'^  «°^°'-"?»'  of  so  s^e^ 
a  nature  that  he  did  not  even  retain  a  single  cobv  for 

diW'  that  The  1 1'°^^'^'  ^'  ^°"''^'  *o  hV  i^finSte 
aispst  tnat  the  States  were  at  once  provided  with  «.n 

authentic  transcript  of  eveiy  line  that  he  ha^^^lte^ 


deportements  envers  notre  cousin,  votre 
ingratitude  et  traverees,"  and  of  praise  of 
the  cousin,  who,  "nonobstant  toutes  ces 
discourtesies  et  ingratitudes,  ne  voudra 
espargiier  pour  le  bien  de  vous  tous  de 
hasarder  nl  sa  vie  ni  sa  fortune,"  &c. 
Queen  to  States,  |22  June,  1587.  (S.  P 
Office  MS.) 

"And  three  months  later— "How  the 
town  of  Sluys  was  lost,  we  wiU  spare  to 
write  that  which  thousands  of  your 
native  people  did  affirm;  how  traitorously 
this  town  was  lost,  or  rather  betrayed,  the 
world  knoweth,  and  we  do  not  think  that 
yourselves  can  deny  it,  from  want  of  sup- 
ply  from  you  and  your  chief Ulns,  .  .  . 
and  yet  not  without  the  honour  and  repu^ 

tatlon  of  ours  that  defended  It Our 

lieutenant  (Leicester)  could  not  have 
?,T'f^^*  t»me  to  deal  with  you 
(about  the  peace),  for  that  he  was  so 
entangled  with  your  overthwart  dealing 
against  hhn.  with  sundiy  false  reports  of 
VOL.  IL 


us  and:himself,  that  we  had  agreed  to  « 
peace  with  the  King  of  Spahi,  without 
regard  to  you.  .  .  .  ITiat    the    Earl    of 
Leicester  was  by  us  directed  to  surprise 
divers  towns,  to  yield  to  the  King,  If  you 
would  not  as.sent  to  peace,  with  many 
more  such  false  and   slanderous   bruits 
spread -yea  believed  and  maintained  for 
some  time  by  some  of  your  own  number 
all  which  we  affirm  on  the  word  of  a' 
prince,  most  false  and  maliciously  devised 
with  devilish    minds,  abhorrtog,  as    it 
seemeth.  all  liking  of  godly  peace  and 
quietness."  &c.    Queen  to  the  States.  20 
Sept  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

J  Meteren,  xiv.  255.  "This  letter 
they  have  taken  perforce  from  him.  and 
committed  first  my  man  to  prison,  which 
I  think  was  never  durst  to  be  attempted 
before,  and  puts  me  past  my  patience, 
I  assure  you."  Leicester  to  Walshigham. 
4  July,  1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  ^^ 
2  "  I  am   credibly  informed   by  an 

T 


i!, 


Hi 


274 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


It  was  therefore  useless,  almost  puerile,  to  deny  facts 
which  were  quite  as  much  within  the  knowledge  of  the 
Netherlanders  as  of  himself.  The  worst  consequence  of 
the  concealment  was,  that  a  deeper  treachery  was  thought 
possible  than  actually  existed.  "  The  fellow  they  call 
Bameveld,"  *  as  Leicester  was  in  the  habit  of  designating 
one  of  the  first  statesmen  in  Europe,  was  perhaps  justi- 
fied, knowing  what  he  did,  in  suspecting  more.  Being 
furnished  with  a  list  of  commissioners,  already  secretly 
agreed  upon  between  the  English  and  Spanish  govern- 
ments, to  treat  for  peace,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
Earl  was  beating  his  breast,  and  flatly  denying  that 
there  was  any  intention  of  treating  with  Panna  at  all, 
it  was  not  unnatural  that  he  should  imagine  a  still  wider 
and  deeper  scheme  than  really  existed,  against  the  best 
interests  of  his  country.  He  may  have  expressed,  in 
private  conversation,  some  suspicions  of  this  nature,  but 
there  is  direct  evidence  that  he  never  stated  in  public 
anything  which  was  not  afterwards  proved  to  be  matter 
of  fact,  or  of  legitimate  inference  from  the  secret  docu- 
ments which  had  come  into  his  hands.  The  Queen  ex- 
hausted herself  in  opprobrious  language  against  those 
who  dared  to  impute  to  her  a  design  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  cities  and  strong  places  of  the  Netherlands,  in 
order  to  secure  a  position  in  which  to  compel  the  Pro- 
vinces into  obedience  to  her  policy.  She  urged,  with 
much  logic,  that,  as  she  had  refused  the  sovereignty  of 
the  whole  country  when  offered  to  her,  she  was  not 
likely  to  form  surreptitious  schemes  to  make  herself 
mistress  of  a  portion  of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was 
very  obvious,  that  to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  Philip's 
rebellious  Provinces,  was  to  declare  war  upon  Philip ; 


honest  man,"  says  Leicester,  "  who  says 
he  saw  It,  that  the  States  have  a  copy  of 
my  last  Instrument,  as  also  of  the  letter 
of  her  Majesty  written  lately  privately  to 
me,  touching  the  dealing  in  the  peace. 
Yea,  further,  that  they  are  thoroughly  and 
particularly  made  acquainted  with  a  late 
letter  of  mine  to  her  Majesty,  written 
with  my  own  hand,  whereof  I  would 
have  no  copy  taken,  because  I  would 
have  no  man  acquaint  with  it.  In  which 
letter  1  informed  her  Majesty  at  lenglh 
of  all  things  here,  and  gave  her  also,  in 
acme  sort,  my  private   advice.     They 


have,  by  some  means,  got  knowledge  of 
the  contents  thereof,  and  have  intimated 
the  same  secretly  to  the  Provinces,  in- 
tending thereby  to  draw  me  into  hatred 
and  suspicion  of  the  people,  as  though 
this  dealing  for  peace  were  procured  for 
me.  But  for  this  matter,  I  shall  hope  to 
deal  well  enough,  for  this  treacherous 
usage  of  her  Majesty's  secrets,"  &c.  I>el- 
cester  to  Walsingham,  28  Aug.  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

>  Leicester   to  Burghley,  10-11  Sept, 
1587.    (S..P.  Office  MS.) 


1587.         EXCITEMENT  AND  ALARM  IN  THE  STATES.         275 

whereas,  had  she  been  pacifically  inclined  towards  that 
sovereign     and    treacherously    disposed    towards    the 
>(ether]ands,  it  would  be  a  decided  advantage  to  her  to 
have  those  strong  places  in  her  power.     But  the  suspi- 
cions as  to  her  good  faith  were  exaggerated.     As  to  the 
intentions  of  Leicester,  the  States  were  justified  in  their 
almost  unlimited  distrust      It  is  very  certain  that  both 
m  1086,  and  again,  at  this  very  moment,  when  Eliza- 
beth was  most  vehement  in  denouncing  such  aspersions 
on  her  government,  he  had  unequivocally  declared  to 
her  his  intention  of  getting  possession,  if  possible,  of 
several  cities,  and  of  the  whole  island  of  Walcheren 
which,  together  with  the   cautionary  towns  already  in 
his  power  would  enable  the  Queen  to  make  good  terms 
for  herself  with  Spain,  -  if  the  worst  came  to  tJce  worst:' » 
it  will  also  soon  be  shown  that  he  did  his  best  to  carry 
these  schemes  into  execution.     There  is  no  evidence 
however,  and  no  probability,  that  he  had  received  the 
royal  commands  to  perpetrate  such  a  crime. 

The  States  believed  also,  that  in  those  secret  negotia- 
tions with  Parma  the  Queen  was  disposed  to  sacHfice 
the  religious  interests  of  the  Netherlands.  In  this  they 
were  mistaken.  But  they  had  reason  for  their  mistake 
because  the  negotiator  De  Loo  had  expressly  said,  that' 
m  her  overtures  to  Famese,  she  had  abandoned  that 
point  altogether.^    If  this  had  been  so,  it  would  have 


*  "  I  will  go  to  Medenblik  (the  next 
town  to  Enkhuyzen),  which  is  at  your 
Majesty's  devotion,  as  the  governor  there- 
of (Sonoy)  is,  and  will  do  my  best  to  re- 
cover Enlthuyzen   ere  I  depart  thence. 
Then,    indeed,     your    Majesty,    having 
Flushing.  BriU,  and    Utrecht,   as   you 
have,  and  these,  ye  shall  be  able  to  bring 
the  peace  to  better  conditions,  and  bridle 
these  States  of  Holland  at  your  pleasure. 
•  .  .  .  They  are  full  of  shifts,  and  yet 
«ucA(M/or  this  matter  may  ask  tolera- 
tion, for  how  hattful  a  matter  peace  hath 
beej}  to  the  generality  almost  of  all  these 
coimtrles,  la  u-dl  Icnoum  to  all  persons, 
and  how  loathsome  a  thing  i7  is  to  all  but 
to  such  as  for  love  and  trust  in  your 
M^esty  will  conform  themselves,  I  can 
sufficiently  testify;    and  it  is  the  only 
cause  of  the  world  for  them  to  be  careful 
In  their  dealing,  for  it  doth  confirm  them 
and  theh-  posterity  both  hi  theh:  lives  and 


liberties,  and  therefore  to  be  borne  withal, 
if  they  take  deliberation."  Leicester  to' 
the  Queen,  9  Oct.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
Yet  the  Karl,  notwithstanding  this  admis- 
sion, avows  his  determination  of  bridling 
the  states  by  gahilng  possession  of  their 
cities. 

And  again,  a  month  later:  "I  will  not 
be  Idle  to  do  all  that  in  me  shall  lie  to 
make  this  island  of  Walcheren  assured, 
whatsoever  shall  fall  out ;  which.  If  it 
may  be,  your  Majesty  shall  the  less  fear 
to  make  a  good  bargain  for  yourself,  when 
the  worst  shall  come."  Leicester  to  the 
Queen,  6th  Nov.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

2  "  I  have  sent  her  Majesty  another 
letter  from  De  Loo,  whereby  it  seemeth 
that  now  very  lately  her  M^esty  hath 
given  him  to  understand  that  she  will  not 
insist  upon  the  matter  of  religion  further 
than  shall  be  with  the  King's  honour  and 
T   2 


276 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


i 


simply  Been  a  consent  on  the  part  of  Elizabeth,  that  the 
Catholic  religion  and  the  Inquisition  should  be  re-esta- 
blished in  the  Provinces,  to  the  exclusion  of  ever}'  other 
form  of  worship  or  polity.  In  truth,  however,  the 
position  taken  by  her  Majesty  on  the  subject  was  as 
fair  as  could  be  reasonably  expected.  Certainly  she 
was  no  advocate  for  religious  liberty.  She  chose  that 
her  own  subjects  should  be  Protestants,  because  she  had 
chosen  to  be  a  Protestant  herself,  and  because  it  was  an 
incident  of  her  supremacy,  to  dictate  uniformity  of  creed 
to  all  beneath  her  sceptre.  No  more  than  her  father,  who 
sent  to  the  stake  or  gallows  heretics  to  transubstantiation 
as  well  as  believers  in  the  Pope,  had  Elizabeth  the  faintest 
idea  of  religious  freedom.  Heretics  to  the  English 
Church  were  persecuted,  fined,  imprisoned,  mutilated, 
and  murdered  by  sword,  rope,  and  fire.  In  some 
respects,  the  practice  towards  those  who  dissented  from 
Elizabeth  was  more  immoral  and  illogical,  even  if  less 
cruel,  than  that  to  which  those  were  subjected  who  re- 
belled against  Sixtus.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  required 
Papists  to  assist  at  the  Protestant  worship,  but  wealthy 
Papists  could  obtain  immunity  by  an  enoimous  fine. 
The  Roman  excuse  to  destroy  bodies  in  order  to  save 
souls,  could  scarcely  be  alleged  by  a  Church  which 
might  be  bribed  into  connivance  at  heresy,  and  which 
derived  a  revenue  from  the  very  nonconformity  for 
which  humbler  victims  were  sent  to  the  gallows.  It 
would,  however,  be  unjust  in  the  extreme  to  overlook 
the  enormous  difference  in  the  amount  of  persecution, 
exercised  respectively  by  the  Protestant  and  the  Eoman 
Church.  It  is  probable  that  not  many  more  than  two 
hundred  Catholics  *  were  executed,  as  such,  in  Eliza- 


consdence.  Whereupon  Pe  Loo  taketh 
no  small  hold,  and  If  she  keep  that  course, 
all  win  go  to  ruin,  as  I  have  written  to 
her  Majesty."  Buckhurst  to  Walslng- 
ham,  18  June,  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

1  "Dod  reckons  them  at  191 ;  Mllner 
has  raised  the  list  to  204.  Fifteen  of  these, 
according  to  him,  sufifered  for  denying  the 
Queen's  supremacy,  126  for  exercising 
their  ministry,  and  the  rest  for  being  re- 
conciled to  the  Romish  church.  Many 
others  died  of  hardships  in  prison,  and 
many  were  deprived  of  their  property. 
There  seems.  lievertheless,  to  be   good 


reason  for  doubting  whether  any  one  who 
was  executed  might  not  have  saved  his 
life  by  explicitly  denying  the  Pope's 
power  to  depose  the  Queen.  This  cer- 
tainly furnishes  a  distinction  between  the 
persecution  under  Elizabeth  (which,  un- 
just as  it  was  In  Its  operation,  yet,  so  far 
as  It  extended  to  capital  Inflictions,  had  in 
view  the  security  of  the  government)  and 
that  which  the  Protestants  had  sustained 
In  her  sister's  reign,  sprlnghig  from  mere 
bigotry  and  vindictive  rancour."  (Hal- 
lam's  'Constitutional  History,'  fifth 
edition  (Murray  1846),  1. 163.  Compare 


1587. 


RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTIOxV  IN  ENGLAND. 


277 
wwV''fi?'  ^°^.*^^'  ^^«  *^^  «^«re  too  many     But 

gainst   he  vast  numbers  of  ProtltantT,  X  W  they 

TT^  yj  '^'^^  "^  ^y  hundreds  of  thonl^nds    who 
perished  by  the  edicts  of  Charles  V    in  the  \^wi     a 

or  m  the  single  Saint  Bartholomew  m^^L^eftieS 
Moreover,  it  should  never  be  forgotten-from  undue 
anxiety  for  impartiality-that  molt  of  the  Catholics 
who  were  executed  in  England,  suffered  a^  oonsp  rators 
rather  than  as  heretics.  No  foreign  potentatrXiW 
to  bo  vicegerent  of  Christ,  had  denoLced  PhiSTf 

S^wWcnF"'  °'  ^'  ""y-"""'^'  °f  -  blaspYei^u: 
fiction,  which  then  was  a  terrible  reality,  severed  the 

bonds  of  allegiance  by  which  his  subjec  s  werrheM 

cut  him  off  from  all  communion  with  his  fellow-cr^atures' 

and  promised  temporal  rewards  and  a  cro^  of  gW?n 

heaven  to  those  who  should  succeed  in  dem^vinf  h^  nf 

c larlrb^Ro^"  ■f^}'"'^^  ^*^««'i  her  and  Kome,  de- 
th^ithT^^  '^if '•  °°'"  "^^  ^^^^^  ^"^y  doubt  whatever 
£i*n\  •^'^  Pnests-seedlings  transplanted  from 

the  fmwtn^r'  ^^''^  ^^"^  ^  watered' gardens  Z 
tbe  growth  of  treason— were  a  peipetually  organized 
band  of  conspirators  and  assassins,  with  wLm^ft  w2 
hardly  an  act  of  excessive  barbarity  to  deal  insomewh^ 
ummary  fashion.  Doubtless  it  would  have  been  a  more 
ofty  policy,  and  a  far  more  intelligent  one  to  extend 

Wt  tti^?*''''?  ''  ^"S'*""^'  ^'^'^  as  a^'boarwere 
could  t5  T""^"^-  ^\  *'"P''^  toleration.  IBut  it 
could  scarcely  bo  expected  that  Elizabeth  Tudor  as 
imperious  and  absolute  by  tempeiument  as  her  father 

prt cTpTe.  '"• "'"''  *"  '^^'''''''  '^"^^y'-S  tlat  Sat 

1587^tW  f  *^«.  P'«li«»«arie8  to  the  negotiations  of 

tbe  b*  e!n  •  '\""^'  "i"^'*^  ""^  **•«  P'^rt  of  Spain,  that 
Uie  Queen  was  demanding  a  concession  of  relieious 
hberty  from   PhUip  to  the   Netherlanders  whiclf  she 

ilallam.  in  which  the  dealings  of  Eliza-    ""^^^^^^^"^ 


278 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


W 


refused  to  English  heretics,  and  that  he  only  claimed 
the  same  right  of  dictating  a  creed  to  his  subjects  which 
she  exercised  in  regard  to    her  own,  Lord  Burghley 
replied  that  the  statement  was  correct.     The  Queen 
permitted— it  was  true— no  man  to  profess  any  religion 
but  the  one  which  she  professed.     At  the  same  time  it 
was  declared  to  be  unjust,  that  those  persons  in  the 
Netherlands  who  had  been  for  years  m  the  habit  oi 
practising  Protestant  rites,  should  be  suddenly  compelled, 
without  instruction,  to  abandon  that  form  of  worship.     It 
was  well  known  that  many  would  rather  die  than  submit 
to  such  oppression,  and  it  was  affirmed  that  the  exercise 
of  this  cruelty  would  be  resisted  by  her  to  the  utter- 
most.    There  was  no  hint  of  the  propriety— on    any 
logical  basis— of  leaving  the  question  of  creed  as  a  matter 
between  man  and  his  Maker,  with  which  any  dictation 
on  the  part  of  crown  or  state  was  an  act  of  odious 
tyranny.      There  was  not  even  a  suggestion  that  the 
Protestant  doctrines  were  true,  and  the  Catholic  doc- 
trines false.     The  matter  was  merely  taken  up  on  the 
uti  possidetis  principle,  that  they  who  had  acquired  the 
fact  of  Protestant  worship  had  a  right  to  retain  it,  and 
could  not  justly  be  deprived  of  it,  except  by  instruction 
and  persuasion.     It  was  also  affirmed  that  it  was  not 
the  English  practice  to  inquire  into  men's  consciences. 
It  would  have  been  difficult,  however,  to  make  that  very 
clear  to  Philip's  comprehension,  because,  if  men,  women, 
and  children,  were  scourged  w4th  rods,  imprisoned,  and 
hanged,  if  they  refused  to  conform  publicly  to  a  cere- 
mony at  which  their  consciences  revolted— unless  they 
had '1!  money    enough    to    purchase    nonconformity— it 
seemed  to  be  the  practice  to  inquire  very  effectively  into 
their  consciences.^ 


1  "And  when  De  Loo  reporteth  an 
objection  made  to  him,  that  there  Is  no 
more  reason  for  the  King  to  yield  to  any 
of  his  subjects  liberty  of  religion  contrary 
to  the  one  he  professeth  no  more  than  her 
Majesty  doth  to  any  'of  hers ;  indeed,  at 
the  first  appearance,  this  objection  seem- 
eth  of  good  moment  to  be  allowed,  and, 
until  it  be  answered,  ought  to  be  taken 
by  the  Duke  of  Parma  ;  but  if  the  diver- 
sities of  the  comparison  shall  be  marked, 
the  case  also  will  therein  be  changed.  The 
Queen's  Majesty  indeed  never  did  permit. 


either  publicly  or  privately,  that  any  per. 
sons  for  these  seven  years  should  use  any 
exercise  of  religion  contrary  to  that  form 
received  and  established  by  public  autho- 
rity ;  80  aa  none  can  challenge  that  they 
were  by  any  liberty  suffered  to  use  any 
other,  which  Is  contrary  to  the  Low 
Coimtrles,  for  the  space  of  about  six  years. 
But  if  her  Majesty  had  so  permitted, 
surely  reason  would  move  her  not  to  con- 
strain, otherwise  than  by  instruction,  any 
that  by  reason  of  her  permission  had  go- 
verned their  consciences  to  the  contrarj'. 


1587.  QUEEN'S  SINCERITy  TOWARDS  SCAIK.  279 

on  tte  iart  of  pZf  Ti^^  ^!^^^  of  disingenuousness 

Queen  m  these  negotiations  was  almost  pathetic     Lie 

Sr  &£?    "*  S^^/Joing^X:  t  E 

ness  as  she  bt  hi  f  T't  "T""^^  ^^''''^^^  ^r  ^^^  f^^^' 
that  Troval  L  ^'*l««l'°«d.  It  never  entered  his  head 
^Jf^  }  personage  and  the  trusted  counsellors  of  a 

KSnfl  t™r"r  ^  *^"i°«  '^'  *"^*  -  a  secret  fn! 
ternational  transaction,  and  he   justified  the  industnr 

with  which  h,s  master  and  himsilf  piled  fiction  uS 

raSrhad  W  '"'S°t'*«°"«  ^ad  been  commenced,  or 
vei  DurW  f^^Tf '  ^'•'T  ''^rfy  ^^  February  of  this 
and  follnw.T.^  '  whole  critical  period  which  preceded 
ana  tollowed  the  execution  of  Mary,  in  the  cmirsp  nf 

^^^so^'llS^^  ^'  f  ^/^^^  '^^^^'^  '''  ^^ 
coorn^  wT  ^^'^^'^'^  ^^^  ^^^^  *^^  g^^tlest  diplomatic 
coomg  between  Famese  and  herself.  It  was— Dear 
Cousin,  you  know  how  truly  I  confide  in  your  sTnceritt 

fc  arTnrd  '  'V^t'  *^"  T^'  ^^^^'^^^^  peace  sToufd 
W  much tl  Tf  1 '  ^^«-Sf ^^.^d  Majesty,  you  know 
now  much  joy  I  feel  m  your  desire  for  the  repose  of  the 


And  because  it  may  be  also  further  ob- 
jected, as  most  falsely  is  divulged  to 
more  offence  against  her  Majesty  from 
Catholic  places,  that  she  doth  so  severely 
punish  them  that  are  in  conscience  con- 
trarily  affected,  it  is  to  be  avowed  for  a 
certain  truth  that  her  Mi^esty  never  did 
allow  that  any  person  was  by  inquisition 
urged  to  show  his  conscience  In  any  mat- 
ter of  faith,  nor  ever  was  punished  for 
professing  only  of  his  opinion  in  his  con- 
science,  but  what  any  have  beside  their 
profession  of  their  conscience,  moved  by 
others,  by  open  acts  to  break  the  law,  or 
have,  under  colour  of  encouraging  others 


to  change  their  form  of  religion,  persuaded 
them  also  to  alter  their  obedience  In  aU 
worldly  duties,  to  practise  rebi^lllon  In 
the  realm,  to  solicit  invasions,  and  flatly 
to  deny  the  Queen's  Majesty  to  be  their 
lawful  Queen.  In  those  cases,  her  M^es- 
ty  and  all  her  ministers  of  Justice  had 
cause  to  withstand  such  violent  courses 
under  colours  of  religion ;  and  otherwise 
than  to  withstand  these  most  dangerous 
attempts,  her  Majesty  did  never  allow 
any  should  lose  their  lives  and  shed  their 
blood."  (Rough  draft  of  Burghlev  9 
foo't'cl"'-    ^^-Mus,  Galba.O»ix.p. 


280 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


world,  and  for  a  solid  peace  between  your  Highness  and 
the  King  my  master ;  how  much  I  delight  in  concord — 
how  incapable  I  am  by  ambiguous  tcords  of  spinning  out  these 
transactions  J  or  of  deceiving  your  Majesty,  and  what  a  hatred 
I  feel  for  steel,  fire,  and  blood. ^ 

Four  or  five  months  rolled  on,  during  which  Leicester 
had  been  wasting  time  in  England,  Famese  wasting 
none  before  Sluys,  and  the  States  doing  their  best  to 
counteract  the  schemes  both  of  their  enemy  and  of  their 
ally.  De  Loo  made  a  visit,  in  July,  to  the  camp  of  the 
Duke  of  Parma,  and  received  the  warmest  assurances  of 
his  pacific  dispositions.  "I  am  much  pained,"  said 
Alexander,  "  with  this  procrastination.  I  am  so  full  of  sin- 
cerity myself,  that  it  seems  to  me  a  very  strange  matter, 
this  hostile  descent  by  Drake  upon  the  coasts  of  Spain. 
The  result  of  such  courses  will  be,  that  the  King  will 
end  by  being  exasperated,  and  I  shall  be  touched  in  my 
honour — so  great  is  the  hopes  I  have  held  out  of  being 
able  to  secure  a  peace.  I  have  ever  been  and  Instill  am 
most  anxious  for  concord,  from  the  afi'ection  I  bear  to 
her  sacred  Majesty.  I  have  been  obliged,  much  against 
my  will,  to  take  the  field  again.  I  could  wish  now  that 
our  negotiations  might  terminate  before  the  arrival  of 
my  fresh  troops,  namely,  9000  Spaniards  and  9000 
Italians,  which,  with  Walloons,  Germans,  and  Lorrainers, 
will  give  me  an  effective  total  of  30,000  soldiers.  Of 
this  I  give  you  my  word  as  a  gentleman.  Go  then, 
Andrew  de  Loo,"  continued  the  Duke,  "  write  to  her 
sacred  Majesty,  that  I  desire  to  make  peace,  and  to  serve 
her  faithfully ;  and  that  I  shall  not  change  my  mind, 
even  in  case  of  any  great  success,  for  I  like  to  proceed 
rather  by  the  ways  of  love  than  of  rigour  and  effusion 
of  blood." « 


»  Parma  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  18  Feb. 
1587.  Same  to  same,  5  April,  1587. 
Queen  to  Panna,  13  April,  1587.  (Arch, 
de  Simancas,  MSS.)  And  even  later 
8tiU:— 

"  Such  Is  the  good  opinion  conceived  of 
the  Duke  of  Parma,"  wrote  Burghley, 
"  fof  his  own  nature  and  worthiness  In  all 
plao>s,  that  he  is  a  prince  of  honour  In 
ket'plng  his  promise,  without  respect  of 
any  gain  or  lx>neflt.  And,  to  tell  you  tnie. 
It  is  the  only  foundation  which  her  Ma- 
jesty maketh  to  proceed  in  this  treaty. 


against  the  opinion  of  very  many.  In  that 
she  esteemeth  the  Duke  to  have  gn>at 
regard  to  his  word  and  promise,  and  also 
an  opinion  that  she  hath,  though  be  be  a 
great  man  of  war,  that  he  Is  Cbrlstlanly 
disposed  rather  to  maintain  peace  tlian  to 
raise  war,  whereof  her  Mi^esty  loolteth 
to  make  proof  by  this  treaty,"  &c.  &c. 
Burghley  to  Andr.  de  Loo,  10  Oct.  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  De  Loo  to  Burghley,  11  July,  1687. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


\ 


1587. 


LANGUAGE  AND  LETTERS  OF  PARMA. 


7     «< 


281 
same  dispositions  with  yourself"  ^""^  ^^^^ 

ties  on  both  sldetTe  VpS^dtetttr '.^^  ^^  ^^^^ 
A  leeble  proposition  was  then  made  on  the  r^arf  nf +1,. 

them^1;/a  few  fine Ut  <i"|.«-es  only  to  abandon 

but  they  raised  n'o°:i:°:f.^-  iz.:::tz7jt'^i 

w.ly  tong;.e  of  the  Duke  had  been  more  effective  t£ 
h.8  batteries  m  obtaining  the  much-eoveted  city     Th^ 

denTof  et*'r''''^' ^^'-^  •'^'^'^  ^«^^  "»««  and  money,  confi! 
dent  of  effecting  a  treaty  whether  Sluys  fell  or  not    wL 

i  teSstd  Sh?r  ^'r'-^  t-o  diSiZl  of  he" 
mentions,  and,  m  their  turn,  become  neglectful  of  their 

Sti"*^  *^?i,  ™"""^''  ^"^^  '"to  autumn,  Sluys  fell  the 
th^  Xe^l^^'j"  g^^^^^r-general  were  at  dag^rs-di^^ 
f1i  ?  if '^^'■','^*''«  f»"  of  (listnist  with  reeaTto 
JnSrTtJ-  '^111^'^^^%^^'-^  doubts  as  to  theXen^: 
sincerity,  the  secret  negotiations,  thoueh  fertiln  ;« 
suspicions,  jealousies,  delays,  and  such  foul  weeds  hIS 
pioduced  no  wholesome  fruit,  and  the  excel  Wtrf'  t 
became  yery  much  depressed     At  last  a  letter  °^ 

from  Burghley  relie^4d  his  droop  nj  spS/  "f.st"'- 

woTd  t  rlS:rhf  h^"/  -elan'oho^ly'^^an  in  the 
quiet '    H.'i?,  •  ir  ^  ^^^  """^  ^"""^^  merry  and 

h-^ndlelthf  i\   '  pocket  a_nd  translated  it  to  him 
t>i  candlelight,  as  he  was  careful  to  state  as  an  important 

(S.'p^X'mS)"'  ""•  "  •'"'^-  ""•    ?,«?  ->"'««'<•  =  ««<«  »t.r  .Ueg,,."  *,. 


282 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


■  i 


.'I 


point  in  his  narrative.     And  Famese  was  fuller  of  fine 
phrases  than  ever. 

"  There  is  no  cause  whatever,"  said  he,  in  a  most 
loving  manner,  "  to  doubt  my  sincerity.  Yet  the  Lord- 
Treasurer  intimates  that  the  most  serene  Queen  is  dis- 
posed so  to  do.  But  if  I  had  not  the  very  best  intentions 
and  desires  for  peace,  I  should  never  have  made  the  first 
overtures.  If  1  did  not  wish  a  pacific  conclusion,  what 
in  the  world  forced  me  to  do  what  I  have  done  ?  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  I  that  have  reason  to  suspect  the 
other  parties  with  their  long  delays,  by  which  they  have 
made  me  lose  the  best  part  of  the  summer."  ^ 

He  then  commented  on  the  strong  expressions  in  the 
English  letters,  as  to  the  continuance  of  her  Majesty  in 
her  pious  resolutions ;  observed  that  he  was  thoroughly 
advised  of  the  disputes  between  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
and  the  States ;  and  added  that  it  was  very  important 
for  the  deputies  to  arrive  at  the  time  indicated  by  the 
Queen. 

"  Whatever  is  to  be  done,"  said  he,  in  conclusion, 
"  let  it  be  done  quickly ; "  and  with  that  he  said  he 
would  go  and  eat  a  bit  of  supper. 

"  And  may  I  communicate  Lord  Burghley's  letter  to 
any  one  else  ?  "  asked  De  Loo. 

"Yes,  yes,  to  the  Seigneur  de  Champagny,  and  to  my 
secretary  Cosimo,"  answered  his  Highness. 

So  the  merchant-negotiator  proceeded  at  once  to  the 
mansion  of  Champagny,  in  company  with  the  secretary 
Cosimo.  There  was  a  long  conference,  in  which  De  Loo 
was  informed  of  many  things  which  he  thoroughly  be- 
lieved, and  faithfully  transmitted  to  the  court  of  Eliza- 
beth. Alexander  had  clone  his  best,  they  said,  to  delay 
the  arrival  of  his  fresh  troops.  He  had  withdrawn  from 
the  field,  on  various  pretexts,  hoping,  day  after  day,  that 
the  English  commissioners  would  arrive,  and  that  a  firm 
and  perpetual  peace  would  succeed  to  the  miseries  of 
war.     But  as  time  wore  away,  and  there  came  no  com- 


1  "Con  dire  amorevolmente  lo  che 
slgue— non  e  (disse),  causa  alcana  didubi- 
tare  della  mia  sincera  mente— si  come 
BuUo  fine  della  l"  si  fa  menzlone  che  la 
8er">»  reglna  lo  potrebbe  fare— perche  se 
non  avessi  havato  bonlss™*  disposizione 
e  desiderio  della  pace  non  sarei  gla  ito  a 
fame  la  prima  apertura  mi  medesimo,  e 


condescendere  alle  cose  che  sapete  (disse 
a  me)  se  non  si  fosse  stata  intenzione  di 
volerne  venir  a  una  concluslone  (agion- 
gendo)  che  cosa  mi  forzava  di  farlo? 
Anzi  piuttosto  avrei  occasione  lo  dl  sus- 
pettar  loro  con  tante  sorte  di  dilazioni  e 
haver  ml  fatto  perdere  la  megUor  parte 
de  r  estate,"  ic.    (Ibid.) 


1587. 


NEGOTIATIONS  OF  DE  LOO. 


283 


missioners,  the  Duke  had  come  to  the  painful  conclusion 
that  he  had  been  trifled  with.i     His  forces  would  now 
be  sent  into  Holland  to  find  something  to  eat ;  and  this 
would  ensure  the  total  destruction  of  all  that  territory. 
He  had  also  written  to  command  all  the  officers  of  the 
coming  troops  to  hasten  their  march,  in  order  that  he 
might  avoid  incurring  still  deeper  censure.     He  was 
much  ashamed,  in  truth,  to  have  been  wheedled  into 
passing  the  whole  fine  season  in  idleness.*    He  had  been 
sacrificing  himself  for  her  sacred  Majesty,  and  to  serve 
her  best  interests ;  and  now  he  found  himself  the  obiect 
of  her  mirth.^     Those  who  ought  to  be  well  informed 
had  assured  him  that  the  Queen  wa^  only  waiting  to  see 
how  the  King  of  Navarre  was  getting  on  with  the  auxi- 
liary force  just  going  to  him  from  Gennany,  that  she  had 
no  intention  whatever  to  make  peace,  and  that,  before 
long,  he  might  expect  all  these  German  mercenaries  upon 
his  shoiilders  in  the  Netheriands.     Nevertheless  he  was 
prepared  to  receive  them  with  40,000  good  infantry,  a 
splendid  cavalry  force,  and  plenty  of  money.* 

All  this  and  more  did  the  credulous  Andrew  greedily 
devour,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  communicating  the  im- 
portant   intelligence   to  her  Majesty  and    the    Lord- 
Treasurer.     He  implored  her,  he  said,  upon  his  bare 
knees,  prostrate  on  the  ground,  and  from  the  most  pro- 
lound  and  veritable  centre  of  his  heart  and  with  all  his 
soul  and  all  his  strength,*  to  believe  in  the  truth  of  the 
matters  thus  confided  to  him.    He  would  pledge  his  im- 
mortal soul,  which  was  of  more  value  to  him— as  he 
correctly  obseri^ed-than  even  the  crown  of  Spain,  that 
the  King,  the  Duke,  and  his  counsellors,  were  most  sin- 
cerely desirous  of  peace,  and  actuated  by  the  most  loving 
and  benevolent  motives.     Alexander  Farnese  was  "the 
antidote  to  the  Duke  of  Alva,"  kindly  sent  by  heaven, 
ut  contraria  contrarm  curentur,  and  if  the  entire  security 
ot  the  sacred  Queen  were  not  now  obtained,  together 
with  a  perfect  re-integration  of  love  between  her  Maiesty 
and  the  King  of  Spain,  and  with  the  assured  tranquillity 

*  •*  Ma  a  r  ultimo  11  Duca  vedendo  la    &c.    (Ibid.) 
contlnua  dilazione,  con  giudicare  che  si        3  Ibid.   '  4  Thi^ 

lit  S')*'-  ^"^"^"^  """^^'^'^  •  ''"•  '  "  ^^^-^^«  ^^^'^^^  ^-'b^  h"» 

2  ..  T,        J    1  tratus,  dal  piu  profondo  e  vero  centre 

Trovandosi  vergognlato  davere.  las-  del  mio  cuore  et  ex  corde  et  ex  tot*  ani- 

clato  scorrere  si  bdla  stagione  in  ozio."  ma."  &c.    (Ibid.)                        tot*  am- 


1587. 


284 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


ENGLISH  COMMISSIONERS  APPOIJsTED. 


and  perpetual  prosperity  of  the  Netherlands,  it  would  be 
the  fault  of  England,  not  of  Spain.* 

And  no  doubt  the  merchant  believed  all  that  was  told 
him,  and — what  was  worse — that  he  fully  impressed  hia 
own  convictions  upon  her  Majesty  and  Lord  Burghley, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  comptroller,  who,  poor  man,  had 
great  facility  in  believing  anything  that  came  from  the 
court  of  the  Most  Catholic  King.  Yet  it  is  painful  to 
reflect,  that  in  all  these  communications  of  Alexander 
and  his  agents,  there  was  not  one  single  word  of  truth. 
It  was  all  false  from  beginning  to  end,  as  to  the  counter- 
manding of  the  troops,  as  to  the  pacific  intentions  of  the 
King  and  Duke,  and  as  to  the  proposed  campaign  in 
Friesland,  in  case  of  rupture,  and  all  the  rest.  But  this 
will  be  conclusively  proved  a  little  later. 

Meantime  the  conference  had  been  most  amicable  and 
satisfactory.  And  when  business  was  over,  Champagny 
— not  a  whit  the  worse  for  the  severe  jilting  which  ho 
had  so  recently  sustained  from  the  widow  De  Bours, 
now  Mrs.  Aristotle  Patton — invited  De  Loo  and  Secre- 
tary Cosimo  to  supper.  And  the  three  made  a  night  of 
it,  sitting  up  late,  and  draining  such  huge  bimipers  to 
the  health  of  the  Queen  of  England,  that — as  the  excel- 
lent Andrew  subsequently  informed  Lord  Burghley — 
his  head  ached  most  bravely  next  morning.* 

And  so,  amid  the  din  of  hostile  preparation  not  only 
in  Cadiz  and  Lisbon,  but  in  Ghent,  and  Sluys,  and 
Antwerp,  the  import  of  which  it  seemed  difficult  to  mis- 
take, the  comedy  of  negotiation  was  still  rehearsing,  and 
the  principal  actors  were  already  familiar  with  their 
respective  parts.  There  were  the  Earl  of  Derby,  Knight 
of  the  Garter,  and  my  Lord  Cobham,  and  puzzling  James 
Croft,  and  other  Englishmen,  actually  believing  that 
the  farce  was  a  solemn  reality.  There  was  Alexander 
of  Parma  thoroughly  aware  of  the  contrary.  There 
was  Andrew  De  Loo,  more  talkative,  more  credulous, 
more  busy  than  ever,  and  more  fully  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  his  mission ;  and  there  was  the  white- 
bearded  Lord- Treasurer  turning  complicated  paragraphs, 

1  De  Loo  to  Barghley,  MS.  last  dted.  alia  sanlt^  di  sua  sacra  Maesta,  mi  dolse 

>  "  Con  sommo  contentamento  del  uno  (con  llcenza  per  dirlo  come  va)  la  mattlna 

e  1'  altro,  a  tal  segno,  che  tenendoci  il  Sr  seguente  bravamente  la  testa."    A.  de 

de  Champagny  a  cena,  con  far  11  raglone  Loo  to  Burghley,  26  Sept.  1587.  (S.  P. 

di  buon  cuore  d'  im  gran  brindisl  che  fece  Office  MS.) 


285 

iw  l.^•f  ^'^^'  \°*^  ^*''»S  ^'«  ^^"d  across  the 
bur&t  over  England  could  be  dispersed. 

Ihe  commissioners  should  come,  if  only  the  Duke  of 
Parma  would  declare  on  his  word  of  honour/^hat  there 
hostile  preparations,  with  which  all  Christ;ndom  was 
nnging.  were  not  intended  against  England  ,^r-i? 
that  really  were  the  case-if  he  would  request  his 
master  to  abandon  all  such  scheme.,  and  if  Phi  in  ^n 
consequence  would  promise,  on  the  honour  of  a  prfnce 
to  make  no  hostile  attempts  against  that  countn./ 

Ihere  would  really  seem  an  almost  Arcadian  simpli- 

ma^  Z  The  f'^Tr''  """^"S  from  so  pi^ctised  a   tX 
man  as  the  Lord-Treasurer,  and  from  a  woman  of  such 

b"  r  reTd'Mn^"^^''^  unquestionably  posseZd 
But  we  read  the  history  of  1587,  not  only  by  the  light 
of  subsequent  events,  but  by  the  almost   microscopic 
revelations  of  sentimente    and    motives,  which  rfuU 

IZt  °  Ai^r  r  ''""T"*^  '"^  *^°^<^  -cienttbineS 
aaords.     At  that    moment,  it  was  not  ignorance  nor 

dulness  which  was  leading  England  towards  the  pitfall 

so   artfully  dug    by  Spain.      There  was   trust  in  the 

plighted  word  of  a  chivalrous  soldier  like  Alexander 

Snip  IT  ''rrTvVf^r  '''^\-^'>^^<i  monarch  iS 
i  Mlip  n.     English  frankness,  playing  cards  upon  the 

table,  was  no  match  for  Italian  and  Spanish  fegerde- 


"If  you  can  possibly,  I  require  you 
to  obtain  of  the  Duke,  in  writing  under 
his  hand,  an  assurance  either  of  his  know- 
ledge that  these  preparations  are  not  nor 
shall  be  meant  against  any  of  her  Ma- 
jesty's dominions;  or  otherwise,  if  he  be 
not  able  to  assure  the  same,  then,  at  the 
least,  that  he  will,  by  his  writing,  assure 
her  Miyesty  that  he  will,  upon  his  honour, 
with  all  expedition,  send  to  the  King  his 
advice  to  stay  all  hostile  actions,  or  to 
have  the  King's  answer,  like  a  prince  of 
honour,  whether  he  intendeth  or  no  to 
employ  these  forces  against  her  Majesty, 
which,  though  in  some  construction  may 
seem  hard  to  require  of  a  king  intending 
hostility,  yet,  as  the  case  is,  when  her 
Mi^esty  yleldeth  to  a  cessation  of  arms 
and  to  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  king,  is 
a  request  most  reasonable  to  make,  and 
honourable  for  the  king  to  grant.    . 
Such  are   the   frequent   reports  out  of 


Spain  of  these  preparations,  and  yet  her 
Majesty  xLill  stand  to  Vie  Dukt's  ansioer 
If  the  army  shall  not  be  known  to  be' 
actually  prepared  against  England-which 
Ifit  shall  be,  no  man  will  think  It  meet 
that  her  commissioners  should  come" 
Burghley  to  A.  De  Loo,  lo  Oct.  1587.  CS. 
P.  Office  MS.)  ^ 

2  As  early  as  August,  the  Duke  had 
proposed   a  cessation  of  arms,  to  grant 
which,  as  has  been  abundantly  shown  by 
his  private  correspondence,  was  never  In 
his  thoughts.    "The  Duke  of  Parma,  to 
the  end  the  treaty   may  proceed  with 
better  success,  hathfmade  ofiFer  unto  us  to 
yield  to  a  cessation  of  arms,  having  put 
us  also  In  hope  that  such  forces  as  are  now 
preparing  in  Italy,  amounting  to  15.000 
footmen,  at  the  least,  shall  be  stayed" 
Queen  to  Leicester,  9  Aug.   1587.    (Br. 
Mus.  Galba,  D.  I.,  293.  MS.) 


I 


il 

i 


'[ 


286 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap  XVII. 


main,— a  system  according  to  which,  to  defraud  the 
antagonist  by  every  kind  of  falsehood  and  trickery  was 
the  legitimate  end  of  diplomacy  and  statesmanship.  It 
was  well  known  that  there  were  great  preparations  in 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  obedient  Netherlands,  by  land 
and  sea.  But  Sir  Eobert  Sidney*  was  persuaded  that 
the  expedition  was  intended  for  Africa ;  even  the  Pope 
was  completely  mystified— to  the  intense  delight  of 
Philip— and  Burghley,  enlightened  by  the  sagacious  Do 
Loo,  was  convinced,  that  even  in  case  of  a  rupture,  the 
whole  strength  of  the  Spanish  arms  was  to  be  exerted 
in  reducing  Friesland  and  Overyssel.  But  Walsingham 
was  never  deceived ;  for  he  had  learned  from  Demo- 
sthenes a  lesson  with  which  William  the  Silent,  in  his 
famous  Apology,  had  made  the  world  familiar,  that  the 
only  citadel  against  a  tyrant  and  a  corviueror  teas  distrust. 

Alexander,  much  grieved  that  doubts  should  still  be 
felt  as  to  his  sincerity,  renewed  the  most  exuberant  ex- 
pressions of  that  sentiment,  together  with  gentle  com- 
plaints against  the  dilatoriness  which  had  proceeded 
from  the  doubt.  Her  Majesty  had  long  been  aware,  he 
said,  of  his  anxiety  to  bring  about  a  perfect  reconcilia- 
tion ;  but  he  had  waited,  month  after  month,  for  her 
commissioners,  and  had  waited  in  vain.  His  hopes  had 
been  dashed  to  the  ground.  The  affair  had  been  inde- 
finitely spun  out,  and  he  could  not  resist  the  conviction 
that  her  Majesty  had  changed  her  mind.  Nevertheless, 
as  Andrew  De  Loo  was  again  proceeding  to  England, 
the  Duke  seized  the  opportunity  once  more  to  kiss  her 
hand,  and— although  he  had  well  nigh  resolved  to  think 
no  more  on  the  subject — to  renew  his  declarations,  that, 
if  the  much-coveted  peace  were  not  concluded,  the 
blame  could  not  be  imputed  to  him,  and  that  he  should 
stand  guiltless  before  God  and  the  world.  He  had 
done,  and  was  still  ready  to  do,  all  which  became  a 
Christian  and  a  man  desirous  of  the  public  welfare  and 
tranquillity.* 


1  ••  There  came  some  out  of  Spain  very 
lately,  that  say  the  preparations  there  are 
for  a  certain  place  In  Africk,  which  greatly 
imports  the  passage  of  both  the  Indies. 
The  admiral  of  the  Turks  was  to  leave  it 
last  year  with  sixty  galleyB.**  Sir  R.  Sidney 
to  l^lcester,  31  Dec.  1537.  (Br.  Mus. 
Galba,  D.  II.  p.  2«8.  MS.) 


2  "  E  cosl  da  canto  mio  haveva  pre- 
parato  gli  affari  di  manera,  e  messo  il 
tutto  in  termine,  che  Vra  Ma**  haveva 
potuto  conoscere  qual  zelo  ch'  io  abbra- 
ciara  questa  occasione,  e  quanto  io  de- 
siderava  di  veder  river  tire  la  buona  e 
mutua  intelligenza  fra  il  Re  mio  slgnore 
et  la  Vra  M«a.    Ma  vedendo  che  non  ob- 


1587.     PARMA'S  AFFECTIONATE  LETTER  TO  THE  QUEEN.   287 

When  Burghley  read  these  fine  phrases  he  was  much 
impressed;  and  they  were  pronounced  at  the  End  sh 
court  to  be  "very  princely  and  Christianly "  ^  An 
elaborate  comment  too  was  drawn  up  by  the  comn 
troller  on  every  line  of  the  letter.  "These  be  v^?v 
good  words,"  said  the  comptroller  ■  ^ 

pro^of*o?the"n';!lJ''-''''''-.'"°'e  P'^^^^d  ^"1^  the  last 
FwJ  I?„\l  K  T.?  ""^^enty,  than  oven  Burghley  and 

Croft  had  been.  Disregarding  all  the  warnings  of  Wal- 
smgham,  she  renewed  her  expressions  of  bound  ess 
confidence  m  the  wily  Italian.  "^  "  We  do  assume  you  " 
wrote  the  Lords,  "  and  so  you  shall  do  well  to  avow  it  to 

tfiinketh  both  their  minds  to  accord  upon  one  good  and 
Christian  meaning,  though  their  ministers  mapper, 
chance  sound  upon  a  discord.-  And  she  repeated  her 
resolution  to  send  over  her  commissioners,  so  soon  as 
the  Duke  had  satisfied  her  as  to  the  hostile  prepa^ti^ns 
We  have  now  seen  the  good  faith  of  the  S"^ 
Queen  towards  the  Spanish  govemment.     We  have  seen 

mster"    w'\*™'\'°  '"T  h'^^'y  °f  Famese  and  W^ 
master.     \Ve  have  heard  the  exuberant  professions  of 
an  honest  intention  to  bring  about  a  firm  and  lasting 
peace,  which  fell  from  the^lips  of  Parnere  and  of  h"f 
confidential  agents.     It  is  now  necessary  to  glide  for  a 
moment  into  the  secret  cabinet  of  Philip,  in  order  to 
^tisfy  ourselves  as  to  the  value  of  all  those  professions 
The  attention  of  the  reader  is  solicited  to  these  inves°i 
^tions,  because  the   year  1587  was   a   most   cXal 

Crtt'^Th!  ''"'■'■^  °^  English  Dutch,  and  European 
liberty.     The  coming  year  1588  had  been  long  spoken 


stante  le  tante  speranze  che  m'  eravano 

state  date  della  venuta  del  commissarii 

dl  Vra  Mta,  la  cosa  si  va  tuttavla  tirando 

al  lunqro,  io  non  posso  se  non  dubitare  ch' 

ella  habbia  mutato  d*  opinione,  e  seben 

10  cro  quasi  rtsolutodi  non  ci  pensar  piu. 

tuttavia  ritomandosene  per  di  la  U  detto' 

Andrea  ml  parse  di  scriver  ancor  questl 

pochl  versi,  tanto  per  non  perder  T  occa- 

Blone  di  baciar  humilte  le  mani  a  Vra 

Mau  quanto   per    assigiiraria  che    non 

restara  per  me,  che  la  rlsoluzione  prcsa, 

non  passi  avanti,  e  che  succedendo  altri- 

mente  ne  saro  scnsato  inanzl  a  Dlo  et  al 

niondo,  e  havero  almeno  satisfatto  a  me 


medeslmo,  d'  haver  fatto  quello  che  1' 
obligoChristiano.et  di  persona  deslderosa 
del  bene  e  riposo  publico  m'  obligara." 

Parma  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  2£iJ?   15Q7 

Nov  9'   *°°'» 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  The  Lords  to  "A.  de  Loo.  11  Nov 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

And  if  blunt  Sir  Roger  Williams  had 
been  standing  by  when  the  remark  was 
made,  he  might  have  exclaimed,  with  his 
countryman,  honest  Hugh  Evans,  "Good 
worts,  good  worts— good  cabbage  i" 

«  Ibid.  ^*  ■ 


I 


♦  ■' 


/ 


288 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


1587. 


PHILIP  AT  HIS  WRITIXG-TABLE. 


of  in  prophecy,  as  the  year  of  doom,  perhaps  of  the 
destraction  of  the  world,  but  it  was  in  1687,  the  year  of 
expectation  and  preparation,  that  the  materials  were 
slowly  combining  out  of  which  that  year's  history  was 

to  be  formed. 

And  there  sat  the  patient  letter-writer  in  his  cabinet, 
busy  with  his  schemes.  His  grey  head  was  whitening 
fast.  He  was  sixty  years  of  age.  His  frame  was 
slight,  his  figure  stooping,  his  digestion  very  weak,  his 
manner  more  glacial  and  sepulchral  than  ever ;  but  if 
there  were  a  hard-working  man  in  Europe,  that  man 
was  Philip  II.  And  there  he  sat  at  his  table,  scrawling 
his  apostilles.  The  fine  innumerable  threads  which 
stretched  across  the  surface  of  Christendom,  and  covered 
it  as  with  a  net,  all  converged  in  that  silent  cheerless 
cell.  France  was  kept  in  a  state  of  perpetual  civil  war ; 
the  Netherlands  had  been  converted  into  a  shambles ; 
Ireland  was  maintained  in  a  state  of  chronic  rebellion  ; 
Scotland  was  torn  with  internal  feuds,  regularly  organ- 
ized and  paid  for  by  Philip  ;  and  its  young  monarch— 
"  that  lying  King  of  Scots,"  as  Leicester  called  him— 
was  kept  in  a  leash  ready  to  be  slipped  upon  England 
when  his  master  should  give  the  word;  and  England 
herself  was  palpitating  with  the  daily  expectation  of 
seeing  a  disciplined  horde  of  brigands  let  loose  upon 
her  shores;  and  all  this  misery,  past,  present,  and 
future,  was  almost  wholly  due  to  the  exertions  of 
that  gray-haired  letter-writer  at  his  peaceful  library 

table. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  year  the  King  of  Den- 
mark had  made  an  offer  to  Philip  of  mediation.  The 
letter,  entrusted  to  a  young  Count  de  Rantzan,  had  been 
intercepted  by  the  States— the  envoy  not  having  availed 
himself,  in  time,  of  his  diplomatic  capacity,  and  having 
in  consequence  been  treated,  for  a  moment,  like  a 
prisoner  of  war.  The  States  had  immediately  addressed 
earnest  letters  of  protest  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  declaring 
that  nothing  which  the  enemy  could  do  in  war  was  half 
so  horrible  to  them  as  the  mere  mention  of  peace.  Life, 
honour,  religion,  liberty,  their  all,  were  at  stake,  they 
said,  and  would  go  down  in  one  universal  shipwreck,  if 
peace  should  be  concluded;  and  they  implored  her 
Majesty  to  avert  the  proposed  intercession  of  the  Danish 


289 


Kmg.i     Wilkes  wrote  to  Walsingham,*  denouncing  that 
monarch  and    his  ministers  as  stipendiaries  of  Spain 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Duke  of   Parma   K 
courteously  thanking  the  King  for  his  offer  of  mediat^n 
described  him  to  Philip  as  such  a  dogged  heretic  »thrf 
no  good  was  to  be  derived  from  him,  f^   by  m;etS 

Ke'S t  """T-  ^^f  ^°  ''^'''''y  fraudu^lent\-e";on^^^^ 
Iheie  will  be  nothing  lost,  said  Alexander,  by  affecting 
to  listen  to  his  proposals,  and  meantime  your  Majestf 
must  proceed  with  the  preparations  against  EngS 
Ihis  was  in  the  first  week  of  the  year  1587 

In  J^ebruary  and  almost  on  the  very  day  when  Parma 
was  ^vn-iting  those    affectionate   letters    to   Elizabeth 
breathing  nothing  but  peace,  he  was  carefully  connin- 

liiV  flT''"'''  ^"  'l^''^  *^  '^'  all-impoi4nt  bus^ 
ness  of  the  invasion.     He  was  informed  by  his  master 
that  one  hundred  vessels,  forty  of  them  of  largest  size' 
were  quite  ready,  together  with  12,000  Spanish  infant^' 
i;^  uding  3000  of  the  old  legion,  and  Wt  there  weYj 

nofP  h.   '•r'^A*^''  T"":'^^'-'     ^^i^^P  ^^^  ^l«o  taken 
note,  he  said,  of  Alexander's  advice  as  to  choosin^r  the 
season  when  the^crops  in  England  had  just  been  .tt  in 
as  the  harvest  of  so  fertile  a  country  would  easily  sup: 

ZlfZ  '""^^^'"l^  iTr '\^^*  ^^  ^^^i«^d  nevertheless 

W «     FinT  "^r!\\'  *^r"S^^^  victualled  at  start- 

ig.      Finding  that  Alexander  did  not  quite  approve  of 

n^l  r  V"'*  '^  ^.P^^'  ^^^  ^^"^^  ^^^-"«id^-  t^hl  point 
somo  nth.  "^T  "^  -^1  ^l'  "f .  ^^'^^'  '  b"*  P^^l^-P«  «til 
Xh  1    L^-  ''''•"'^^u  *  ^^  discovered,  a  descent  upon 

nd  oorfl^      ""'^r  '^^l^l^^y^^^^  still  greater  terror 
and  confusion.     It  would  be  difficult  for  him  he  said 
to  grant  the  GOOO  men  asked  for  by  the  Scotch  maW 
tents,  without  seriously  weakening  his  armad^i ;    but 

tZ%Zt  ^f  Ti  "^f'''^'.  7^"^^^'  ^^^  ^  ^«^^^^^d  action 
IhlV  T^""*'^  ^^J^^T]  *^'^^"  adherents  was  indispen- 
renfnn^  '!r*'  -^'i  ^^'^  ^^"^-  ^^^  ^^^^  profoundly 
ho?n'  n  ''^'^^!''  '"^  ^^'^"^  ^^^'  ^^  K«^^  ^a^  anything 
been  allowed  to  transpire.  Alexander  was  warned 
tlierefore  to  do  his  best  to  maintain  the  mystery,  for  the 

^^J  Bor.  il.  xxil.  945-948.  Meteren,  xli.    Plnlip.  lo  Jan.  1587.  (Arcb.  dcSimancas. 

(J^.V^^Offl^  J?,^^*'^'"^'^*™.  3  Dec.  1586.        4  li„d. 

*  "Em^mido^reire"  kc     P„rr«    .      ,  .*  ^;»'i»P  "■  to  Parma.  28  Feb.  158T. 
VOL     II  Parma  to    (Arch,  dc  Simanras,  MS.)        e  ibid.   . 


290 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVII. 


enemy  was  trying  very  hard  to  penetrate  their  actions 
and  their  thoughts.^ 

And  certainly  Alexander  did  his  best.  He  replied  to 
his  master,  by  tiansmitting  copies  of  the  letters  he  had 
been  writing  with  his  own  hand  to  the  Queen,  and  of 
the  pacific  messages  he  had  sent  her  through  Champagny 
and  De  Loo.*  She  is  just  now  somewhat  confused,  said 
he,  and  those  of  her  counsellors  who  desire  peace  are 
more  eager  than  ever  for  negotiation.  She  is  very  much 
afflicted  with  the  loss  of  Deventer,  and  is  quarrelling 
with  the  French  ambassador  about  the  new  conspiracy 
for  her  assassination.  The  opportunity  is  a  good  one, 
and  if  she  writes  an  answer  to  my  letter,  said  Alexander, 
we  can  keep  the  negotiation  alive ;  while,  if  she  does  not, 
'twill  be  a  proof  that  she  has  contracted  leagues  with 
other  parties.  But,  in  any  event,  the  Duke  fervently 
implored  Philip  not  to  pause  in  his  preparations  for  the 
great  enterprise  which  he  had  conceived  in  his  royal 
breast."  So  urgent  for  the  invasion  was  the  peace-loving 
general. 

He  alluded  also  to  the  supposition  that  the  quarrel 
between  her  Majesty  and  the  French  envoy  was  a  mere 
fetch,  and  only  one  of  the  results  of  Bellievre's  mission. 
Whether  that  diplomatist  had  been  sent  to  censure,  or  in 
reality  to  approve,  in  the  name  of  his  master,  of  the 
Scottish  Queen's  execution,  Alexander  would  leave  to  be 
discussed  by  Don  Bernardino  de  Mendoza,  the  Spanish 
ambassador  in  Paris;  but  he  was  of  opinion  that  the 
anger  of  the  Queen  with  France  was  a  fiction,  and  her 
supposed  league  with  France  and  Germany  against  Spain 
a  fact.*  Upon  this  point,  as  it  appears  from  Secretary 
Walsingham's  lamentations,  the  astute  Famese  was  mis- 
taken. In  tnith  he  was  frequently  led  into  error  by 
attributing  to  the  English  policy  the  same  serpentine 
movement  and  venomous  purpose  which  characterized 
his  own ;  and  we  have  already  seen,  that  Elizabeth  was 
ready,  on  the  contrary,  to  quanel  with  the  States,  with 
France,  with  all  the  world,  if  she  could  only  secure  the 
good-will  of  Philip. 

The  French  matter,  indissolubly  connected  in  that 
monarch's  schemes,  with  his  designs  upon  England  and 


>  Philip  to  Parma,  MS.  last  cited.  (Arch,  de  Slmancas,  MS.) 

»  Parma  to  Philip  11.  22  March,  1687.       »  Ibid. 


1587.       HIS  PLOTS  WITH  PARMA  AGAINST  ENGLAND.       291 
Holland,  was  causing  Alexander  much  anxietv     Hp 

iXvaf  L'*&'*^ '".  r^t"^^  *^^*  "d^JnsaS: 
civil  war  m  i- ranee,  and  thought  that  a  peace  mig-ht 

some  fine  day  be  declared  between  Henry  mardTh' 
Huguenots^  when  least  expected.  In  consequence  L 
VhlL^     ^^-^   ^^   becoming   very   importunate    for 

J^  '    V       ,  *"''  ^"'■y  greatest  earnestness  and  uttpr« 
nothing  but   lamentations  and   cries  of  misery  ■     H« 
asked  for  25,000  of  the  150.000  ducatf  pr^mi  ^d  him 
I  gave  them.     Soon  afterwards  he  writes  with  fust  a.! 
much  anxiety,  for  25,000  more.     These  I  dTd  no  gTve 
hi^ly,  because  I  had  them  not "  (which  would  seem  a 

protect  m^tter^'  "and  secondly';  because  I  wished  t^ 
protiact  matters  as  much  as  possible.     Ho  is  constantlv 

d!.cats  Tn^r'  f  ^"°"''  '^'^•''»*y'^  P'«--«   of  ?00  oJo 
ducats,  in  case  ho  comes  to  a  rupture  with  the  Kina-  of 

keTali  "^S:^'  ---  ^"^  *^*  ^-^  ''^^'^ 
^:^P^^  ^JTeSst^orSVid™ 

f*J  ;•,,  T^^^  ^'^'ds  *e  sum  demanded  by  them   but 
not  till  after  they  had  done  the  deed  agreed  upoT"  and 

maUer'forT  T'  '^  '^'^"'^'?'*-  ^^  -''•  *°  ^eL  that 
t  to  the  T),,tt  ^''1"'°*'  ^"t  *°  '"^^^^  t''^  decision  upon 

nllnned^f^lt  Tt-  ''"P*  ^''  sovereign  minutely 
imonued  of  the  negotiations  carried  on  thrSu-h  Cham- 

hftl:  O  ^'  ''°°'  "^"^  ^^P"'^^'"^  »•■■«  constant  opinrn 
that  the  Queen  was  influenced  by  motives  as  hvpocri- 
tical  as  his  own.     She  was  only  seeking   he  elfd    to 

JeSi I'^'Tf'  "?  P"*  ^'"^  *°  «'-P'  bf those  f'Jked 
w1?h  wl  '  ^n  '''^  "^^  '"^'''"g  l»er  combinations 
w^  n!  2tL^f  K '™'"y  'f  '^^  "^^  «f  Sp«i«-    There 

cZnellodft  .  v.'^'P"''"^  ^^"^  •>«''  «^°<^Pt  ^-he  was 
compelled  thereto  by  pure  necessity."    The  Eno'lish  he 

said,  were  hated  and  abhorred  by  the  natives  of  Holli 

and  Zeeland,'and  it  behoved  Philip  to  seize  so  favourable 


*  Ibid. 


clarandome  lastimas  y  miserias"    MS 
Letter  of  Parma  to  I^hiUp.  last  cited. 

*  Ibid. 

ix    K^'ll'^o  ^   ^^'^^'   ^P"l  15.    1587. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 

*  "No  es  aguardar   de  eUa  ninguna 


necesidad."    Parma  to  PhJlipri2'"*Aprir 
1587.    (Arch,  de  Siraancas,  MS.) 

»  "  Odiados  y  aborrecidos  de  los  na- 
nJ^!^^  do  Olanda  y  Zelauda."  (Parma  to 
Philip,  MS.  last  cited.) 


i. 
I 


U 


2 


292 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XYII. 


an  opportunity  for  urging  on  his  great  plan  with  all  the 
speed  in  the  world.     It  might  be  that  the  Queen,  seeing 
these  mighty  preparations,  even  although  not  suspecting 
that  she  herself  was  to  be  invaded,  would  tremble  fur 
her  safety,  if  the  Netherlands  should  be  crushed.     But 
if  she  succeeded  in  deceiving  Spain,  and  putting  Philip 
and  Famia  to  sleep,  she  might  well  boast  of  having  made 
fools  of  them  all.^     The  negotiations  for  peace  and  the 
preparations  for  the  invasion  should  go  simultaneously 
forward,  therefore,  and  the  money  would,  in  consequence, 
come  more  sparingly  to  the  Provinces  from  the  English 
coffers,  and  the  disputes  between  England  and  the  States 
would  be  multiplied.     The  Duke  also  begged  to  be  in- 
formed whetlier  any  tenns  could  be  laid  down,  upon 
which  the  King  really  would  conclude  peace,  in  order 
that  he  might  make  no  mistake  for  want  of  instructions 
or  requisite  powers.     The  condition  of  France  was  be- 
coming more  alarming  every  day,  he  said.     In  other 
words,  there  was  an  ever-growing  chance  of  peace  for 
that  distracted  country.     The  Queen  of  England  was 
cementing  a  strong  league  between  herself,  the  French 
King,  and  the  Huguenots,   and  matters  were  looking 
very  serious.     The  impending  peace  in  France  would 
never  do,  and  Philip  should  prevent  it  in  time  by  giving 
Mucio  his  money.     Unless  the  French  are  entangled  and 
at  war  among  themselves,  it  is  quite  clear,  said  Alex- 
ander, that  we  can  never  think  of  carrying  out  our  great 
scheme  of  invading  England.* 

The  King  thoroughly  concurred  in  all  that  was  said 
and  done  by  his  fiiithful  governor  and  general,  lie  had 
no  intention  of  concluding  a  peace  on  any  terms  what- 
ever, and  therefore  could  name  no  conditions ;  but  he 
quite  approved  of  a  continuance  of  the  negotiations. 
The  English,  he  was  convinced,  were  utterly  false  on 
their  part,  and  the  King  of  Denmark's  proposition  to 
mediate  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  same  general  fiction. 
He  was  quite  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  giving  Mucio 
the  money  to  prevent  a  pacification  in  France,  and  would 
send  letters  of  exchange  on  Agostino  Spinola  for  the 

1  "  Se  pcjdrla  jactar  de  habor  nos  bur-  pensar  a  la   efoctuacion    dol    nepocio. 

lado."    (Parma  u>  Philip.  MS.  last  citKi.)  Parma  to  Philip,  12  April,  15s7.    (Arch. 

>  "  Sin  quedar  embarazados  los  fran-  de  Simancas,  MS.) 
ceses  entre  si  es  claro  quo  no  se  podria 


1587. 


PHILIP'S  LETTERS  TO  PARMA. 


293^ 


i 


300,000  ducats.  Meantime  Famese  wasto  go  on  steadily 

with  his  preparations  fur  the  invasion.^ 

The  secretary  of  state,  Don  Juan  de  Idiaquez,  also 
wrote  most  earnestly  on  the  great  subject  to  the  Duke. 
"It  18  not  to  be  exaggerated,"  he  said,  *' how  set  his 
Majesty  is  m  the  all-impoi-tant  business.  If  you  wish 
to  manifest  towards  him  the  most  flattering  obedience 
on  earth,  and  to  oblige  him  as  much  as  you  could  wish, 
give  him  this  great  satisfaction  this  year.  Since  you  have 
money,  prepare  everything  out  there,  conquer  all  diffi- 
culties, and  do  the  deed  so  soon  as  the  forces  of  Spain 
and  Italy  arrive,  according  to  the  plan  laid  down  by 
your  Excellency  last  year.  Make  use  of  tlie  negotiations  for 
peace  for  this  one  purpose,  and  no  more,  and  do  the  business 
like  the  man  you  are.  Attribute  the  liberty  of  this 
advice  to  my  desire  to  serve  you  more  than  any  other, 
to  my  knowledge  of  how  much  you  will  thereby  gratify 
his  Majesty,  and  to  my  fear  of  his  resentment  towards 
you,  in  the  contrar}-  case.'"* 

^And,  on  the  same  day,  in  order  that  there  might  be  no 
doubt  of  the  royal  sentiments,  I'hilip  expressed  himself 
at  length  on  the  whole  subject.  The  dealings  of  Farnese 
with  the  English,  and  his  feeding  them  with  hopes  of 
peace,  would  have  given  him  more  satisfaction,  he  ob- 
served, if  it  had  caused  their  preparations  to  slacken ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  their  boldness  had  increased! 
They  had  perpetrated  the  inhuman  murder  of  the  Queen 
of  Scots,  and  moreover,  not  content  with  their  piracies 
at  sea  and  in  the  Indies,  they  had  dared  to  invade  the 
ports  of  Spain,  as  would  appear  in  the  narrative  trans- 
mitted to  Farnese  of  the  late  events  at  Cadiz.  And 
although  that  damage  icas  small,  said  Philip,  there  resulted 
a  very  great  obligation  to  take  them  seriously  in  hand.* 


'  Philip  to  Parma.  15  April,  1587. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 

^  "  No  se  puede  enairecer  quan  puesto 
estA  su  Mag<J  en  el  negocio  princi|ial  (the 
invasion  of  Kngland).  Si  V'ra  Ex^'^  le 
quierc  hazer  la  mayor  lisonja  de  la  tierra, 
y  obligarla  a  quanto  quislere,  de  le  este 
contentamto  este  afio,  y  pues  tiene  dinero 
preiMire  ttxlo  lo  de  alhl,  y  venca  las  difi- 
cultadeay  haga  el  efeto  que  a  tiemix)  lle- 
para  lo  de  Kspafla  y  Italia,  piira  el  q  V'a 
ilxca  dezia  el  afio  pasado,  y  sirva  se  de 


Io8  tratos  de  paz  para  este  mlsmo  fin.  no 
mas,  y  haga  ej-to  hecho  tan  de  qulen  es, 
y  atrlbnya  Vra  Exu.  la  llbertad  desto  aviso 
a  lu  q  deseo  servirle  mas  que  nadie,  y  a 
lo  que  viHj  que  obligara  a  su  JIagtl  con 
ello,  y  lo  que  temo  que  sentiria  lo  a)n- 
trarlo."  Don  Juan  de  Idiariuez  to  Parma, 
13  May,  1587.  (Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 
3  Y  aunque  el  dafio  fue  poco  es  ya 
mucha  la  obligaclon  de  yr  les  muy  de 
vera*  a  la  mano."  Plilllp  to  Parma  13 
May,  1587.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  ^S.) 


r 


294 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CiiAr.  XVH. 


1587. 


WONDEIIFUL  DUPLICITY  OF  PHILIP. 


295 


He  declined  sending  fuU  powers  for  treating ;  but  in  order 
to  make  use  of  the  same  aiis  employed  by  the  Eng:li8h, 
he  preferred  that  Alexander  shoiild  not  undeceive  them, 
but  desired  him  to  express,  as  out  of  his  own  head,  to  tlie 
negotiators,  his  astonishment  that  while  they  weie 
holding  such  language  they  should  commit  such  actions. 
Even  their  want  of  pmdence  in  thus  provoking  the 
King,  when  their  strength  was  compared  to  his,  should 
be  spoken  of  by  Faraese  as  wonderful,  and  he  was  to 
express  the  opinion  that  his  Majesty  would  think  him 
much  wanting  in  circumsjxjction,  should  he  go  on  nego- 
tiating while  they  were  playing  such  tricks.  "\ou 
must  show  yourself  very  sensitive  about  this  event," 
continued  Thilip,  *'  and  you  must  give  them  to  under- 
stand that  I  am  quite  as  angiy  as  you.  You  must  try  to 
draw  from  them  some  offer  of  satisfaction— however 
false  it  will  be  in  reality — such  as  a  proposal  to  recal 
the  fleet,  or  an  assertion  that  the  deeds  of  Drake  in 
Cadiz  were  without  the  knowledge  and  contrary  to  the 
will  of  the  Queen,  and  tliat  she  verj^  much  regrets  them, 
or  something  of  that  sort."  ^ 

It  has  been  already  shown  that  Famese  was  very 
successful  in  eliciting  from  the  Queen,  through  the 
mouth  of  Lord  Burghley,  as  ample  a  disavowal  and 
repudiation  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  as  the  King  could 
possibly  desire.  Whether  it  would  have  the  desired 
effect  of  allaying  the  wrath  of  Philip,  might  have  been 
better  foretold,  could  the  letter,  with  which  we  are 
now  occupied,  have  been  laid  upon  the  Greenwich 
council-board. 

"  \\  hen  you  have  got  such  a  disavowal,"  continued 
his  Majesty,  *'  you  are  to  act  as  if  entirely  taken  in  and 
imposed  upon  by  them,  and,  pretending  to  believe 
everything  they  tell  you,  you  must  renew  the  negotia- 
tions, proceed  to  name  commissioner,  and  propose  a 
meeting  upon  neutral  territory.*  As  for  powers,  say 
that  you,  as  my  govenior-general,  will  entrust  them  to 
your  deputies,  in  regard  to  the  Netherlands.  For  all 
other  matters,  say  that  you  have  had  full  powers  fur 
many  months,  but  that  you  cannot  exhibit  them  until 


»  Philip  to  Parma,  13  May,  1587.  (MS. 
last  cited.) 
»  "  Y  tntonces  hazer  vos  del  cngafiado 


y  qne  creyendo  lo  que  os  dlren  de  nuovo 
volvays  a  la  platlca,"  &c.  (MS.  last  cittd.) 


conditions  worthy  of  my  acceptance  have  been  offered. 
Say  this  only  for  the  sake  of  appearance.*  This  is  the 
true  way  to  take  them  in,  and  so  the  peace-commis- 
sioners may  meet.  But  to  you  only  do  I  declare  that 
my  intention  is  that  this  shall  never  lead  to  any  result,  whatever 
conditions  rmy  he  offered  hy  them.  On  the  contraiy,  all  this 
is  done— just  as  they  do— to  deceive  them,  and  to  cool 
them  in  their  preparations  for  defence,  by  inducing 
them  to  believe  that  such  preparations  will  be  unneces- 
sary.* You  are  well  aware  that  tJie  reverse  of  all  this  is  the 
truth,  and  that  on  our  part  there  is  to  be  no  slackness, 
but  the  greatest  diligence  in  our  efforts  for  the  invasion 
of  England,  for  which  we  have  already  made  the  most 
abundant  provision  in  men,  ships,  and  money,  of  which 
you  are  well  aware."  * 

Is  it  strange  that  the  Queen  of  England  was  de- 
ceived? Is  it  matter  of  surprise,  censure,  or  shame, 
that  no  English  statesman  was  astute  enough  or  base 
enough  to  contend  with  such  diplomacy,  which  seemed 
inspired  only  by  the  very  father  of  lies? 

"  Although  we  thus  enter  into  negotiations,"  con- 
tinued the  King— unveiling  himself,  with  a  solemn 
indecency,  not  agreeable  to  contemplate —  "  without 
any  intention  of  concluding  them,  you  can  always  get 
out  of  them  with  great  honour,  by  taking  umbrage 
about  the  point  of  religion  and  about  some  other  of  the 
outrageous  propositions  which  they  are  like  to  propose, 
and  of  which  there  are  plenty  in  the  letters  of  Andrew 
de  Loo.*  Your  commissioners  must  be  instructed  to 
refer  all  important  matters  to  your  personal  decision. 
The  English  will  bo  asking  for  damages  for  money 
spent  in  assisting  my  rebels ;  your  commissioners  will 
contend  that  damages  are  rather  due  to  me.  Thus,  and 
in  other  ways,  time  will  be  spent.  Your  own  envoys 
are  not  to  know  the  secret  any  more  than  the  English 
themselves.  I  tell  it  to  you  only.  Thus  you  will  ^pro- 
ceed with  the  negotiations,  now  yielding  on  one  point, 
and  now  insisting  on  another,  but  directing  all  to  the 

■  "  Que  es  camino  dlsimulado."  (MS. 
last  cited.) 

2  ••  pero  con  vos  solo  rae  aclaro  que  mia 
intenclon  no  es  de  que  aquoUo  Ucpue  a 
effcto  con  nlngunas  condlclones,  sino  que 
todo  esto  86  tome  por  medio,  como  lo 
hazcu  eUoii,do  entretenerlosy  eufrimlos," 


&c.    (Ibid.)  3  Ibid, 

*  "Con  mucha  honra,  desconcertan- 
dovos  sobre  el  puntu  de  la  religion  o  otro 
de  lo8  desaforados,  que  ellos  ban  de  pr<>- 
poner,  que  harto  lo  son  log  del  papel  de 
Andrea  de  Loo."    (MS.  last  cite^J 


i 


296 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


1587.  HIS  SANGUINE  VIEWS  AS  TO  ENGLAND. 


297 


same  object — to  gain  time  while  proceeding  with  the 
preparation  for  the  invasion,  according  to  the  plan 
already  agreed  upon."  * 

Certainly  the  Most  Catholic  King  seemed,  in  this 
remarkable  letter,  to  have  outdone  himself ;  and  Famese 
that  sincere  Farnese,  in  whoso  loyal,  truth-telling,  chi- 
valrous character,  the  Queen  and  her  counsellors  placed 
such  implicit  reliance — could  thencefoi-ward  no  longer 
be  embarrassed  as  to  the  course  he  was  to  adopt.  To 
lie  daily,  through  thick  and  thin,  and  with  ever}' 
variety  of  circumstance  and  detail  which  a  genius 
fertile  in  fiction  could  suggest,  such  was  the  simple 
rule  prescribed  by  his  sovereign.  And  the  rule  was 
implicitly  obeyed,  and  the  English  sovereign  thoroughly 
deceived.  The  secret  confided  only  to  the  faithful 
breast  of  Alexander  was  religiously  kept.  Even  the 
Pope  was  outwitted.  His  Holiness  proposed  to  Philip 
the  invasion  of  England,  and  oftered  a  million  to  further 
the  plan.  He  was  most  desirous  to  be  informed  if  the 
project  was  resolved  upon,  and,  if  so,  when  it  was  to 
be  accomplished.  The  King  took  the  Pope's  million, 
but  refused  the  desired  information.  He  answered 
evasively.  He  had  a  very  good  will  to  invade  the 
country,  he  said,  but  there  were  gi*eat  difficulties  in 
the  way.*  After  a  time,  the  Pope  again  tried  to  pry 
into  the  matter,^  and  again  offered  the  million,  which 
Philip  had  only  accepted  for  the  time  when  it  might 
be  wanted,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  to  understand 
that  it  was  not  necessaiy  at  that  time,  because  there 
were  then  great  impediments.  *'  Thus  he  is  pledged 
to  give  me  the  subsidy,  and  1  am  not  pledged  for  the 
time,"  said  Philip,  "  and  I  keep  my  secret,  which  is  the 
most  important  of  all.*'  * 

Yet,  after  all,  Farnese  did  not  see  his  way  clear 
towards  the  consummation  of  the  plan.  His  array  had 
wofully  dwindled,  and  before  he  could  seriously  set 
about  ulterior  matters,  it  would  be  necessary  to  take 
the  city  of  Sluys.     This  was  to  prove — as  already  seen 

1  "  Podreys  yr  afioxando  en  unos  pun-    de  Simancas,  MS.) 

tos,  y  aftrmundo  en  otros,  todo  enderezado       '  "  Se  ha  venldo  de  rodear."    (Ibid.) 
al  nilsino  fin  por  ganar  tiempo,  prepa-       *  "  Por  tenirlo  prendado  en  la  ayuda, 

raudo  tutlo  con  diHgenza  segun  la  traza  y  de  no  preudarme  yo  en  lo  tlenipo,  y 

concebida."  &c.    (MS.  last  cited.)  mas  por  el  sfcrtto  que  es  la  cosa  prlii- 

2  PbilliJ  to  Parma,  5  June,  1587.  (Arch,  cipal."    (ibid.) 


—a  most  arduous  enterprise.    He  complained  to  Philip » 
of  his  inadequate  supplies  both  in   men  and  money. 
The  project  conceived  in  the  royal  breast  was  worth 
spending  millions  for,  he  said  ;  and  although  by  zeal  and 
devotion  he  could  accomplish  something,  yet  after  all 
he  was  no  more  than  a  man,  and  without  the  necessary 
means  the  scheme  could  not  succeed.*     But  Philip,  on 
the  contrary,  was  in  the  highest  possible  spirits.     He 
had  collected  more  money,  he  declared,  than  had  ever 
been  seen  before  in  the  world. ^     He  had  two  million 
ducats    in   reserve,    besides    the   Pope's    million,   the 
French  were  in  a  most  excellent  state  of  division,  and 
the  invasion  should  be  made  this  year  without   fail. 
The  fleet  would  arrive  in  the  English  Channel  by  the 
end  of  the  summer,  which  would  be  exactly  in  con- 
formity with  Alexander's  ideas.     The  invasion  was  to 
be  threefold:    from  Scotland,  under  the  Scotch   earls 
and  their  followers,  with  the  money  and  troops  fur- 
nished by  Philip ;  from  the  Netherlands,  under  Parma ; 
and  by  the  great  Spanish  armada  itself,  upon  the  Isle 
of  Wight.     Alexander  must  recommend  himself  to  God, 
in  whose  cause  ho  was  acting,  and  then  do  his  duty, 
which  lay  very  plain  before  him.     If  he  ever  wished 
to  give  his  sovereign  satisfaction  in  his  life,  he  was  to 
do  the  deed  that  year,  whatever  might  betide.*     Never 
could  there  be  so  fortunate  a  conjunction  of  circum- 
stances again.     France  was  in  a  state  of  revolution,  the 
German  levies  were  weak,  the  Turk  was  fully  occupied 
in  Persia,  an  enormous  mass  of  money,  over  and  above 
the  Pope's  million,  had  been  got  together,  and  although 
the  season  was  somewhat  advanced,  it  was  certain  that 
the  Duke  would  conquer  all  impediments,  and  be  the 
instrument  by  which  his  royal  master  might  render  to 
God  that  service  which  he  was  so  anxious  to  perform. 
Enthusiastic,  though  gouty,  Philip  grasped  the  pen  in 
order  to  scrawl  a  few  words  with  his  own  royal  hand. 
"  This  business  is  of  such  importance,"  he  said,  '*  and 


»  Parma  to  Philip,  31  May,  1587. 
(Arch,  de  Simaucas,  MS.) 

2  Ibid. 

'  He  had  sent,  he  said,  besides  the 
regular  remittances,  700,000  ducats,  and 
tiicre  were  then  coming  2,300,000  ducats, 
additional— 300,000  of  which   wei«  for 


Mucio,  in  ease  of  rupture  with  the  French 
king.  Otherwise  not  a  penny  was  to  be 
diverted  from  the  great  cause.  Philip  to 
Famese, 5  June,  1587.  (Arch. de  Simancas, 

MS.) 

*  Philip  toParma,  5  June,  1587.  (Arch, 
de  Simancas,  MS.) 


4 


298 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


it  is  so  necessary  that  it  should  not  be  delayed,  that  I 
cannot  refrain  from  urging  it  upon  you  as  much  as  I 
can.  I  should  do  it  even  more  amply,  if  this  hand 
would  allow  me,  which  has  been  crippled  with  gout 
these  several  days,  and  my  feet  as  well,  and  although 
it  is  unattended  with  pain,  yet  it  is  an  impediment  to 
writing." ' 

Struggling  thus  against  his  own  difficulties,  and 
triumphantly  accomplishing  a  whole  paragraph  witli 
disabled  hand,  it  was  natural  that  the  King  should 
expect  Alexander,  then  deep  in  the  siege  of  tSluys,  to 
vanquish  ail  his  obstacles  as  successfully,  and  to  eifect 
the  conquest  of  England  so  soon  as  the  harvests  of  that 
kingdom  should  be  garnered. 

Sluys  was  surrendered  at  last,  and  the  great  enter- 
prise seemed  ripening  from  hour  to  hour.  During  the 
months  of  autumn,  upon  the  very  days  when  those 
loving  messages,  mixed  with  gentle  reproaches,  were 
sent  by  Alexander  to  Elizabeth,  and  almost  at  the  self- 
same hours  in  which  honest  Andrew  de  Loo  was 
getting  such  head-aches  by  drinking  the  Queen's  health 
with  Cosimo  and  Champagny,  the  Duke  and  Philip 
were  interchanging  detailed  infoiTaation  as  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  invasion.  The  King  calculated  that  by  the 
middle  of  September  Alexander  would  have  30,000 
men  in  the  Netherlands  ready  for  embarkation.  Mar- 
quis Santa  Cruz  was  announced  as  nearly  ready  to  sail 
for  the  English  Channel  with  22,000  more,  among 
whom  were  to  be  16,000  seasoned  Spanish  infantry. 
The  Marquis  was  then  to  extend  the  hand  to  Tarma, 
and  protect  that  passage  to  England  which  the  Duke 
was  at  (mce  to  effect.  The  danger  might  be  great  for 
so  large  a  fleet  to  navigate  the  seas  at  so  late  a  season 
of  the  year  ;  but  Philip  was  sure  that  God,  whose  cause 
it  was,  would  be  pleased  to  give  good  weather."*  The 
Duke  was  to  send,  with  infinite  precautions  of  seci'ecy, 
information  which  the  Marquis  woukl  expect  off  Ushant, 


»  "  Importa  tanto  esse  negocio,  y'qne 
no  se  dilate,  que  no  puedo  dexar  de  en- 
cargarosle  tx>do  quantu  puedo  y  hlziera  lo 
aun  mas  largaraente  hi  me  dlera  lugar 
esta  mano  que  he  tenido  con  la  gota  estos 
dlas  y  los  pies,  y  aunque  esta  ya  sin  dolor, 
esta  impedida  para  esto."  (MS.  last  citctl.) 


'  '•  Aunque  no  dexa  de  ver  lo  que  ^e 
aventura  en  navegar  con  gniessa  annada 
in  inviemo,  y  por  esse  canal,  sin  lencr 
puerto  cierto ;  y  el  tiempo  plazera  a  Dios 
cuya  es  la  causa  darle  bueno."  Philip  to 
Parma,  4  Sept.  1587.  (Arch  de  Simancas, 
MS.) 


1587.      HE  IS  RELUCTANT  TO  HEAR  OF  THE  OBSTACLES.      299 

and  be  quite  ready  to  act  so  soon  as  Santa  Cruz  should 
arrive.      Most  earnestly  and   anxiously  did  the  Kino- 
deprecate  any  thought  of  deferring  the  expedition  tZ 
another  year.     If  delayed,  the  obstacles  of  the  follow- 
ing summer— a  peace  in  France,  a  peace  between  the 
lurk  and  Persia,  and  other  contingencies— would  cause 
the  whole   project  to  fail,  and  Philip   declared,   with 
much   iteration,   that  money,   reputation,    honour,    his 
own  character  and  that  of  Famese,  and  God's  service, 
were  all  at  stake.^     He  was  impatient  at  suggestions  of 
difhculties   occasionally  ventured   by   the   Duke,   who 
was  reminded  that  he  had  been  appointed  chief  of  the 
great   enterprise   by    the   spontaneous    choice    of    his 
master,  and  that  all  his  plans  had  been  minutely  fol- 
lowed.    "  You  are  the  author  of  the  whole  scheme," 
said  Phihp,  "  and  if  it  is  all  to  vanish  into  space,  what 
kind   of  a   figure   shall   we   cut   the   coming  year?"* 
Again  and  again  he  referred  to  the  immense  sum  col- 
lected—such as  never  before  had  been  seen  since  the 
world  was  made— 4,800,000  ducats  witlf  2,000,000   in 
reserve,  of  which  he  was  authorized  to  draw  for  500,000 
m  advance,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Pope's  million.'* 

But  Alexander,  while  straining  every  nei-ve  to  obey 
his  master's  wishes  about  the  invasion,  and  to  blind 
the  English  by  the  fictitious  negotiations,  was  not  so 
sanguine  as  his  sovereign.  Jn  truth,  there  was  some- 
^ing  puerile  in  the  eagerness  which  Philip  manifested. 
He  had  made  up  his  mind  that  England  was  to  be  con- 
quered that  autumn,  and  had  endeavoured— as  well  as 
he  could— to  comprehend  the  plans  which  his  illus- 
trious general  had  laid  down  for  accomplibhing  that 
purpose.  Of  course,  to  any  man  of  average  intellect, 
or,  m  truth,  to  any  man  outside  a  madhouse,  it  would 
seem  an  essential  part  of  the  conquest  that  the  Armada 
should  arrive.  Yet— wonderful  to  relate— Philip  in  his 
impatience,  absolutely  suggested  that  the  Duke  might 
take  possession  of  England  icithout  waiting  for  ISanta  Cruz 
and  his  Armaxia.  As  the  autumn  had  been  wearing 
away,  and  there  had  been  unavoidable  delays  about  the 

in\^*!Il^^  ^'*™*'  *  ^P*'  ^^®^'    ^^^-    ^"^^  quedariamos  el  afSo  que  viene."  &c 
JUSl  Clt«l.)  pijjjjp  ^^  p^^^^  j^  g^p^  ^^^^      ^^^^  ^^ 

l^  que  V08  solo  seys  autor.    Veed    Simanais.  MS.) 
w  hubiesse  de  caer  todo  en  vacio,  quel  es       3  ibij. 


300 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


1587. 


AND  IMAGINES  PARMA  IN  ENGLAND. 


301 


H 


shipping  in  Spanish  ports,  the  King  thought  it  best  not 
to  defer  matters  till  the  winter.  *'  You  are,  doubtless, 
ready,"  he  said  to  Farnese.  "If  you  think  you  can 
make  the  passage  to  England  before  the  fleet  from  Spain 
arrives,  go  at  once.  You  may  be  sure  that  it  will  come 
ere  long  to  support  you.  But  if  you  prefer  to  wait, 
wait.  The  dangers  of  winter  to  the  fleet  and  to  your 
own  person  are  to  be  regretted,  but  God,  whose  cause 
it  is,  will  protect  you."  * 

It  was  easy  to  sit  quite  out  of  harm's  way,  and  to 
make  such  excellent  arrangements  for  smooth  weather 
in  the  wintry  Channel,  and  for  the^conquest  of  a  mari- 
time and  martial  kingdom  by  a  few  flat  bottoms.  Philip 
had  little  difficulty  on  that  score,  but  the  affairs  of 
Franco  were  not  quite  to  his  mind.  The  battle  of 
Coutras,  and  the  entrance  of  the  German  and  Swiss 
mercenaries  into  that  country,  were  somewhat  perplex- 
ing. Either  those  auxiliaries  of  the  Huguenots  would 
be  defeated,  or  they  would  be  victorious,  or  both  parties 
would  come  to  an  agreement.  In  the  first  event,  the 
Duke,  after  sending  a  little  assistance  to  Mucio,  was  to 
effect  his  passage  to  England  cit  once.  In  the  second 
case,  those  troops,  even  though  successful,  would  doubt- 
less be  so  much  disorganized  that  it  might  be  still  safe 
for  Farnese  to  go  on.  In  the  third  contingency — that 
of  an  accord — it  would  bo  necessary  for  him  to  wait  till 
the  foreign  troops  had  disbanded  and  left  France.  Ho 
was  to  maintain  all  his  forces  in  perfect  readiness,  on 
pretext  of  the  threatening  aspect  of  French  matters, 
and,  so  soon  as  the  Swiss  and  Germans  were  dispersed, 
ho  was  to  proceed  to  business  without  delay.*  The  fleet 
would  be  ready  in  Spain  in  all  November,  but  as  sea- 
affairs  were  so  doubtful,  particularly  in  winter,  and  as 
the  Annada  could  not  reach  the  Chamiel  till  mid- winter, 
the  Dake  was  not  to  icaitfor  its  arriviil.  "  Whenever  you 
see  a  favourable  opportunity,"  said  Philip,  *'  jou  must 
take  care  not  to  lose  it,  even  if  the  fleet  has  not  made 
its  appearance.  For  you  may  be  sure  that  it  will  so(jn 
come  to  give  you  assistance,  in  one  way  or  another.""* 

»  Philip  to  I'anna,  4  Nov.  1587.  (Arch,  de  no  perdcrla.  aimqiie  no  aya  llegado 

de  Simancas,  MS.)  la  armada— siondo  clerto  quo  luego  lUgani 

*  I*hUip  to  Parma,  14  Nov.  1587.    (MS.  a  hazer  espaldaa  y  ayudaros  de  una  mano 
JustcUwl.)  ootra."    (Ibid.) 

*  •'  \  kndo  buena  ocasion  procurays  de 


Farnese  had    also    been    strictly  enjoined   to    deal 
gently  with  the  English,  after  the  conquest,  so  that  they 
would  have  cause  to  love  their  new  master.     His  troops 
were  not  to  forget  discipline  after  victory.     There  was 
to  be  no  pillage  or  rapine.     The  Catholics  were  to  be 
handsomely  rewarded,  and  all  the  inhabitants  were  to 
be  treated  with   so   much  indulgence  that,  instead  of 
abhon-mg  Parma  and  his  soldiers,  thev  would  conceive 
a  strong  affection  for  them  all,  as  the  source  of  so  many 
benefits  ^     Again  the  Duke  was  waimly  commended  for 
the  skill  with  which  he  had  handled  the  peace-negotia- 
tion.    It  was  quite  right  to  appoint  commissioners,  but 
It  was  never  for  an  instant  to  be  forgotten  that  the  sole 
object  of  treating  was  to  take  the  English  unawares 
•'And  therefore  do  you  guide  them  to  this  end,"  said 
the  King  with  pious  unction,  "which  is  what  you  owe 
to  God,  m  whose  sei-vice  I  have  engaged  in  this  enter- 
prise, and  to  whom  I  have  dedicated  the  whole."*     The 
King    of  France,    too— that  unfortunate    Henry  III 
against  whose  throne  and  life  Philip  maintained  m  con' 
stant  pay  an  organized  band  of  conspirators— was  affec- 
tionately adjured,  through  the  Spanish  envoy  in  Paris 
Mendoza   to  reflect  upon  the  advantages  to  France  of  a 
Catholic  king  and  kingdom  of  England,  in  place  of  the 
heretics  now  in  power.^ 

But  Philip,  growing  more  and  more  sanguine,  as 
those  visions  of  fresh  crowns  and  conquered  kingdoms 
rose  before  him  in  his  solitary  cell,  had  even  persuaded 
himself  that  the  deed  was  already  done.  In  the  early 
days  of  December,  he  expressed  a  doubt  whether  his 
14th  November  letter  had  reached  the  Duke,  who  by 
that  time  was  prohaUy  in  EnglamL*  One  would  have 
thought  the  King  addressing  a  tourist  just  starting  on  a 
little  pleasure  excursion.  And  this  was  precisely  the 
moment  when  Alexander  had  been  writing  those  affec- 
tionate phrases  to  the  Queen  which  had  been  considered 
by  the  counsellors  at  Greenwich  so  "princely  and 
thristianly,"  and  which  Croft  had  pronounced  such 
very  good  words." 

de'sirSlnca^MTT'''*^'-''''-^'^"^^-  ''f[!^"    ^Philip  to  Parma,  last  cited.) 

»  »  Por  t^mn^i  Jh            n  ..  ^  '^'"P  ^  ^"  »>mardino  de  Mendoza 

cmUH        ^^    ^'^^'*P^"''^'^''«-^^*'«  4Nov.  15«7.    (Arch,  de  Slmancas    MS  ^ 

pulad  a  esta  hn  que  es  el  que  deve  a  IMos.  *  Phflfp  to  Parma.  11  he^^sS^'fAr^i^ 

pur  cuyo  «>rv,clo  hago  lo  principal,  y  se  de  SimanL.  M^T                        ^ 


302 


THE  IINITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIf. 


If  there  had  been  no  hostile  fleet  to  prevent,  it 
was  to  be  hoped,  said  Philip,  that,  in  the  name  of 
God,  the  passage  had  been  made.  "  Once  landed 
there,"  continued  the  King,  "  I  am  persuaded  that  you 
will  give  me  a  good  account  of  yourself,  and,  with 
the  help  of  our  Lord,  that  you  will  do  that  service 
which  1  desire  to  render  to  Him,  and  that  Tie  will 
guide  our  cause,  which  is  His  own,  and  of  such  great 
importance  to  His  church."*  A  part  of  the  fleet  would 
soon  after  aiTive  and  bring  six  thousand  Spaniards, 
the  Pope's  million,  and  other  good  things,  which  might 
prove  useful  to  Parma,  presupposing  that  they  would 
find  him  established  on  the  enemy's  territory.'' 

This  conviction  that  the  enterprise  had  been  already 
accomplished. grew  stronger  in  the  King's  breast  every- 
day. He  was  only  a  little  disturbed  lest  Farnese 
should  have  misunderstood  that  14th  November  letter. 
Philip— as  his  wont  was— had  gone  into  so  many 
petty  and  puzzling  details,  and  had  laid  down  rules 
of  action  suitable  for  various  contingencies,  so  easy  to 
put  comfortably  upon  paper,  but  which  might  become 
perplexing  in  action,  that  it  was  no  wonder  he  should 
be  a  little  anxious.  The  third  contingency  suggested 
by  him  had  really  occurred.  There  had  been  a  com- 
position between  the  foreign  mercenaries  and  the 
French  King.  Nevertheless  they  had  also  been  once  or 
twice  defeated,  and  this  was  contingency  nmnber  two. 
Now  which  of  the  events  would  the  Duke  consider  as 
having  really  occurred.  It  was  to  be  hoped  that  he 
would  have  not  seen  cause  for  delay,  for  in  truth  number 
three  was  not  exactly  the  contingency  which  existed. 
France  was  still  in  a  very  satisfactory  state  of  discord 
and  rebellion.  The  civil  war  was  by  no  means  over. 
There  was  small  fear  of  peace  that  winter.  Give  Mucio 
his  pittance  with  frugal  hand,  and  that  dangerous  per- 
sonage would  ensure  tranquillity  for  Philip's  project, 
and  misery  for  Henry  III.  and  his  subjects  for  an  inde- 
finite period  longer.  The  King  thought  it  improbable 
that  Farnese  could  have  made  any  mistake.*    He  ex- 

1  "  Y  aviendo  paaado  estoy  muy  per-  cansa  suya  y  tan  importantc  a  su  yglesla.' 

suadido  de  vos  que  con  ayuda  de  Nro  (Ibid.) 

Sofior  me  darey^  la  buena  cuenta  que  dezlo  «  Phil  Ip  to  Parma,  MS.  last  cited, 

que  Bareya  clerto  de  bazerle  el  servlclo  •  Same  to  same,  24  Dec.  1587.    (Arch, 

que  yo  en  esto  pretendo— el  lo  gala  cumo  deSlmancas,  MS.) 


1587.      BUT  ALEXANDER'S  DIFFICULTIES  ARE  GREAT.      303 

pressed  therefore  a  little  anxiety  at  having  received  no 
intelligence  from  him,  but  great  confidence  that,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  own  courage  he  had 
accomplished  the  great  exploit,  Philip  had  only  recom- 
mended delay  in  event  of  a  general  peace  in  France- 
Huguenots,  loyalists.  Leaguers,  and  all.  This  had  not 
happened.  *' Therefore,  I  tnist,"  said  the  King,  -that 
you— perceiving  that  this  is  not  contingency  number 
three  which  was  to  justify  a  pau.se— will  have  already 
executed  the  enterprise,  and  fulfilled  my  desire.  I  am 
confident  that  the  deed  i^  done,  and  that  God  has 
bles-sed  it,  and  I  am  now  expecting  the  news  from  hour 
to  hour."* 

But  Alexander  had  not>et  arrived  in  England.     The 
preliminaries  for  the   conquest  caused  him  more  per- 
plexity than  the  whole  enterpri.se  occasioned  to  Philip 
He  was  very  short  of  funds.     The  five  millions  were 
not  to  be  touched,  except  for  the  expenses  of  the  inva- 
Mon.     But  as  England  was  to  be  subjugated,  in  oi-der 
that  rebellious  Holland    might    be    recovered,  it  was 
hardly  reasonable  to  go  away  leaving  such  inadequate 
forces  in  the  Netherlands  as  to  ensure  not  only  inde- 
pendence to  the  new  republic,  but  to  hold  out  temptation 
for  revolt  to  the  obedient  Provinces.     Yet  this  was  the 
dilemma  in  which  the    Duke    was  placed.     So  much 
money  had  been  set  aside  for  the  grand  project  that 
there  was  scarcely  anything  for  the  regular  military 
business.     The  customary  supplies  had  not  been  sent, 
larma  had    leave  to  draw  for  six  hundred  thousand 
ducats,  and  he  was  able  to  get  that  draft  discounted  on 
the  Antwerp  Exchange  by  consenting  to  receive  five 
hundred  thousand,  or  sacrificing  sixteen  per  cent,  of  the 
sum.*  A  good  number  of  transports  and  scows  had  been 
collected,  but  there  had  been  a  deficiency  of  money  for 
their  proper  equipment,  as  the  five  milfions  had  been 
very  slow  in  coming,  and  were  still  upon  the  road.  The 
whole  enterprise  was  on  the  point  of  being  sacrificed 
according  to  Farnese,  for  want  of  funds.     The  time  for 
doing  the  deed  had  arrived,  and  he  declared  himself 

fVB  J' T  ***  "*°*  ^^^  conoclendo  que  no  es    quedo  aguardando  el  aviso  de  ora  en  era  " 
t^ie  ei  caso  tercero.  en  que  avladcs  de    (Philip  to  Parma.  MS.  last  cited) 

EZnlir'nf,'  ^^^"^<^  ^  «°»P^«*.  y        *  Parma  to  Philip.  18  Sept.  158i.  (Arch. 
cumpUdo  mlo  ^deseo    ....    de  que    de  Slmancas,  MS.) 


304 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XVII. 


incapacitated  by  poverty.  He  expressed  his  disgust  and 
resentment  in  language  more  energetic  than  courtly, 
and  protested  that  he  was  not  to  blame.  **  I  always 
thought,"  said  he,  bitterly,  "  that  your  Majesty  would 
provide  all  that  was  necessary  even  m  superfluity,  and 
not  limit  me  beneath  the  ordinary.  I  did  not  suppose, 
when  it  was  most  important  to  have  ready  money,  that 
I  should  be  kept  short,  and  not  allowed  to  draw  cei-tam 
suras  by  anticipation,  which  I  should  have  done  had  you 

not  forbidden."'  ^    •  i-      v 

This  was  through  life  a  striking  characteristic  ot 
Philip.  Enormous  schemes  were  laid  out  with  utterly 
inadequate  provision  for  their  accomplishment,  and  a 
confident  expectation  entertained  that  wild  visions  were 
in  some  indefinite  way,  to  be  converted  into  substantial 
realities,  without  fatigue  or  personal  exertion  on  his 
part,  and  with  a  very  trifling  outlay  of  ready  money. 

Meantime  the  faithful  Famese  did  his  best.  He  was 
indefatigable  night  and  day  in  getting  his  boats  together 
and  providing  his  munitions  of  war.  He  dug  a  canal 
from  Sas  de  Gand— which  was  one  of  his  principal 
depots— all  the  way  to  Sluys,  because  the  water  com- 
munication between  those  two  points  was  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  Hollanders  and  Zeelanders.  The  rebel 
cmisers  swarmed  in  the  Scheldt,  from  Flushing  almost 
to  Antwerp,  so  that  it  was  quite  impossible  fur  Parma  s 
forces  to  venture  forth  at  all ;  and  it  also  seemed  hope- 
less to  hazard  putting  to  sea  from  Sluys.*  At  the  same 
time  he  had  appointed  his  commissioners'  to  treat  with 
the  Eno'lish  envoys  already  named  by  the  Queen.  There 
had  been  much  delay  in  the  arrival  of  those  deputies, 
on  account  of  the  noise  raised  by  Bameveld  and  his 
followers ;  but  Burghley  was  now  sanguine  that  the 
exposure  of  what  he  called  the  Advocate  s  seditious, 
false,  and  perverse  proceedings,  would  enable  Leicester 
to   procure    the    consent  of   the  States  to  a  universal 

And  thus,  with  these  parallel  schemes  of  invasion  and 


I  Panna  to  Philip,  MS.  last  cited. 

«  Parma  to  Philip.  21  Dec.  1587.  (Arch, 
de  Slmancas,  MS.)  "  Pues  de  razon  Olan- 
deses  y  Zelandeses  solos  estan  siempre  a 
l:i  mira  y  asi  como  tienen  medio  de  estor- 
barnoa  lu  J  unta  y  aallda  de  nuestros  baxeles 


lo  teman  cada  dla  mayor  para  hazer  lo 
misnio  en  el  pasage." 

»  Aremberg,  Champa^jny,  Rlchardot, 
Maas,  Gamier.  Parma  to  Philip,  18  Sept. 
1687.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 


1587.         HE  DENOUNCES  PHILIP'S  WILD  SCHEMES.  305 

negotiation,spring,  summer, and  autumn,  had  worn  away. 
Santa  Cniz  was  still  with  his  fleet  in  Lisbon,  Cadiz,  and 
the  Azores ;  and  Parma  was  in  Brussels,  when  Philip 
fondly  imagined  him  established  in  Greenwich  Palace. 
>\hen  made  aware  of  his  master's  preposterous  expecta- 
tions, Alexander  would  have  been  perhaps  amused,  had 
he  not  been  half  beside  himself  with  indignation.    Such 
folly  seemed  incredible.     There  was  not  the  slightest 
appearance  of  a  possibility  of  making  a  passage  without 
the  protection  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  he  observed.     His 
vessels  were   mere  transport-boats,   without   the  least 
power  of  resisting  an  enemy.      The  Hollanders  and 
Zeelanders,  with  one  hundred  and  forty  cmisers,  had 
shut  him  up  in  all  directions.     He  could  neither  get 
out  from  Antwerp  nor  from  Sluys.     There  were  large 
English  ships,  too,  cruising  in  the  Channel,  and  they 
were  getting  ready  in  the  Netherlands  and  in  England 
most  furiously."  ^     The  delays  had  been  so  greatf  that 
their  secret  had  been  poorly  kept,  and  the  enemy  was 
on  his  guard      If  Santa  Cruz  had   come,  Alexander 
declared  that  he  should  have  already  been  in  England. 
VVhen  he  did  come  he  should  still  be  prepared  to  make 
the  passage ;  but  to  talk  of  such  an  attempt  without  the 
Armada  was  senseless,  and  he  denounced  the  madness 
ot  that  proposition  to  his  Majestv  in  vehement  and  un- 
measured terms.*     His  army,  by  sickness   and   other 
causes    had  been  reduced  to  one-half  the  number  con- 
sidered necessary  for  the  invasion,  and  the  rebels  had 
established  regular  squadrons  in  the  Scheldt,  in  the 
very  teeth  of  the  forts  at  Lillo,  Lief  kenshoek,  Saftingen 
and  other   points  close  to  Antwerp.      There  were  so 
many  of  these  war-vessels,  and  all  in  such  excellent 
order  that  they  were  a  most  notable  embaiTassment  to 
nim,  he  observed,  and  his  own  flotilla  would  run  great 
risk  of  being  utterly  destroyed.     Alexander  had  been 
personally  superintending  matters  at  Sluys,  Ghent,  and 
Antvverp  and  had  strengthened  with  artillery  the  canal 
wnich  he  had  constructed  between  Sas  and  Sluys.    Mean- 
m^l,     '/'^'^  *'*''^P'  ^^^  ^^^^  «^^^^'b'  arriving,  but 

were  dt?^r.  P'r "^^'^r "^-  *^^^^-  The  Italians 
t^Li  ^^^I^g  fast,  almost  all  the  Spaniards  were  in  hos- 
pital, and  the  others  were  so  crippled  and  worn  out 

•  Panna  to  Philip.  21  Dec.  1587.  (Arch,  de  Simancas.  MS.)  z  m^ 


306 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVU. 


t'l 
■ii  1 


I 


that  it  was  most  pitiable  to  behold  them ;  yet  it  was  ab- 
solutely necessary  that  those  who  were  in  health  should 
accompany  him  to  England,*  since  otherwise  his  Spanish 
force  would  be  altogether  too  weak  to  do  the  service 
expected.  He  had  got  together  a  good  number  of  trans- 
ports. Not  counting  his  Antwerp  fleet — which  could 
not  stir  from  port,  as  he  bitterly  complained,  nor  be  of 
any  use,  on  account  of  the  rebel  blockade — he  had 
between  Dunkerk  and  Newport  seventy-four  vessels  of 
various  kinds  fit  for  sea-service,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
flat-bottoms  (pleytas),  and  seventy  river-hoys,  all  which 
were  to  be  assembled  at  Sluys,  whence  they  would— so 
soon  as  Santa  Cruz  should  make  his  appearance— set 
forth  for  England.*  This  force  of  transports  he  pro- 
nounced sufficient,  when  properly  protected  by  the 
Spanish  Armada,  to  carry  himself  and  his  troops  across 
the  Channel.  If,  therefore,  the  matter  did  not  become 
publicly  known,  and  if  the  weather  proved  favourable, 
it  was  probable  that  his  Majesty's  desire  would  soon  be 
fulfilled  according  to  the  plan  proposed.  The  companies 
of  light  horse  and  of  arquebus-men,  with  which  he  meant 
to  make  his  entrance  into  London,  had  been  clothed, 
armed,  and  mounted,  he  said,  in  a  manner  delightful  to 
contemplate,  and  those  soldiers  at  least  might  be  trusted 
— if  they  could  only  effect  their  passage— to  do  good 
service,  and  make  matters  quite  secure.* 

But  craftily  as  the  King  and  Duke  had  been  dealing, 
it  had  been  found  impossible  to  keep  such  vast  prepara- 
tions entirely  secret.  Walsingham  was  in  full  possession 
of  their  plans  down  to  the  most  minute  details.  The 
misfortune  was  that  he  was  unable  to  persuade  his 
sovereign,  Lord  Burghley,  and  others  of  the  peace- 
party,  as  to  the  accuracy  of  his  information.  Not  only 
was  he  thoroughly  instructed  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  men,  vessels,  horses,  mules,  saddles,  spurs,  lances, 
barrels  of  beer  and  tons  of  biscuit,  and  other  particulars 
of  the  contemplated  invasion,  but  he  had  even  received 
curious  intelligence  as  to  the  gorgeous  equipment  of 
those  very  troops  with  which  the  Duke  was  just  secretly 

1  Parma  to  Philip,  Dec,  21, 1587.  (Arch,  desca  de  ellas  es  tal  que,  si  pucdon  pa&ar, 

de  Simanca8,  MS.)  haran  a  V,  M.  buen  servizlo  y  asegiiram- 

a  ll)i(j.  ran  raucho  el  aervlzlo."    MS.  letter  taat 

*  "  So  hao  vestldo,  armado,  j  encalail-  cited, 
gado.  que  e»  pUicer  de  Terlats,  y  la  bolda- 


1587.    WALSINGHAM  AWARE  OF  THE  SPANISH  FLEET.      307 

announcing  to  the  King  his  intention  of  making  his  tri- 
umphal entrance  into  the  English  capital.  Sir  Francis 
knew  how  many  thousand  yards  of  cramoisy  velvet,  how 
many  hundredweight  of  gold  and  silver  embroidery, 
how  much  satin  and  feathers,  and  what  quantity  of 
pearls  and  diamonds,  Farnese  had  been  providing  him- 
self withal.  He  knew  the  tailors,  jewellers,  silver- 
smiths, and  haberdashers,  with  whom  the  great  Alexander 
—as  he  now  began  to  be  called— had  been  dealing  ;^  but 
when   he  spoke  at  the  council-board,  it  was  to  ears 


1  '•  There  Is  provided  for  lights  a  great 
number  of  torches,  and  so  tempered  that 
no  water  can   put  them  out    A  great 
number  of  little  mills  for  grinding  com, 
great  store  of  biscuit  baked  and  oxen 
salted,  great  number  of  saddles  and  boots ; 
also  there  is  made  500  pair  of  velvet  shoes 
—red,   crlm.son   velvet;   and    In  every 
cloister    throughout  the   country  great 
quantity  of  roses  made  of  silk,  white  and 
red,  which  are  to  be  badges  for  divers  of 
his  gentlemen.    By  reason  of  these  roses 
It  Is  expected  he  Is  going  for  England. 
There  Is  sold  to  the  Prince  by  John  Angel, 
pei^^aman,  ten  hundredweight  of  velvet, 
gold  and  silver  to  embroider  his  aRMu-el 
withal.     The  covering  to  his  mules  Is 
most  gorgeously  embroidered  with  gold 
and  silver,  which  carry  his  baggage.  There 
is  also  sold  to  him  by  the  Italian  mer- 
chants at  least  670  pieces  of  velvet  to  ap- 
parel  him  and  his  train.    Every  captain 
has  received  a  gift  from  the  Prince  to 
ULike  himself  brave,  and  for  Captain  Cor- 
ralini,  an  Italian,  who  hath  one  comet  of 
horse,  I  have  seen  with  my  eyes  a  saddle, 
with  the  trappings  of  his  horse,  his  cocU 
and  rapier  and  dagger,  vhich  cost  3,500 
French  croumt.  (.'  I)    All  their  lances  are 
paint«d  of  divers  colours,  blue  and  white, 
green  and  white,  and  most  part  blood  red 
—so  there  is  as  great  preparation  for  a 
triumph  as  for  war.    A  great  number  of 
English  priests  come  to  Antwerp  from  all 
places.    The  commandment  is  given  to 
all  the  churches  to  read  the  Litany  dally 
for  the  prosperity  of  the  Prince  in  his 
enterprise."    John  Giles  to  Walsingham, 
i  I>ec.  1687.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

The  same  letter  conveyed  aLso  ver> 
detailed  information  concerning  the  naval 
preparaUons  by  the  Duke,  besides  ac- 
curate intelligence  In  regard  to  tlie  pro- 
gresa  of  the  armada  In  Cadiz  and  Lisbon. 


Sir  William  Russell  wrote  also  from 
Flushing  concerning  these  preparations  In 
much  the  same  strain ;  but  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  he  considered  Famese  to  be 
rather  Intending  a  movement  against 
France. 

'•  The  Prince  of  Piarma,"  he  said,  "  is 
making  great  preparations  for  war,  and 
with  all  expedition   means  to  march  a 
great  army  ;  and  for  a  triumph,  the  coats 
and  costly  apparel  for  his  own  body  doth 
exceed  for  embroidery,  and  beset  with 
Jewels ;  for  all  the  embroiderers  and  dia- 
mond-cutters work  both  night  and  day, 
such  haste  is  made.   Five  hundred  velvet 
coats  of  one  sort  for  lances,  and  a  great 
number  of  brave  new  coats  made  for 
horsemen;   30,000  men  are  ready,  and 
gather  In  Brabant  and  Flanders.    It  is 
said  that  there  shall  be  in  two  days  10,000 
to  do  some  great  exploit  In  these  parts, 
and  20,000  to  march  with  the  Prince  into 
Prance,  and  for  certain  it  is  not  known 
what  way  or  how  they  shall  march,  but 
all  are  ready  at  an  hour's  warning- 4,000 
saddles,  4,000  lances,  6,000  pairs  of  boots. 
2,000  barrels  of  beer,  biscuit  sufficient  for 
a  camp  of  20,000  men.  &c.    The  Prince 
hath  received  a  marvellous  costly  garland 
or  crown  from  the  Pope,  and  Is  chogin  chief 
of  the  holy  league,  and  now  puts  in  his 
arms  two  cross  keys.   The  King  of  France 
hath  written  for  the  Prince  with  expedi- 
tion, and  'tis  said  he  marches  thither,  and, 
on  the  way  will  besiege  Cambray,"  &c. 
Occurrences,  from  the  Govemor  of  Flush- 
ing. Nov.  9,  1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

Thus  Sir  William  seems  to  have  been 
less  accurately  acquainted  with  the  move- 
ments of  Famese  than  was  John  Giles, 
and  the  mysterious  precautions  of  the 
King  and  his  general  had  been  far  from 
fruitless. 

X  2 


308 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


1587.  WHICH  THE  STATES  WELL  UNDERSTAND. 


309 


wilfully  deaf.  Nor  was  much  concealed  from  the  Argus- 
eyed  politicians  in  the  republic.  The  States  were  more 
and  more  intractable.  They  knew  nearly  all  the  truth 
with  regard  to  the  intercourse  between  the  Queen's 
government  and  Famese,  and  they  suspected  more  than 
the  truth.  The  list  of  English  commissioners  privately 
agreed  upon  between  Burghley  and  De  Loo  was  known 
to  Bameveld,  Maurice,  and  Hohenlo,  before  it  came  to 
the  ears  of  Leicester.  In  June  Buckhurst  had  been 
censured  by  Elizabeth  for  opening  the  peace  matter  to 
members  of  the  States,  according  to  her  bidding,  and  in 
July  Leicester  was  rebuked  for  exactly  the  opposite 
delinquency.  She  was  very  angry  that  he  had  delayed 
the  communication  of  her  policy  so  long,  but  she  ex- 
pressed her  anger  only  when  that  policy  had  proved  so 
transparent  as  to  make  concealment  hopeless.  Leicester, 
as  well  as  Buckhurst,  knew  that  it  was  idle  to  talk  to 
the  Netherlanders  of  peace,  because  of  their  profound 
distrust  in  every  word  that  came  from  Spanish  or  Italian 
lips ;  but  Leicester,  less  frank  than  Buckhurst,  prefened 
to  flatter  his  sovereign,  rather  than  to  tell  her  unwelcome 
truths.  More  fortunate  than  Buckhurst,  ho  was  re- 
warded for  his  flattery  by  boundless  afl'ection,  and  pro- 
motion to  the  very  highest  post  in  England  when  the 
hour  of  England's  greatest  peril  had  arrived,  while  the 
truth-telling  counsellor  was  consigned  to  imprisonment 
and  disgrace.  When  the  Queen  complained  sharply 
that  the  States  were  mocking  her,  and  that  she  was 
touched  in  honour  at  the  prospect  of  not  keeping  her 
plighted  word  to  Famese,  the  Earl  assured  her  that  the 
Netherlanders  were  fast  changing  their  views;  that 
although  the  very  name  of  peace  had  till  then  been 
odious  and  loathsome,'  yet  now,  as  coming  from  her 
Majesty,  they  would  accept  it  with  thankful  hearts.* 
The  States,  or  the  leading  members  of  that  assembly, 
factious  fellows,  pestilent  and  seditious  knaves,*  were 
doing  their  utmost,  and  were  singing  sirens'  songs*  to 
enchant  and  delude  the  people,  but  they  were  fast  losing 
their  influence — so  warmly  did  the  country  desire  to 

1  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  9  Oct  1587.  »  Same  to  same,  5  Nov.  1587.  (S.  P. 

{S.  P.  Offlo?  MS.)  Office  MS.) 

•Samp  to  same,  I.Oct.  ,1587.    (S.  P.  *  Same  to  Burghley,  30  Oct.  15S7.  (Brit. 

Office  MS.)  Mu8.  Galbo,  D.  U.  p.  67.    MS.) 


confoi-m  to  her  Majesty's  pleasure.  He  expatiated,  how- 
ever, upon  the  difiiculties  in  his  path.  The  knowledge 
possessed  by  the  pestilent  fellows  as  to  the  actual  posi- 
tion of  affairs  was  very  mischievous.  It  was  honey  to 
Maurice  and  Hohenlo,*  he  said,  that  the  Queen's  secret 
l)ractice8  with  Farnese  had  thus  been  discovered. 
Nothing  could  be  more  marked  than  the  jollity  with 
which  the  ringleaders  hailed  these  preparations  for 
peace-making,*  for  they  now  felt  certain  that  the  govern- 
ment of  their  country  had  been  fixed  securely  in  their 
own  hands.  They  were  canonized,  said  the  Earl,  for 
their  hostility  to  peace.'' 

Should  not  this  conviction,  on  the  part  of  men  who 
had  so  many  means  of  feeling  the  popular  pulse,  have 
given  the  Queen's  government  pause.  To  serve  his 
sovereign  in  truth,  Leicester  might  have  admitted  a 
l)0ssibility  at  least  of  honesty  on  the  part  of  men  who 
were  so  ready  to  offer  up  their  lives  for  their  countrj\ 
For  in  a  very  few  weeks  he  was  obliged  to  confess  that 
the  people  were  no  longer  so  well  disposed  to  acquiesce 
in  her  Majesty's  policy.  The  great  majority,  both  of 
the  States  and  the  people,  were  in  favour,  he  agreed,  of 
continuing  the  war.  The  inhabitants  of  the  little  Pro- 
vince of  Holland  alone,  he  said,  had  avowed  their  deter- 
mination to  maintain  their  rights— even  if  obliged  to 
fight  single-handed— and  to  shed  the  last  drop  in  their 
veins,  rather  than  to  submit  again  to  Spanish  tyranny.* 
This  seemed  a  heroic  resolution,  worthy  the  sympathy 
of  a  brave  Englishman,  but  the  Earl's  only  comment 
upon  it  was,  that  it  proved  the  ringleaders  "  either  to  be 
traitors,  or  else  the  most  blindest  asses  in  the  world'*''  He 
never  scrupled,  on  repeated  occasions,  to  insinuate  that 
Barneveld,  Hohenlo,  Buys,  Roorda,  Sainte  Aldegonde, 
and  the  Nassaus,  had  organized  a  plot  to  sell  their 
country'  to  Spain.®  Of  this  there  was  not  the  faintest 
evidence,  but  it  was  the  only  way  in  which  he  chose  to 


»  Leicester  to  Burghley,  17  Aug.  1587 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  Same  to  same,  30  Oct.  1587.    (Brit. 
Mu8,  Galba,  1),  II.  p.  57.  MS.) 

»  Leicester  to  Walsingham,  9  Oct.  1587- 
(S.  I'.  Office  MS.) 

*  Leicester  to  Burghley,  30  Oct.  1587. 
(firit.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  II.  57.  MS.)  Same 


to  the  Queen,  11  Oct.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

*  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  17  Nov.  1687. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  I^icestor  to  the  Queen,  5  Nov.  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Same  to  Burghley,  6 
Nov.  1587.  (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  U.  II.  p. 
176.  MS.) 


u 


310 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


1587. 


LEICESTER'S  GREAT  UNPOPULARITY. 


311 


account  for  their  persistent  opposition  to  the  peace- 
negotiations,  and  to  their  reluctance  to  confer  absolute 
power  on  himself.  "  'Tis  a  crabbed,  sullen,  proud  kind 
of  people,"  said  he,  "  and  bent  on  establishing  a  popular 
government,"  '—a  purpose  which  seemed  somewhat  in- 
consistent with  the  plot  for  selling  their  country  to 
Spain,  which  he  charged  in  the  same  breath  on  the  same 

persons.  i    i      i.   i 

Early  in  August,  by  the  Queen's  command,  he  had 
sent  a  formal  communication  respecting  the  private 
negotiationri  to  the  States,  but  he  could  tell  them  no 
secret.  The  names  of  the  commissioners,  and  even  the 
supposed  articles  of  a  treaty  already  concluded,  were 
flying  from  town  to  town,  from  mouth  to  mouth,  so  that 
the  Earl  pronounced  it  impossible  for  one  not  on  the 
spot  to  imagine  the  excitement  which  existed.^ 

He  had  sent  a  state-counsellor,  one  Bardesius,  to  the 
Hague,  to  open  the  matter ;  but  that  personage  had  only 
ventured  to  whisper  a  word  to  one  or  two  members  of 
the  States,  and  was  assured  that  the  proposition,  if  made, 
would  raise  such  a  tumult  of  fury,  that  he  might  fear  for 
his  life.  So  poor  Bardesius  came  back  to  Leicester,  fell 
on  his  knees,  and  implored  him  at  least  to  pause  in  these 
fatal  proceedings.*  After  an  interval  he  sent  two  emi- 
nent statesmen,  Valk  and  Menin,  to  lay  the  subject 
before  the  assembly.  ITiey  did  so,  and  it  was  met  by 
fierce  denunciation.  On  their  return,  the  Earl,  finding 
that  so  much  violence  had  been  excited,  pretended  that 
they  had  misunderstood  his  meaning,  and  that  he  had 
never  meant  to  propose  peace-negotiations.  But  Valk 
and  Menin  were  too  old  politicians  to  be  caught  in  such 
a  trap,  and  they  produced  a  brief,  drawn  up  in  Italian— 
the  foreign  language  best  understood  by  the  Earl— 
with  his  own  corrections  and  interlineations,  so  that  ho 
was  forced  to  admit  that  there  had  been  no  misconcep- 
tion.* ,     ,       ^    ^  ^ 

Leicester  at  last  could  no  longer  doubt  that  he  was 
universally  odious  in  the  Provinces.     Hohenlo,  Bame- 


»  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  11  Oct  158T. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  Leicester  to  Burghley,  30  Sept.  1587. 
(Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  II.  p.  34.  MS.) 

3  Bor,  ill.  xxi».34.  Hoofd  Vervolgh, 
276.    Wagenaar,  vUL  236.    Meteren,xlv. 


260.  Compare  Keyd,  vl.  109,  who  says 
however  that  Valk  and  Menin  could  pro- 
dace  no  written  Instructions  from  Leices- 
ter, but  that  the  characters  of  such  well- 
known  statesmen  carried  conviction  of 
the  truth  of  their  statements. 


veld,  and  the  rest,  who  had  *'  championed  the  country 
against  the  peace,"  were  carrying  all  before  them. 
They  had  persuaded  the  people  that  the  "  Queen  was 
but  a  tickle  stay  for  them,"  and  had  inflated  young 
Maurice  with  vast  ideas  of  his  importance,  telling 
him  that  he  was  *'  a  natural  patriot,  the  image  of  his 
noble  father,  whose  memory  was  yet  great  among  them, 
as  good  reason,  dying  in  their  cause,  as  he  had  done."  * 
The  country  was  bent  on  a  popular  government,  and  on 
maintaining  the  war.  There  was  no  possibility,  he 
confessed,  that  they  would  ever  confer  the  authority  on 
him  which  they  had  formerly  bestowed.*  The  Queen 
had  promised,  when  he  left  England  the  second  time, 
that  his  absence  should  be  for  but  three  months,^  and  he 
now  most  anxiously  claimed  peimission  to  depart.  Above 
all  things,  he  deprecated  being  employed  as  a  peace- 
commissioner.  He  was,  of  all  men,  the  most  unfit  for 
such  a  post.  At  the  same  time  he  implored  the  states- 
men at  home  to  be  wary  in  selecting  the  wisest  persons 
for  that  arduous  duty,  in  order  that  the  peace  might  be 
made  for  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  well  as  for  King  Philip. 
He  strongly  recommended,  for  that  duty,  Beale,  the 
councillor,  who  with  Killigrew  had  replaced  the  hated 
Wilkes  and  the  pacific  Bartholomew  Clerk.  "  Mr.  Beale, 
brother-in-law  to  Walsingham,  is  in  my  books  a  prince," 
said  the  Earl.  "  He  was  drowned  in  England,  but  most 
useful  in  the  Netherlands.  Without  him  I  am  naked."  * 
And  at  last  the  governor  told  the  Queen  what  Buck- 
huret  and  AValsingham  had  been  perpetually  telling  her, 
that  the  Duke  of  Parma  meant  mischief ;  and  he  sent 
the  same  information  as  to  hundreds  of  boats  preparing, 
with  COOO  shirts  for  camisados,  7000  pairs  of  wading 
boots,  and  saddles,  stirrups,  and  spurs,  enough  for  a 
choice  band  of  3000  men.*  A  shrewd  troop,  said  the 
Earl,  of  the  first  soldiers  in  Christendom,  to  be  landed 
some  fine  morning  in  England.  And  he  too  had  heard  of 
the  jewelled  suits  of  cramoisy  velvet,  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  finery  with  which  the  triumphant  Alexander ^as 

»  lyelcpster  to  the  Lords,  21  Nov.  1587.  <  Leicester   to  Walsingham,  4   Aug. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  1587.       Same  to  same,   16  Sept  1687. 

«  Leicester  to  Walsingham,    13   Oct.  (S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  »  l^elcester  to  Burghley,  5  Nov.  1587. 

Leicester  to  Burghley,  30  Sept.  1687.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)           •'           *-  V                         f 


i\ 


hi 


M 


312 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  X\1I. 


intending  to  astonish  London.  "  Get  horses  enough  and 
muskets  enough  in  England,"  exclaimed  Leicester,  *'and 
then  our  people  will  not  be  beaten,  I  warrant  you,  if 
well  led." ' 

And  now,  the  governor — who,  in  order  to  soothe  his 
sovereign  and  comply  with  her  vehement  wishes,  had  so 
long  misrepresented  the  state  of  public  feeling— not  only 
confessed  that  Papists  and  Protestants,  gentle  and  simple, 
the  States  and  the  people,  throughout  the  republic,  were 
all  opposed  to  any  negotiation  with  the  enemy,  but  lifted 
up  his  own  voice,  and  in  earnest  language  expressed  his 
opinion  of  the  Queen's  infatuation. 

"  Oh,  my  Lord,  what  a  treaty  is  this  for  peace,"  said 
he  to  Burghley,  "  that  we  must  treat,  altogether  disarmed 
and  weakened,  and  the  King  having  made  his  forces 
stronger  than  ever  he  had  known  in  these  parts,  besides 
what  is  coming  out  of  Spain,  and  yet  we  will  presume  of 
good  conditions !  It  grieveth  me  to  the  heart.  But  I 
fear  you  will  all  smart  for  it,  and  I  pray  God  her  Majesty 
feel  it  not,  if  it  be  His  blessed  will.  She  meaneth  well 
and  sincerely  to  have  peace,  but  God  knows  that  this  is 
not  the  way.  Well,  God  Almighty  defend  us  and  the 
realm,  and  especially  her  Majesty.  But  look  for  a  shai-p 
war,  or  a  miserable  peace,  to  undo  others  and  ourselves 
after:'  * 

Walsingham,  too,  was  determined  not  to  act  as  a  com- 
missioner.    K  his  failing  health  did  not  serve  as  an 


1  Leicester  to  Burghley,  6  Nov.  1587. 
(3.  P.  Office  MS.) 

«  Leicester  to  Burghley,  7  Nov.  1587. 
(S.  P.  OfBce  MS.) 

And  to  Walsingham  he  wrote  most 
earnestly  In  the  same  vein.  "  Our  ene- 
mies have  dealt  more  like  politic  men 
than  we  have,"  he  saM,  "for  it  was 
always  agreed  heretofore  among  us  that 
there  was  no  way  to  make  a  g<)od  peace 
but  by  a  strong  war.  .  .  .  Now  Is  the 
difference  put  in  experience,  for  we  see 
the  I|dnce  of  Parma  did  not  weaken  him- 
self TO  trust  upon  peace,  but  hath  in- 
creased his  forces  In  the  highest  degree, 
whilst  we  talked  of  peace ;  that  if  we 
break  oflf,  he  might  either  compel  us  to 
his  peace  or  be  beforehand  with  us  by  the 
readiness  of  his  forces.  This  was  told  and 
foretold,  but  yet  no  ear  given  nor  care 
taken.  .  .  .  Surely  you    shall    find    the 


Prince  meaveth  no  peace.  I  see  money 
doth  undo  aM— the  care  to  keep  It,  and 
not  upon  Just  cause  to  spend  It.  Her 
j^lajesty  doth  still  blame  me  for  the 
expense  of  her  treasury  here,  which 
doth  nuLke  »»«  weary  of  my  life ;  but 
her  Majesty  will  rue  tlu  sparing  couu' 
sel  at  such  times." 

He  then  sent  Information  as  to  Par- 
ma's  Intentions,  derived  from  an  Inter- 
cepted letter  of  a  man  hi  Sir  William 
Stanley's  regiment  to  a  priest  in  l-Jig- 
land,   "bidding  his  friend  be  sure  they 

are  shortly  to  be  In  England." 

"  It  were  better  to  her  Majesty,"  addod 
Leicester,  "  than  a  million  pounds  ster- 
ling, that  she  had  done  as  the  Duke  of 
I'arma  hath  done."  Leicester  to 
"Walsingham,  7  Nov.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.)  _    . 


1587.       THE  QUEEN  WARXED  AGAINST  TREATING.  313 

excuse,  he  should  be  obliged  to  refuse,  he  said,  and  so 
forfeit  her  Majesty's  favour,  rather  than  be  instrumental 
in  bringing  about  her  ruin,  and  that  of  his  country-. 
Never  for  an  instant  had  the  Secretary  of  State  faltered 
in  his  opposition  to  the  timid  policy  of  Burghley.  Again 
and  again  he  had  detected  the  intrigues  of  the  Lord- 
Treasurer  andJSir  James  Croft,  and  ridiculed  the  "  comp- 
troller s  peace."  ^ 

And  especially  did  Walsingham  bewail  the  implicit 
confidence  which  the  Queen  placed  in  the  sugary  words 
of  Alexander,  and  the  fatal  parsimony  which  caused  her 
,  to  neglect  defending  herself  against  Scotland ;  *  for  he 
was  as  well  informed  as  was  Farnese  himself  of  Philip's 
aiTangements  with  the  Scotch  lords,  and  of  the  subsidies 
m  men  and  money  by  which  their  invasion  of  England 
was  to  be  made  part  of  the  great  scheme.  *' No  one 
thing,"  sighed  Walsingham,  "doth  more  prognosticate 
an  alteration  of  this  estate,  than  that  a  prince  of  her 
Majesty's  judgment  should  neglect,  in  respect  of  a  little 

charges,  the  stopping  of  so  dangerous  a  gap 

The  manner  of  our  cold  and  careless  proceeding  here,  in 
this  time  of  peril,  maketh  me  to  take  no  comfort  of  my 
recovery  of  health,  for  that  I  see,  unless  it  shall  please 
God  in  mercy  and  miraculously  to  preserve  us,  m  cannot 
long  standi  ^ 

Leicester,  finding  himself  unable  to  counteract  the 
policy  of  Bameveld  and  his  party,  by  expostulation  or 
argument,  conceived  a  very  dangerous  and  criminal 
project  before  he  left  the  country.  The  facts  are  some- 
what veiled  in  mystery;  but  he  was  suspected,  on 
weighty  evidence,  of  a  design  to  kidnap  both  Maurice 
and  Bameveld,  and  carry  them  off  to  England.  Of  this 
intention,  which  was  foiled  at  any  rate  before  it  could 
be  carried  into  execution,  there  is  perhaps  not  conclu- 
sive proof,  but  it  has  already  been  shown,  from  a  deci- 


1  Walsingham  to  Leicester,  21  Sept. 
1587.  (Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  IL  p.  78. 
MS.) 

*  Walsingham  to  I^elcester,  12  Nov. 
1587.  Brit.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  II.  p.  178.  MS. 

*  "  A  letter  from  the  Duke  of  I'arma," 
says  the  Secretary,  "bred  in  her  Majesty 
such  a  dangerous  security,  as  all  adver- 
tisements of  danger  are  neglected,  and 
great  expedition  used  In  despatching  of 


the  commissioners.  I  was  fully  resolved 
In  no  sort  to  have  accepted  the  charge, 
had  not  my  sickness  prevented,  for  that 
I  would  be  loth  to  be  engaged  in  a  ser- 
vice that  all  men  of  judgment  may 
see  cannot  but  work  her  Majesty's  ruin. 
I  pray  God  I  and  others  of  my 
opinion  prove  In  this  false  prophets." 
(Ibid.) 


I 


.     ) 


fj 


i 
h 


314 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


phered  letter,  that  the  Queen  had  once  given  Buckhurst 
and  Wilkes  peremptory  orders  to  seize  the  person  of 
Hohenlo,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  similar  orders  may 
have  been  received  at  a  later  moment  with  regard  to  the 
young  Count  and  the  Advocate.  At  any  rate,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  late  in  the  autumn  some  friends  of  Bameveld 
entered  his  bedroom,  at  the  Hague,  in  the  dead  of  night, 
and  informed  him  that  a  plot  was  on  foot  to  lay  violent 
hands  upon  him,  and  that  an  armed  force  was  already 
on  its  way  to  execute  this  purpose  of  Leicester  before 
the  dawn  of  day.  The  Advocate,  without  loss  of  time, 
took  his  departure  for  Delft,  a  step  which  was  followed, 
shortly  afterwards,  by  Maurice.' 

Nor  was  this  the  only  daring  stroke  which  the  Earl 
had  meditated.     During  the  progress  of  the  secret  nego- 
tiations with  Parma,  he  had  not  neglected  those  still 
more  secret  schemes  to  which  he  had  occasionally  made 
allusion.     He  had  determined,   if  possible,  to   obtain 
possession  of  the  most  important  cities  in  Holland  and 
Zeeland.     It  was  very  plain  to  him  that  he  could  no 
longer  hope,  by  fair  means,  for  the  great  authority  once 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  free  will  of  the  States.     It 
was  his  purpose,  therefore,  by  force  and  stratagem  to 
recover  his  lost  power.     We   have   heard   the  violent 
terms  in  which  both  the  Queen  and  the  Earl  denounced 
the  men  who  accused  the  English  government  of  any 
such  intention.     It  had  been  formally  denied  by  the 
States-General  that  Bameveld  had  ever  used  the  language 
in  that  assembly  with  which  he  had  been  charged.     He 
had  only  revealed  to  them  the  exact  purport  of  the  letter 
to  Junius,  and  of  the  Queen's  secret  instructions  to  Lei- 
cester.*    Whatever  he  may  have  said  in  private  conver- 
sation, and  whatever  deductions  he   may  have   made 
among  his  intimate  friends  from  the  admitted  facts  in 
the  case,  could  hardly  be  made  matters  of  record.     It 
does  not  appear  that  he,  or  the  statesmen  who  acted  with 
him,  considered  the  Earl  capable  of  a  deliberate  design 
to  sell  the  cities,  thus  to  be  acquired,  to  Spain,  as  the 
price  of  peace  for  England.     Certainly  Elizabeth  would 
have  scorned  siich  a  crime,  and  was  justly  indignant  at 

1  Bor,  lH.xxm.51.  Hoofd,  Venrolgh.  «  Resol.  HoU.  16,  16,  18  Sept  1587, 
287.  Wagenaar.  vlll.  240.  Van  Wyn  bl.  253,  254,  258,  cited  In  Van  Wyn, 
op  Wagenaair,  vlil.  68,  69.  ^i  »up. 


1587.  LEICESTER'S  GREAT  UNPOPUIAriTr.  315 

rumours  prevalent  to  that  effect ;  but  the  wrath  of  the 
Queen  and  of  her  favourite  were    perhaps  somewhat 
simulated,  in  order  to  cover  their  real  mortification  at 
the  disco veiy  of  designs  on  the  part  of  the  Earl  which 
could  not  be  denied.     Not  only  had  they  been  at  last 
compelled  to  confess  those  negotiations,  which  for  several 
months  had  been  concealed  and  stubbornly  denied  but 
the  still  graver  plots  of  the  Earl  to  regain  his  much- 
coveted   autliority  had   been,    in   a  startling   manner 
revealed.     The  leaders  of  the  States- General  had  a  riffht 
to  suspect  tU  English  Earl  of  a  design  to  re-enact  the 
part  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  and  were  justified  in  taking 
stringent  measures  to  prevent  a  calamity,  which,  as  they 
believed,  wns  impending  over  their  little  commonwealth. 
Ihe  high-handed  dealings  of  Leicester  in  the  city  of 
Utrecht  have   been  already  described.     The   most  re- 
spectable and  influential  burghers  of  the  place  had  been 
imprisoned  and   banished,  the   municipal  govemment 
wrested  from  the  hands  to  which  it  legitimately  belonged 
and  confided  to  adventurers  who  wore  the  cloak  of  Cal- 
vinism to  conceal  their  designs,  and  a  successful  effort 
had  been  made,  in  the  name  of  democracy,  to  eradicate 
from  one  ancient  province  the  liberty  on  which  it  prided 
iLsei  I. 

In  the  course  of  the  autumn  an  attempt  was  made  to 
play  the  same  game  at  Amsterdam.  A  plot  was  dis- 
covered, before  it  was  fairly  matured,  to  seize  the 
magistrates  of  that  important  city,  to  gain  possession 
ot  the  arsenals,  and  to -place  the  govemment  in  the  hands 
of  well-known  Leicestrians.  A  list  of  fourteen  influen- 
t-al  citizens,  drawn  up  in  the  writing  of  Burgrave,  the 
Earl's  confidential  secretary,  was  found,  all  of  whom,  it 
>^'as  asserted,  had  been  doomed  to  the  scaffold.^ 

The  plot  to  secure  Amsterdam  had  failed,  but,  in 
JSorth  Holland,  Medenblik  was  held  firmly  for  Leicester 
by  Diedrich  Sonoy,  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  States.*^ 

Wagenaar, 


'  Hoofd,  xxvl.  1199,  1200. 
vill.  243-246. 

AmoriK  them  was  the  name  of  bnrgo- 
miister  Hoofd,  father  of  the  illustrious 
historian  of  the  Netherlands.  Much 
caution  should  be  observed,  however. 
In  accepting,  to  their  full  extent,  charges 
made  In  times  of  such  violent  party-spirit. 
Leicester  would  have  hardly  ventured  to 
o»Dg  fourteen  such  men  as  Hoofd  and  his 


compeers,  although  he  would  willingly 
have  brought  Bameveld  and  Buys  to  the 
gibbet.  He  would  have  imprisoned  and 
banished,  no  doubt,  as  many  Amsterdam 
burghers  of  tlie  States  party  as  he  could 
lay  hands  on. 

2  Bor,    ill.    xxlll.    7;    xxlv.     179-204 
208-233,279-290.    Reyd.vl.loi.    Wage- 
naar, 209,  210,  270-278. 


I 

4         II 


'    1, 


316 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


The  important  city  of  Enkhuyzen,  too,  was  very  near 
being  secured  for  the  Earl,  but  a  still  more  significant 
movement  was  made  at  Leyden.  That  heroic  city,  ever 
since  the  famous  siege  of  1574,  in  which  the  Spaniard 
had  been  so  signally  foiled,  had  distinguished  itself  by 
great  liberality  of  sentiment  in  religious  matters.  The 
burghers  were  inspired  by  a  love  of  country,  and  a 
hatred  of  oppression,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical ;  and 
Papists  and  Protestants,  who  had  fought  side  by  side 
against  the  common  foe,  were  not  disposed  to  tear  each 
other  to  pieces,  now  that  he  had  been  excluded  from  their 
gates.  Meanwhile,  however,  refugee  Flemings  and 
Brabantines  had  sought  an  asylum  in  the  city,  and  being, 
as  usual,  of  the  strictest  sect  of  the  Calvinists,  were 
shocked  at  the  latitudinarianism  which  prevailed.  To 
the  honour  of  the  city — as  it  seems  to  us  now — but,  to 
their  horror,  it  was  even  found  that  one  or  two  Papists 
had  seats  in  the  magistracy.^  More  than  all  this,  there 
was  a  school  in  the  town  kept  by  a  Catholic,  and  Adrian 
van  der  Werff  himself — the  renowned  burgomaster,  who 
had  sustained  the  city  during  the  dreadful  leaguer  of 
1574:,  and  who  had  told  the  famishing  burghers  that 
they  might  eat  him  if  they  liked,  but  that  they  should 
never  surrender  to  the  Spaniards  while  he  remained 
alive — even  Adrian  van  der  Werff  had  sent  his  son  to 
this  veiy  school.*  To  the  clamour  made  by  the  refugees 
against  this  spirit  of  toleration,  one  of  the  favouiite 
preachers  in  the  town,  of  Arminian  tendencies,  had  de- 
clared in  the  pulpit,  that  he  would  as  lieve  see  the 
Spanish  as  the  Calvinistic  inquisition  established  over 
his  country;  using  an  expression,  in  regard  to  the 
church  of  Geneva,  more  energetic  than  decorous.^ 

It  was  from  Leyden  that  the  chief  opposition  came  to 
a  synod,  by  which  a  great  attempt  was  to  be  made 
towards  subjecting  the  new  commonwealth  to  a  masked 
theocracy ;  a  scheme  which  the  States  of  Holland  had 
resisted  with  might  and  main.  The  Calvinistic  party, 
waxing  stronger  in  Leyden,  although  still  in  a  minority, 
at  last  resolved  upon  a  strong  effort  to  place  the  city  in 
tlie  hands  of  that  great  representative  of  Calvinism,  the 
Earl  of  Leicester.     Jacques  Volmar,  a  deacon  of  the 

1  Bor.xxill.  93-105.  «  Ibid.       dan  de  Geneefse  discipline,  die  pocklge 

3  Ibid.    "  Liever  de  Spaense  Inqulsitie    hoere,"  p.  98, 


1587.  LEICESTRIAX  CONSPIRACY  AT  LEYDEN.  317 

church ;  Cosmo  de  Pescarengis,  a  Genoese  captain  of 
much  experience  in  the  service  of  the  republic ;  Adolphus 
de  Meetkerke.  former  president  of  Flanders,  who  had 
been,  by  the  States,  deprived  of  the  seat  in  the  c-reat 
council  to  which  the  Earl  had  appointed  him  ;  Doctor 
baravia,  professor  of  theology  in  the  university  •  with 
other  deacons,  preachers,  and  captains,  went  at  different 
times  from  Leyden  to  Utrecht,  and  had  secret  interviews 
with  Leicester. 

A  plan  was  at  last  agi-eed  upon,  according  to  which 
about  the  middle  of  October,  a  revolution  should  be 
effected  in  Leyden.     Captain  Nicholas  de  Maulde,  who 
had  recently  so  much  distinguished  himself  in  the  de- 
fence of  Sluys,  was  stationed  with   two  companies  of 
States'  troops  in  the  city.     He  had  been  much  dis.gusted 
--not    without    reason  — at    the    culpable  nedigence 
through  which  the  courageous  efforts  of  the  Sluys  gar- 
rison had  been  set  at  nought,  and  the  place  sacrificed, 
when  It  might  so  easily  have  been   relieved ;  and  he 
ascribed  the  whole  of  the  guilt  to  Maurice,  Hohenlo,  and 
the  States,  although  it  could  hardly  be  denied  that  at 
least  an   equal  portion  belonged  to  Leicester  and  his 
party.      The   young    Captain   listened,  therefore,  to  a 
scheme  propounded  to  him  by  Colonel  Cosmo  and  Deacon 
Volmar    in  the  name  of  Leicester.     He  agreed,  on  a 
certain  day,  to  muster  his  company,  to  leave  the  city  by 
the  Delft  gate— as  if  by  command  of  superior  authority 
—to  effect  a  junction  with  Captain  Heraugiere,  another 
ot  the  distinguished  malcontent  defenders  of  Sluys  who 
was  stationed,  with  his  command,  at  Delft,  and  then  to 
re-enter  Leyden,  take  possession  of  the  town-hall,  arrest 
all  the  magistrates,  together  with  Adrian  van  der  Werff 
ex-burgomaster,  and  proclaim   Lord  Leicester,  in    the 
name  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  legitimate  master  of  the  citv.» 
A  list  of  burghers  who  were  to  be  executed  was  like- 
wise agreed  upon,  at  a  final  meeting  of  the  conspirators 
m  a  hostelry  which  bore  the  ominous  name  of  '*  The 
Ihunderbolt."     A  desire  had  been  signified  by  Lei- 
!i?lT'  ?i.*H®  preliminary  interviews  at  Utrecht,  that 
aubloodshed,  if  possible,  should  be  spared ;«  but  it  was 
certainly  an  extravagant  expectation,  considering  the 

Bor,  uhi  sup,    Reyd,  vil.  133,  134.,  Mettren,  xlv.  261. 

*  Bor,  Reyd,  Meteren,  ubi  tup.  • 


)         \ 


318 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII 


temper,  the  political  convictions,  and  the  known  courage 
of  the  Leyden  burghers,  that  the  city  would  submit, 
without  a  struggle,  to  this  invasion  of  all  their  rights. 
It  could  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  streets  would  run 
red  with  blood,  as  those  of  Antwerp  had  done,  when  a 
similar  attempt,  on  the  part  of  Anjou,  had  been  foiled. 

Unfortunately  for  the  scheme,  a  day  or  two  before  the 
great  stroke  was  to  be  hazarded,  Cosmo  de  Pescarengis 
had  been  accidentally  arrested  for  debt.*  A  subordinate 
accomplice,  taking  alarm,  had  then  gone  before  the 
magistrate  and  revealed  the  plot.  Volmar  and  De  Maulde 
fled  at  once,  but  were  soon  arrested  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. President  de  Meetkerke,  Professor  Saravia,  the 
preacher  Van  der  Wouw,  and  others  most  compromised, 
effected  their  escape.*  The  matter  was  instantly  laid 
before  the  States  of  Holland  by  the  magistracy  of  Leyden. 
and  seemed  of  the  gravest  moment.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  year  the  fatal  treason  jof  York  and  Stanley  had 
implanted  a  deep  suspicion  of  Leicester  in  the  hearts  of 
almost  all  the  Netherlanders,  which  could  not  be  eradi- 
cated. The  painful  rumours  concerning  the  secret  nego- 
tiations with  Spain,  and  the  design  falsely  attributed  to 
the  English  Queen,  of  selling  the  chief  cities  of  the 
republic  to  Philip  as  the  price  of  peace,  and  of  reim- 
bursement for  expenses  incurred  by  her,  increased  the 
general  excitement  to  fever.  It  was  felt  by  the  leaders 
of  the  States  that  as  mortal  a  combat  lay  before  them 
with  the  Earl  of  Leicester  as  with  the  King  of  Spain, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  to  strike  a  severe  blow,  in 
order  to  vindicate  their  imperilled  authority. 

A  commission  was  appointed  by  the  high  court  of 
Holland,  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  States  of  the 
Provinces,  to  try  the  offenders.  Among  the  commis- 
sioners were  Adrian  van  der  Werff,  John  van  der  Does, 
who  had  been  military  commandant  of  Leyden  during 
the  siege,  Barneveld,  and  other  distinguished  person- 
ages, over  whom  Count  Maurice  presided.^  The  accused 
were  subjected  to  an  impartial  trial.  Without  torture 
they  confessed  their  guilt.*  It  is  true,  however,  that 
Cosmo  was  placed  within  sight  of  the  mck.     He  avowed 

»  Bor,  Reyd,  Meteren,  ubt  s>tp.  says  that  thoy  were  put  to  the  torliir**. 

«  Ibid.        .  »  Ibid.  p.    153.      ••  Nae     pljnlijke    ondenrae- 

*  So  say  Bor  and  Meteren ;  but  Reyd    glnge." 


1587.      THE  PLOT  TO  SEIZE  THE  CITY  DISCOVERED.        319 

that  his  object  had  been  to  place  the  city  under  the  an- 
thonty  of  Leicester,  and  to  effect  this  purpose,  if  pos- 
sible  without  bloodshed.  He  declared  that  the  attempt 
was  to  be  made  with  the  full  knowledge  and  approbation 
of  the  Earl,  who  had  promised  him  the  command  of  a 
regiment  of  twelve  companies,  as  a  recompense  for  his 
services  if  they  proved  successful.  Leicester,  said 
Cosmo  had  also  pledged  himself,  in  case  the  men,  thus 
executing  his  plans,  should  be  discovered  and  endan- 
^rii  V^  JP^^*^^*  and  rescue  them,  even  at  the  sacrifice 
ot  all  his  fortune,  and  of  the  office  he  held.  ^^  hen  asked 
It  he  had  any  wntten  statement  from  his  Excellency  to 
that  effect,  Cosmo  replied,  no,  nothing  but  his  princely 
word,  which  he  had  voluntarily  given.* 

.1.  Tl^^f  T^""  ?  ^\'^^^'^'^  confession.   *  He,  too,  declared 
that  he  had  acted  throughout  the  affair  by  express  com- 
mand of  the  Eari  of  Leicester.    Being  asked  if  he  had  any 
wntten  evidence  of  the  fact,  he,  likewise,  replied  in  the 
negative.     -  Then  his  Excellency  will  unquestionably 
deny  your  assertion,"  said  the  judges.     -  Alas !  then  am 
1  a  dead  man,     replied  Volmar,  and  the  unfortunate 
deacon  never  spoke  truer  words.      Captain  de  Maulde 
also  confessed  his  crime.     He  did  not  pretend,  however 
to  have  had  any  personal  communication  with  Leicester' 
but  said  that  the  affair  had  been  confided  to  him  by 
Colonel  Cosmo,   on  the  express  authority  of  the  Earl 
and  that  he  had  believed  himself  to  be  acting  in  obe- 
dience to  his  Excellency's  commands.* 

On  the  26th  October,  after  a  thorough  investigation 
lollowed  by  a  full  confession  on  the  part  of  the  culprits' 
tHe  three  were  sentenced  to  death."  The  decree  was 
surely  a  most  severe  one.  They  had  been  guilty  of  no 
actua  crime,  and  only  in  case  of  high  treason  could  an 
intention  to  commit  a  crime  be  considered,  by  the  laws 
01  the  state,  an  offence  punishable  with  death.  But  it 
was  exactly  because  it  was  important  to  make  the  crime 
^igh  treason  that  the  prisoners  were  condemned.     The 

clare^tLf^Km?"'  "^f  f"^*    ^'^'^  ^^'    ^'^"^  ^'^  ^^«  ^^  ^^^^'  denied  all  com- 

wr^^rite/\TThi"^  "'''  ^'^''  P«^"y»th«-ff»«-  Cosmo,  according  to 
rpnLr  w  ?  *^®  8tateHX)uncil  aa  the  same  authority,  called  out,  when 
lZ^''^''''^^^^^<i^^^)^oimedihe    upon     the     rack,    « Oh.     Ex^llen^  a 

?SJ:ir   1'  ^'"!?«^  '"'  '^"^^^  ^^       '  Bor.  Jleteren.  lleyd.  u6.-  sup.' 


i 


320 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


offence  was  considered  as  a  crime  not  against  Ley  den, 
but  as  an  attempt  to  levy  war  upon  a  city  which  was  a 
member  of  the  States  of  Holland  and  of  the  United 
States.  If  the  States  were  sovereign,  then  this  was  a 
lesion  of  their  sovereignty.  Moreover,  the  offence  had 
been  aggravated  by  the  emplo\nnent  of  United  States' 
troops  against  the  commonwealth  of  the  United  States 
itself.  To  cut  off  the  heads  of  these  prisoners  was  a  sharp 
practical  answer  to  the  claims  of  sovereignty  by  Lei- 
cester, as  representing  the  people,  and  a  terrible  ^vaming 
to  all  who  might,  in  future,  be  disposed  to  revive  the 
theories  of  De venter  and  Burgrave. 

In  the  case  of  De  Maulde  the  punishment  seemed 
especially  severe.  His  fate  excited  universal  sympathy, 
and  great  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  his  pardon.  He 
was  a  universal  favourite  ;  he  was  young ;  he  was  very 
handsome ;  his  manners  were  attractive :  he  belonged 
to  an  ancient  and  honourable  race.  His  father,  the 
Seigneur  de  Mansart,  had  done  great  ser\'ices  in  the  war 
of  independence,  had  been  an  intimate  friend  of  the 
great  Prince  of  Orange,  and  had  even  advanced  large 
sums  of  money  to  assist  his  noble  efforts  to  liberate  the 
country.  Two  brothers  of  the  young  captain  had  fallen 
in  the  service  of  the  republic.  He,  too,  had  distin- 
guished himself  at  Ostend,  and  his  gallantry  during  the 
recent  siege  of  Sluys  had  been  in  every  mouth,  and  had 
excited  the  warm  applause  of  so  good  a  judge  of  soldier- 
ship as  the  veteran  Koger  Williams.  The  scars  of  the 
wounds  received  in  the  desperate  conflicts  of  that  siege 
were  fresh  upon  his  breast.  He  had  not  intended  to 
commit  treason,  but,  convinced  by  the  sophistry  of  older 
soldiers  than  himself,  as  well  as  by  learned  deacons  and 
theologians,  he  had  imagined  himself  doing  his  duty, 
while  obeying  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  If  there  were 
ever  a  time  for  mercy,  this  seemed  one,  and  young 
Maurice  of  Nassau  might  have  remembered,  that,  even 
in  the  case  of  the  assassins  who  had  attempted  the  life 
of  his  lather,  that  great-hearted  man  had  lifted  up  his 
voice — which  seemed  his  dying  one — in  favour  of  those 
who  had  sought  his  life. 

But  the  authorities  were  inexorable.  There  was  no 
hope  of  a  mitigation  of  punishment,  but  a  last  effort 
was  made,  under  favour  of  a  singular  ancient  custom,  to 


1587. 


EXECUTION  OF  THE  PRISONERS. 


321 


save  the  life  of  De  Maulde.  A  young  lady  of  noble 
family  in  Leyden — Uytonbroek  by  name— claimed  tlie 
right  ^f  rescuing  the  condemned  malefactor  from  the 
axe,  by  appearing  upon  the  scaffold,  and  offering  to  take 
him  for  her  husband.* 

Intelligence  was  brought  to  the  prisoner  in  his  dun- 
geon, that  the  young  lady  liad  made  the  proposition,  and 
he  was  told  to  be  of  good  cheer.  But  he  refused  to  be 
comfoi-ted.  He  was  slightly  acquainted  with  the  gen- 
tlewoman, he  observed,  and  doubted  much  whether  her 
request  would  be  granted.  Moreover — if  contemporary 
chronicle  can  be  trusted — he  even  expressed  a  preference 
for  the  scaffold,  ns  the  milder  fate  of  the  two.*  The 
lady,  however,  not  being  aware  of  those  uncomplimen- 
tary sentiments,  made  her  proposal  to  the  magistrates, 
but  was  dismissed  with  harsh  rebukes.  She  had  need  be 
ashamed,  they  said,  of  her  willingness  to  take  a  con- 
demned traitor  for  her  husband.  It  was  urged,  in  her 
behalf,  that  even  in  the  cruel  Alva's  time  the  ancient 
custom  had  been  respected,  and  that  victims  had  been 
saved  from  the  executioners,  on  a  demand  in  man  iage 
made  even  by  women  of  abandoned  character. **  But 
all  was  of  no  avail.  The  prisoners  were  exe-  oct.  26th, 
cuted  on  the  26th  October,  the  same  day  on  ^^ht. 
which  the  sentence  had  been  pronounced.  The  heads 
of  Volmar  and  Cosmo  were  exposed  on  one  of  the  turrets 
of  the  city.  That  of  Maulde  was  interred  with  his 
body.* 

I'he  Earl  was  indignant  when  he  heard  of  the  event. 
As  there  had  been  no  written  proof  of  his  complicity  in 
the  conspiracy,  the  judges  had  thought  it  improper  to 
mention  his  name  in  the  sentences.  Jle,  of  course, 
denied  any  knowledge  of  the  plot,  and  its  proof  rested 
therefore  only  on  the  assertion  of  the  prisoners  them- 
seives,  which,  however,  was  circumstantial,  voluntary, 
and  generally  believed.* 


Van    Wyn   op   Wagen, 


.  *  Bor,  97. 
vlll.  72. 

»  "  Maer  hy  hoerende  de  sclve  noeme n, 
en  In  haer  goselschap  wel  geweest  zijnd.', 
haddo  weynlg  moeds  dat  hy  door  verlost 
wordcnroude,  of  ooA:  de  selve  ten  huue- 
lijke  niet  begeeiende,  koude  hem  nlet  te 
vreden  btellen."  tc.     Bor,  xxiil.  (UJ.) 

VOL.   II. 


3  Bor,  ubi  sup. 

*  Bor,  Meteren,  Reyd,  ubi  sup.  Le 
Petit,  11.  xiv.  651. 

«  Ibid. 

The  only  passage  bearing  on  the  subject 
which  1  have  found  in  Leicester's  secret 
correspondence  is  this  extract  from  a 
letter  to  the  Queen :— •*  The  States  have 
used  great  cruelty  of  late  ^  in   Leyden 


322 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


1587. 


DEFEAT  AND  DEATH  OF  JOYEUSE. 


323 


France,  during  the  whole  of  this  year  of  expectation, 
was  ploughed  throughout  its  whole  surface  hy  perpe- 
tual civil  war.      The  fatal   edict  of  June,  1585,   had 
drowned  the  unhappy  land  in  blood.     Foreign  armies, 
called  in  by  the  various  contending  factions,  ravaged 
its  fair  territory,  butchered  its  peasantry,  and  changed 
its  fertile  plains  to  a  wilderness.     The  unhappy  crea- 
ture who  wore  the  crown  of  Charlemagne  and  of  Hugh 
Capet  was  but  the  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  most  pro- 
fligate   and    designing   of  his    own  subjects,    and   of 
foreigners.     Slowly  and  surely  the  net,  spread  by  the 
hands  of  his  own  mother,  of  his  own  prime  minister/  of 
the   Duke   of  Guise,   all   obeying    the    command   and 
receiving  the  stipend  of  Philip,  seemed  closing  over 
him.     He  was  without  friends,  without  power  to  know 
his  friends,   if  he  had  them.      In  his    hatred  to  the 
Eeformation,  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  made  the 
enemy  of  the  only  man  who  could  be  his  friend,  or 
the   friend   of  France.      Allied  with  his  mortal  foe, 
whose  aimies  were  strengthened  by  contingents  from 
Parma's  forces,  and  paid  for  by  Spanish  gold,  he  was 


against  three  persons  that  favoured  your 
Majesty,  whom  they  put  to  death,  and 
bauished  twenty  others,  whereof  their 
devoted  head  was  one,  old  Count  Meet- 
kerke  another.  This  gentleman  can  in- 
form you  of  it,  and  I  will  send  it,  shortly, 
at  more  length."  Ijci  coster  to  the  Queen, 
27  Oct.  1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

This  very  meagre  allusion  to  so  impor- 
tant an  event  is  almost  suspicious  in 
itself,  when  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
the  details  were  entrusted  to  a  special 
messenger  to  communicate  by  word  of 
mouth.  The  Earl  knew  very  well  that 
his  most  secret  despatches  were  read  by 
his  antagonists,  and  he  might  not  be  un- 
willing to  deceive  them  by  the  slighting 
tone  of  these  allusions  in  his  private 
letters. 

Of  course,  it  is  unfair  to  place  implicit 
reliance  on  the  confessions  of  prisoners, 
anxious  to  save  their  lives  by  implicating 
the  powerful  governor.  Yet  It  is  difficult 
to  know  why  they  should  expect  his 
intercession  if  they  knew  themselves  to 
be  blasting  his  character  by  an  Impudent 
falsehood.  Moreover,  an  elaborate  pam- 
phlet, published  in  defence  of  those  per- 


sons who  had  effected  their  escape,  was 
dedicated  to  the  Earl  himself,  and  con- 
tained a  statement  of  the  interview  of  the 
ringleaders  with  the  Earl,  although  a 
strong  attempt  was  made  by  the  writer 
to  deprive  the  plot  of  any  criminal  cha- 
racter. (Bor,  111.  xxiii.  95,  seq.,  gives  the 
document.)  But  the  pamphlet  was  de- 
nounced and  prohibited  in  Leyden,  as  an 
Infamous  libel  and  a  tissue  of  falsehoods, 
and  It  is  hardlyjust,  therefore,  to  put  it  in 
as  good  evidence  either  for  or  against  the 
Earl. 

The  secret  Intention  of  Leicester  to 
obtain  possession  of  certain  cities,  in 
order  to  bridle  the  States,  and  to  make 
a  good  bargain  for  the  Queen,  should 
the  worst  come  to  the  worst,  has 
been  already  showR  from  his  private 
letters. 

1  In  October  of  this  year,  1687,  Eper- 
non  called  Villeroy.  in  the  king" s  presence, 
"  un  petit  coquin,"  accused  him  of  being 
a  stipendiary  of  Philip  II.  and  the  League, 
and  threatened  to  spur  him  as  he  would 
an  obstinate  horse.  (L'Estoile,  'Re- 
gistre  Journal  de  Henry  111,'  ed.  1587, 
p.  32.) 


i 


forced  to  a  mock  triumph  over  the  foreign  mercenaries 
who  came  to  save  his  crown,  and  to  submit  to  the  defeat 
of  the  flower  of  his  chivalry  by  the  only  man  who 
could  rescue  France  from  ruin,  and  whom  France  could 
look  up  to  with  respect. 

For,  on  the  20th  October,  Henry  of  Navarre  had  at 
last  gained  a  victory.  After  twenty-seven  years  of 
perpetual  defeat,  during  which  they  had  been  growing 
stronger  and  stronger,  the  Protestants  had  met  the 
picked  troops  of  Henry  III.,  under  the  Due  de  Joyeuse, 
near  the  burgh  of  Coutras.  His  cousins  Conde  and 
Soissons  each  commanded  a  wing  in  the  army  of  the 
Beamese.  **  You  are  both  of  my  family,"  said  Henry, 
before  the  engagement,  "  and  the  Lord  so  help  me,  but 
I  will  show  you  that  I  am  the  eldest  born."  ^  And 
during  that  bloody  day  the  white  plume  was  ever 
tossing  where  the  battle  was  fiercest.  "  I  choose  to 
show  myself.  They  shall  see  the  Bearnese,"  was  his 
reply  to  those  who  implored  him  to  have  a  care  for  his 
personal  safety.  And  at  last,  when  the  day  was  done, 
the  victory  gained,  and  more  French  nobles  lay  dead 
on  the  field,  as  Catharine  de'  Medici  bitterly  declared, 
than  had  fallen  in  a  battle  for  twenty  years ;  when  two 
thousand  of  the  King's  best  troops  had  been  slain,  and 
when  the  bodies  of  Joyeuse  and  his  brother  had  been 
'aid  out  in  the  very  room  where  the  conqueror's  supper, 
after  the  battle,  was  served,  but  where  he  refused,  with 
a  shudder,  to  eat,  he  was  still  as  eager  as  before — had 
the  wretched  Valois  been  possessed  of  a  spark  of  man- 
hood, or  of  intelligence — to  shield  him  and  his  king- 
tiom  from  the  common  enemy.* 

For  it  could  hardly  be  doubtful,  even  to  Henry  III., 
at  that  moment,  that  Philip  II.  and  his  jackal,  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  were  pursuing  him  to  the  death,  and  that,  in 
his  breathless  doublings  to  escape,  he  had  been  forced 
to  turn  upon  his  natural  protector.  And  now  Joyeuse 
was  defeated  and  slain.  "Had  it  been  my  brother's 
son,"  exclaimed  Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  weeping  and 
wailing,  "  how  much  better  it  would  have  been."  It 
was  not  easy  to  slay  the  champion  of  French  Protes- 
tantism ;  yet,  to  one  less  buoyant,  the  game,  even  after 

»  Perefixe,  73. 
*  De  Thou,  X.  L.  Ixxxvii.    Perefixe,  75-78.    L'Estoile,  232. 

Y   2 


324 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XVII. 


the  brilliant  but  fruitless  victory  of  Coutras,  might 
have  seemed  desperate.  Beggared  and  outcast,  with 
literally  scarce  a  shirt  to  his  back,  without  money  to 
pay  a  corporal's  guard,  how  was  he   to   maintain  an 

army?  ^  ,    ,        _  ,    _ 

But  "  Mucio"  was  more  successful  than  Joyeuse  had 
been,  and  the  German  and  Swiss  mercenaries,  who  had 
come  across  the  border  to  assist  the  Beamese,  were 
adroitly  handled  by  Philip's  great  stipendiary.  Heniy 
of  Valois,  whose  troops  had  just  been  defeated  at 
Coutras,  was  now  compelled  to  participate  in  a  more 
fatal  series  of  triumphs.  For,  alas !  the  victim  had  tied 
himself  to  the  apron-string  of  "  Madam  League,"  and 
was  paraded  by  her,  in  triumph,  before  the  eyes  of  his 
own  subjects  and  of  the  world.  The  passage  of  the 
Loire  by  the  auxiliaries  was  resisted,  a  series  of  petty 
victories  was  gained  by  Guise,  and,  at  last,  after  it 
was  obvious  that  the  leaders  of  the  legions  had  been 
corrupted  with  Spanish  ducats,  Henry  allowed  them  to 
depart,  rather  than  give  the  Balafre  opportunity  for 
still  further  successes.*  . 

Then  came  the  triumph  in  Bans— hosannahs  m  the 
churches,  huzzas  in  the  public  places— not  for  the  King, 
but  for  Guise.  Paris,  more  madly  in  love  with  her 
champion  than  ever,  prostrated  herself  at  his  feet.  ±  or 
him  paeans  as  to  a  deliverer.  ^Vithout  him  the  ark 
would  have  foUen  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines. 
For  the  Valois,  shouts  of  scorn-  from  the  populace, 
thunders  from  the  pulpit,  anathemas  from  monk  and 
priest,  elaborate  invectives  from  all  the  pedants  of  the 
Sorbonne,  distant  mutterings  of  excommunication  from 
Bome— not  the  toothless  beldame  of  modem  days,  but 
the  avenging  divinity  of  priest-rid  monarchs.  Such 
were  the  results  of  the  edicts  of  June.  Spain  and  the 
Pope  had  trampled  upon  France,  and  the  populace  in 
her  capital  clapped  their  hands  and  jumped  for  joy. 
**  Miserable  country,  miserable  King,"  sighed  an  illus- 
trious patriot,  "whom  his  own  countrymen  wish  rather 
to  survive,  than  to  die  to  defend  him  !  Let  the  name 
of  Huguenot  and  of  Papist  be  never  heard  of  more. 
Let  us  think  only  of  the  counter-league.  Is  France  to 
be  saved  by  opening  all  its  gates  to  Spain?     Is  France 

I  De  Thou,  ubi  sup.    L'EstoUe,  232,  234. 


1587. 


THE  QUEEN  RECALLS  LEICESTER. 


325 


to  be  turned  out  of  France,  to  make  a  lodging  for  the 
Lorrainer  and  the  Spaniard  ?"  Pregnant  questions, 
which  could  not  yet  be  answered,  for  the  end  was  not 
yet.  France  was  to  become  still  more  and  more  a 
wilderness.  And  well  did  that  same  brave  and  thought- 
ful lover  of  his  country  declare  that  he  who  should 
suddenly  awake  from  a  sleep  of  twenty-five  years,  and 
revisit  that  once  beautiful  land,  would  deem  himself 
transplanted  to  a  barbarous  island  of  cannibals.' 

It  had  now  become  quite  obvious  that  the  game  of 
Leicester  was  played  out.  His  career — as  it  has  now 
been  fully  exhibited —could  have  but  one  termination. 
He  had  made  himself  thoroughly  odious  to  the  nation 
whom  he  came  to  govern.  He  had  lost  for  ever  the 
authority  once  spontaneously  bestowed,  and  he  had 
attempted  in  vain,  both  by  fair  means  and  foul,  to 
recover  that  power.  There  was  nothing  left  him  but 
retreat.  Of  this  he  was  thoroughly  convinced.*  He 
was  anxious  to  be  gone,  the  republic  most  desirous  to 
be  rid  of  him,  her  Majesty  impatient  to  have  her 
favourite  back  again.  The  indulgent  Queen,  seeing 
nothing  to  blame  in  his  conduct,  while  her  indigna- 
tion at  the  attitude  maintained  by  the  Provinces  was 
boundless,  permitted  him,  accordingly,  to  return ;  and 
in  her  letter  to  the  States,  announcing  this  decision,  she 
took  a  fresh  opportunity  of  emptying  her  wrath  upon 
their  heads. 

bhe  told  them,  that,  notwithstanding  her  frequent 
messages  to  them,  signifying  her  evil  contentment  with 
their  un thankfulness  for  her  exceeding  great  benefits, 
and  with  their  gross  violations  of  their  contract  with 
herself  and  with  Leicester,  whom  they  had,  of  their 
own  accord,  made  absolute  governor  without  her  insti- 
gation ;  Khe  had  never  received  any  good  answer  to 
move  her  to  commit  their  sins  to  oblivion,  nor  had  she 
remarked  any  amendment  in  their  conduct.  On  the 
contrary,  she  complained  that  they  daily  increased 
their  oifences  most  notoriously  in  the  sight  of  the 
world,  and  in  so  many  points  that  she  lacked  words  to 
express  them  in  one  letter.     She  however  thought  it 

i  J>"P'e8si8  Mornay,  '  Mem.'  iv.  1-34.     la  mia  testa."  he  Is  said  to  have  exclaimed 
1  Is  time  for  me  now  to  look  after    wlien  the  Ix^ydtn  plot  was  dbcovertU 
my  own  head-sta  tempo  ch'  io  guard!    (Reyd,  vil.  134.) 


326 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVII. 


worth  while  to  allude  to  some  of  their  transgressions. 
She   declared   that   their  sinister  or   rather   barbarons 
interpretation  of  her   condnct  had  been  notorious  in 
per\'erting  and  falsifying  her  princely  and  Christian 
intentions,  when  she  imparted  to  them  the  overtures 
that  had  been  made  to  her  for  a  treaty  of  peace  for  her- 
self and  for  them  with  the  King  of  Spain.    Yet  although 
she  had  required  their  allowance,  before  she  would  give 
her  assent,  she  had  been  grieved  that  the  world  should 
see  what  impudent  untniths  had  been  forged  upon  her, 
not  only  by  their  sufterance,  but  by  their  special  per- 
mission for  her  Christian  good  meaning  towards  them. 
She  denounced  the  statements  as  to  her  having  con- 
cluded a  treaty,  not  only  without  their  knowledge,  but 
with    the   sacrifice   of  their   liberty  and  religion,   as 
utterly  false,  either  for  anything  done   in  act,  or  in- 
tended in  thought,  by  her.     She  complained  that  upon 
this  most  false  ground  had  been  heaped  a  number  of 
like  untruths  and  malicious  slanders  against  her  cousin 
Leicester,  who  had  hazarded  his  life,  spent  his  sub- 
stance, left  his  native  country,  absented  himself  from 
her,  and  lost  his  time,  only  for  their  service.     It  had 
been  falsely  stated  among  them,  she  said,  that  the  Earl 
had  come  over  the  last  time,  knowing  that  peace  had 
been  secretly  concluded.      It  was  false   that  he  had 
intended  to  surprise  divers  of  their  towns,  and  deliver 
them  to  the  King  of  Spain.     All   such  untruths  con- 
tained matter  so  improbable,  that  it  was  most  strange 
that  any  person,  having  any  sense,  could  imagine  them 
correct.     Having  thus  slightly  animadverted  upon  their 
wilfulness,  unthankfulness,  and  bad  government,   and 
having,  in  very  plain  English,  given  them  the  lie,  eight 
distinct  and  separate  times  upon  a  single  page,  she  pro- 
ceeded to  inform  them  that  she  had  recalled  her  cousin 
Leicester,   having  great  cause  to  use   his   services   in 
England,  and  not  seeing  how,  by  his  tarrying  there,  he 
could  either  profit  them  or  herself.     Nevertheless  she 
protested  herself  not  void  of  compassion  for  their  estate, 
and  for  the  pitifiil  condition  of  the  great  multitude  of 
kind  and  godly  people,  subject  to  the  miseries  which, 
by  the  States'  government,  were  like  to  fall  upon  them, 
unless  God  should  specially  interpose;    and  she   had 
therefore  determined,  for  the  time,  to  continue  her  sub- 


1587.     ILL-FEELING  BETWEEN  LEICESTER  AND  STATES.     327 

sidles,  according  to  the  covenant  between  them.  If, 
meantime,  she  should  conclude  a  peace  with  Spain,  she 
promised  to  them  the  same  care  for  their  country  as  for 
her  own.' 

Accordingly  the  Earl,  after  despatching  an  equally 
ill-tempered  letter  to  the  States,  in  which  he  alluded, 
at  unmerciful  length,  to  all  the  old  grievances,  blamed 
them  for  the  loss  of  Sluys,  for  which  place  he  protested 
that  they  had  manifested  no  more  interest  than  if  it 
had  been  San  Domingo  in  Hispaniola,  took  his  depar- 
ture for  Flushing.*  After  remaining  there,  in  a  very 
moody  frame  of  mind,  for  several  days,  expecting  that 
th6  States  would,  at  least,  send  a  committee  to  wait 
upon  him  and  receive  his  farewells,  he  took  leave  of 
them  by  letter.  "•  God  send  me  shortly  a  wind  to  blow 
me  from  them  all,"  ^  he  exclaimed— a  prayer  which  was 
soon  granted— and  before  the  end  of  the  year  he  was 
safely  landed  in  England.  "These  legs  of  mine,"  said 
he,  clapping  his  hands  upon  them  as  he  sat  in  his 
chamber  at  Margate,  "  shall  never  go  again  into  Hol- 
land. Let  the  States  get  others  to  serve  their  mer- 
cenary turn,  for  me  they  shall  not  have."*  Upon 
giving  up  the  government,  he  caused  a  medal  to  be 
struck  in  his  own  honour.  The  device  was  a  flock  of 
sheep  watched  by  an  English  mastift'.  Two  mottoes— 
"Non  gregem  sed  ingratos,"  and  *' Invitus  desero"— 
expressed  his  opinion  of  Dutch  ingratitude  and  his  own 
fidelity.  The  Hollanders,  on  their  part,  struck  several 
medals  to  commemorate  the  same  event,  some  of  which 
were  not  destitute  of  invention.  Upon  one  of  them, 
for  instance,  was  represented  an  ape  smothering  her 
young  ones  to  death  in  her  embrace,  with  the  device, 
*' Libertas  ne  ita  chara  ut  simiae  catuli ;"  while  upon 
the  reverse  was  a  man  avoiding  smoke  and  falling  into 
the  fire,  with  the  inscription,  "  Fugiens  fumum,  incidit 
in  ignem."  * 

Leicester  found  the  usual  sunshine  at  Greenwich. 
AH  the  efforts  of  K  orris,  Wilkes,  and  Buckhurst  had 
been  msufficient  to  raise  even  a  doubt  in  Elizabeth^s 

J^?^  ^  ^^  ^^^  8  Nov.  1587.  Office  MS.) 

^  i  il.     o  ^^-^  *  S^^«'  'Chronicle/  713. 

262             '  **"**  ^**'     ^^^^^'   ^'^-  *  fio'"'    "i-    xxiii.    153.    Hoofd    Ver- 

i*r^^.     .    .  volgh,  210.    Meteren,  xiii.  238. 

»  Ldcester  to  Atye.  4  Dec.  1687.  (S.  P.  .    ^        . 


328 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVII. 


mind  as  to  the  wisdom  and  integrity  by  whicli  his  admi- 
nistration of  the  Provinces  had  been  characterised  from 
beginning  to  end.  Those  who  had  appealed  from  his 
hatred  to  the  justice  of  their  sovereign  had  met  with 
disgrace  and  chastisement.  But  fur  the  great  Earl  the 
Queen's  favour  was  a  rock  of  adamant.  At  a  private 
interview  he  threw  himself  at  her  feet,  and  with  tears 
and  sobs  implored  her  not  to  receive  him  in  disgrace 
whom  she  had  sent  forth  in  honour.  His  blandishments 
prevailed,  as  they  had  always  done.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  appearing  before  the  council,  kneeling,  to  answer 
such  inquiries  as  ought  surely  to  have  been  instituted, 
he  took  his  seat  boldly  among  his  colleagues,  replying 
haughtily  to  all  murmurs  by  a  reference  to  her  Majesty's 
secret  instructions.* 

The  unhappy  English  soldiers,  who  had  gone  forth 
under  his  banner  in  midstimmer,  had  been  returning,  as 
they  best  might,  in  winter,  starving,  half-naked  wretches, 
to  beg  a  morsel  of  bread  at  the  gates  of  Greenwich 
palace,  and  to  be  driven  away  as  vagabonds,  with  threats 
.  of  the  stocks.*  This  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Earl,  for 
he  had  fed  them  with  his  o^\^l  generous  hand  in  the 
Netherlands,  week  after  week,  when  no  monev  for  their 
necessities  could  be  obtained  from  the  pa>Tnasters.  Two 
thousand  pounds  had  been  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  her 
soldiers  when  sixty-four  thousand  ]^nunds  arrearage  were 
due,*  and  no  language  could  exaggerate  the  misery  to 
which  these  outcasts,  according  to  eye-witnesses  of  their 
own  nation,  were  reduced. 

Lord  V\  illoughby  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
what  remained  of  these  unfortunate  troops,  upon  the 
Earl's  departure.  The  sovereignty  of  the  Netherlands 
remained  undisputed  with  the  States.  Leicester  re- 
signed   his    commission    by    an    instrument   dated   - 

December,  which,  however,  never  reached  the  Nether- 
lands till  April  of  the  following  year.*    From  that  time 

J  Camden,  iii.  400.    Baker,  375.  there  the  first  of  July  last  44,000^,  and, 

*  Memorial,  in  Burghley's  own  hand,  l>t'fore  it  could  arrive  there,  at  the  least 

Nov.  1587.  (S.  P.  Office  MS).  64.0((o/."'     Walsingham  to  I^icester,  14 

3  "  She  would  by  no  means  yield  to  send  Aug.   15«7.    (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  d.  I.  p. 

ovor  any  greater  sum  than  2(>0t)L,  though  253,  MS.) 

th(?  Uird  Treasurer,  Sir  Thomas  Shirley,  *  Bor,  iii.  xxiil.  M3feq.    Meteren,  xiv. 

and  myself,  did  let  her  nndersUnd  that  262.    Kiyd,  vii.  137,  138. 

there  was  due  unto  the  soldiera  serving 


1587.        NEGOTIATION  FOR  A  TREATY  CARRIED  ON.         329 

forth  the  government  of  the  republic  maintained  the 
same  foims  which  the  assembly  had  claimed  for  it  in  the 
long  controversy  with  the  governor-general,  and  which 
have  been  sufficiently  described. 

Meantime  the  negotiations  for  a  treaty,  no  lono-er 
secret,  continued.  The  Queen,  infatuated  as  ever,  still 
believed  in  the  sincerity  of  Famese,  while  that  astute 
personage  and  his  master  were  steadily  maturing  their 
schemes.  A  matrimonial  alliance  was  secretly  projected 
between  the  King  of  Scots  and  Philip's  daughter,  the 
Inflinta  Isabella,  with  the  consent  of  the  Pope  and  the 
whole  college  of  cardinals ;  and  James,  by  the  whole 
force  of  tlie  Holy  League,  was  to  be  placed  upon  tho 
throne  of  Elizabeth.  In  case  of  his  death  without  issue, 
I  hihp  was  to  succeed  quietly  to  the  crowns  of  England,' 
Scotland,  and  Ireland.'  Aothing  could  be  simpler  or  more 
rational,  and  accordingly  these  arrangements  were  the 
table-talk  at  Pome,  and  met  with  general  approbation. 

Communications  to  this  effect,  coming  straight  from 
the  Colonna  palace,  were  thought  sufficiently  circum-  - 
stantial  to  be  transmitted  to  the  English  government. 
Maurice  of  Nassau  wrote  with  his  own  hand  to  Wal- 
singham,  professing  a  warm  attachment  to  the  cause  in 
which  Holland  and  England  were  united,  and  perfect 
personal  devotion  to  the  English  Queen.'^     His  language 

'  Le  Sieur  to  Walsinpham,  3  TX>c.  1587. 
Maurice  de  Nassau  to  same,  9  Dec.  1587. 
(S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

'  "Je  ne  vous  escrirai  rien  sur  les 
proiws  d  Odo  Colonnii,"  wTote  Maurice, 
"car  vous  lesent^^ndrezhienparla  lecture 
du  somraaire  que  Je  vous  envoie,  mais 
hien  Je  vous  assure  qu'll  est  im  Jeune 
homme  d'  esprit  vif  ot  prompt,  qui  parle 
wen  et  a  ete  blennourrl.  Toutefois  mon- 
sirant  par  ses  propos  qu'il  ne  s<rait  puores 
de  choses  hors  k  cour  de  Rome,  de  la 
connu.s.ance  des  bonnes  maisons.  et  a 

ociK^nmentes  que  moi,  qu'il  y  avolt  fonde. 
dire   nl  *^ntpour  la  quallte  de  son 

quand  I  occasion  se  pr<«entoit  que  le  hii 
s".^  res  aff..:tione  serviteur.  ce  q Ti  eon 

jt  uxL  buis  trouve  en  oeste 


annee   assemblee  par    ma  diligence  de 
tous  les  endroite  de  mes  gouvemements, 
en  intention,  si  Dleu  mVn  fait  la  grace! 
de  combattre  la  puissance  des  plus  grands 
ennemis  de  Sji  MaJeste,  et  de  toute   la 
Chr.Hientd,  ce  sont  le  -Roi  d'F:spagne  et 
le  Prince  de  Parme,  lequel,  de  tout  mon 
cceur,  je  ddsire  trouver  en  personne  ou 
J'espere  avec  I'aide  de  Dleu  lui  faire  con- 
naitre  qu'il  n'est  pas  si  bon  soldat  ou  il 
trouve  resistance,  que  quand  les  hommes 
mal  conseilles  lui  mettent  les  victoiresen 
main  de  conccvoir  par  leur  lachete  de  tant 
de  prises  de  belles  villes.    Je  vous  sup- 
pi  ie  me  tenir  en  la  bonne  grace  de  Sa  M. , 
de  me  continuer  I'amitie  que  vous  avez 
porte  h  monseigneur  mon  pere,  car  j'es- 
j»ereque  Dieu  me  fait  grace  de  I'ensuivre 
promptement  en  Constance  et  femie  reso- 
lution.    Jusqu'aJeprieraiDieu,  &c.  Mau- 
rice de  Nassau  to  Walsingham,  9  l>ec 
1587.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


3S0 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVII. 


was  not  that  of  a  youth  who,  according  to  Leicester's 
repeated  insinuations,  was  leagued  with  the  most  distin- 
guished soldiers  and  statesmen  of  the  Netherlands  to 
sell  their  country  to  Spain. 

But  Elizabeth  was  not  to  be  convinced.     She  thought 
it  extremely   probable  that  the    Provinces   would  be 
invaded,  and  doubtless  felt  some  anxiety  for  England. 
It  was  unfortunate  that  the    possession  of  Sluys  had 
given  x\lexander  such  a  point  of  vantage,  and  there  was 
moreover  a  fear  that  he  might  take  possession  of  Ostend. 
She  had,  therefore,  already  recommended  that  her  own 
troops  should  be  removed  from  that  city,  that  its  walls 
should  be  razed,  its  marine  bulwarks  destroyed,  and  that 
the  ocean  should  be  let  in  to  swallow  the  devoted  city 
for  ever — the  inhabitants  having  been  previously  allowed 
to  take  their  departure.     For  it  was  assumed  by  her 
Majesty  that  to  attempt  resistance  would  be  idle,  and 
that  Ostend  could  never  stand  a  siege.* 

The  advice  was  not  taken,  and  before  the  end  of  her 
reign  Elizabeth  was  destined  to  see  this  indefensible 
city — only  fit,  in  her  judgment,  to  be  abandoned  to  the 
waves — become  memorable,  throughout  all  time,  for  the 
longest,  and,  in  many  respects,  the  most  remarkable 
siege  which  modern  history  has  recorded,  the  famous 
leaguer  in  which  the  first  European  captains  of  the 
coming  age  were  to  take  their  lessons,  year  after  year, 
in  the  school  of  the  great  Dutch  soldier,  who  was  now 
but  a  *'  solemn,  sly  youth,"  just  turned  of  twenty. 

The  only  military  achievement  which  characterized 
the  close  of  the  year,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the 
Provinces  and  the  annoyance  of  Parma,  was  the  sui-priso 
of  the  city  of  Bonn.  The  indefatigable  Martin  Schenk 
— in  fulfilment  of  his  great  coirtract  with  the  States- 
General,  by  which  the  war  on  the  Khine  had  been 
farmed  out  to  him  on  such  profitable  terms — had  led  his 
mercenaries  against  this  important  town.  Tie  had  found 
one  of  its  gates  somewhat  insecurely  guarded,  placed  a 
mortar  under  it  at  night,  and  occupied  a  neighbouring 
pig-stye  with  a  number  of  his  men,  who,  by  chasing, 
maltreating,  and  slaughtering  the  swine,  had  raised  an 
unearthly  din,  sufficient  to  drown  the  martial  operations 
at  the  gate.     In  brief,  the  place  was  easily  mastered, 

1  Queen  to  Leicester,  8  Nov.  1587,  In  Burghley's  hand.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1587.       RESULTS  OF  LEICESTER'S  ADMINISTRATION.         331 

and  taken  possession  of  by  Martin,  in  the  name  of  the 
deposed  elector,  Gebhard  Truchsess— the  first  stroke  of 
good  fortune  which  had  for  a  long  time  befallen  that 
melancholy  prelate.* 

The  administration  of  Leicester  has  been  so  minutely 
pictured,  that  it  would    be  superfluous  to  indidgo  in 
many  concluding  reflections.     His  acts  and  words  have 
been  made  to  speak  for  themselves.     His  career  in  the 
country  has  been  described  with  much  detail,  because 
the  period  was  a  great  epoch  of  transition.  The  republic 
of  the  Netherlands,  duiing  those  years,  acquired  con- 
sistency and  permanent  form.     It  seemed  possible,  on 
the  Earl's  first  advent,  that  the  Provinces  might  become 
part  and  parcel  of  the  English  realm.     \\  hether  such  a 
consummation  would  have  been  desirable  or  not,  is  a 
fruitless  inquiry.     But  it  is  certain  that  the  selection  of 
such  a  man  as  Leicester  made  that  result  impossible. 
Doubtless  there  were    many  errors    committed  by  all 
parties.    The  Queen  was  supposed  by  the  Xetherlanders 
to  be  secretly  desirous  of  accepting  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Provinces,  provided  she  were   made  sure,  by  the 
Earl's  experience,  that  they  were  competent  to  protect 
themselves.     But  this  suspicion  was  unfounded.     The 
result  of  every-  investigation  showed  the  country  so  full 
of  resources,  of  wealth,  and  of  military  and  naval  capa- 
bilities, that,  united  with  England,  it  would  have  been 
a  source  of  great  revenue  and  power,  not  a  burthen  and 
an   expense.     Yet,  when  convinced  of  such  facts  by 
the  statistics  which  were  liberally  laid  before  her  by 
her  confidential  agents,  she  never  manifested,  either  in 
public  or  private,  any  intention  of  accepting  the  sove- 
reignty.    This  being  her  avowed  determination,  it  was 
an  error  on  the  part  of  the  States,  before    becoming 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  man's  character,  to  con- 
fer upon  Leicester  the  almost  boundless  authority  which 
they  granted  on  his  first  arrival.     It  was  a  still  graver 
mistake,  on  the  part  of  Elizabeth,  to  give  way  to  such 
explosions  of  fury,  both  against  the  governor  and  the 
btates,  when  infoimed  of  the  off"er  and  acceptance  of 

Bor,  iU.  xxii.  143.    Meteren,  xiv.  262.    dead  yet,  as  reported  "  (segun  esto  no  es 

II  S°D^  ^"''  ^^^'    ^*™*  ^  ^'^•''P  ni«erto  como  habian  dicho),  was  Philip's 

jUjg  V          •  ^*^^'    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  judicious  niarginal  observation    on    the 

"  Ac«r>r^<       *  ^^^^^  *°  which  Panna  communicated  this 

Acooraing  to  this,  Schenck  is  not  clever  exploit  of  Martin.    * 


332 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


1587.        RESULTS  OF  LEICESTER'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


ooo 


that  authority.  The  Earl,  elevated  by  the  adulation  of 
others,  and  by  his  own  vanity,  into  an  almost  sovereio;n 
attitude,  saw  himself  chastised  before  the  world,  like 
an  aspiring  lackey,  by  her  in  whose  favour  he  had  felt 
most  secure.  He  found  himself,  in  an  instant,  humbled 
and  ridiculous.  Between  himself  and  the  Queen  it  was 
something  of  a  lovers'  quarrel,  and  he  soon  found  bal- 
sam in  the  hand  that  smote  him.  But  though  reinstated 
in  authoiity,  he  was  never  again  the  object  of  reverence 
in  the  land  he  was  attempting  to  nile.  As  he  came  to 
knuw  the  Netherlanders  better,  he  recognised  the  great 
capacity  which  their  statesmen  concealed  under  a  plain 
and  sometimes  a  plebeian  exterior,  and  the  splendid 
grandee  hated,  where  at  first  he  had  only  despised. 
The  Netherlanders,  too,  who  had  been  used  to  look 
up  almost  with  worship  to  a  plain  man  of  kindly 
manners,  in  felt  hat  and  bargeman's  woollen  jacket, 
whom  they  called  "  Father  William,"  did  not  appreciate, 
as  they  ought,  the  magnificence  of  the  stranger  who 
had  been  sent  to  govern  them.  The  Earl  was  hand- 
some, quick-witted,  brave ;  but  he  was  neither  wise  in 
council  nor  capable  in  the  field.  He  was  intolerably 
arrogant,  passionate,  and  revengeful.  He  hated  easily, 
and  he  hated  for  life.  It  was  soon  obvious  that  no 
cordiality  of  feeling  or  of  action  could  exist  between 
him  and  the  plain,  stubborn  Hollanders.  He  had  the 
fatal  characteristic  of  loving  only  the  persons  who  flat- 
tered him.  AVith  much  perception  of  character,  sense 
of  humour,  and  appreciation  of  intellect,  he  recognised 
the  power  of  the  leading  men  in  the  nation  and  sought 
to  gain  them.  So  long  as  he  hoped  success,  he  was  loud 
in  their  praises.  They  were  all  wise,  substantial,  well- 
languaged,  big  fellows,  such  as  were  not  to  be  found  in 
England  or  anywhere  else.  When  they  refused  to  be 
made  his  tools,  they  became  tinkers,  boors,  devils,  and 
atheists.  He  covered  them  with  curses  and  devoted 
them  to  the  gibbet.  He  began  by  warmly  commending 
Buys  and  Bameveld,  Hohenlo  and  Maurice,  and  endow- 
ing^ them  with  every  virtue.  Before  he  left  the  country 
he  had  accused  them  of  every  crime,  and  would  cheer- 
fully, if  he  could,  have  taken  the  life  of  every  one  of 
them.  And  it  was  quite  the  same  with  nearly  every 
Eno-lishman  who  served  with  or  under  him.     Wilkes 


and  Buckhurst,  however  much  the  objects  of  his  pre- 
vious esteem,  so  soon  as  they  ventured  to  censure  or 
even  to  criticise  his  proceedings,  were  at  once  devoted 
to  perdition.  Yet,  after  minute  examination  of  the 
record,  public  and  private,  neither  W  ilkes  nor  Buck- 
hurst can  be  fuund  guilty  of  treachery  or  animosity  to- 
wards him,  but  are  proved  to  have  been  governed  in  all 
their  conduct  by  a  strong  sense  of  duty  to  their  sove- 
reign, the  Netherlands,  and  Leicester  himself. 

To  Sir  John  Norris,  it  must  be  allowed,  that  he  was 
never  fickle,  for  he  had  always  entertained  for  that  dis- 
tinguished general  an  honest,  unswerving,  and  infinite 
hatre'l  which  was  not  susceptible  of  increase  or  diminu- 
tion by  any  act  or  word.  I'elham,  too,  whose  davs  weie 
numbered,  and  who  was  dying  bankrupt  and  broken- 
hearted, at  the  close  of  the  Earl's  administration,  had 
always  been  regarded  by  him  with  tenderness  and  aft'ec- 
tion.  But  Pelham  had  never  thwarted  him,  had  exposed 
his  life  for  him,  and  was  always  proud  of  being  his 
faithful,  unquestioning,  humble  adherent.  \\  ith  perhaps 
this  single  exception,  Leicester  found  himself,  at  the 
end  of  his  second  term  in  the  Provinces,  without  a  sino-le 
friend  and  with  few  respectable  partisans.  Subordinate 
mischievous  intriguers  like  Deventer,  Junius,  and  Ot he- 
man,  were  his  chief  advisers  and  the  instruments  of  his 
schemes. 

With  such  qualifications  it  was  hardly  possible— even 
if  the  current  of  affairs  had  been  flowing  smoothl}'— 
that  he  should  prove  a  successful  governor  of  the  new 
republic.     But  when  the  numerous  errors  and  adven- 
titious circumstances  are  considered— for  some  of  which 
he  was  responsible,  while  of  others  he  was  the  victim 
—it  must  be  esteemed  fortunate  that  no  great  catastrophe 
occurred.    His  immoderate  elevation,  his  sudden  degra- 
dation, his  controversy  in  regard  to  the  sovereignty 
his  abrupt  departure  for  England,  his  protracted  absence' 
His  niistimod  return,  ihe  secret  instructions  for  his  second 
aclmini«tration,  the  obstinate  parsimony  and  persistent 
m-temper  of  the  Queen-who,  from  the  beginning  to 
tlie  end  of  the  Earl's  government,  never  addressed  a 
Jvinaiy  word  to  the  Netherlanders,  but  was  ever  censurino- 
and  browbeating  them  in  public  state -papers  and  private 
epistles-the  treason  of  York  and  Stanley ;  above  all  the 


1! 


334 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVH. 


disastrous  and  concealed  negotiations  with  Parma,  and 
the  desperate  attempts  upon  Amsterdam  and  Leyden — 
all  placed  him  in  a  most  unfortunate  position  from  first 
to  last.  But  he  was  not  competent  for  his  post  under 
any  circumstances.  He  was  not  the  statesman  to  deal 
in  policy  with  Buys,  Bameveld,  Ortel,  Sainte  Alde- 
gonde ;  nor  the  soldier  to  measure  himself  against 
Alexander  Famese.  His  administration  was  a  failure 
and  although  he  repeatedly  hazarded  his  life,  and  poured 
out  his  wealth  in  their  behalf  with  an  almost  unequalled 
liberality,  he  could  never  gain  the  hearts  of  the  Aether- 
landers.  English  valour,  English  intelligence,  English 
truthfulness,  English  generosity,  were  endearing  Eng- 
land more  and  more  to  Holland.  The  statesmen  of  both 
countries  were  brought  into  closest  union,  and  learned 
to  appreciate  and  to  respect  each  other,  while  they  re- 
cognized that  the  fate  of  their  respective  commonwealths 
was  indissolubly  united.  But  it  was  to  the  eiforts  of 
Walsingham,  Drake,  Kaleigh,  Wilkes,  Buckhurst,  Norris, 
AVilloughby,  VV  illiams,  Vere,  Russell,  and  the  brave  men 
who  fought  under  their  banners  or  their  counsels,  on 
every  battle-field,  and  in  every  beleaguered  town  in  the 
Netherlands,  and  to  the  universal  spirit  and  sagacity  of 
the  English  nation,  in  this  grand  crisis  of  its  fate,  that 
these  fortunate  results  were  owing ;  not  to  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  nor— during  the  term  of  his  administration 
— to  Queen  Elizabeth  herself. 

In  brief,  the  proper  sphere  of  this  remarkable  per- 
sonage, and  the  one  in  which  he  passed  the  greater 
portion  of  his  existence,  was  that  of  a  magnificent  court- 
favourite,  the  spoiled  darling,  from  youth  to  his  death- 
bed, of  the  great  English  Queen ;  whether  to  the  advan- 
tao-e  or  not  of  his  country  and  the  true  interests  of  his 
sovereign,  there  can  hardly  be  at  this  day  any  difference 
of  opinion. 


1588. 


PROPHECIES  AS  TO  THE  YEAR  1588. 


335 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


Prophecies  as  to  the  Year  1588  —  Distracted  Condition  of  the  Dutch  Republic  — 
Willoughby  reluctantly  takes  Command  —  English  Commissioners  come  to  Ostend 
-  Secretary  Gamier  and  Robert  Cecil  -  Cecil  accompanies  Dale  to  Ghent—  And 
finds  the  Desolation  complete  —  Interview  of  Dale  and  Cecil  with  Parma— His 
fervent  Expressions  in  favour  of  Peace  —  Cecil  makes  a  Tour  in  Flanders  —  And 
sees  much  that  is  remarkable  —  Interviews  of  Dr.  Rogers  with  Parma  —  Wonderful 
Harangues  of  the  Envoy  —  Extraordinary  Amenity  of  Alexander— With  which 
Rogers  is  much  touched  —The  Queen  not  pleased  with  her  Envoy  —  Credulity  of 
tlie  English  Commissioners  —  Ceremonious  Meeting  of  all  the  Envoys  —  Consum- 
mate Art  in  wasting  Time  — Long  Disputes  about  Commissions  —  The  Spanish 
Commissions  meant  to  deceive  —  Disputes  about  Cessation  of  Arms  — Spanish 
Duplicity  and  IVwrastlnation  —  Pedantry  and  Credulity  of  Dr.  Dale  — The  Papal 
Bull  and  Dr.  Allen's  Pamphlet  —  Dale  sent  to  ask  Explanations  — Parma  denies 
all  Knowledge  of  either  -  Croft  believes  to  the  last  in  Alexander  -  Dangerous 
Discord  m  North  Holland  -  Leicester's  Resignation  arrives  -  Enmity  of  Wll- 
loughby  and  Maurice  -  Willoughby's  dark  Picture  of  Affairs -Hatred  between 
Sutes  and  Leicestrians  —  Maurice's  Answer  to  the  Queen's  Charges— End  of 
Sonoy's  Rebellion  -  Pl.ilip  foments  the  Civil  War  in  France  -  League's  Threats 
and  Plots  against  Henrj-Mucio  arrives  in  Paris  -  He  is  received  with  Enthu- 
siasm-The  King  flies,  and  Spain  triumphs  in  Paris- States  expostulate  with 
the  Queen  -  English  Statesmen    still   deceived  -  Deputies  from   Netheriand 
Churches  — Hold  Conference  with  the  Queen  — And  present  long  Memorials  — 
More  Conversations  with  the  Queen  -  National  Spirit  of  England  and  Holland 

—  Dissatisfaction  with  Queen's  Course  -  Bitter  Complaints  of  Lord  Howard  — 
Want  of  I»reparati<.n  it  Army  and  Navy -Sanguine  Statements  of  Leicester 

—  Activity  of  Parma  —  The  painful  Suspense  continues. 

The  year  1588  had  at  last  arrived— that  fatal  year  con- 
cerning which  the   German  astrologers— more  than  a 
century  before— had  prognosticated  such  dire  events.* 
As  the  epoch  approached  it  was  firmly  believed  by  many 
that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand,  while  the  least 
superstitious  could  not  doubt  that  great  calamities  were 
impending  over  the  nations.     Portents  observed  during 
the  winter  and  in  various  parts  of  Europe  came  to  in- 
crease the  prevailing  panic.    It  rained  blood  in  Sweden 
monstrous  births  occurred  in  France,  and  at  Weimar  it 
was  gravely  reported  by  eminent  chroniclers  that  the 
sun  had  appeared  at  mid-day  holding  a  drawn  sword  in 
nis  mouth— a  warlike  portent  whose  meaning  could  not 
be  mistaken.*  ^ 

^»^De  Thou.  X.  218.    Camden.  IIL  402.    Strada,  IL  ix.  630.    Pasquier,  Oeuvres, 

«  Ibid.,  uhi  sup. 


c 


336 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVUT. 


But,  in  truth,  it  needed  no  miracles  nor  prophecies  to 
enforce  the  conviction  that  a  long  procession  of  disasters 
was  steadily  advancing.  With  France  rent  asunder  by 
internal  convulsions,  with  its  imbecile  king  not  even 
capable  of  commanding  a  petty  faction  among  his  own 
subjects,  with-  Spain  the  dark  cause  of  unnumbered 
evils,  holding  Italy  in  its  grasp,  firmly  allied  with  the 
Pope,  already  having  reduced  and  nearly  absorbed 
France,  and  now,  after  long  and  patient  preparation, 
about  to  hurl  the  concentrated  vengeance  and  hatred  of 
long  years  upon  the  little  kingdom  of  England,  and 
its  only  ally  —the  just  organized  commonwealth  of  the 
Netherlands— it  would  have  been  strange  indeed  if  the 
dullest  intellect  had  not  dreamed  of  tragical  events.  It 
was  not  encouraging  that  there  should  be  distraction  in 
the  counsels  of  the  two  States  so  immediately  threatened ; 
that  the  Queen  of  England  should  be  at  variance  with 
her  wisest  and  most  faithful  -statesmen  as  to  their  course 
of  action,  and  that  deadly  quarrels  should  exist  between 
the  leading  men  of  the  Dutch  republic  and  the  English 
governor,  who  had  assumed  the  responsibility  of  directing 
its  energies  against  the  common  enemy. 

The  blackest  night  that  ever  descended  upon  the 
Ketherlands — more  disappointing  because  succeeding  a 
period  of  comparative  prosperity  and  triumph— -was  the 
winter  of  1587-8,  when  Leicester  had  terminated  his 
career  by  his  abrupt  departure  for  England,  after  his 
second  brief  attempt  at  administration.  For  it  was 
exactly  at  this  moment  of  anxious  expectation,  when 
dangers  were  rolling  up  from  the  south  till  not  a  ray  of 
light  or  hope  could  pierce  the  universal  darkness,  that 
the  little  commonwealth  was  left  without  a  chief.  The 
English  Earl  departed,  shaking  the  dust  from  his  feet ; 
but  he  did  not  resign.  The  supreme  authority— so  far 
as  he  could  claim  it — was  again  transferred,  with  his 
person,  to  England. 

The  consequences  were  immediate  and  disastrous.  All 
the  Leicestrians  refused  to  obey  the  States-General. 
Utrecht,  the  stronghold  of  that  pai-ty,  announced  its 
unequivocal  intention  to  annex  itself,  without  any  con- 
ditions whatever,  to  the  English  crown  ;  while,  in  Hol- 
land, young  Maurice  was  solemly  installed  stadholder, 
and  captain-general  of  the  Provinces,  under  the  guidance 


1588.    DISTRACTED  CONDITION  OF  DUTCH  REPUBLIC.      337 

of  Hohenlo  and  Bameveld.  But  his  authority  was 
openly  defied  m  many  important  cities  within  his  iuris- 
diction  by  military  chieftains  who  had  taken  the  oaths  of 
allegiance  to  Leicester  as  governor,  and  who  reftised  to 
renounce  fidelity  to  the  man  who  had  deserted  thei^ 
country,  but  who  had  not  resigned  his  authority.  Of 
these  mutineers  the  most  eminent  was  Diedrich  Sonov 
governor  of  ^orth  Holland,  a  soldier  of  much  S 
rience,  sagacity,  and  courage,  who  had  rendered  great 

ZlTi  ^^ltV^"«^  «f  liberty  and  Protest.tntism,^and 
had  defaced  it  by  acts  of  barbarity  which  had  made  his 
name  infamous.    Against  this  refractory  chieftain  it  was 
necessary  for  Hohenlo  and  Maurice  to^  lead  an  armed 
force,  and  to  besiege  him  in  his  stronghold-the  ^m- 
ix>itant  city  of  Medenblik-which  he  resolutely  heTd 
for  Leicester,  although  Leicester  had  definitely  departed 
and  which  he  closed  against  Maurice,  although  M^aurice 
wkhin  fhr^-  /epresentative   of  order   and'  authority 
Zl    I  it  ^l^t^^ted  commonwealth.     And  thus  civil 
war  had   broken   out  in  the  little   scarcely-organizld 
republic,  as  if  there  were  not  dangers  and  blS^ 

war"t.'Tr'"^  '"''  ''  ^^'^^  "^^^^^-     ^-d  *b-  ci>^ 
p^rtu^  necessary  consequence  of  the  Earl's  de- 

The  English  forces -reduced  as  they  were  by  sick 
ness  famine,  and  abject  poverty-were  but  a  remnant  of 
the  brave  and  well -seasoned  bands  which  had  faced  the 
Spaniards  with  success  on  so  many  battle-fields 

i\.  T^^^^""^  ^^"^  "^""^  assumed  chief  command  over 
tbem--by  direction  of  Leicester,  subsequently  confiCd 
l^  *^^   Q"«en-^as    Lord    Willoughby.      A    darW 

etSof  K"'  "  Wst,  chivalroul  and  dev"te^d 
servant  of  his  Queen,  a  conscientious  adherent  of  Lei- 
he  w^L  to  '  """^  ""''''^'^  '"^  ^^*«  capacity  and  characJ^, 
t.Z  :  ^^^^^^e'-'  not  a  man  of  sufticient  experience  or 
-^tlety  to  perform  the  various  tasks  imposeHp^^^^^^^^ 

e4n  brirT-*^'\"f/"'^  "  ^^^^^^^^^        Quick^^tS 
Tthe  Stlf fieM ^  ^"!l.^^^  ^^-^^^-f  the  brave 

tmtor  nor  "1      '     f  T'  """'^^T  ^  ^^^^^^us  adminis- 
crnfe^ed  hi.  T^''^''^  connuander.     And  he  honestly 
trhad  W.    deficiencies  and  disliked  the  post  to  which 
an/llf        elevf  ed.     He  sconied  baseness,  intrigue 
and^peuy  quarrels,  a..d  he  was  impatient  of  coS 

z 


338 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS,         Chap.  XYHI. 


Testy,  choleric,  and  quarrelsome,  with  a  high  sense  of 
honour,  and  a  keen  perception  of  insult,  very  modest 
and  very  proud,  he  was  not  likely  to  feed  with  whole- 
some appetite  upon  the  unsavoury  annoyances   which 
were   the   daily   bread   of  a   chief  commander  in   the 
Netherlands.     "  I  ambitiously  aflect  not  high  titles,  but 
round   dealing,"   he    said;    "desiring   rather   to   be   a 
private  lance  with  indifferent  reputation,  than  a  colonel- 
general  spotted  or  defamed  with  wants."  '     He  was  not 
the  politician  to  be  matched  against  the  unscrupulous 
and  all-accomplished  Fainese  ;  and  indeed  no  man  better 
than  Willoughby  could  illustrate  the  enormous  disad- 
vantage   under    which   Englishmen   laboured   at   that 
epoch  in  their  dealings  with   Italians  and   Spaniards. 
The  profuse  indulgence  in  falsehood  which  characterized 
southern  statesmanship,   was   more  than   a   match   for 
English  love  of  truth.     English  soldiers  and  negotiators 
went  naked  into  a  contest  with  enemies  armed  in  a 
panoply  of  lies.     It  was  an  unequal  match,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  and  as  we  are  soon  more  clearly  to  see. 
How  was  an  English  soldier  who  valued  his  knightly 
word— how  were  English  diplomatists— among  whom 
one  of  the  most  famous— then  a  lad  of  twenty,  secretary 
to   Lord   Essex   in    the    Netherlands— had    poetically 
avowed  that  '*  simple  truth  was  highest  skill,"— to  deal 
with  the  thronging  Spanish  deceits  sent  northward  by 
the  great  father  of  lies  who  sat  in  the  Escorial? 
■    "  it  were  an  ill  lesson,"  said  Willoughby,  *'  to  teach 
soldiers  tlie  dissimulations  of  such  as  follow  princes' 
courts  in  Italy.     For  my  own  part,  it  is  my  only  end  to 
be  loyal  and  dutiful  to  my  sovereign,  and  plain  to  all 
others  that  1  honour.     I  see  the  finest  reynard  loses  his 
best  coat  as  well  as  the  poorest  sheep."  *    He  was  also  a 
strong  Leicestrian,  and  had  imbibed  much  of  the  Eari's 
resentment  against  the  leading  politicians  of  the  States. 
Willoughby  was  sorely  in  need  of  counsel.   That  shrewd 
and  honest  Welshman— Roger  W  illiams— was,  for  the 
moment,  absent.    Another  of  the  same  race  and  character 
commanded  in  Bergen-op-Zoom,  but  was  not  more  gifted 
with  administrative  talent  than  the  general  himself. 
*'  Sir  Thomas  Morgan  is  a  very  sufficient,  gallant  gen- 

1  willoughby  to  UU-estpr,  Sept.  1687.        •  Same  to  BnrgWey.    16  July,  1587. 
(Br.  Mu8..  Galbe,  D.  11..  p.  141.  MS.)  (BrlU  Mus.,  Galba,  D.  I.  p.  10,  MS.) 


1588.    WILLOUGHBY  RELUCTANTLY  TAKES  COMMAND.     339 

tleman,"  said  AVilloughby,  "and  in  truth  a  ver>^  old 
soldier ;  but  we  both  have  need  of  one  that  can  both 
give  and  keep  counsel  better  than  ourselves.  For  action 
he  is  undoubtedly  very  able,  if  there  were  no  other  means 
to  conquer  but  only  to  give  blows."  * 

In  brief,  the  new  commander  of  the  English  forces  in 
the  Netheriands  was  little  satisfied  with  the  States  with 
the  enemy,  or  with  himself;  and  was  inclined  to  take 
but  a  dismal  view  of  the  disjointed  commonwealth 
which  required  so  incompetent  a  person  as  he  professed 
himself  to  be  to  set  it  right. 

"  'Tis  a  shame  to  show  my  wants,"  he  said,  "but  too 
great  a  fault  of  duty  that  the  Queen's  reputation  be 
frustrate.     What  is  my  slender  experience !     What  an 
honourable  pei-son  do  I  succeed  !     \V  hat  an  encumbered 
popular  state  is  left!     What  withered  sinews,  which  it 
l)asses  my  cunning  to  restore  !     What  an  enemy  in  head 
greater  than  heretofore!     And   wherewithal   should   I 
sustain  this  burthen  ?    For  the  wars  I  am  fitter  to  obey 
than  to  command.     For  the  state,  I  am  a  man  prejudi- 
cated  in  their  opinion,  and  not  the  better  liked  of  them 
that  I  have  earnestly  followed  the  general,  and,  beino- 
one  that  wants  both  opinion  and  experience  with  them 
I  have  to  deal,  and  means  to  win  more  or  to  maintain 
that  which  is  left,  what  good  may  be  looked  for?"* 

The  supreme  authority— by  the  retirement  of  Lei- 
cester—was once  more  the  subject  of  dispute.     As  on 
his  first  departure,  so  also  on  this  his  second  and  final 
one,  he  had  left  a  commission  to  the  state-council  to  act 
as  an  executive  body  during  his  absence.   But,  although 
he  nominally  still  retained  his  office,  in  reality  no  man 
f>elieved  in  his  return  ;  and  the  States-General  were  ill 
inclined  to  brook  a  species  of  guardianship  over  them, 
with  which  they  believed  themselves  mature  enough  to 
dispense.     Moreover  the  state-council,  composed  mainly 
ot  Leicestrians,  would  expire,  by  limitation  of  its  com- 
mission, early  in  February  of  that  year.     The  dispute, 
lor  power  would   necessarily  terminate,   therefore,  in 
favour  of  the  States-General. « 

Meantime— while  this  internal  revolution  was  taking 

[  Willoughby  to  Burghley,  last  dted.      MS.) 


"87.    (Bnt   Mus.,  Galba,   D.  II.  210.    van  .Nassau,' I.  5h,  jej. 


x*2 


340 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVUI. 


place  in  the  polity  of  the  commonwealth— the  gravest 
disturbances  were  its  natural  consequence.     There  were 
mutinies  in  the  garrisons  of  Heusden,  of  Gertruydenberg, 
of  Medenblik,  as  alarming,  and  threatening  to  become  as 
chronic  in  their  character,  as  those  extensive  military 
rebellions   which  often   rendered   the   Spanish    troops 
powerless  at   the   most  critical  epochs.     The  cause  uf 
these  mutinies  was  unifonnly  want  of  pay,  the  pretext, 
the  oath  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  which  was  declared 
incompatible  with  the  allegiance  claimed  by  Maurice 
in   the  name  of  the  States-General.      The  mutiny  of 
Gertniydenberg  was  destined  to  be  protracted  ;  that  of 
Medenblik,  dividing,  as  it  did,  the  little  territoiy  of 
Holland  in  its  very  heart,  it  was  most  important  at  once 
to  suppress.     Sonoy,  however— who   was   so   stanch   a 
Leicestrian,  that  his  Spanish  contemporaries  uniformly 
believed  him  to  be  an  Englishman  '—held  out  for  a  long 
time,  as  will  be  seen,  against  the  threats  and  even  the 
armed  demonstrations  of  Maurice  and  the  States. 

Meantime  the  English  sovereign,  persisting  in  her 
delusion,  and  despite  the  solemn  warnings  of  her  own 
wisest  counsellors,  and  the  passionate  remonstrances  of 
the  States-General  of  the  Netherlands,  sent  her  peace- 
commissioners  to  the  Duke  of  Parma. 

The  Earl  of  Derby,  Lord  Cobham,  Sir  James  Croft, 
Valentine  Dale,  doctor  of  laws,  and  foimer  ambassador 
at  Vienna,  and  Dr.  Kogers,  envoys  on  the  part  of  the 
Queen,  amved  in  the  Netherlands  in  February."  The 
commissioners  appointed  on  the  part  of  Famese  were 
Count  Aremberg,  Champagny,  Richardot,  Jacob  Maas, 
and  Secretary  Gamier. 

If  histor)'  has  ever  famished  a  lesson,  how  an  un- 
scmpulous  tyrant,  who  has  determined  upon  enlarging 
his  own  territories  at  the  expense  of  his  neighbours, 
upon  suppressing  human  freedom  wherever  it  dared  to 
manifest  itself,  with  fine  phrases  of  religion  and  order 
for  ever  in  his  mouth,  on  deceiving  his  friends  and 
enemies  alike,  as  to  his  nefarious  and  almost  incredible 
designs,  by  means  of  perpetual  and  colossal  falsehoods ; 
and  "if  such  lessons  desei-ve  to  be  pondered,  as  a  source 
uf  instmction  and  guidance,  for  every  age,  then  certamly 

1  Herrera,  III.  11, 84.    Cornero,  •  Guerras  de  Flandes,'  224. 
*  Camden.  III.  4U7. 


1588.      ENGLISH  COMMISSIONERS  COME  TO  OSTEND.        341 

the  secret  story  of  the  negotiations  by  which  the  wise 
Queen  of  England  was  beguiled,  and  her  kingdom 
brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin,  in  the  spring  of  1588,  is 
worthy  of  serious  attention.  ' 

The  English  commissioners  arrived  at  Ostend.     With 
hem  came  Robert  Cecil,  youngest  son  of  Lord-Treasurer 
Burghley,  then  twenty-five  years  of  age.      He  had  no 
ofticial^  capacity    but   was  sent  by  his  father,  that  lie 
might  improve  his  diplomatic  talents,  and  obtain  some 
information  as  to  the  condition  of  the  Netheriands.     A 
slight  crooked,  hump-backed  young  gentleman,  dwarfish 
in  stature   but  with  a  face  not  irregular  in  feature,  and 
thoughtful  and  subtle  in  expression,  with  reddish  hair,  a 
thm  ta^vny  beard  and  large,  pathetic,  greenish-coloured 
eyes,  with  a  mind  and  manners  already  trained  to  courts 
and  cabinets,  and  with  a  disposition  almost  ingenuous, 
as  compared  to  the  massive  dissimulation  with  which  it 
was  to  be  contrasted,  and  with  what  was,  in  after-times, 
to  constitute  a  portion  of  his  own  character,  Cecil,  younc; 
as  he  was,  could  not  be  considered  the  least  importont  of 
the  envoys.  ^  The  Queen,  who  loved  proper  men,  called 
him      her  pigmy"  and  -although,"  he  observed  with 
whimsical  courtliness,  - 1  may  not  find  fault  with  the 
sporting  name  she  gives  me,  yet  ,seem  I  only  not  to  mislike 

LlTT  J  ^^'^'  f-  '  /^'^^  '*^^"g^«^  ^^^  ^^ong  them 
was  Valentine  Dale    who  had  much  shrewdness,  expe- 

TllT'  ri-^^^^^  learning,  but  who  valued  himself, 
above  all  things,  upon  his  Latinity.  It  was  a  conso- 
Jation  to  him  while  his  adversaries  were  breaking 
Inscians  head  as  fast  as  the  Duke,  their  master,  was 
breakmg  his  oaths,  that  his  own  s^Titax  was  as  clear  as 
his  conscience  «     The  feeblest  commissioner  was  James- 

nnVi?  V  ""  ^^^  ^^""^""^y  exhibited  himself  with  very 
anile  characteristics,  and  whose  subsequent  manifes- 
tat  ons  were  to  seem  like  dotage.  Doctor  Kogers,  learned 
road  iL  r  ^^  he  unquestionably  was,  had  less  skill  in 
reading  human  character,  or  in  deciphering  the  phy- 

Se7wth  f  Tr?%-^i^^  I^-^  Ay,  efezy  in^c^a 
man  to  cope  with  the  astute  Richardot,  the  profound  and 


(S.  p.  Office  MS.) 


March,  1588,    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


342  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 

experienced  Champagny,  or  tliat  most  voluble  and  most 
rhetorical  of  doctors  of  law,  Jacob  Maas  of  Antwerp. 

The  commissioners,  on  their  arrival,  were  welcomed 
by  Secretary  Gamier,  who  had  been  sent  to  Ostend  to 
gi-eet  them.  Ah  adroit,  pleasing,  courteous  gentleman, 
thirty-six  years  of  age,  small,  handsome,  and  attired  not 
quite  as  a  soldier,  nor  exactly  as  one  of  the  lo«g/'{>'^^' 
wearing  a  cloak  furred  to  the  knee,  a  cassock  ot  black 
velvet,  with  plain  gold  buttons,  and  a  gold  chain  about 
his  neck,  the  secretary  delivered  handsomely  the  Duke 
of  Tarma's  congratulations,  recommended  great  expedi- 
tion in  the  negotiations,  and  was  then  invited  by  the 
Earl  of  Derby  to  dine  with  the  commissioners.'  He  was 
accompanied  by  a  servant  in  plain  livery,  who— so  soon 
as  his  master  had  made  his  bow  to  the  Engli^^h  envoys- 
had  set  forth  for  a  stroll  through  the  town.  The  modest- 
looking  valet,  however,  was  a  distinguished  engineer  in 
disguise,  who  had  been  sent  by  Alexander  for  the 
especial  purpose  of  examining  the  fortifications  of 
Ostend"-— that  town  being  a  point  much  coveted,  and 
liable  to  immediate  attack  by  the  Spanish  commander. 

Meanwhile  Secretary  Gamier  made  himself  very 
agreeable,  showing  wit,  experience,  and  good  education  ; 
and,  after  dinner,  was  accompanied  to  his  lodgings  by 
Dr.  Eogers  and  other  gentlemen,  with  whom— especially 
with  Cecil — ^he  held  much  conversation. 

Knowing  that  this  young  gentleman  "  wanted  not  an 
honourable  father,"  the  Secretary  was  very  desirous 
that  he  should  take  this  opportunity  to  make  a  torn- 
through  the  Provinces,  examine  the  cities,  and  especially 
*'note  the  miserable  ruins  of  the  poor  country  and 
people."  He  would  then  feelingly  perceive  how  much 
they  had  to  answer  for,  whose  mad  rebellion  against 
their  sovereign  lord  and  master  had  caused  so  great  an 
effusion  of  blood,  and  the  wide  desolation  of  such 
goodly  towns  and  territories. 

Cecil  probably  entertained  a  suspicion  that  the  sove- 
reign lord  and  master,  who  had  been  employed,  twenty 
years  long,  in  butchering  his  subjects  and  in  ravaging 
their  territory  to  feed  his   executioners   and   soldiers, 

»  R.  Cecil  to  Bnrghley.  -  March,  1588.       «  Parma  to  Philip  11..  20  March,  1588. 
(8.  P.  Office TflS.)  •''  ^^^^-  •*"  "^'"*^"*^'  ^^-^ 


1588.         SECRETARY  GARNIER  AND  ROBERT  CECIL.         S43 

might  almost  be  justified  in  treating  human  beino-s  as 
beasts  and  reptiles,  if  they  had  not  at  last  rebelled  He 
simply  and  diplomatically  answered,  however,  that  he 
could  not  but  concur  with  the  Secretary  in  lamenting 
the  misery  of  the  Provinces  and  people  so  utterly 
despoiled  and  ruined,  but.  a^  it  might  be  matter  of  dis- 
pute  -  from  what  head  this  fountain  of  calamity  was 
both  ted  and  derived,  he  would  not  enter  farther  therein 
It  being  a  matter  much  too  high  for  his  capacity  "  He 
expressed  also  the  hope  that  the  King's  heart  mi-ht 
sympathize  vvith  that  of  her  Majesty,  in  earnest  com- 
passion for  all  this  sufiering,  and  in  detennination  to 
compound  their  differences.' 

On  the  following  day  there  was  some  conversation 
with  Orarnier,  on  preliminary  and  formal  matters,  fol- 
owed  m  the  evening  by  a  dinner  at  Lord  Cobham's 
lodgings— a  banquet  which  the  forlorn  condition  of  the 
country  scarcely  permitted  to  be  luxurious.  "  We  rather 
pray  here  for  satiety,"  said  Cecil,  "  than  ever  think  of 
varietv. 

It  was  hoped  by  the  Englishmen  that  the  Secretary 
would  take  his  departure  after  dinner;  for  the  governor 
01  Ostend,  Sir  John  Conway,  had  an  uneasy  sensation,' 
during  his  visit,  that  the  unsatisfoctory  condition  of  the 
defences  would  attract  his  attention,  and  that  a  sudden 
attack  by  Farnese  might  be  the  result.     Sir  John  was 
not  aware,  however,  of  the  minute  and  scientific  ob- 
servations then  making-at   the   very  moment   when 
Mr.  Cxarnier  was  entertaining  the  commissioners  with 
Ills  witty  and  instructive  conversation- by  the  unob- 
trusive menial  who  had  accompanied  the  Secretary  to 
Ustend.     In  order  that  those  observations  might  be  as 
thorough  as  possible,   rather  than   with   any  view  to 
ostensible  business,  the  envoy  of  Parma  now  declared 
tnat -on  account  of  the  unfevourable  state  of  the  tide- 
he  had  resolved  to  pass  another  night  at  Ostend.     »^  We 
coukl  have  spared  his  company,"  said  Cecil,  -but  their 
it?.?      ?f»'''''J?'^^''^^  ^*  convenient  that  he  should  be 
ZorJ         J""  ^^^-  Comptroller  Croft  gave  the  affable 
secretary  a  dmner-invitation  for  the  following  day.^ 

Here  certainly  was  a  masterly  commencement  on  the 


*  Cecil  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited. 

3  Cecil  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited. 


2  Ibid. 


344 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


1588,  CECIL  ACCOMPANIES  DALE  TO  GHENT. 


345 


part  of  tho  Spanish  diplomatists.  There  was  not  one 
stroke  of  business  during  the  visit  of  the  Secretary.  He 
had  been  sent  simply  to  convey  a  formal  greeting,  and 
to  take  the  names  of  the  English  commissioners — a  mat- 
ter which  could  have  been  done  in  an  hour  as  well  as 
in  a  week.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that,  at  that 
very  moment,  the  Duke  was  daily  expecting  intelligence 
of  the  sailing  of  the  Armada,  and  that  Philip,  on  his 
part,  supposed  the  Duke  already  in  England,  at  the 
head  of  his  army.  Under  these  circumstances,  there- 
fore— when  the  whole  object  of  the  negotiation,  so  far 
as  Parma  and  his  master  were  concerned,  was  to  amuse 
and  to  gain  time — it  was  already  ingenious  in  Gamier 
to  have  consumed  several  days  in  doing  nothing,  and 
to  have  obtained  plans  and  descriptions  of  Ostend  into 
the  bargain. 

Gamier — when  his  departure  could  no  longer,  on  any 
pretext,  be  deferred — took  his  leave,  once  more  warmly 
urging  Robert  Cecil  to  make  a  little  tour  in  the  obe- 
dient Netherlands,  and  to  satisfy  himself,  by  personal 
observation,  of  their  miserable  condition.  As  l-)r.  Dale 
purposed  making  a  preliminary  visit  to  the  Duke  of 
Parma  at  Ghent,  it  was  determined  accordingly  that  he 
should  be  accompanied  by  Cecil. 

That  young  gentleman  had  already  been  much  im- 
pressed by  the  forlorn  aspect  of  the  country  about 
Ostend — for,  although  the  tovm  was  itself  in  possession 
of  the  English,  it  was  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  terri- 
tory. Since  the  fall  of  Sluys  the  Spaniards  were  masters 
of  all  Flanders,  save  this  one  much-coveted  point.  And 
although  the  Queen  had  been  disposed  to  abandon  that 
city,  and  to  suffer  the  ocean  to  overwhelm  it,  rather 
than  that  she  should  be  at  charges  to  defend  it,  yet  its 
possession  was  of  vital  consequence  to  the  English-Dutch 
cause,  as  time  was  ultimately  to  show.  Meanwhile  the 
position  was  already  a  very  important  one,  for— accord- 
ing to  the  predatory  system  of  warfare  of  the  day—it 
was  an  excellent  starting-point  for  those  marauding 
expeditions  against  persons  and  property,  in  which 
neither  the  Dutch  nor  English  were  less  skilled  than 
the  Flemings  or  Spaniards.  **  The  land  all  about  here," 
said  Cecil,  "  is .  so  devastated,  that  where  the  open 
country  was  wont  to  be  covered  with  kine  and  sheep, 


it  18  now  fuller  of  wild  boars  and  wolves ;  whereof 
many  come  so  nigh  the  town  that  the  sentinels— three 
ot  whom  watch  every  night  upon  a  sand-hill  outside 
the  gates— have  had  them  in  a  dark  night  upon  them 
ere  they  were  aware."  ' 

But  the  garrison  of  Ostend  was  quite  as  dangerous  to 
the  peasants  and  the  country  squires  of  Flanders,  as 
were  the  wolves  or  wild  boars;  and  many  a  pacific 
individual  of  retired  habits,   and   with   a   remnant  of 
property  worth  a  ransom,  was  doomed  to  see  himself 
whisked  from  his  seclusion  by  Conway's  troopers,  and 
made  a  compulsory  guest  at  the  city.     Prisoners  were 
brought  m  from  a  distance  of  sixty  miles;  and  there 
was  one  old  gentleman,  -well  languaged,"  who  "con- 
fessed merrily  to  Cecil,  that  when  the  soldiers  fetched 
mm  out  of  his  own  mansion-house,  sitting  safe  in  his 
study,  he  was  as  little  in  fear  of  the  garrison  of  Ostend 
as  he  was  of  the  Turk  or  the  devil."  - 

Three  days  after  the  departure  of  Gamier,  Dr.  Dale 
and  his  attendants  started  upon  their  expedition  from 
Ostend  to  Ghent— an  hour's  journey  or  so  in 
these  modern  times.  Hie  English  envoys,  in  f?  '^"♦^^»'-  ' 
the  sixteenth  century,  found  it  a  more  formid-  '^^^' 
able  undertaking,  lliey  were  many  hours  traversing 
the  four  miles  to  Oudenburg,  their  first  halting-place 

hL\^  Tf!""'^  ^T^  "^"^^  **^^^^  ^^^^"g  ^^en  a  great 
breach  of  the  sea-dyke  of  Ostend,  a  disaster  threatening 
destruction  to  town  and  country.^  At  Oudenburg,  I 
small  and  wretched  hole,"  as  Gamier  had  described  it 
^r.^-  !^^'^,7^'  however,  a  garrison  of  three  thousand 
fopanish  soldiers,  under  the  Maiquis  de  Renti.     From 

JhrpL'r  Y?  ""^  ^f  ^  ^''^^P^^  ^^«  appointed  to  protect 
It  tW^  ^/T'"'''  to  Bmges.  Here  they  arrived 
at  thieeo  clock,  tvere  met  outside  the  gates  by  the 
famous  General  La  Motte,  and  by  him  escorted  to^their 


And  Doctor  Rogers  held  very  similar 
language..  -The  most  dolorous  and 
heavy  sights  In  this  voyage  to  Ghent,  by 
me  WHghed.-  he  said ;  "  seeing  the  coun. 
tries  which,  heretofore,  by  traffic  of 
merchants,  as  much  as  any  other  I  had 
•een  flourish,  now  partly  drowned,  and 
^inL  ''*i'"  ^"""^  "•^•^'  ^hoUv  burned. 
With  wolves,  wild  boars,  and  foxes-i 


great  testimony  of  the  wrath  of  God," 

&c.,  &c.    Dr.  Rogers  to  the  Queen.  - 

11 
April,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  Cecil  to  Burghley,  1  March,   Ma 
already  cited. 


'  Same  to   same.     —    March. 
(S.  P.  Office  M&) 


1588. 


346 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVni. 


lodgings  in  the  "  English  house,"  and  afterwards  hand- 
somely entertained  at  supper  in  his  own  quarters. 

The  General's  wife,  Madame  de  la  Motte,  was,  ac- 
cording to  Cecil,  "afair  gentlewoman  of  discreet  and 
modest  behaviour,  and  yet  not  unwilling  sometimes  to 
hear  herself  speak ;"  '  so  that  in  her  society,  and  in  that 
of  her  sister — **a  nun  of  the  order  of  the  Mounts,  but 
who,  like  the  rest  of  the  sisterhood,  wore  an  ordinary 
dress  in  the  evening,  and  might  leave  the  convent  if 
asked  in  marriage"  —  the  supper  passed  off  very 
agreeably. 

In  the  evening  Cecil  found  that  his  father  had  for- 
merly occupied  the  same  bedroom  of  the  English  hotel 
Friday     ^^  which  he  was  then  lodged;  for  he  found 
March 8.    that  l.ord  Burghley  had  scrawled  his  name  in 
'^'***'      the  chimney-corner— a  fact  which  was  highly 
gratifying  to  the  son.* 

The  next  morning,  at  seven  o'clock,  the  travellers  set 
forth  for  Ghent.     The  journey  was  a  miserable  one.     it 
was  as  cold  and  gloomy  weather  as  even  a  Flemish 
month  of  March  could  furnish.     A  drizzling  rain  was 
tailing  all  day  long,  the  lanes  were  foul  and  miry,  the 
frequent   thickets   which    overhung    their    path   were 
swarming  with  the  freebooters  of  Zeeland,  who  were 
*'  ever  at  hand,"  says  Cecil,  "  to  have  picked  our  purses, 
but  that  they  descried  our  convoy,  and  so  saved  them- 
selves in  the  woods."     Sitting  on  horseback  ten  hours 
without  alighting,  under  such  circumstances  as  these, 
was  not  luxurious  for  a  fragile   little   gentleman  like 
Queen  Elizabeth's  "  pigmy  ;"  especially  as  Dr.  Dale  and 
himself  had  only  half  a  red  hening  between  them  for 
luncheon,  and  supped  afterwards  upon  an  orange."    The 
envoy  protested  that  when  they  could  get  a  couple  of 
eggs  a  piece,  while  travelling  in  Flanders,  "  they  thought 
they  fared  like  princes."  * 

Nevertheless  Cecil  and  himself  fought  it  out  manfully, 
and  when  they  reached  Ghent,  at  five  in  the  evening, 
they  were  met  by  their  acquaintance  Gamier,  and 
escorted  to  their  lodgings.  Here  they  were  waited 
upon  by  President  Kichardot,  "  a  tall  gentleman,"  on 

1  Cecil  to  Burghley.      (MS.  last  cited.)        s  Dale  to  Burghley,   ^  March,  1588. 


a  Ibid. 


(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


«  Ibid. 


1588.        CECIL  FINDS  THE  DESOLATION  COMPLETE.  347 

behalf  of  the  Duke  of  Tarma,  and  then  left  to  their 
much-needed  repose. 

Nothing  could  be  more  forlorn  than  the  country  of 
the  obedient  Netherlands,  through  which  their  day's 
journey  had  led  them.  Desolation  had  been  the  reward 
of  obedience.  -  The  misery  of  the  inhabitants,"  said 
Cecil,  18  incredible,  both  without  the  town,  where  all 
things  are  wasted,  houses  spoiled,  and  grounds  un- 
laboured, and  also,  even  in  these  great  cities,  where 

fcwL '' •  ""'  P"'  p^°^  '^^^^^"  ''^'^  '^  ^^^ 

And  all  this  human  wretchedness  was  the  elaborate 
work  of  one  man-one  dull,  heartless  bigot,  living,  far 
away,  a  life  of  labonous  ease  and  solemn  sensuality 
and,  m  reality,  almost  as  much  removed   from  these 
fellow-cre^atures  of  his,  whom  he  called  his  subjects,  as 
If  he  had  been  the  inhabitant  of  another  planet.     Has 
history  many  more    instructive  warnings  against    the 
horrors  of  arbitrary  govemment-against  the  folly  of 
mankind  m  ever  tolerating  the  rule  of  a  single  irre- 
sponsib  e  indnidual,  than  the  lesson  furnished  by  the 
life-work  of  that  crowned  criminal,  Philip  the  Second  ? 
ni.  i-*"  \^^f/"S(*^^  peace  on  the  part  of  these  unfortunate 
obedient  Flemings  was    intense.     Incessant   cries   for 
peace  reached  the  ears  of  the  envoys  on  every  side. 
Alas    It  would  have  been  better  for  these  peace-wisheI>^ 

nohlo  R^ii  i"^  ''^^  H  ^'^^  ^'^^  *^ei^  brethren,  the 
UT esti,^.'^^^^^^^  "^^^  Zeelanders,  when  they  had  been 

fmnf  P^-V      ^^^.^  P^,f  e' X^t  independence  and  liberty, 

M^i  *le"ii"g«  were   but  fuel  for    the  vast  flame 

cJril.  l'  '^'^''^rV^.  ^^"^^^"S  ^^^  *^e  destruction  of 
aco^niT  "!.~1^  ^^\  Christendom  were  not  willing  to 
accept  his  absolute  dominion.  ^ 

poSrful^'rf 'f  -^^  Ghent~of  Ghent,  once  the 
cU  es  in  th^  ^^,^»«^'-^^"«'  *he  opulent,  the  free,  of  all 
came  /n  fl  '^'''^^-  "^^  *^^  ^^^'^*  ^^.i^^t  ^^^  foHom- 
and  to  nri      f  r^"^  *^  ^^^*  ^^P^^  Elizabeth^s  envoy, 

dTownl^eir  1  J""'  ^^'^  "^"^^  ^'^  *^^^«  streaming 
aown  their  cheeks,  earnestly  expressing  the  desire  of 

)  Dale  to  Burghley.  ^  March.  1588.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)* 


\^l 


348 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XVIII. 


their  hearts  for  peace,  and  their  joy  that  at  least  it  had 
now  ♦*  begun  to  be  thought  on."  '  ,,  ^.    .  x. 

"  It  is  quite  true,"  replied  Dr.  Dale,  "  that  her  ex- 
cellent Majesty  the  Queen-filled  with  compassion  for 
your  ^ndition,  and  having  been  informed  that  the  Duke 
of  Parma  is  desirous  of  peace-has  vouchsafed  to  make 
this  overture.     If  it  take  not  the  desired  effect,  let  not 
the  blame  rest  upon  her,  but  upon  her  adversaries. 
To  these  words  the   magistrates  all   said  Amen,  and 
invoked  blessings  on  her  Majesty."    And  most  certamly, 
Elizabeth  was   sincerely    desirous    of  peace,   even  at 
greater    sacrifices    than  the    Duke    could   well    have 
imaiiined ;  but  there  was  something  almost  diabolic  in 
the  cold  dissimulation  by  which  her  honest  compassion 
was  mocked,  and  the  tears  of  a  whole  people  m  its 
agony  made  the   laughing-stock  of   a  despot  and  his 

*""  On  Saturday  morning,  Kichardot  and  Gamier  waited 
upon  the  envoy  to  escort  him  to  the  presence  of  the 
Duke.      Cecil,  who  accompanied  him,  wa«^  not  mucn 
impressed  with  the  grandeur  of  Alexanders  lodgings 
and  made  unfavourable  and  rather  unreasonable 
S  *'"*''•    comparisons  between  them  and  the  splendour  ot 
^^^''     Elizabeth's   court.      They   passed    through  an 
ante-chamber  into  a  dining-room,  thence  into  an  inner 
chamber,  and  next  into  the  Duke's  room.     In  theante- 
chamber  stood  Sir  William  Stanley,  the  Deventer  tra  tor 
conversing  with    one    Mockett,  an    Englishman,  long 
resident  in  Flanders.     Stanley  was  meanly  dressed  in 
the  Spanish  fashion,  and  as  young  Cecil,  passing  through 
the  chamber,  looked  him  in  the  face,  he  abmptly  turned 
from  him,  and  pulled  his  hat  over  his  eyes.       /"^f 
well  he  did  so,"  said  that  young  gentleman,     for  his 
taking  it  off  would  hardly  have  cost  me  mine.         (-  ecil 
was  infoimed  that  Stanley  was  to  have  a  commandery 
of  Malta,  and  was  in  good  favour  with  the  Duke   who 
was,  however,  quite  weary  of  his  mutinous  and  dis- 

orderly  Irish  regiment.*  •  j   v     +1,^ 

In  the  bed-chamber,  Famese-accompanied  by  the 

Marquis  del  Guasto,  the  Marquis  of  Kenty,  the  1  nnce 


10 


'  Odl  to  Bur^tey.  5j  March, 
already  cited. 


MS. 


I  Ibid. 
'  Ibid. 
<  Ibid. 


1588.        INTERVIEW  OF  THE  ENVOY  WITH  PARMA.  349 

Of  Aremberg  President  Richardot,  and  Secretaiy  Cosimo 
-received  the  envoy  and  his  companion.  "  Small  and 
mean  wa«  the  furniture  of  the  chamber,"  said  CecH 

and  although  they  attribute  this  to  his  love  of  pri4cy 
yet  ,t  IS  a  sign  that  peace  is  the  mother  of  allhonow 
and  state,  as  may  best  be  perceived  by  the  court  of 
England,  which  her  Majest^s  royal  presence  doth  so 
adorn  as  that  at  exceedeth  this  as  far  as  the  sun  su^! 
passeth  in  light  the  other  stars  of  the  firmament "' 

Here  was  a  compliment  to  the  Queen  and  her  uphol- 
sterers  drawn  m  by  the  ears.  Certainly,  if  the  first 
and  best  fruit  of  the  much  longed-for  peace  were  only 

t  Sr^  ^^^  ^?''"''t  °^  '°^»'  ^''d  dLal  apartment"^ 
It  might  be  as  well  perhaps  for  the  war  to  go  on  while 
the  Queen  continued   to  outshine  all  the  Lrs  irthe 

knTwTh  ;  ^"*  '^'  .'""^•^'"S  *=°"^'«^  «»•!  «^te"man 
Knew  that  a  personal  compliment  to  Elizabeth  could 
never  be  amiss  or  ill-timed. 

to^JheTuk/'^'':,"'"^  '^t  ^r*^"^  "f  j^^"-  »r«i««ty 

Ale^ndi^^H  *"f  7^'  ^T^  ^■*^  e-'^^'  attention. 
Alexander   attempted  a  reply  in  French,  which   was 

lor  Italian.  He  alluded  with  great  fervour  to  the 
"honourable  opinion  concerning^  his  sincerity  and 
word/'  expressed  to  him  by  her  Vjesty  throZh  the 
mouth  of  her  envoy.  "  And  indeed,"  said  he  "  I  have 
always  had  especial  care  of  keepiiig  my  w^rd  My 
body  and  service  are  at  the  commandment  of  the  Kin/ 
my.lord  and  master,  but  my  hono.ir  is  my  own  and  hf^ 

Sanv  r  rf'^  *^' '  '^'^«"  "^i-.-  have  :rp": 

hef  Majest,^?  """''^  *°  ''  ^'^^^  ^^d  famous  a  Queen  as 

NeSrthekJF  °°'  1  P^f  """^ri^s  and  of  ceremony, 
envoy  andTf'"  ^-"""^  opportunity  to  impress  the 

crfL^i^  3  wrcS  inrSeitrd 

L^^^dTQ^nE^IS^^^^^^^ 

serviw"!?/*  "°*.-^  ^^'""'  '"  ^^^  ^"'•I'J  "-he  said,  "re- 

masteT  toir*'"?^*^''"  ^''  Majesty  and  my'royal 
master- to  whom  I  desire  more  to  do  sen-ice.  So  much 


'  C«il  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited. 


Ibid. 


350 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVHI. 


t   \ 


have  I  heard  of  her  perfections,  that  I  wish  earnestly 
that  things  might  so  fall  out,  as  that  it  might  be  my 
fortune  to  look  upon  her  face  before  my  return  to  my 
own  country.  Yet  I  desire  to  behold  her,  not  as  a  ser- 
vant to  him  who  is  not  able  still  to  maintain  war,  or  as 
one  that  feared  any  harm  that  might  befall  him  ;  for  in 
such  matters  my  account  was  made  long  ago,  to  endure 
all  which  God  may  send.  But,  in  truth,  I  am  weary  to 
behold  the  miserable  estate  of  this  people,  fallen  upon 
them  through  their  own  folly,  and  methinks  that  he 
who  should  do  the  best  offices  of  peace  would  perform  a 
pium  et  sanctissimum  opus.  Eight  glad  am  I  that  the 
Queen  is  not  behind  me  in  zeal  for  peace."  He  then 
complimented  Cecil  in  regard  to  his  father,  whom  he 
understood  to  be  the  principal  mover  in  these  negotia- 
tions.' 

The  young  man  expressed  his  thanks,  and  especially 
for  the  good  affection  which  the  Duke  had  manifested 
to  the  Queen  and  in  the  blessed  cause  of  peace.  He 
was  well  aware  that  her  Majesty  esteemed  him  a  prince 
of  great  honour  and  virtue,  and  that  for  this  good  work, 
thus  auspiciously  begun,  no  man  could  possibly  doubt 
that  her  Majesty,  like  himself,  was  most  zealously 
affected  to  bring  all  things  to  a  perfect  peace. 

The  matters  discussed  in  this  first  interview  were 
only  in  regard  to  the  place  to  be  appointed  for  the 
coming  conferences,  and  the  exchange  of  powers.  The 
Queen's  commissioners  had  expected  to  treat  at  Ostend. 
Alexander,  on  the  contrary,  was  unable  to  listen  to  such 
a  suggestion,  as  it  would  be  utter  dereliction  of  his 
master's  dignity  to  send  envoys  to  a  city  of  his  own, 
now  in  hostile  occupation  by  her  Majesty's  forces.  Ihe 
place  of  conference,  therefore,  would  be  matter  of  future 
consideration.  In  respect  to  the  exchange  of  powers, 
Alexander  expressed  the  hope  that  no  man  would  doubt 
as  to  the  production  on  his  commissioners'  part,  of  ample 
authority  both  from  himself  and  from  the  King.* 

Yet  it  will  be  remembered,  that,  at  this  moment,  the 
Duke  had  not  only  no  powers  from  the  King,  but  that 
Philip  had  most  expressly  refused  to  send  a  commission, 

1  Cecil  to  Barghley,  ^  March.     MS.  already  cited. 
3  Ibid. 


351 


1588.  DR.  DALE'S  KETURN  TO  OSTEND. 

ti.e  letter  lay  in  his  Cabinet  fn  2t  veTr  ^tm  in  J"  k' 
Philip   expressed  his  convirfion   tllfT-         '  ^  ^""^'^ 

attendants  made  the  best  of  Their  wafbacJt    '"'^    ^'' 

Sndfr  ^^«'»P^S"y.   ««t  ionh  on  a  little  tour  in 

The  journey  from  Ghent  to  Antwern  ^.. 
he  was  agreeably  surprised  hi  n,7T^  ^  ''^^•^'  *"d 
of  the  country/  At^nterva^I  of  evCfelP'T^'-'y 
was  refreshed  with  the  snertp.l^  7  'ew  miles,  he 
garnished  with  dan-Hns-^WK!  *  "^  ^  S''''^*  ^e" 
therefore,  in  comparafeecS"'?'  -^^  ''^''''^^' 
the  energetic  bailflof  wSnllJ^  ■V^'^"^  *••** 

tion  upon  the  proprietors  oHhelSntlL,''  '°"'"^- 
mainly  in  hanffina  bri<n,n^o        •^untry,  to  be  expended 

Wn  applied,  U^tnof^tlorylZ'"'''  t""  '^'  ^^^^^ 
appeamnce  but  they  were  instentt^'  could  make  their 
and  hanged  forthwith  witTn^?-^  J'"'"®*'  ^^  ^°^^'^^' 
counted  twelve  s^cl  p W  "f  ^'^^V  *"^i-  Ceoil 
Ween  Ghent  and  Anfcj  .°^  '^''"*""'  '»«  l"'^  road 

Lan?ran'4i-'°br:L':  ':?a'"  :"t'  ^"  '"^'^'^  »-''-*. 
Antwern    in  ihJA  ,.    ^^^^  commercial  house  in 

and  b7him  on  hiTrr7Jir\.^"*""P  ''^  -~ce! 
town,  he  was  moil  f    ^^^  ^""^  evening  in  that 

fathers  ir\ri^ir'.f'"i  '^'}  f-  '^« 

city  that  ever  I  saw,"  sa^  Cecil    "f  ^'^^P^'^f^antest 

hnilding.  but  utterly  left  IndZ;^   for  situation  and 

"ch  merchants  that  were  wont  tn  f     °'^"r  ^^  ^^^''^ 

His  host  was  much^^tTli  a  ^  ""^V^"*  ^^^  Pl^ce."' 

as  much  interested  m  the  peace-negotia- 

^     ^'  ii  ^'^'  1588.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  •     ,  i^^^ 


352 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.        Chap.  XVHI. 


1588.  CECIL  MAKES  A  TOUR  IN  FLANDERS. 


S53 


tions,   and,  indeed,  through  his  relations  with  Cham- 
pagny  and   Andreas    de    Loo,   had  been   one    of  the 
instruments  by  which  it  had   been  oommenced.     He 
inveighed  bitterly  against   the    Spanish   captains  and 
soldiers,   to  whose    rapacity  and  ferocity  he    mainly 
ascribed    the    continuance   of    the   war;    and    he  was 
especially   incensed  with    Stanley  and   other    English 
renegades,  who  were  thought  fiercer  haters  of  England 
than  were   the    Spaniards   themselves.     Even    in    the 
desolate  and  abject  condition  of  Antwerp  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood,   at   that  moment,   the   quick    eye   of  Cecil 
detected    the    latent   signs    of    a    possible    splendour. 
Should  peace  be  restored,  the  territory  once  more  be 
tilled,  and  the  foreign  merchants  attracted  thither  again, 
he  believed  that  the  governor  of  the  obedient  Nether- 
lands might  live  there  in  more  magnificence  than  the 
King  of  Spain  himself,  exhausted  as  were  his  revenues 
by  the  enormous  expense  of  this  protracted  war.     Eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars  monthly,  so  Lanfranchi  in- 
formed Cecil,  were  the  cost  of  the  forces  on  the  footing 
then   established.      This,   however,    was    probably   an 
exaggeration,  for  the  royal  account-books  showed  a  less 
formidable  sum,'  although  a  sufficiently  large  one  to 
appal  a  less  obstinate  bigot  than  Philip.     But  what  to 
him  were  the  ruin  of  the  Netherlands,  the  impoverish- 
ment of  Spain,  and  the  downfall  of  her  ancient  grandeur, 
compared  to  the  glory  of  establishing  the  Inquisition  in 
England  and  Holland  ? 

While  at  dinner  in   Lanfranchi's  house,  Cecil  was 


1  ••  Relaclon  particular  de  lo  que  monta 
un  mes  de  sueldo  de  toda  la  getite  de 
este  exereito  asi  Infant"  como  caba»  y 
entrett'nidos  de  todos  nacioues,  artlll* 
armada,  Yttuallas,  y  el  numoro  de  la 
gente  que  hay  conforme  a  la  ultima 
muestra  de  21)  Apr.,  1588  : — 


Per  Mm. 

.     6.508 


Infanlrriii.     Hoinbret.    Vaniierat. 


Ee^panola  ...     8,718 
Ital»  6,339 

Irlandesca  V     3,2T8 
»>coc(sia    ' 
Wallona   ... 
Alem>  Alta 
Baya 


89 
62 

29 


17,825  144 

11,309  60 

8,616  34 

Cuballeria  ligera. 
3,650  Atom*  ebtaudaries 


»t 


Per  M«. 
62.239 
35,225 

20,591 

t9.341 
86.fi97 
61.195 

,     38.631 


Castillos. 
Anversa  "'\ 

Gande  V    1,180 

CbarleniontI 

Entrelenidos. 

668 23.204 

El  Armada  de  Mar,  gasto  ordi-  )  ^g  400 

narlo  piT  mes ' 

ArtiUerla 8.2<>0 

Vituallas,  spediile.&c 4,384 

SuQiario  total. 
69,915  hombres,  per  mes,  oscudos  380.427 
Sua  Alteza  AU'Ssandro  Fainese.  per  mes. 

3000  escudos  d'  oro. 
Maesse  del  camp*  gen>.  per  mes.  lOOO. 
Monta  el  gasto  ordiu*  de  cada  mihasU 
aqui  pesos  454,316  per  mes  =  37 0  000 
escudos  de  oro."  (Archive  de  Simaucaa, 
MS.) 


Witness  to  another  characteristic  of  the  times,  and  one 
which  afforded   proof  of  even  moi^  formidable   f^e! 
hooters  abroad  than  those  for  whom  the  bailiff  of  Vv'^s 
land  had  erected  his  gibbets.     A   canal-boat  had  ^ft 
Antwerp  for  Brussels  that  morning,  and  in  the  vicinitv 

from    the^^k'l^''^  ^^.^"  '''  ^P-  "^y-  ^^etacS 
trom    the    English  garrison   of  Bergen-op-Zoom     and 

captured,  with  twelve  prisoners  and  a'freig^hf  of  60  000 
florins  m  money.     -This  struck  the  company  at  the 
dmner-table  all  in  a  dump,"  said  Cecil.     And^well  it 
migh   ;  for  the  property  mainly  belonged  to  themTSvef 
and  they  forthwith  did  their  best  to  hfve  the  mTra^S 
waylaid  on   their  return.     But  Cecil,  notwithsLS 
his  gmtitude  for  the  hospitality  of  Lanfranchi,  sent  wd 
next  day  to  the  garrison  of  Bergen  of  the  desi^s  aL^nst 
them,  and  on  his  arrival  at  the  place  had  theTt LEn 
of  being  informed  by  Lord  Willoughby  that  the  pirtv 
had  got  safe  home  with  their  plunder  »  ^  ^ 

-  And  well  worthy  they  are  of  it,"  said  young  Eobert 
"  considering  how  far  they  go  for  it  "  ^  ^oDert, 

the^  WT  bT^^^^  ^'"r^  ^^^^^'  P^^^^<i^^  <^own 
me  rner  to  Bergen-op-Zoom,  where  he  was  hosnitablv 

entertained  by  that  doughty  old  soldier  Sir  Sam 
Eeade,  and  met  Lord  \Villoughby,  whom  he  acUpanTed 
toBrielle  on  a  visit  to  the  deposed  elector  Truchsess 
then  living  m   that  neighbourhood.     Cecil-:who  w^ 
not  passion's  slave-had  small  sympathy  withl^he  man 
iLr^f^  }X  "  «-'--g-ty  for  fhe  s'Lke   of  A^es 

^woti  V    ^^^  ^""'7  ^^^^^y  gentleman,"  saidTe 
well  fashioned,  and  of  good  speech,  for  which  I  mus; 

l^Alff       1  •  ,    ?.,  ^"^*     -^^ence  he  proceeded  bv  wav  nf 
i"u  unest  Duilt  town  that  ever  he  raw  "    +^  +1. 

tour  L         ^""^  "'^^  ^^^  "»"«*  of  his  three  weeW 
tour,  had  seen  many  important  towns  both  in  fhe^. 

VOi,   II  ^S.  last  dted. 

2  1 


354 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.        Chap.  XVIII. 


public  and  in  the  obedient  Netherlands,  and  had  con- 
versed with  many  "tall  gentlemen,"  as  he  expressed 
himself,  among  the  English  commanders,  having  been 
especially  impressed  by  the  heroes  of  Sluys,  Baskervillo 
and  that  "  proper  gentleman  Francis  Vere."  ^ 

He  was  also  presented  by  Lord  Willoughby  to 
Maurice  of  Nassau,  and  was  perhaps  not  very  benign- 
antly  received  by  the  young  prince.  At  that  particular 
moment,  when  Leicester's  deferred  resignation,  the 
rebellion  of  Sonoy  in  North  Holland,  founded  on  a 
fictitious  allegianco  to  the  late  governor-general,  the 
perverse  determination  of  the  Queen  to  treat  for  peace 
against  the  advice  of  all  the  leading  statesmen  of  the 
Netherlands,  and  the  sharp  rebukes  perjietually  ad- 
ministered by  her,  in  consequence,  to  the  young  stad- 
holder  and  all  his  supporters,  had  not  tended  to  produce 
the  most  tender  feelings  upon  their  part  towards  the 
English  government,  it  was  not  surprising  that  the 
handsome  soldier  should  look  askance  at  the  crooked 
little  courtier,  whom  even  the  great  Queen  smiled  at 
while   she  petted  him.     Cecil   was  veiy  angry  with 

Maurice. 

*'  In  my  life  I  never  saw  worse  behaviour,"  he  said, 
**  except  it  were  in  one  lately  come  from  school.  There 
is  neither  outward  appearance  in  him  of  any  noble  mind 
nor  inward  virtue."  * 

Although  Cecil  had  consumed  nearly  the  whole  month 
of  March  in  his  tour,  he  had  been  more  profitably  em- 
ployed than  were  the  royal  commissioners  during  the 
same  period  at  Ostend. 

Never  did  statesmen  know  better  how  not  to  do  that 
which  they  were  ostensibly  occupied  in  doing  than 
Alexander  Famese  and  his  agents,  Champagny,  Kichar- 
dot,  Jacob  Maas,  and  Gamier.  The  first  pretext  by 
which  much  time  was  cleverly  consumed  was  the  dispute 
as  to  the  place  of  meeting.  Doctor  Dale  had  already 
expressed  his  desire  for  Ostend  as  the  place  of  colloquy. 
**  'Tis  a  very  slow  old  gentleman,^  this  Doctor  Dale," 
said  Alexander ;  *'  he  was  here  in  the  time  of  Madam 

1  CeciltoBurghley.  5-^**' 1588.  (S.  MS.  last  cited. 

«  ^P'"'  «  » Vlejo  y  pesado."    Parma  to  Philip 

P.OlBceMS.)                  ^^  jL    20  March,  1588.    (Arch,  de  Slmaa- 

«  CecU  to  Burghley,  -  March,  1588.  cas,  MS.) 


1588.  DISCUSSIONS  PROLONGED  TO  GAIN  TIME.  355 

my  mother,  and  has  also  been  ambassador  at  Yienna 
1  have  received  him  and  his  attendants  with  great 
courtesy,  and  held  out  great  hopes  of  peace.  We 
had  conversations  about  the  place  of  meeting.  He 
wishes  Ostend :  I  object.  The  first  conference  will 
probably  be  at  some  point  between  that  place  and 
Newport.  *i  ^ 

The  next  opportunity  for  discussion  and  delay  was 
afforded  by  the  question  of  powers.  And  it  must  be 
ever  borne  in  mind  that  Alexander  was  daily  expectino- 
the  arrival  of  the  invading  fleets  and  armies  of  Spain'' 
and  was  holding  himself  in  readiness  to  place  himself  at 
their  head  for  the  conquest  of  England.  This  was  of 
course  so  strenuously  denied  by  himself  and  those  under 
his  influence,  that  Queen  Elizabeth  implicitly  believed 
him  Burghley  was  lost  in  doubt,  and  even  the  astute 
^\  alsingham  began  to  distrust  his  own  senses.     So  much 

i"-?? f  ^     .      ^  falsehood  acquire   in  determined  and 
skilful  hands. 

"  As  to  the  commissions,  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary 
for  your  Majesty  to  send  them,"  wrote  Alexander  at  the 
moment  when  he  was  receiving  the  English  envoy  at 
Orhent,  tor— unless  the  Armada  arrive  soon—it  will  be 
indispensable  for  me  to  have  them,  in  order  to  keep  the 
negotiation  alive.  Of  course  they  will  never  broach  the 
pnncipal  matters  without  exhibition  of  powers.  Eichar- 
dot  IS  aware  of  the  secret  which  your  Majesty  confided 
to  me,  namely,  that  the  negotiations  are  only  intended 
to  deceive  the  Queen  and  to  gain  time  for  the  fleet ;  but 
the  powers  must  be  set  in  order  that  we  may  be  able  to 
produce  them,  although  your  secret  intentions  will  be 
obeyed.   * 

The  Duke  commented,  however,  on  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  carrying  out  the  plan,  as  originally  proposed. 

1  he  conquest  of  England  would  have  been  difficult  " 
iie  said,  "  even  although  the  country  had  been  taken  by 
surprise.  Now  they  are  strong  and  armed;  we  are 
comparatively  weak.  The  danger  and  the  doubt  are 
great;  and  the  English  deputies,  I  think,  are  really 
desirous  of  peace.  Nevertheless  I  am  at  your  Majesty's 
disposition— life  and  all~and  probably,  before  the  answer 

ArchTsro'c^^^:;  •  '  ''"^''  ''''■    M;.r^c!;t  """'  "-  ''  !^^^' ''''' 

2  A  2 


356 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVUI. 


mrives  to  this  letter,  the  fleet  will  have  ^arrived,  and  I  shall 
have  undertaken  the  passage  to  England.''  ^ 

After  three  weeks  had  thus  adroitly  been  frittered 
away  the  English  commissioners  became  somewhat 
impatient,  and  despatched  Doctor  Eogers  to  the  Dnke 
at  Ghent.  This  was  extremely  obliging  upon  their  part, 
for  if  Valentine  Dale  were  a  '^  slow  old  gentleman,  he 
was  keen,  caustic,  and  rapid,  as  compared  to  Daniel 
Eoo-ers.  A  formalist  and  a  pedant,  a  man  of  red  tape 
and  routine,  full  of  precedents  and  declamatory  common- 
places which  he  mistook  for  eloquence,  honest  as  daylight 
and  tedious  as  a  king,  he  was  just  the  time-consumer  for 
Alexander's  purpose.  The  wily  Italian  listened  with 
profound  attention  to  the  wise  saws  in  which  the  excel- 
lent diplomatist  revelled,  and  his  fine  eyes  often  filled 
with  tears  at  the  Doctor*s  rhetoric. 

Three  interviews— each  three  mortal  hours  long— did 
the  two  indulge  in  at  Ghent,  and  never  was  high  com- 
missioner better  satisfied  with  himself  than  was  Daniel 
Eocrers  upon  those  occasions.  He  carried  ever>'  point ; 
he*convinced,  he  softened,  he  captivated  the  great  Duke; 
he  turned  the  great  Duke  round  his  finger.  Ihc  great 
Duke  smiled,  or  wept,  or  fell  into  his  arms,  by  turns. 
Alexander's  military  exploits  had  rung  through  the 
world  his  genius  for  diplomacy  and  statesmanship  had 
never  been  disputed ;  but  his  talents  as  a  light  comedian 
were,   in  these    interviews,    for  the   first  time  fully 

revealed.  ,  ^     .  t    r-    ii    j. 

On  the  26th  March  the  learned  Doctor  made  his  tirst 
bow  and  performed  his  first  flourish  of  compliments  at 

M  March  Ghcut.  **  I  assuro  your  Majcsty,'  said  he,  his 
-» April  •  Highness  followed  my  compliments  of  entertam- 
'  ^^^^'  ment  with  so  much  honour,  as  that— his  High- 
ness or  I,  speaking  of  the  Queen  of  England- he  never 
did  less  than  uncover  his  head ;  not  covering  the  same 
unless  I  was  covered  also." «  And  after  these  salutations 
had  at  last  been  got  through  with,  thus  spake  the  Doctor 
of  Laws  to  the  Duke  of  Panna  :— 

"  Almighty  God,  the  light  of  lights,  be  pleased  to 
enlighten  the  understanding  of  your  Alteza,  and  to 
direct  the  same  to  his  glor>%  to  the  uniting  of  both  their 


1  Panna  to  Philip  II.,  20  March,  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 


1 
a   Daniel   Rogers    to   the    Queen,    j^ 

April,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


3588.         DR  ROGERS'S  INTERVIEWS  WITH  PARMA.  357 

Majesties  and  the  finishing  of  these  most  bloody  wars 
whereby  these  countries,  being  in  the  highest  de-ree  of 
misery^  desolate,  lie  as  it  were  prostrate  before  the  wrath- 
ful presence  of  the  most  mighty  God,  most  lamentably 
beseeching  his  Divine  Majesty  to  withdraw  his  scourge 
of  war  from  them,  and  to  move  the  hearts  of  princes  ?o 
restore  them  unto  peace,  whereby  they  might   attain 
unto  their  ancient  flower  and  dignity.     Into  the  hands 
ot  your  Alteza  are  now  the  lives  of  many  thousands,  the 
destruction  of  cities,  towns,  and  countries,  which  to  put 
to  the  fortune  of  war  how  perilous  it  were,  I  pray  con- 
sider.    Ihink  ye,  ye  see  the  mothers  left  alive  tendering 
their  offspring  m  your  presence,   nam  matribus  detestata 
heUa,    continued  the  orator.     "  Think  also  of  others  of 
all  sexes    ages,   and  conditions,  on  their  knees  before 
your  Alteza,   most  humbly  praying  and  crying  most 
dolorously  to  spare  their  lives,  and  save  their  pioperty 
trom  the  ensanguined  scourge  of  the  insane  soldiers  » 
andsotn,  and  so  on.»  ' 

Now  Philip  II  was  slow  in  resolving,  slower  in  action. 
The  ponderous  three-deckers  of  Biscay  were  notoriously 
the  dullest  sailers  ever  known,  nor  were  the  fettered 
slaves  who  rowed  the  great  galleys  of  Portugal  or  of 
Andalusia  very  brisk  in  their  movements ;  and  yet  the 
ivmg  might  have  found  time  to  marshal  his  ideas  and 
his  squadrons,  and  the  Armada  had  leisure  to  circum- 
navigate the  globe  and  invade  England  afterwards,  if  a 
succession  of  Daniel  Rogerses  could  have  entertained 
his  Highness  with  compliments  while  the  preparations 
were  making.  ^     ^ 

But  Alexander— at  the  very  outset  of  the  Doctor^s 
eloquence-found  it  diflBcult  to  suppress  his  feelings. 
J..^l  T"'*''  yo^r,  ^^ajesty,"  said  Eogers,  -that  his 
f  in!     .^^         ^  ^"^"^^  ^^""Se  eye— were  moistened.     Some- 

W  wo77^!i^*^r''''  "P"^^"^  *^  ^^^^'^^^  sometimes 
iney  Aveie  fixed  full  upon  me,  sometimes  tliev  w^ere  cast 

downward  well  declai-ing  ho'w  his  heart  wa^Xted- 

the  effppf    fT'   ^i!?  *^^"^^*  ^*  necessary  to  mitigate 
the  effect  of  his  rhetoric,  and  to  assure-  his  Highness 

the  nJl-If '  f ""  ^"'  ^.^^^  ^^'    ^^^t«^  ^^g^rS'  and  not 

Maie^  V      ii^^'^^'P^*"?^^^^'^  ^^  *^^^  Qneen'a  most  serene 
J^ajesty,  who  was  exciting  all  this  emotion. 

1  Daniel  Rogers  to  the  Queen,  MS.  last  cited.  i  %i^ 


358  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 

"  At  this  part  of  my  speech,"  said  he,  "I  prayed  his 
Hi-hness  not  to  be  troubled,'  for  that  the  same  only 
p^Mfr^rr.  Doctor  Rogers  who,  it  -jf/ P  f  ^  J',';^^  ^ 
know  was  so  much  moved  with  the  pitiful  case  of  these 
JouTtries,  as  also  that  which  of  war  was  sure  to  ensue, 

that  I  wished,  if  my  body  were  full  "f  "'"'''^^vL^ere 
the  same  to  be  poured  forth  to  satisfy  ™y  t^atjere 

blood-thirsty,  so  there  might  an  ^™«'l^.P^''';^/""?rto 
His  Highness,  at  any  rate,  '"^'^'f^t^^  fho  Doctor's 
drink  of  such  sanguinary  streams-even  had  the  Doctoi  s 
body  contained  them-Rogers  became  calmer.  He  then 
descended  from  rhetoric  to  jurisprudence  and  .^-Bt^, 
and  arsuod  at  intolerable  length  the  P^P^ety  «  pom- 
menclnl  the  conferences  at  Ostend,  and  of  exhibiting 

•"t^ilSureST i«  follow  him  as  closely  as  d^d 

second  point,"  Alexander  at  last  interrupted  thetorrent 
"'Jj^He'Sh't  my  divisions. and  -bdivisions"  wrote 

the  Doctor,  "  were  perfectly  in  his  .'■^^"'I'Xma' dt 
that  he  would  first  answer  the  first  point,  and  ^f^;™^ 
give   audience  to  the   second,   and  answer  the  same 

""Accordingly  Alexander  put  on  his  hat,  and  begged 
the  envoy  ^aL  to  be  covered.  Then  "  w^  g-^ 
gravity,  as  one  inwardly  much  moved,    the  Duke  tooK 

-eSr:  %^^^  he,  "  you  have  pr^^undea 
..ntoiSrsDecchts  of  two  sorts:  the  one  proceeds  from 
CtoTRrgTeil  «ie  other  from  the  lord  ambassador  of 
£  most  seilne  Queen  of  England.     Touching  the  first 
I  do  give  you  my  hearty  thanks  for  your  godly  speech^, 
assurino-  vou   that  though,  by  reason  1  have  alwajs 
foil"  wed  the  wars,  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the  calam.t. 
by  you  alleged,  yet  you  have  BO^^b' rep'-esented  tt^ 
•  same  before  mine  eyes  as  to  eflectuate  in  me  at  this 
tostant,  not  <»nly  the  confirmation  of  mine  own  d 
JLitionto  have  peace,  but  also  an  '^7^*"««  *YhVt 
tteaty  shall  take  good  and  speedy  end,  seeing  that 

1  «•  Soontcntorsi,"  MS.  last  cited. 

«  Rogers  to  the  Queen.  MS.  before  cited. 


1588. 


GROSS  DISSIMULATION  OF  PARMA. 


359 


hath  pleased  God  to  raise  up  such  a  good  instrument  as 
you  are." ' 

"Many  are  the  causes,"  continued  the  Duke,  "  which, 
besides  my  disposition,  move  me  to  peace.  My  father 
and  mother  are  dead,  my  son  is  a  young  prince,  my 
house  has  truly  need  of  my  presence.  I  am  not  ignorant 
how  ticklish  a  thing  is  the  fortune  of  war,  which— how 
victorious  soever  I  have  been— may  in  one  moment  not 
only  deface  the  same,  but  also  deprive  me  of  my  life. 
'^??i  ^^°^'  ™^  "lister,  is  now  stricken  in  years,  his 
children  are  young,  his  dominions  in  trouble.  His 
desire  IS  to  live,  and  to  leave  his  posterity,  in  quietness. 
Ihe  glory  of  God,  the  honour  of  both  their  Majesties, 
and  the  good  of  these  countries,  with  the  stay  of  the 
eftusion  of  Christian  blood,  and  divers  other  like  reasons 
force  him  to  peace."*  ' 

Thus  spoke  Alexander,  like  an  honest  Christian  gentle- 
man, avowing  the  most  equitable  and  pacific  dispositions 
on  the  part  of  his  master  and  himself.  Yet  at  that 
moment  he  knew  that  the  Armada  was  about  to  sail, 
that  his  own  nights  and  days  were  passed  in  active 
preparations  for  war,  and  that  no  earthly  power  could 
move  Philip  by  one  hair*s-breadth  from  his  purpose  to 
conquer  England  that  summer.^ 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  follow  the  Duke  or  the 
Doctor  through  their  long  dialogue  on  the  place  of  con- 
terence,  and  the  commissions.  Alexander  considered  it 
*'  mfamy  "  on  his  name  if  he  should  send  envoys  to  a 
place  of  his  master's  held  by  the  enemy.  He  was  also 
ot  ojumon  that  it  was  unheard  of  to  exhibit  commissions 
previous  to  a  preliminary  colloquy. 

Both  propositions  were  strenuously  contested  by  Eogers. 
Jn  regard  to  the  second  point  in  particular,  he  showed 
triumphantly,  by  citations  from  the  *'  Polonians,  Prus- 
sians, and  Lithuanians,"  that  commissions  ought  to  be 
previously  exhibited.*  But  it  was  not  probable  that 
even  the  Doctor's  learning  and  logic  would   persuade 


*  Rogers  to  the  Queen,  MS.  before 
cited. 

»  J  bid. 

f  ui?^'^  ^*^  snfflclently  proved  the  good 
lalth  of  the  Queen  on  entering  upon  these 
negoti*tion.H.  Alexander  himself  felt  as 
•ure  of  her  sincerity  as  he  did  of  his 


master's  duplicity.  "  I  believe  that  she 
desires  peace  earnestly,"  said  he  to  Philip, 
"on  account  of  her  fear  of  expense." 
Parma  to  Philip  II.  31  Jan.  1588.  (Arch, 
de  Siraancas,  MS.) 

*  Rogers  to  the  Queen*  MS.  already 
cited. 


'I 


360  THE  UNITED  KETHERLANDS.  CiUP.  XVIII. 

Alexander  to  produce  his  commission,  because,  unfortu- 
S  he  had  no  commission  to  produce  A  comfortable 
Sument  otthe  subject,  however,  would,  none  the  less, 

'^KZ IZ.  of  this  work  brougM  them,  exlmnsted  -1 
hunirrv  to  the  hour  of  noon  and  of  dmner.  Alexander, 
Sh^ie  and  smiling  thanks  for  the  e^oy  spkm 
dealing  and  eloquence,  assured  him  that  there  would 
hive  been  peace  long  ago  "had  Doctor  Eogei«  a  waj^ 

E  the  Lrn,ment,'>U  -g^<>"?f  ^^^^f  J^1„^™1^ 
not  learned  enough  to  deal  creditably  ^ylth  him.  He 
would,Towever,  Ld  Richardot  to  bear  him  company  at 
+i>>.lp  and  chop  logic  with  him  afterwards. 

NexTday  a?  thf  same  hour,  the  Duke  and  Doctor  had 
anoAer  encounter.  So  soon  as  the  envoy  made  his  ap- 
?^ara^ce  he  found  himself  "  embraced  most  cheerfully 
Sd  femilia^y  by  his  Alteza,"  who.  then  entering  at 
Se  Into   i^iness,    asked  as  to  the  Doctor's   second 

^°The  Doctor  answered  with  great  alacrity. 

"  Certain  expressions  have  been  reported  to  her  Ma 
jesty,"  said  he^'  as  coming  both  from  jour  "ighness  and 
iom  Richardot,  hinting  at  a  possible  attempt  by  the 
Kins  of  Spain's  forces  against  the  Queen.     Her  Majestj , 
gathiYnfthat  you  axe  going  about  belike  to  tennfy  her, 
commands  me  to  inform  jx)U  very  clearly  and  veiy  ex- 
pressly that  she  does  not  deal  so  weakly  m  her  go^  em 
Lnt,  nor  so  improvidently,  but   hat  «ho  is  provided  for 
anything  that  might  be  attempted  against  her  by  the 
KW  and  as  able  to  offend  him  as  he  her  MaJest5^   ' 

Akxander-with  a  sad  countenance,  as  much  offended 
his  eyes  declaring  miscontentment-asked  who  had  made 

'"*Upon  tht  honour  of  a  gentleman,"  ^id  he,  "who- 
ever has  said  this  has  much  abused  me.  and  evil  acquitted 
himself  They  who  know  me  best  are  aware  that  it  is 
Smy  manner  to  let  any  word  pass  my  lips  hat  might 
offend  any  prince."  ITien,  speaking  most  solemnly  he 
added,  "I  declare  really  and  truly  (whichtwo  words  e 
^id  in  Spanish),  that  /  hum  wt  of  auy  .utenUon  of  the 
King  of  Spain,  against  her  Majesty  or  her  realms. 


1588. 


ASSEVERATIONS  OF  PARMA. 


361 


At  that  moment  the  earth  did  not  open— year  of  por- 
tents though  it  was— and  the  Doctor,  *'  singularly  re- 
joicing "  at  this  authentic  infomation  from  the  highest 
source,  proceeded  cheerfully  with  the  conversation. 

*'  I  hold  myself,"  he  exclaimed,  -the  man  most  satis- 
vf  in  the  world,  because  I  may  now  write  to  her  Majesty 
that  1  have  heard  your  Highness  upon  your  honour  use 
these  words." 

"  Upon  my  honour,  it  is  true,"  repeated  the  Duke : 

for  so  honourably  do  I  think  of  her  Majesty,  as  that, 

alter  the  King,  my  master,  I  would  honour  and  serve 

her  before  any  jirince  in  Christendom."     He  added  many 

earnest  asseverations  of  similar  import. 

u  1  \  T  ^  ^^*  ^^"^'  however,"  continued  Alexander, 
that  1  have  heard  of  certain  ships  having  been  armed 

by  the  King  against  that  Draak  "—he  pronounced  the 
a     m  Drake's  name  very  broadly,   or  Donee—''  who 

has  committed  so  many  outrages ;  but  I  repeat  that  I 

En  \lnd '^''''''^  ^/  «^'^  d^^m  against  her  Majesty  or  against 

The  Duke  then  manifested  much  anxiety  to  know  by 
whom  he  had  been  so  misrepresented.  "There  has 
been  no  one  with  me  but  Dr.  Dale,"  said  he.  -and  I 
marvel  that  he  should  thus  wantonly  have  injured  me." 
Dr.  Dale,"  replied  Rogers,  -  is  a  man  of  honour,  of 
good  years,  learned,  and  well  experienced ;  but  perhaps 
He  untortunately  misapprehended  some  of  your  Alteza's 
words,  and  thought  himself  bound  by  his  allegiance 
strictly  to  report  them  to  her  Majesty." 

"  I  grieve  that  I  should  be  misrepresented  and  injured," 
answered  Famese,  "  in  a  manner  so  important  to  my 
nonour.  Nevertheless,  knowing  the  virtues  with  which 
iier  Majesty  is  endued,  I  assure  myself  that  the  protes- 
lations  1  am  now  making  will  entirdy  satisfy  her." 

tie  then  expressed  the  fervent  hope  that  the  holy  work 
01  negotiation  now  commencing  would  result  in  a  renewal 
01  the  ancient  friendship  between  the  Houses  of  Bur- 
g^ndy  and  of  England,  asserting  that  -  there  had  never 
»>een  so  favourable  a  time  as  the  present." 
hni  Ik       ^'^"^^''  governments  of  the  Netherlands  there 

u  rnf '^  "^^^y  mistakes  and  misunderstandings. 
Ihe  Duke  of  Alva,"  said  he,  -has  learned  by  this 

'  Rogers  to  the  Queen,  MS.  last  cited. 


^ i 


362 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVHI. 


4 


time,  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  how  he  dis- 
charged his  functions,  succeeding  as  he  did  my  mother, 
the  Duchess  of  Parma,  who  left  the  Provinces  in  so 
flourishing  a  condition.  Of  this,  however,  I  will  say  no 
more,  because  of  a  feud  "between  the  Houses  of  Famese 
and  of  Alva.  As  for  Kequosens,  he  was  a  good  fellow, 
but  didn't  understand  his  business.  Don  John  of  Austria 
again,  whose  soul  I  doubt  not  is  in  heaven,  was  young 
and  poor,  and  disappointed  in  all  his  designs ;  but  God 
has  never  offered  so  great  a  hope  of  assured  peace  as 
might  now  be  accomplished  by  her  Majesty." ' 

Finding  the  Duke  in  so  fervent  and  favourable  a  state 
of  mind,  the  envoy  renewed  his  demand  that  at  least 
the  first  meeting  of  the  commissioners  might  be  held  at 
Ostend. 

"  Her  Majesty  finds  herself  so  touched  in  honour  upon 
this  point,  that  if  it  be  not  conceded— as  1  doubt  not  it 
will  be,  seeing  the  singular  forwardness  of  your  High- 
ness " — said  the  artful  Doctor  with  a  smile,*  "  we  are 
no  less  than  commanded  to  return  to  her  Majesty's  pre- 
sence." 

•*  I  sent  Eichardot  to  you  yesterday,"  said  Alexander ; 
"  did  he  not  content  you  ?  " 

"  Your  Highness,  no,'*  replied  Eogers.  "  Moreover, 
her  Majesty  sent  me  to  your  Alteza,  and  not  to  Richardot. 
And  the  matter  is  of  such  importance  that  I  pray  you  to 
add  to  all  your  graces  and  favours  heaped  upon  me,  this 
one  of  sending  your  commissioners  to  Ostend." 

His  Highness  could  hold  out  no  longer ;  but  suddenly 
catching  the  Doctor  in  his  arms,  and  hugging  him  "  in 
most  honourable  and  amiable  manner,"  he  cried — * 

"  Be  contented,  be  cheerful,  my  lord  ambassador. 
You  shall  be  satisfied  upon  this  point  also." 

"  And  never  did  envoy  depart,"  cried  the  lord  am- 
bassador, when  he  could  get  his  breath,  *'  more  bound 
to  you,  and  more  resolute  to  speak  honour  of  your  High- 
ness than  I  do." 

"  To-morrow  we  will  ride  together  towards  Binges," 
said  the  Duke,  in  concbision.     "  Till  then  farewell." 

Upon  this  he  again  heartily  embraced  the  envoy,  and 
the  friends  parted  for  the  day. 


1   Kogers    to    the  Queen,   MS.   last 
cited. 


«  **  I  spake  it  souriant,"  &c. 
»  Ibid. 


Ibid. 


1588.  COITVERSATION  OF  ROGERS  AND  PARMA.  363 

Next  morning,  28th  March,  the  Duke,  who  was  on  his 

way  to  Bruges  and  Sluys  to  look  after  his  ffun-    «„    .    • 
boats,  and  other  naval  and  military  prepam-    ^^' 
tions,  set  lorth  on  horseback,  accompanied  by      ^'^**^- 
the  Marquis  del  Vasto,  and,  for  part  of  the  way,  by 
Kogers.  ./ »     ^ 

^  They  conversed  on  the  general  topics  of  the  approach- 
mg  negotiations ;  the  Duke  expressing  the  opinion  that 
the  treaty  of  peace  would  be  made  short  work  with,  for 
It  only  needed  to  renew  the  old  ones  between  the  Houses 
ot  England  and  Burgundy.  As  for  the  Hollanders  and 
Zeelanders,  and  their  accomplices,  he  thought  there 
would  be  no  cause  of  stay  on  their  account ;  and,  in 
regard  to  the  cautionary  towns,  he  felt  sure  that  her 
Majesty  had  never  had  any  intention  of  appropriating- 
them  to  herself,  and  would  willingly  surrender  them 
to  the  King. 

Bogers  thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  put  in  a 
word  for  the  Dutchmen,  who  certainly  would  not  have 
thanked  him  for  his  assistance  at  that  moment. 

"Not  to  give  oflfence  to  your  Highness,"  he  said,  "  if 
the  Hollanders  and  Zeelanders,  with  their  confederates, 
like  to  come  into  this  treaty,  surely  your  Highness 
would  not  object  ?  " 

Alexander,  who  had  been  riding  along  quietly  during 
this  conversation,  with  his  right  hand  on  his  hip,  now 
threw  out  his  arm  energetically. 

1  '\^,?^  !^®^^  ^^™^  ^^^  ^*'  ^^^  *^e^  *reat,  let  them  con- 
clude he  exclaimed,  "  in  the  name  of  Almighty  God ! 
1  have  always  been  well  disposed  to  peace,  and  am  now 
more  so  than  ever.  I  could  even,  with  the  loss  of  my 
lil^  be  content  to  have  peace  made  at  this  time." 

Nothing  more,  worthy  of  commemoration,  occurred 
during  this  concluding  interview ;  and  the  envoy  took 
his  leave  at  Bruges,  and  returned  to  Ostend.* 

I  have  furnished  the  reader  with  a  minute  account  of 
these  conversations,  drawn  entirely  from  the  original 
records,  not  so  much  because  the  interviews  were  in 
themselves  of  vital  importance,  but  because  they  afford 
a  living  and  breathing  example— better  than  a  thousand 
homilies— of  the  easy  victory  which  diplomatic  or  royal 

1    "  Entrlno.  trattino,  conchiudino."    Rogers  to  tbe  Queen.  MS.  last  cited, 
a  Rogers  to  th^ Queen.  MS.  last  cited. 


364 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIH. 


I 


SI 


mendacity  may  always  obtain  over  innocence  and  cre- 
dulity. 

Certainly  never  was  envoy  more  thoroughly  beguiled 
than  the  excellent  Daniel  upon  this  occasion.  Wiser 
than  a  sei-pent,  as  he  imagined  himself  to  be,  more 
harmless  than  a  dove,  as  Alexander  found  him,  he  couki 
not  sufficiently  congratulate  himself  upon  the  triumphs 
of  his  eloquence  and  his  adroitness ;  and  despatched 
most  glowing  accounts  of  his  proceedings  to  the  Queen. 

His  ardour  was  somewhat  damped,  however,  at  re- 
ceiving a  message  from  her  Majesty  in  reply,  which 
was  anything  but  benignant.  His  eloquence  was  not 
commended ;  and  even  his  preamble,  with  its  touching 
allusion  to  the  live  mothers  tendering  their  offspring — 
the  passage  which  had  brought  the  tears  into  the  large 
eyes  of  Alexander — was  coldly  and  cmelly  censured. 

"  Her  Majesty  can  in  no  sort  like  such  speeches  " — so 
ran  the  return-despatch — "  in  which  she  is  made  to  beg 
for  peace.  The  King  of  Spain  standeth  in  as  great  need 
of  peace  as  herself ;  and  she  doth  greatlj'  mislike  the 
preamble  of  Dr.  Eogers  in  his  address  to  tlie  Duke  at 
Ghent,  findinrj  it,  in  very  truth,  quite  fond  and  vain.  I  am 
commanded  by  a  particular  letter  to  let  him  understand 
how  much  her  Majesty  is  offended  with  him."  ' 

Alexander,  on  his  part,  informed  his  royal  master  of 
these  interviews,  in  which  there  had  been  so  much  effu- 
sion of  sentiment,  in  very  brief  fashion. 

"  Dr.  Eogers,  one  of  the  Queen's  commissioners,  has 
been  here,"  he  said,  **  urging  me  with  all  his  might  to 
let  all  your  Majestj^'s  deputies  go,  if  only  for  one  hour, 
to  Ostend.  I  refused,  saying  I  would  rather  they  should 
go  to  England  than  into  a  city  of  your  Majesty  held  by 
English  troops.  I  told  him  it  ought  to  be  satisfactory 
that  I  had  offered  the  Queen,  as  a  lady,  her  choice 
of  any  place  in  the  Provinces,  or  on  neutral  ground. 
Eogers  expressed  regret  for  all  the  bloodshed  and  other 
consequences  if  the  negotiations  should  fall  through  for 
so  trifling  a  cause  ;  the  more  so  as  in  return  for  this 
little  compliment  to  the  Queen  she  would  not  only  re- 
store to  your  Majesty  everything  that  she  holds  in  the 
Netherlands,  but  would  assist  you  to  recover  the  part 


11 


1  Lords  of  Council  to  Earl  of  Derby  and  Lord  Oobham«  -  April,  1589.     (S.  P. 
Office  MS.)  *^ 


1588.  THE  QUEExVS  ANGER  OUT  OF  DATE.  35)5 

which  remains  obstinate.*  To  quiet  him  and  to  consume 
time  I  have  promised  that  President  Eichardot  shall  go 
and  try  to  satisfy  them.  Thus  two  or  three  weeks  mo^l 
wil  he  wasted.  But  at  last  the  time  will  come  for  exh^! 
bitmg  the  powers.  They  are  very  anxious  to  see  mTne  • 
and  when  at  last  they  find  I  have  none,  I  fear  that  they 
will  break  off  the  negotiations."  *  ^ 

Could  the  Queen  have  been  informed  of  this  volun- 
tary offer  on  the  part  of  her  envoy  to  give  up  the  cau- 
tionaiy  towns,  and  to  assist  in  reducing  the  rebellion 
she  might  have  used  stronger  language  of  rebuke.  It  is 
quite  possible,  however,  that  Faniese-not  so  attentively 
following  the  Doctor's  eloquence  as  he  had  appeared  to 
do-had  somewhat  inaccurately  reported  the  conversa- 
tions,  which,  after  all,  he  knew  to  be  of  no  consequence 
whatever,  except  as  time-consumers.  For  Elizabeth 
desirous  of  peace  as  she  was,  and  trusting  to  Famese's 
sincerity  as  s^e  was  disposed  to  do,  was  more  sensitive 
than  ever  as  to  her  dignity. 

"We  charge  yon  all,"  she  ^vrote  with  her  own  hand 
to  the  commissioners,  "  that  no  word  be  overslipt  by 
them,  that  may  touch  our  honour  and  greatness,  that  be 
no  answered  with  good  sharp  words.  "l  am  a  king  that 
will  be  ever  known  not  to  fear  any  but  God  "« 

It  would  have  been  better,  however,  had  the  Queen 
more  thoroughly  understood  that  the  day  for  scolding 
had  quite  gone  by,  and  that  something  sharper  than  the 
sharpest  words  would  soon  be  wanted  to  protect  Eno-- 
land  and  herself  from  impending  doom.     For  there  was 
something  almost  gigantic  in  the  frivolities  with  which 
weeks   and  months   of  such  precious  time  were   no« 
squandered.      Plenary  powers--  commision  bastantis- 
sima  --from   his    sovereign  had    been  announced  by 
Alexander  as  m  his  possession ;   although  the  reader 
has  seen  that  he  had  no  such  power  at  all.    The  mission 
ot  Eogers  had  quieted  the  envoys  at  Ostend  for  a  time 
and  they  waited  quietly  for  the  visit  of  Eichardot  to 
ustend    into  which  the  promised  meeting  of  all  the 
fepanish    commissioners    in   that    city  had    dwindled. 

'  "Poresta  poca  honra  que  se  haraS  16  Anril    iiss     /'Ar/^Ki.,^  a    c- 

la  Royna  ella  non    solo  'restituyre   I  MS.)       '         '    ^       X^    ""'"'''' 
>  .  Magd  todo  lo  que  tlene  destos  estados        ,   ^ 

mas  ayudara  d  cobrar  la  parte  que  que-  ^^^"   ^    ^^®   Commissioners,   -' 

dara  obstlnada."     Parma  to  Philip  II*  April,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS)  " 


if 
H 


I 


366 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


Meantime  there  was  an  exchange  of  the  most  friendly 
amenities  between  the  English  and  their  mortal  ene- 
mies.    Hardly  a  day  passed  that  La  Motte,  or  Renty, 
or  Aremberg,  did  not  send  Lord  Derby,  or  Cobham,  or 
Robert  Cecil,  a  hare  or  a  pheasant,  or  a  cast  of  hawks,' 
and  they  in  return  sent  barrel  upon  barrel  of  Ostend 
oysters,  five  or  six  hundred  at  a  time.*     I'he  English- 
men, too,  had  it  in  their  power  to  gratify  Alexander 
himself  with  English  greyhounds,  for  which  he  had  a 
special  liking.     *'  You  would  wonder,"  wrote  Cecil  to 
his  father,  ''  how  fond  he  is  of  English  dogs.""     There 
was  also  much  good  preaching,  among  other  occupa- 
tions, at  Ostend.    *'  'Sly  Lord  of  Derby's  two  chaplains," 
said  Cecil,  "  have  seasoned  this  town  better  with  ser- 
mons than  it  had  been  before  for  a  year's  space."  *     But 
all  this  did  not  expedite  the  negotiations,  nor  did  the 
Duke  manifest  so  much  anxiety  for  colloquies  as  for 
gi-ey hounds.     So,  in  an  unlucky  hour  for  himself,  an- 
other *'fond  and  vain"  old  gentleman — James  Croft, 
the  comptroller,  who  had  already  figured,  not  much  to 
his  credit,  in  the  secret  negotiations  between  the  Brus- 
sels and  English  courts — betook  himself,  unauthorized 
and  alone,  to  the  Duke  at  Bruges.     Here  he  had  an  in- 
terview very  similar  in  character  to  that  in  wliich  Daniel 
Rogers  had  been  indulged,  declared  to  Farnese  that  the 
Queen  was  most  anxious  for  peace,  and  invited  him  to 
send  a  secret  envoy  to  England,  who  would  instantly 
have  ocular  demonstration  of  the  fact.     Croft  returned 
as   triumphantly  as   the    excellent    Doctor  had  done, 
averring  that  there  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  immediate 
conclusion  of  a  treaty.    His  grounds  of  belief  were  very 
similar  to  those  upon  which  Rogers  had  founded  his 
faith.     "  'Tis  a  weak  old  man  of  seventy,"  said  Parma, 
"  with  very  little  sagacity.     I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
his  colleagues  are  taking  him  in,  that  they  may  the 
better  deceive  us.*    I  will  see  that  they  do  nothing  of 
the  kind."     But  the  movement  was  purely  one  of  the 
comptroller's  own  inspiration ;  for  Sir  James  had  a  sin- 
gular facility  for  getting  himself  into  trouble,  and  for 

,„    „         _.      ^,        *..,,„«        *  "  Como  muestra  poca  sagacidad  dexa 
I  Cecil    to  Burghley.  -  Apnl.  1688.    ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  iVengafian  a  el  para 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


2  Ibid. 
«  Ibid. 


'  Ibid. 


mas  engaflar,"  8cc.  Parma  to  Philip  II., 
13  May,  1588.  (Ajrch.  de  Simancad 
MS) 


1588.     THE  COMPTROLLER  RECALLED  BY  THE  QUEEN.      367 

rtv  f  "n  ^""''r*!   ^h'^y^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  scarcely 
a  day  in  Ostend    he  had  insulted  the  governor  of  the 
place,  bir  John  Conway,  had  given  him  the  lie  in  the 
hearing  of  many  of  his  own  soldiers,  had  gone  about 
telling  all  the  world  that  he  had  express  authority  from 
her  Majesty  to  send  him  home  in  disgrace,  and  that  th^ 
Queen  tad^Hed  him  a  fool,  and  quitS  unfit  for  his  post." 
And  as  if  this  had  not  been  mischief-making  enoudi  in 
addition  to  the  absurd  De  Loo  and  Bodman  negotiatk)ns 
of  the  prev^^^s  J^ar,  m  which  he  had  been  the  principal 
actor,  he  had  crowned  his  absurdities  by  this  secret  and 
officious  visit  to  Ghent.      The  Queen,*"  naturally  very 
indignant  at  this  conduct,  reprehended  him  severelv 
and  ordered  him  back  to  England.^'     The  comptrollei^ 
was  wretched.     He  expressed  his  readiness  to  obey  her 
commands,  but  nevertheless  implored  his  dread  sove- 
reign to  take   merciful   consideration  of  the  manifold 
misfortunes,  ruin    and  utter  undoing,  which   thereby 
should  fall  upon  him  and  liis  unfortunate  tamily      All 
this  he  protected  he  would  nothing  esteem  if  it  tended 
to  her  Majesty  s  pleasure  or  sei-vice,   -  but  seeing  it 
should  efiectuate  nothing  but  to  bring  the  aged  carLe 
of  her  poor  vassal  to  present  decay,  he  implored  com- 
passion upon  his  hoary  hairs,  and  promised  to  repair  the 
error  of  his  former  proceedings.     He  avowed  that  he 
would  not  have  ventured  to  disobey  for  a  moment  her 
orders  to  return,  but  -that  his  aged  and  feeble  limbs 
did  not  retain  sufhcient  force,  without  present  death  to 
comply  with  her  commandment." «     And  with  that'he 
took  to  his  bed,  and  remained  there  until  the  Queen 
was  graciously  pleased  to  grant  him  her  pardon 

At  last,  early  m  May,  instead  of  the  visit  of  Kichardot 
there  was  a  preliminary  meeting  of  all  the  commissioners 
in  tents  on  the  sands,  within  a  cannon-shot  of  Ostend 
and  between  that  place  and  Newport.  It  was  a  showy 
and  ceremonious  interview,  in  which  no  business  was 
transacted.  1  he  commissioners  of  Philip  were  attended 
by  a  body  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  light  horse,  and  bv 
three  hundred  private  gentlemen  in  magnificent  costume. 

»  Queen   to    Derby  and  Cobham,    ]^  Burgliley's  handwriting.  -  May  1588 

April   1588.    (S.P.Offi(*MS0  MS.  last  cited.                     '" 

Qneen  to  the  Commissioners  for  the  3  croft  to  the  Queen    28  Mav   i&fts 

reprehension  of  Sir  James  Croft,  in  Lord  Ibid.                                            ^'  "^^• 


308 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVHI. 


1588. 


M 


i 


\ 


I,a  Motte  also  came  from  Newport  with  one  thousand 
Walloon  cavalry,  while  the  English  commissioners  on 
their  part  were  escorted  from  Ostend  by  an  imposing 
array  of  English  and  Dutch  troops.^  As  the  territory 
was  Spanish,  the  dignity  of  the  King  was  supposed  to 
be  preserved  ;  and  Alexander,  who  had  promised  Dr. 
Rogers  that  the  first  interview  should  take  place  within 
Ostend  itself,  thought  it  necessary  to  apologize  to  his 
sovereign  for  so  nearly  keeping  his  word  as  to  send  the 
envoys  within  cannon-shot  of  the  town.  "  Ihe  English 
commissioners,"  said  he,  "  begged  with  so  much  sub- 
mission for  this  concession,  that  I  thought  it  as  well  to 
X  it "  * 

ITie  Spanish  envoys  were  despatched  by  the  Dnke  of 
Parma,  well  provided  with  full  powers  for  himself 
which  were  not  desired  by  the  English  government,  but 
unfurnished  with  a  commission  from  I'hilip,  which  bad 
been  pronounced  indispensable.^  There  was  therefore 
much  prancing  of  cavalry,  flourishing  of  trumpets,  and 
eating  of  oysters,  at  the  first  conference,  but  not  one 
stroke  of  business.  As  the  English  envovs  had  now 
been  three  whole  months  in  Ostend,  and  as  this  was  the 
first  occasion  on  which  they  had  been  brought  face  to 
face  with  the  Spanish  commissioners,  it  must  bo  con- 
fessed that  the  tactics  of  Famese  had  been  masterly. 
Had  the  haste  in  the  dock-yards  of  Lisbon  and  Cadiz 
been  at  all  equal  to  the  magnificent  procrastination  in 
the  councilchambei-s  of  Bruges  and  Ghent,  Medina 
Sidonia  might  already  have  been  in  the  1  hames. 

But  although  little  ostensible  business  was  performed, 
there  was  one  man  who  had  always  an  eye  to  has  work 
The  same  servant  in  plain  livery,  who  had  accompanied 
Secretary  Gamier  on  his  first  visit  to  the  English  com- 
missioners at  Ostend,  had  now  come  thither  again,  accom- 
panied by  a  fellow-lackey.  While  the  complimentary 
dinner,  offered  in  the  name  of  the  absent  Farnese  to  the 
Queen's  representatives,  was  going  forward,  the  two 
menials  strayed  off  together  to  the  downs  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rabbit-shooting."  ITie  one  of  them  was  the  same 
engineer  who  had  already,  on  the  foniier  occasion,  taken 

.Parma  to  Philip  II.   13  May.  ISSO.  ic      Parma  to  Philip   11.     (MS.   last 

(Arch,  de  Slmancas,  MS.)  "="*"■>  ,  ,^j. 

s  "  Soplicaiio   con    grande    submlcion        '  lUd.  i"'"- 

que  se  diese  esU  satlsraccion  i  la  Reyna," 


CONSUMMATE  ART  IN  WASTING  TIME. 


369 

a  complete  survey  of  the  fortifications  of  Ostend  •  the 

h  mJelT'  Th.'"' "  ^""^°"''?  ^''^'^  *»»«  Duke  of  p;™: 
himself.     The  pair  now  made  a  thorough  examination 

of  the  town  and  Its  neighbourhood,  and,  having  finrshed 

Biwes''T"-r"^-  °lf  "^  '^'^  ^'''  of  their  waybako 
^h^T\  ^  '^  ""■?"  *'•''"  o"**  of  Alexander's  favourite 
objects  to  reduce  tho  city  of  Ostend  at  the  earlfest  pos! 
sible  moment,  it  mu.st  be  allowed  that  this  ?relinXv 
conference  was  not  so  banen  to  himself  as  it  was  o  the 
commissioners.  Philip,  when  informed  of  this  man  Juvre 
was  naturally  gratified  at  such  masterly  durdtv' 
while  he  gently  rebuked  his  nephew  for  exposChis 
valuable  life ;  and  certainly  it  /ould  have  been  an  n- 

ter  t^™'"f  o«  to  the  Dike's  splendid  career  had 
he  been  hanged  as  a  spy  within  the  trenches  of  Ostend 

Phi^^^   w,^^";-^."*",'"  of  this  fii^t  diplomatic  colloquy 

tWoLhW  "t  ^^''•."*-      ';^  '^''  y°"   understand  U 
tlioroughl> ,    he  said.     "  Keep  the  negotiation  alive  till 

ray  Annada  appears,  and  then  carry  out  my  determina 
England'-"^'''"*  '""^  ''''''''''''  ''^'^Sion  onMie  L'of 

loJw  ^tT  ''■"'  "°*  '?  *™''  ^'gh  spirits.     She  was 

osing  her  temper  very  fast,  as  she  became  more  and 

more  convinced  that  she  had   been  trifled  with      Ko 

powers  had  been  yet  exhibited,  no  permanent  p  ace  of 

conference  hxed  upon,  and  the  ces.'ation  of  aiLs  de 

"rtte  X^;  '"■,  '^T'^'-io^f  s  for  England,  S^H:   Z 

s  red  Lr  n         •  "^''  '''■'''  ^hsolutely  refu.sed.»    She  de- 

siied  her  commissioners  to  inform  the  Duke  of  Pama 

that  It  greatly  touched  his  honour-as  both  before  the  r 

coming  and  afterwards  he  had  a.ssnred  her  that  he  liad 

TnZ  '^''''''rr  from  his  sovereign-to  clear  himself 

lie  ]5,!k^f?''r..'T""'*'°"  °f  insincerity.     "Let  not 
the  Ihike  think,"  she  wrote  with  her  own  hand  "that 

unkindly  dealings,   but  that  we  desire  all  the  world  to 
enTJ"""  ^'''''  ^^  ^}"'Sh  peace,  and  that  we  will 


»  Parma  to  Philip  IL.  13  May.  1588. 
(ATch.  de  Simancas,  MS  ) 

(LX^'^IK!^-  '^  ^''''™"'  2^  J"«e'  1588. 
(.Arch,  de  Slmaiicas,  MS.)  ♦ 

VOL.  ir. 


»  Parma  to  Philip  II.  13  May,  158^. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas.  MS.) 

<  Queen  to  the  Commissioners."'^''" 
1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2    B 


10  May 


■f  i 


'fr 


370 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


I 


11 


1  May. 
15S8. 


Accordingly — by  her  Majesty's  special  command — Dr. 
Dale  made  another  visit  to  Bruges,  to  discover,  once  for 
all,  whether  there  was  a  commission  from  Philip  or  not, 
and,  if  so,  to  see  it  with  his  own  eyes.  On  the  7th  May 
he  had  an  intei'\aew  with  the  Duke.  After  thanking 
his  Highness  for  the  honourable  and  stately 
manner  in  which  the  conferences  had  been 
inaugurated  near  Ostend,  Dale  laid  very 
plainly  before  him  her  Majesty's  complaints  of  the  ter- 
giversations and  equivocations  concerning  the  commis- 
sion, which  had  now  lasted  three  months  long.' 

In  answer,  Alexander  made  a  complimentary  ha- 
rangue, confining  himself  entirely  to  the  first  part  uf 
the  envoy's  address,  and  assuring  him  in  redundant 
phraseology,  that  he  should  hold  himself  very  guilty 
before  ihe  world,  if  he  had  not  suriounded  the  first  col- 
loquy between  the  plenipotentiaries  of  two  such  mighty 
princes,  with  as  much  ])omp  as  the  circumstances  of 
time  and  place  would  allow.  After  this  superfluous 
rhetoric  had  been  poured  forth,  he  calmly  dismissed  the 
topic  which  Dr.  Dale  had  come  Jill  the  way  from 
Ostend  to  discuss,  by  carelessly  observing  that  President 
Eicharddt  would  confer  with  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
commission.* 

"  But,"  said  the  envov,  *'  'tis  no  matter  of  conforonco 
or  dispute.     I  desire  simply  to  see  the  commission." 

"  Kichardot  and  Champagny  shall  deal  with  you  in 
tli6  afternoon,"  repeated  Alexander ;  and,  with  this 
reply,  the  Doctor  was  fain  to  be  contented. 

Dale  then  alluded  to  the  point  of  cessation  of  arms. 

"  xVlthough,"  said  he.  "  the  Queen  might  justly  lequire 
that  the  cessation  should  be  general  for  all  the  King's 
doaiinion,  yet  in  order  not  to  stand  on  precise  ])oints, 
she  is  content  that  it  should  extend  no  further  than  to 
the  towns  of  Flushing,  l^rill,  Osttnd,  and  Bergen-op- 
Zoom." 

"  To  this  he  said  nothing,"  wrote  the  envo}',  "  and  fo 
I  went  no  further." 

In  the  afternoon  Dale  had  conference  with  Champagny 
and  Eichardot.     As  usual,  Champagny  was  bound  hand 

1  Dale  to  the  Quocii.  ^  May,  1588.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
^  Ibid. 


1588.  LONG  DISPUTES  ABOUT  COMMISSIONS.  371 

and  foot  by  the  gout,  but  was  as  quick-witted  and  dispu- 

^^r  Tf'  .  "^.f  ^"^  ^^^^  ""'"'^^  '^''  «^^^«t  harangue, 
piovmg  satLsfactonly-as  if  any  proof  were  necesLr; 

on  such  a  point-that  a  commission  from  Philip  ought 
to  be  produced  and  that  a  commi.ssion  had  beln  mt 
mised,  over  and  over  again.'  ^ 

bp^n'^M    ^^""^',  ^""^'N  ^^''?   ^'^P^esentatives   of  Parma 

iaslion  T^^f':T\  '^  '""^^y  "^  ^'«ry  insolent 
tasiiion.  "Richardot  is  always  their  mouthpiece" 
said  Dale;    " only  Champagny  choppeth   in   at   everV 

sX;  i?.-  "^  '^'  '"  ^^^"^^'^^  "^  ^"^'^  ^f  '^'^  ^-^"Id 

"We  shall  never  have  done  with  these  impertinent 

fied  with  tho  Duke's  promise  of  ratification  contained  in 
his  commission.     We  confess  what  you  sav  concerning 

wl^n  '^?l'  '''"^T^'''"'^  ^^^^  P^-^>"^i^-es  to  be  tnie,  but 
^^hen  will  you  have  done ?  Have  we  not  showed  it  to 
.ur.  L  rott,  one  of  your  own  colleagues  ?  And  if  we  show 
It  you  now  another  may  come  to-morrow,  and  m  we 
shall  never  have  an  end." 

i^  "  l^'^.^^i'^y^  c^^^^^  f^-o^^^  yourselves,"  roimdlv  replied 
the  .Englishman,  -for  you  refuse  to  do  wliat  in  reason 
and  law  you  are  bound  to  do.  And  the  more  demands 
the  more  7nora  aid  potius  culpa  in  you.  You,  of  all  men 
have  least  cause  to  hold  such  language,  who  so  confi- 
dently and  even  disdainfully  answered  our  demand  for 
the  commission,  in  Mr.  Cecil's  presence,  and  promised 
to  show  a  perfect  one  at  the  very  first  meeting.  As  for 
Mr.  Comptroller  Croft,  he  came  hither  withoiit  the  com- 
mand of  her  Majesty  and  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
colleagues.  ^ 

Kichardot  then  began  to  insinuate  that,  as  (^roft  had 
come  without  authority,  so-for  anglit  thev  could  trll- 
might  Dale  also.  But  Champagnv  here  inter:  in.tcd, 
protested  that  the  president  was  goino-  too  far,\an(l 
oegged  him  to  show  the  commission  without  further 
argument.^ 

Cpon  this  Pichardot  pulled  out  the  commission  from 
inider  his  gown,  and  placed  it  in  Dr.  Dale's  hands!* 

'  Hulc  to  tlie  Queen,  5IS.  last  cited. 
2  Cummissioners  to  Privv  Council    7 
June,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  3IS.) 


3  Dale   to    the   Queen  p  May,   l',63. 


(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
*  Ibid. 


2    B    2 


372 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVHI. 


'■m 


ii 

"I 


I' 


It  was  dated  17th  April,  1588,  signed  and  sealed  by 
the  King,  and  written  in  French,  and  was  to  the  effect, 
that  as  there  had  been  differences  between  her  IVIajesty 
and  himself,  as  her  Majesty  had  sent  ambassadors  into 
the  Netherlands,  as  the  Duke  of  Parma  had  entered  into 
treaty  with  her  Majesty,  therefore  the  King  authorised 
the  Duke  to  appoint  commissioners  to  treat,  conclude, 
and  determine  all  controversies  and  misunderstandings, 
confirmed  any  such  appointment  already  made,  and 
])romised  to  ratify  all  that  might  be  done  by  them  in 
the  premises.* 

Dr.  Dale  expressed  his  satisfaction  with  the  tenor  of 
this  document,  and  begged  to  be  funii.shed  with  a  copy 
of  it,  but  this  was  peremptorily  refused.*  There  was 
then  a  long  conversation — ending,  as  usual,  in  nothing — 
on  the  two  other  points,  the  place  for  the  conferences, 
namely,  and  the  cessation  of  arms. 

'  Next  moniing  Dale,  in  taking  leave  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  expressed  the  gratification  which  he  felt,  and 
which  her  Majesty  was  sure  to  feel  at  the  production  of 
the  commission.  It  was  now  proved,  said  the  envoy, 
that  the  King  was  as  earnestly  in  favour  of  peace  as  the 
Duke  was  himself. 

Dale  then  returned,  well  satisfied,  to  Ostend. 

In  truth  the  commission  had  an-ived  just  in  time. 
'■'-  Had  I  nut  received  it  soon  enough  to  produce  it  then," 
said  Alexander,  "the  Queen  would  have  broken  off  the 
negotiations.  So  I  ordered  Eichardot,  who  is  quite 
aware  of  your  Majesty's  secret  intentions,  from  which 
we  shall  not  swerve  one  jot,  to  show  it  privately  to 
Croft,  and  afterwards  to  Dr.  Dale,  but  without  allowing 
a  copy  of  it  to  be  taken."  ^ 

*' You  have  done  very  well,**  replied  Philip,  "but 
that  commission  is,  on  no  account^  to  be  usedj  except  for 
show.     You  know  my  mind  thoroughly."  * 


1  Dale  to  the  Queen.  MS.  last  cited. 

2  Ibid. 

3  Parma  to  niilip  II.  8  June,  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 

*  IMiillp  to  Purma.  21  June.  1588. 
(Arcli.  dSlm.  MS.) 

The  KiiiK.  when  he  at  last  gont  the 
power  on  the  13th  May,  13«8,  hud  ob- 
iiTved  to  Farnese — "  1  don't  think  that 
there  will  be  any  trouble  on  account  of 


your  having  no  commission  from  me. 
Nevertheless,  in  order  to  dispel  their 
doubts  and  to  remove  all  suspicion,  I 
have  ordered  for  tlie  nonce  one  to  b<' 
sent  in  French.  Tills,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  is  not  to  be  used  for  the  purpose 
of  concluding  or  agreeing  to  anything,  in 
any  case  whatever,  but  only  for  the  sake 
of  keeping  the  negotiation  alive,  in  order 
to  enable  us  the  better  to  execute  our 


1588.   THE  SPANISH  COMMISSIONS  MKANT  TO  DECEIVE.   373 

Thus  three  months  had  been  consumed,  and  at  last 
one  indispensable  preliminary'  to  any  negotiation  had 
m  appearance,  been  performed.     Full  powers  on  both 
sides  l>ad  been  exhibited.     When  the  Queen  of  England 

frZl"  ^-fJ  1  ^'^^^^  r^  ^^'  colleagues  commission 
to  treat  with  the  King's  envoys,  and  pledged  herself 
beforehand  to  ratify  all  their  proceedings,  she  meant  to 
perform  the  promise  to  which  she  had  affixed  her  roval 
name  and  seal.  She  could  not  know  that  the  Spanish 
nionarch  was  deliberately  putting  hi,  name  to  a  lie,  and 
chuckling  m  secret  over  the  credulity  of  his  English 
sister,  who  was  willing  to  take  his  word  and  his  bond. 
()1  a  certainty  the  English  were  no  match  for  southern 
diplomacy. 

But  Elizabeth  was  now  more  impatient  than  ever  that 
the  other  two  preliminaries  should  be  settled— the  place 
ot  conferences,  and  the  armistice. 
^^  *♦  Be  plain  with  the  Duke,"  she  wrote  to  her  envoys, 

that  we  have  tolerated  so  many  weeks  in  tarrying  a 
commission  that  I  will  never  endure  more  delays:  Let 
liim  know  he  deals  with  a  prince  who  prizes  her  honour 
more  than  her  life.  Make  yourselves  such  as  stand  of 
your  reputations."  ^ 

Sharp   words     but   not   sharp  enough  to   prevent   a 
lurther  delay  of  a  month;  for  it  was  not  till  the  0th 
June  that  the  commissioners  at  last  came  to-     gjune 
gether  at  Bourbourg,*  that  "  miserable  little      isss.  * 
hole,      on   the   coast    between   Ostend    and   Newport 
against  which  Gamier  had  warned  them.     And  now 
there  was  ample  opportunity  to  wrangle  at  full  length 


armed  enterprise ;  and  so  I  again  charge 
it  upcn  you,  with  a  renewed  prohibition 
of  anything  in  a  contrary  sense,  referring 
you  always  to  my  letter  of  24th  April, 
and  to  my  orders  so  often  given,  which 
you  are  to  fulfil  exactly  without  depart- 
ing one  jot  therefrom.  "  Para  sacarlos 
de  duda.  y  quitarlos  to<la  sospecha.  ho 
mandado  xm  poder  por  lu  via  en  frances, 
del  qual,  conm  eiitonces,  os  lo  advorti  y 
declare,  no  ae  ha  de  usar  para  asentar  ni 
concluyr  por  ningim  caso,  cosa  alpina, 
^ino  solo  que  acude  la  platica  para  poder 
exeaitar  mejor  lo  de  las  armas  y  empresa, 
y  asl  08  lo  t<»mo  a  enc«rgar  con  nueva 
prohiblcion  de  lo  contrario,  remitiendomtf 


a  la  carta  que  on  esta  materia  se  os 
escrlblo  i  or  esta  via  a  lo  24  April,  que  es 
la  orden  que  aveys  de  cnmplir  puntual- 
n»ente  sin  apartaros  della,"  &c.  Philip 
II.  to  Parma,  13  May,  1588.  (Archive 
de  Simancas,  MS.) 

1  Queen's  Minute  to  the  Commission- 
ers, *~  May.  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

s    Parma    to    Philip.   8   June.    158«. 
(Arch,  de  Simjincas,  MS.)    Dale  to  Wal- 

.      ,  29  May 

^mgham,  _^.    1588.     (S.    P.    OflRce 

MS.)      Commissioners    to   the    Queen 
(ibid.) 


374 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIH. 


on  the  next  preliminary,  the  cessation  of  arms.  It  wonld 
he  sujxsrfluous  to  follow  the  altercations  step  by  step — 
for  negotiations  there  were  none — and  it  is  only  for  the 
Bake  of  exhibiting  at  full  length  the  infamy  of  diplo- 
macy, when  diplomacy  is  unaccompanied  by  honesty, 
that  we  are  hanging  up  this  series  of  pictures  at  all. 
Those  bloodless  encounters  between  credulity  and  vanity 
TilK)n  one  side,  and  gigfintic  fraud  on  the  other,  near 
those  very  sands  of  Newport,  and  in  sight  of  the 
Northern  Ocean,  where,  before  long,  the  most  terrible 
battles,  both  by  land  and  sea,  which  the  age  had  yet 
witnessed,  were  to  occur,  are  quite  a.s  full  of  instruction 
and  moral  as  the  most  sanguinary  combats  ever  waged. 

At  last  the  commissioners  exchanged  copies  of  their 

respective  powers.     After  four  months  of  waiting  and 

87  May      wTangliug,  so  much  had  been  achieved — a  show 

«J"ne'     of  commiss«ions  and  a  selection  of  the  place  for 

1588 

conference.  And  now  began  the  long  debate 
about  the  cessation  of  arms.  The  P^nglish  claimed  an 
annistice  for  the  whole  dominion  of  Philip  and  Eliza- 
beth respectively,  during  the  term  of  negotiation,  and 
for  twenty  days  after.  The  Spanish  would  grant  only 
a  temporaiy  trace,  tenninable  at  six  days'  notice,  and 
that  only  for  the  four  cautionary  towns  of  Holland  held 
by  the  Queen.  Thus  Philip  would  be  free  to  invade 
England  at  his  leisure  out  of  the  obedient  Netherlands 
or  Spain.  This  was  inadmissible,  of  course,  but  a  week 
was  spent  at  the  outset  in  reducing  the  teims  to  writing : 
and  when  the  Duke's  propositions  were  at  last  produced 
in  the  French  tongue,  they  were  refused  by  the  Queen's 
commissioners,  who  required  that  the  documents  should 
be  in  Latin.  Great  was  the  triumph  of  Dr.  Dale,  when, 
after  another  inten^al,  he  found  their  Latin  full  of  bar- 
barisms and  blunders,  at  which  a  schoolboy  would  have 
blushed.'  The  King's  commissioners,  however,  while 
halting  in  their  syntax,  had  kept  steadily  to  their  point. 
"  You  promised  a  general  cessation  of  arms  at  our 

coming,"  said  Dale,  at  a  conference  on  the  ~  June, 

"  and  now  ye  have  lingered  five  times  twenty  days,  and 
nothing  done  at  all.     The  world  may  see  the  delays 

1  Dale  to  WaUinghviiu,  21  June,  1588.    (S.  P.  OflBce  MS.) 


1588. 


DISPUTES  ABOUT  CESSATION  OF  ARMS. 


375 


come  of  you  and  not  of  us,  and  that  ye  are  not  so  de- 
sirous of  peace  as  ye  pretend."  * 

"  But  as  for  your  invasion  of  England,"  stoutly  ob- 
serv^ed  the  Earl  of  Derby,  '*  ye  shall  find  it  hot  coming 
thither.  England  was  never  so  ready  in  any  former 
age,  neither  by  sea  nor  by  land ;  but  we  would  show 
your  unreasonableness  in  proposing  a  cessation  of  arms 
by  which  ye  would  bind  her  Majesty  to  forbear  touch- 
ing all  the  Low  Countries,  and  yet  leave  yourselves  at 
liberty  to  invade  England."* 

While  they  were  thus  disputing,  Secretary  Gamier 
rushed  into  the  room,  looking  very  much  frightened, 
and  announced  that  Lord  Henry  Seymour's  fleet  of  thiiiy- 
two  ships  of  war  was  riding  off  Gravelines,  and  that  he 
had  sent  two  men  on  shore  who  were  now  waiting  in  the 
antechamber. 

The  men  being  accordingly  admitted  handed  letters 
to  the  English  commissioners  from  Lord  Henry,  in 
^vhich  he  begged  to  be  informed  in  what  terms  they 
were  standing,  and  whether  they  needed  his  assistance 
or  countenance  in  the  cause  in  which  they  were  en- 
gaged. The  envoys  found  his  presence  very  *'  comfort- 
able,** as  it  showed  the  Spanish  commissioners  that  her 
Majesty  was  so  well  provided  as  to  make  a  cessation  of 
arms  less  necessary  to  her  than  it  was  to  the  King. 
They  therefore  sent  their  thanks  to  the  Lord  Admiral, 
begging  him  to  cruise  for  a  time  off  Dunkirk  and  its 
neighbourliood,  that  both  their  enemies  and  their  friends 
might  have  a  sight  of  the  English  ships.^ 

Great  was  the  panic  all  along  the  coast  at  this  unex- 
pected demonstration.  The  King's  commissioners  got 
into  their  coaches,  and  drove  down  to  the  coast  to  look 
at  the  fleet,  and — so  soon  as  they  appeared — were  re- 
ceived with  such  a  thundering  cannonade  an  hour  long, 
by  way  of  salute,  as  to  convince  them,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  English  envoys,  that  the  Queen  had  no  cause  to  be 
afraid  of  any  enemies  afloat  or  ashore.* 

But  these  noisy  arguments  were  not  much  more 
effective  than  the  interchange  of  diplomatic  broadsides 
which  they  had  for  a  moment  superseded.    The  day  had 


^  Commissioners   to  Vrivj  Council,  3 
June.  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
»  Ibid.  3  11,10, 


*  Commissioners  to  Privy  Council, 
June,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


17 


376 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CiiAP.  XVIII. 


gone  by  for  blank  cartridges  and  empty  protocols.  Ne- 
vertheless Lord  Henry's  harmless  thunder  was  answered, 
the  next  day,  by  a  "  Quintuplication  "  in  worse  Latin 
than  ever,  presented  to  Dr.  Dale  and  his  colleagues  by 
Kichardot  and  Champagny,  on  the  subject  of  the  ar- 
mistice. And  then  there  was  a  return  quintuplication, 
in  choice  Latin,  by  the  classic  Dale,  and  then  there  was 
a  colloquy  on  the  quintuplication,  and  everything  that 
had  been  charged,  and  truly  charged,  by  the  English, 
was  now  denied  by  the  King's  commissioners;  and 
Champagny — more  gouty  and  more  irascible  than  ever 
— '*  chopped  in "  at  every  word  spoken  by  King's 
envoys  or  Queen's,  contradicted  everybody,  repudiated 
everything  stiid  or  done  by  Andrew  de  Loo,  or  any  of 
the  other  secret  negotiators  during  the  past  year,  de- 
clared that  there  never  had  been  a  general  cessation  of 
arms  promised,  and  that,  at  any  rate,  times  were  now 
changed,  and  such  an  armistice  was  inadmissible.'  Then 
the  English  answered  with  equal  impatience,  and  re- 
proached the  King's  representatives  with  duplicity  and 
want  of  faith,  and  censured  them  for  their  unseemly 
language,  and  begged  to  inform  Champagny  and  Kich- 
ardot that  they  had  not  then  to  deal  with  such  persons 
as  they  might  formerly  have  been  in  the  habit  of  treat- 
ing withal,  but  with  a  "  great  prince  who  did  justify 
the  honour  of  her  actions,"  and  they  confuted  the  posi- 
tions now  assumed  by  their  opponents  with  official  docu- 
ments and  former  statements  from  those  very  opponents' 
lips.  And  then,  after  all  this  diplomatic  and  rhetorical 
splutter,  the  high  commissioners  recovered  their  temper 
and  grew  more  polite,  and  the  King's  "envoys  excused 
themselves  in  a  mild,  merry  manner,"  for  the  rudeness 
of  their  speeches,  and  the  Queen's  envoys  accepted  their 
apologies  with  majestic  urbanity,  and  so  they  separated 
for  the  day  in  a  more  friendly  manner  than  they  had 
done  the  day  before.* 

"You  see  to  what  a  scholar's  shift  wo  have  been 
driven  for  want  of  resolution,"  said  Valentine  Dale. 
*'  If  we  should  linger  here  until  there  should  be  broken 
heads,  in  what  case  we  should  be  God  knoweth.     For  I 


^    Commissioners    to    Privy   Council. 
(MS.  last  cited.) 


81 

'  Commissioners  to  Privy  Council,  -- 
June,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1588.        SPANISH  DUPLICITV  AND  PROCRASTINATION.     377 

can  trust  Champagny  and  Eichardot  no  farther  than  I 
can  see  rnem. 

And  so  the  whole  month  of  June  passed  by;  the 
English  commissjoners  "  leaving  no  stone  unturned  to 
get  a  quiet  cessation  of  arms  in  general  terms  " '  and 
be.ng  constantly  foiled,  yet  perpetually  kept  k  hojo 
that  the  point  would  soon  be  carried.'  At  the  same 
time  the  signs  of  the  approaching  invasion  seemed    o 

spake  m  matters  of  wars,  it  were  veiy  requisite  that  my 

wni  «t^nT^ .'f""''^  ^  ^^"^^^^  °"  t^'«  «o««*.  for  they 
will  stea  out  from  hence  as  closely  as  they  can,  either 

to  join  with  the  Spanish  navy  or  to  land,  and  th;y  may 
be  very  easily  scattered,  by  God's  grace."  Andf  with 
the  honest  pride  of  a  protocol-maker,  he  added,  "our 
postulates  do  trouble  the  Kings  commissioner;  very 
much,  and  do  bring  them  to  depair  "  *  ^ 

fh  JkI^^""*'"''"*  ^°- ^°''  ^""^  not  even  yet  discovered  that 
the  King  s  commissioners  were  delighted  with  his  pos- 
tAilates :  and  that  to  hixve  kept  them  postulating  thus  five 
months  in  succession,  while  naval  and  military  prepara- 
tions were  slowly  bringing  forth  a  great  eventLwhich 
w^  soon  to  strike  them  with  as  much  amazement  as  if 
the  moon  had  fallen  out  of  heaven- was  one  of  the  most 
Th,?ih!  *""'"Pl'!  ever  achieved  by  Spanish  diplomacy. 

K?l  nf  ^—  T  *.^""^'?*  *''''*  '^'■'^  l^S''^  h"d  driven  the 
King  of  Spain  to  despair. 

At  the  same  time  he  wa.s  not  insensible  to  the  merits 
ot  another  and  more  peremptory  style  of  rhetoric.  "  I 
pray  you  said  he  to  Walsingham,  "  let  us  hear  some 
arguments  from  my  Lord  Haiiy  out  of  her  Majesty's 
navy  now  and  then.  I  think  they  will  do  more  good 
than  any  bolt  that  we  can  shoot  here.  If  they  be  met  with 
at  their  going  out,  there  i.s  no  po.ssibility  for  them  to  make 
any  resistance,  having  so  few  men  that  can  abide  the  sea : 
tor  the  rest,  as  you  know,  must  be  sea-sick  at  first." ' 
♦T,-r'i  ■  .^"^"^^^^^e'-e  completely  puzzled.  Even  at 
the  beginning  of  July,  Sir  James  Croft  was  quite  con- 

»  Dale  to  Walsingham,   -  June,  1588.  ^^"^^^R  of  her  Afajesiy's  commissioners. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.)                "  '^"'^  ^■''•ch  is  now  denied  as  ever  spoken.' 

"  And  if  her  Mi^esty  list  to  break,  she  ***■  ^  '^  performed  If  promised."    (Ibid.) 

may  now  do  it  up.)n  their  present  denial  -  Dale  to  Burgbley,  i?  June  1588     rS 

of  the  cessation  of  arms,  which  Richard..t  *  P.  Offlco  MS  )  ^ 

did  in  open  council  promise  to  Xorris  and  3  ibid            4  iKid            sun 

Andrea  de  Loo  should  be  accorded  at  the  ^              ^^**^* 


I 


1 


(I 


378 


THE  UNITED  KETHEULASDS.         Chap.  XVI!I. 

vinced  of  the  innocence  of  the  King  and  the  Duke,'  but 
Croft  was  in  his  dotage.  As  for  Dale,  ho  occasionally 
opened  his  eves  and  his  ears,  but  more  comnionly  kept 
them  well  closed  to  the  significance  of  passing  events, 
and  consoled  himself  with  his  protocols  and  his  classics, 

and  the  purity  of  his  own  Latm 

- 'Tis  a  vorj- wise  saving  of  Terence,    said  he,     om- 

nil„s   nMs,  nt  res  dant'sese,  ita  «,«i,m- oj.tA'ymfes-^  »«»««• 
AVhon  the  King's  commissioners  hear  of  the  Kmgsnav 
fromSpain,  they  are  in  such  jollity  t'-t  they  ta  k  oud^ 
In  the  wean  time-as  the  wife  of  15ath  saitU  in 
Chaucer  by  her  husband,  we  owe  them  not  a  word.     J 
we  should  die  to-mon-ow,  I  hope  her  Majesty  will  find 
bv  our  writings  that  the  honour  of  the  cause,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  world,   must  be  with  her  Majesty,  and 
that  her  commissioners  are  neither  of  such  imperfection 
in  their  reasons  or  so  barbarous  in  lang-uagc,  as  they  who 
fail  not,  almost  in  every  line,  of  some  barl>a.ism  not  to 
be  borne  in  a  grammar-school,  although  in  subthness 
and  impudent    affirming  of   untruths   and   denying  ot 
truths,  her  commissioners   are   not  in    any  respect  to 
match  with  Champagny  and  Kichardot,  who  are  doctors 

ill  that  faculty.'  e  •   3'£c  +. 

It  might  perhaps  prove  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
Elizabeth  and  to  England,  when  the  (Meen  should  be  a 
state-prisoner  in  Spain,  and  the  Inquisition  qu^ctl^ 
established  in  her  kingdom,  whether  the  world  shou  d 
admit  or  not,  in  case  of  his  decease,  the  superiont.v  ot 
Dr  Dale's  logic  and  Latin  to  those  of  his  antagonists 
And  even  if  mankind  conceded  the  best  oi  the  argiimont 
to  the  English  diplomatists,  that  diplomacy  migl^t  «<^em 
worthless  which  could  be  blind  to  the  colossal  falsehoods 
growing  daily  before  its  eyes.     Had  the  commissioners 

1        „  ,.^.,.^..i,Aii«    the  toleration  of  religion,  and  the  point 
I  «  I  niiiv  Ik^  psteemcd  unTP  credulous    mc  t<>«^-i«i.«  o  .     •,     ,i    „ 

tn  n  izf  m.:;:::;™  yet  i  a..ure  your  of  her  m^  ^'^!';:::tfi^z 

Lora.hip  1  never  etubraced  any  opinion    ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^J^/ ^  ^widJ ';;^re 

thereof  other  than  such  as  by  ...n.o  con-    «««^>^:^^';^^  ^^  ^;,j  ^.,,^^  ,„.  \J,  ,o 

J  cmral  argument  was  made  very  pro-    ^^^  ^   ^' ^,  ,",  „        that  which  he  under- 

bable  unto  me.  like  as  1  t»-"Kh   S-'^J^^    hU  would  advise   us  unto,  re^uirivg 

this  time  to  mform  your  L;^ulsb.p    ha     hanu  j,,tif,cution  tobeprt,,ed 

ye.terday  by   chance      had    con^-mc;  ^  ^   ,,Kick  LnsHres  muck  Lire" 

with  one  of  the  commissioners  on  the  other    to  ^  ^^^^ 

side,  and  was  l>y  him  in  sort  assured  that    (<  .•)    &c.      Croft    to   Burghley,  ^-j^^  . 

'the  matter  of  ihta  treaty  will  fall  out—    ^^^^       g  p  q^^^^  j,j.^ 

m  far  as  In  that  side  lieth-to  as  g.H3d  |  ^^^^^^^ 

purpose  as  her  Mi^esty  will  require  It ;        '  I'aie    to    im 

he  uot  d.jubtiug  that  the  two  years  for    (S.  P.  Office,  ^IS.) 


21 

2  Dale    to    Kurghley,  -  June,    158S. 


1588.  BULL  OF  POPE  SIXTUS  V.  FULMINATED. 


379 


been  able  to  read  the  secret  correspondence  between 
Parma  and  his  master —as  we  have  had  the  opportunity 
of  doing— they  would  certainly  not  have  left  their 
homes  in  Febi-uary,  to  be  made  fools  of  until  July,  but 
would,  on  their  knees,  have  implored  their  royal  mistress 
to  awake  from  her  ftital  delusion  before  it  should  be  too 
late.  Even  without  that  advantage,  it  seems  incredible 
that  they  should  have  been  unable  to  pierce  through  the 
atmosphere  of  duplicity  which  suiTOunded  them,  and  to 
obtain  one  clear  glimpse  of  the  destruction  so  steadily 
advancing  upun  England. 

For  the  famous  bull  of  Sixtus  V.  had  now  been  fulmi- 
nated.   Elizabeth  had  been  again  denounced  as  a  bastard 
and  usurper,  and  her  kingdom  had  been  solemnly  con- 
ferred upon  Philip,  with  title  of  defender  of  the  Christian 
ftiith,  to  have  and  to  hold  as  tributary  and  feudatorj^  of 
Kome.      The  so-called    Queen  had  usurped  the  crown 
contrary  to  the  ancient  treaties  between  the  apostolic 
stool  and  the  kingdom  of  England,  which  country,  on 
its  reconciliation  with  the  head  of  the  church  after  the 
death  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  had  recognised  the 
necessity  of  the  Pope's  consent  in  the  succession  to  its 
throne  ;  she  had  desei*ved   chastisement  for  the  terrible 
tortures  intlicted  by  her  upon   English  Catholics  and 
God's  own  saints  ;  and  it  was  declared  an  act  of  virtue, 
to  be  repaid  with  plenary  indulgence  and  forgiveness  of 
all  sins,  to  lay  violent  hands  on  the  usuiper,  and  deliver 
her  into  the  hands  of  the  Catholic  party.     And  of  the 
holy  league  against  the  usurper,  PhilipVas  appointed 
the  head,  and  Alexander  of  Parma  chief  commander. 
This  document  was  published  in  large  numbers  in  Ant- 
wei-p  in  the  I]nglish  tongue/ 

The  pamphlet  of  Dr.  Allen,  just  named  Cardinal,  war, 
also  translated  in  the  same  city,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Duke  of  Parma,  in  order  to  be  distributed  through- 
out England  on  the  arrival  in  that  kingdom  of  the 
Catholic  troops.*  The  well-known  '  Admonition  to  the 
Nobility  and  People  of  England  and  Ireland '  accused 
the  Queen  of  eveiy  crime  and  vice  which  can  pollute 
humanity,  and  was  filled  with  foul  details  unfit  for  the 
public  eye  in  these  more  decent  days.^ 


*  Meteren,  xv.  270  seq. 

2  Piarma  to  Philip  II.  21  June,  1588. 


(Arch.de  Sim.  MS.) 
3  Lhigard,  vlli.  442  seq. 


380 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLxVNDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


1588. 


DALE  SENT  TO  ASK  EXPLANATIONS. 


381 


So  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  these  publications 
reached  England,  the  Queen  ordered  her  commissioners 
at  Bourbourg  to  take  instant  cognizance  of  them,  and 
to  obtain  a  categorical  explanation  on  the  subject  from 
Alexander  himself;  as  if  an  explanation  were  possible, 
as  if  tlie  designs  of  Sixtus,  Philip,  and  Alexander  could 
any  longer  be  doubted,  and  as  if  the  Duke  were  more 
likely  now  than  before  to  make  a  succinct  statement  of 
them  for  the  benefit  of  her  Majesty. 

**  Having  discovered,"  wrote  Elizabeth  on  the  9th 
July  (N.S.),  "  that  this  treaty  of  peace  is  entertained 
only  to  abuse  us,  and  being  many  ways  given  to  under- 
stand that  the  preparations  which  have  so  long  been 
making  and  which  now  are  consummated,  both  in  Spain 
and  the  Low  Countries,  are  purposely  to  be  employed 
against  us  and  our  country ;  finding  that,  for  the  fur- 
therance of  these  exploits,  there  is  ready  to  be  published 
a  vile,  slanderous,  and  blasphemous  book,  containing  as 
many  lies  as  lines,  entitled  *  An  Admonition,'  &c.,  and 
contrived  by  a  lewd-born  subject  of  ours,  now  become 
an  arrant  traitor,  named  Dr.  Allen,  lately  made  a  car- 
dinal at  Rome ;  as  also  a  bull  of  the  I*ope,  whereof  we 
send  you  a  copy,  both  very  lately  brought  into  those 
Low  Countries,  the  one  whereof  is  alrejuly  jainted  at 
Antwerp  in  a  great  multitude,  in  the  English  tongue, 
and  the  other  ordered  to  be  printed,  only  to  stir  up  our 
subjects,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  G6d  and  their  alle- 
giance, to  join  with  such  foreign  purposes  as  are  prepared 
against  us  and  our  realm,  to  come  out  of  those  Low 
Countries  and  out  of  Spain  ;  and  as  it  appears  by  the 
said  bull  that  the  Duke  of  Parma  is  expressly  named 
and  chosen  by  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Spain  to  be 
principal  executioner  of  these  intended  enterprises,  we 
cannot  think  it  honourable  for  us  to  continue  longer  the 
treaty  of  petice  with  them  that,  under  colour  of  treaty, 
arm  themselves  with  all  the  power  they  can  to  a  bloody 


war. 


»» 1 


Accordingly  the  Queen  commanded  Dr.  Dale,  as  one 
of  the  commissioners,  to  proceed  forthwith  to  the  Duke, 
ill  order  to  obtain  explanations  as  to  his  contemplated 
conquest  of  her  realm,  and  as  to  his  share  in  the  publi- 

1  Queen  to  Commissioners,    -7""*,  15S8.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

9  July 


cation  of  the  bull  and  pamphlet,  and  to  "  require  him 
as  he  would  be  accounted  a  prince  of  honour,  to  let  her 
plainly  understand  what  she  might  think  thereof"  The 
envoy  was  to  assure  him  that  the   Queen  would  trust 
implicitly  to  his  statement,  to  adjure  him  to  declare  the 
truth,  and,  m  case  he  avowed  the  publications  and  the 
belligerent  intentions  suspected,  to  demand  instant  safe- 
conduct  to  England  for  her  commissioners,  who  would 
ot  course,  instantly  leave  the  Netherlands.     On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  Duke  disavowed  those  infamous  documents 
he  was  to  be  requested  to  punish  the  printers,  and  have 
the  books  burned  by  the  hangman.' 

Dr.  Dale,  although  suffering  from  cholic,  was  obliged 
to  set  forth  at  once  upon  what  he  felt  would  be  a  boot- 
less journey.     At  his  return— which  was  upon  the  22nd 
of  July  (N.S.)— the  shrewd  old  gentleman  had  nearly 
arrived  at  the  opinion  that  her  Majesty  might  as  well 
break  off  the  negotiations.      He   had  a    "  comfortless 
voyage  and  a  ticklish  message;''*  found  all  along  the 
road  signs  of  an  approaching  enterprise,  diflScult  to  be 
mistaken;  reported  10,000  veteran  Spaniards,  to  which 
force   Stanley's    regiment  was    united;    GOOO   Italians, 
3000  Germans,  all  with  pikes,  corselets,  and  slash  swords 
complete  :  besides  10,000  Walloons.     The  transports  for 
the  cavalry  at  Gravelingen  he  did  not  see,  nor  was  lie 
much  impressed  with  what  he  heard  as  to  the  magnitude 
ot  the  naval  prepamtions  at  Newport.     He  was  informed 
that  the  Duke  was  about  making  a  foot-pilgrimage  from 
Brussels  to  Our  Lady  of  Halle,  to  implore  victory  for 
his  banners,  and  had  daily  evidence  of  the  soldiers'  ex- 
pectation to  invade  and  to   "devour  England."*     All 
this  had  not  tended  to  cure  him  of  the  low  spirits  with 
which  he  began  the  journey.     Nevertheless,  although 
he  was  unable— as  will  be  seen— to  report  an  entirely 
satisfactory  answer  from  Famese  to  the  Queen  upon  the 
momentous  questions    entrusted  to  him,  he,  at   least, 
thought  of  a  choice  passage  in  *  The  ^neid,'  so  \Qry 
apt  to  the  circumstances,  as  almost  to  console  him  for  the 

1    Queen  to    Commissioners.    ^-,-~.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

9  July  »   r. 

158S.    (S.  p.  Office  MS.)  „\P*Jl*°  ^Vulsing!u;m,  date  last  cited. 

-  Dale   to   Buigliley,   ^  July,    !583 


(S.  p.  Office  MS.) 


« 


V' 


382 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVHI. 


*'  pangs  of  his  cholic  "  and  the  terrors  of  the  approach- 

•  •  • 


mg  invasion. 


*'  1  have  written  two  or  three  verses  out  of  Virgil  for 
the  Queen  to  read,"  said  he,  "  which  I  pray  your  Lord- 
ship to  present  unto  her.  God  grant  her  to  weigh  tli^m.^  If 
your  Lordship  do  read  the  whole  discourse  of  Virgil  in 
that  place,  it  will  make  your  heart  melt.  Observe  the  report 
of  the  ambassadors  that  were  sent  to  Diomedes  to  make 
war  against  the  Trojans,  for  the  old  hatred  that  he,  being 
a  Grecian,  did  bear  unto  them ;  and  note  the  answer  of 
Diomedes  dissuading  them  from  entering  into  war  with 
the  Trojans,  the  perplexity  of  the  king,  the  miseiies  of 
the  couiitiy,  the  reasons  of  Drances  that  spake  against 
them  which  would  have  war,  the  violent  persuasions  of 
Turnus  to  war  ;  and  note,  I  pray  you,  one  word,  '  nee  te 
ulliiis  I'iolentia  frangat:  '  ^Vhat  a  lecture  coukl  I  make 
with  Mr.  Cecil  upon  that  passage  in  Virgil  !"* 

The  most  important  point  for  the  reader  to  remark  is 
the  date  of  this  letter.  It  was  received  in  the  very  laf<t 
dags  of  the  month  of  Julg.  Let  him  observe— as  he  will 
soon  have  occasion  to  do— the  events  wliich  wure  oc- 
curring on  land  and  sea  exactly  at  the  moment  when 
this  classic  despatch  reached  its  destination,  and  judge 
whether  the  hearts  of  the  Queen  and  Lord  Burghley 
would  be  then  quite  at  leisure  to  melt  at  the  sorrows 
of  the  Trojan  war.  Perhaps  the  doings  of  Drake  and 
Howard,  Medina  Sidonia,  and  Ilicalde,  would  be  pressing 
as  much  on  their  attention  as  the  eloquence  of  Diomede 
or  the  wrath  of  Turnus.  Yet  it  may  be  doubted  wliether 
the  reports  of  these  Grecian  envoys  might  not,  in  truth, 
be  almost  as  much  to  the  purpose  as  the  despatches  of 
the  diplomatic  pedant,  with  his  Virgil  and  his  cholic, 
into  wdiose  hands  grave  matters  of  peace  and  war 
were  entrusted  in  what  seemed  the  day  of  England's 
doom. 

"  What  a  lecture  T  could  make  with  Mr.  Cecil  on  the 
subject!"  An  English  ambassador,  at  the  court  of 
Philip  II.'s  viceroy,  could  indulge  himself  in  imaginary 

»  The  reader  who  will  take  Jhe  trouble    nUins  violentia  vinoat  (frangat),"  kc, 
to  refer  to  the  .Eneicyib.xi.,  may  amuse    354. 


himself  by  observing  that  the  aptness  of 
the  analogy  was  by  no  means  so  wonder- 
ful as  it  seemed  to  Dr.  Dale,  "  nee   te    ^-  ^^^^  ^^^O 


'  Dale  to  Burghloy  ^  July,  1588. 


(S. 


1588.      DALE'S  AUDIENCE  OF  THE  DUKE  AT  BRUGES. 


SS."" 


e.) 


prelections  on  the  ^Eneid,  in  the  last  days  of  July  of 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1 588  ! 

The  Doctor,  liowever— to  do  him  justice— had  put  the 
questions  categorically  to  his  Higbiiess,  as  he  had  been 
instructed  to  do.     He  went  to  Bruges  so  mys-   » 
teriously,  that  no  living  man  that  side  the  sea.  Fa  "^"'y- 
have  Lord  Derby  and  Lord  Cobham,  knew  the      ^^^^• 
cause  of  his  journey.'     Poor  puzzling  James  Croft    in 
particular,  was  moved  almost  to  tears,  by  being  kept'out 

of  the  secret.=^     On  the  ^  July,  Dale  had  audience    of 

1  o 

tlie  Duke  at  Bmges.  After  a  few  commonplaces,  he  was 
invited  by  the  Duke  to  state  what  special  purpose  had 
brought  him  to  Bruges. 

"  There  is  a  book  printed  at  Antwerp,"  said  Dale 
"and  set  fortli  by  a  fugitive  from  England,  who  calleth 
himself  a  cardinal."^ 

Upon  this  the  Duke  began  diligently  to  listen. 
*'  This  book,"  resumed  Dale,  "  is  an  Admonition  to  the 
nobility  and  people  of  England  and  Ireland  touchiuiv 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  of  the  Tope  a"-ainst  tho 
Queen,  which  the  King  Catholic  hath  entrusted  to  vour 
Highness  as  chief  of  the  enterprise.     There  is  also  a^bull 
ot  the  Pope  declaring  my  sovereign  mistress  illegitimate 
and  an  usurper,  with  other  matters  too  odious  for  any 
prince  or  gentleman  to  name  or  hoar.     In  this  bull  tin- 
Pope  saith  that  he  hath  dealt  with  the  Most  Catholic 
King  to  emi)luy  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  the  depri- 
vation and  deposition  of  my  sovereign,  and  doth  char^-e 
her  subjects  to  assist  the  army  appointed  bv  the  Kino- 
Catholic  for  that  purpose,  under  the  conduct  of  you? 
Highness.     Therefore  Her  Majesty  would  be  satisfied 
Irom  your  Highness  in  that  point,  and  will  take  satis- 
laction  of  none  other ;  not  doubting  but  that  as  vou  are 
a  prince  of  word  and  credit,  you  will  deal  plainlv  with 
her  Alajesty.     Whatsoever  it  may  be,  her  IMajesty  will 
not  take  it  amiss  against  your  Highness,  so  she  maV  only 
be  mfonned  by  you  of  the  tmth.   W  herefore  I  do  requii"e 
you  to  satisfy  the  Queen."' 

"  I  am  glad,"  replied  the  Duke,  '*  that  her  Majesty 
and  her  commissioners  do  take  in  good  part  my  good- 
will towards  them.    I  am  especially  touched  by  the  good 

1  Dale  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited.*        2  n^jd.         3  ibjd.         4  ji^jj. 


384 


THK  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


opinion  her  Majesty  liatli  of  my  sincerity,  which  I  should 
be  glad  always  to  maintain.  As  to  the  book  to  which 
yoiTrefer,  I  have  never  read  it  nor  seen  it,  nor  do  I  take 
heed  of  it.  It  may  well  be  that  her  Majesty,  whom  it 
concemeth,  should  t-ake  notice  of  it ;  but  for  my  part  I 
have  nought  to  do  with  it,  nor  can  I  prevent  men  from 
writing  oi'  printing  at  their  pleasure.  I  am  at  the  com- 
mandment of  my  master  only."  * 

As  Alexander  made  no  reference  to  the  Pope's  bull, 
Dr.  Dale  obsei-ved,  that  if  a  war  had  been,  of  purpose, 
undertaken  at  the  instance  of  the  Pope,  all  this  nego- 
tiation had  been  in  vain,  and  her  Majesty  would  be 
obliged  to  withdmw  her  commissioners,  not  doubting 
that^'they  would  receive  safe-conduct,  as  occasion  should 

require.  ,         _  , 

*' Yea,  God  forbid    else,"  replied  Alexander;    "and 
further,  /  know  nothing  of  any  bull  of  the  Pope,  nor  do  I 
care  for  any,  nor  do  1  undertake  anything  for  him.     But 
as  for  any  misunderstanding  (mil  entendu)  between  my 
master  and  her  Majesty,  I  must,  as  a  soldier,  act  at  the 
command  of  my  sovereign.     For  my  part,  I  have  always 
had  such  respect  for  her  Majesty,  being  so  noble  a  (^ueen, 
as  that  I  would  never  hearken  to  anything  that  might 
be  reproachful  to  her.     After   my  master,  1  would  do 
most  to  serve  your  Queen,  and  I  hope  she  will  take  my 
word  for  her  satisiiiction  on  that  point.     And  for  avoid- 
in"-  of  bloodshed  and  the  burning  of  houses  and  such 
other  calamities  as  do  follow  the  wars,  I  have  been  a 
petitioner  to   my   sovereign  that   all  things  might  be 
ended  quietly  by  a  peace.     That  is  a  thing,  however," 
added  the  Diike,  *'  which  you  have  more  cause  to  desire 
than  we,  for  if  the  King,  my  master,  should  lose  a  battle, 
he  would  be  able  to  recover  it  well  enough,  without 
hai-m  to  liimself,  being  far  enough  off  in  Spain,  while, 
if  the  battle  be  lost  on  your  side,  you  may  lose  kingdom 

and  all."  *  -i-.  -l 

*'By  God's  sufferance,"  rejoined  the  Doctor,  "her 
Majesty  is  not  without  means  to  defend  her  crown,  that 
hath  descended  to  her  from  so  long  a  succession  of  an- 
cestors. Moreover  your  Highness  knows  very  well 
that  one  battle  cannot  conquer  a  kingdom  m  another 
country." 

»  Dale  to  Burghley,  MS.  last  cited.  »  Ibid. 


1588.      PARMA  DENIES  ALL  KNOWLEDGE  OF  EITHER.      385 

"  Well,"  said  the  Duke,  "  that  is  in  God's  hand." 

"  So  it  IS,"  said  the  Doctor. 

"  But  make  an  end  of  it,"  continued  Alexander  quietly ; 
*  and  if  you  have  anything  to  put  into  writing,  you  will 
do  me  a  pleasure  by  sending  it  to  me."  » 

Dr.  Valentine  Dale  was  not  the  man  to  resist  the 
temptation  to  make  a  protocol,  and  promised  one  for  the 
next  day. 

"  I  am  charged  only  to  give  your  Highness  satisfac- 
tion, he  said,  "  as  to  her  Majesty's  sincere  intentions, 
which  have  already  been  published  to  the  world  in 
±.nglish,  French,  and  Italian,  in  the  hope  that  you  may 
also  satisfy  the  Queen  upon  this  other  point.  I  am  but 
one  of  her  commissioners,  and  could  not  deal  without 
my  colleagues.  I  crave  leave  to  depart  to-mon-ow  morn- 
ing, and  with  safe-convoy,  as  I  had  in  coming." 

After  the  envoy  had  taken  leave,  the  Duke  summoned 
?•  1^*  ■^^^'  ^^^  related  to  him  the  conversation 
which  had  taken  place.  He  then,  in  the  presence  of 
that  personage,  again  declared,  upon  his  honour  and  with 
very  constant  affimations,  that  he  had  never  seen  nor 
heard  of  t/ie  book— the  '  Admonition  '  by  Cardinal  Allen— 
and  that  he  knew  nothing  of  any  bull,  and  had  no 
regard  to  it.* 

The  plausible  Andrew  accompanied  the  Doctor  to  his 
lodgings,  protesting  all  the  way  of  his  own  and  his 
master's  sincerity,  and  of  their  unequivocal  intentions 
to  conclude  a  peace.  The  next  day  the  Doctor,  by 
agi-eement,  brought  a  most  able  protocol  of  demands  in 
the  name  of  all  the  commissioners  of  her  Majesty ;  * 
which  able  protocol  the  Duke  did  not  at  that  moment 
read,  which  he  assuredly  never  read  subsequently, 
^^^l^^ich  no  human  soul  ever  read  aftei-wards.  Let 
the  dust  lie  upon  it,  and  upon  all  the  vast  heap  of  pro- 
tocols raised  mountains  high  during  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1588. 

"^-  I^ale  has  been  w^th  me  two  or  three  times," 
P^-r^^^"^*'  in  giving  his  account  of  these  interviews  to 
1  hihp.  "  I  don't  know  why  he  came,  but  I  think  he 
wished  to  make  it  appear,  by  coming  to  Bruges,  that 
the  rupture,  when  it  occurs,  was  caused  by  us,  not  by 
the   English.     He   has  been  complaining  of  Cardinal 

»  Dale  to  Burghley.    MS.  last  cited.  2  ibid.  »  Ibid 

VOL.  n.  "2c' 


!l 


1 


886 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


Allen '8  hook,  and  I  told  him  that  I  didn't  understand 
a  word  of  English,  and  knew  nothing  whatever  of  the 
matter."  * 

It  has  been  already  seen  that  the  Duke  had  declared, 
on  his  word  of  honour,  that  he  had  never  heard  of  the 
famous  pamphlet.  Yet  at  that  very  moment  letters  were 
lying  in  his  cabinet,  received  more  than  a  fortnight 
before  from  Philip,  in  which  that  monarch  thanked 
Alexander  for  having  had  the  Cardinars  book  translated  at 
Antwerp!"*  Certainly  few  English  diplomatists  could 
be  a  match  for  a  Highness  so  liberal  of  his  word  of 
honour. 

But  even  Dr.  Dale  had  at  last  convinced  himself — 
even  although  the  Duke  knew  nothing  of  bull  or 
pamphlet — that  mischief  was  brewing  against  England. 
The  sagacious  man,  having  seen  large  bodies  of  Spaniards 
and  Walloons  making  such  demonstrations  of  eageniess 
to  be  led  against  his  country,  and  "professing  it  as 
openly  as  if  they  wore  going  to  a  fair  or  market,"  while 
even  Alexander  himself  could  "  no  more  hide  it  than 
did  Henry  VIII.  when  he  went  to  Boulogne,"^  could 
not  help  suspecting  something  amiss. 

His  colleague,  however,  Comptroller  Croft,  was  more 
judicious,  for  he  valued  himself  on  taking  a  sound, 
temperate,  and  conciliator}^  view  of  affairs.  He  was  not 
the  man  to  offend  a  magnanimous  neighlx)ur — who 
meant  nothing  unfriendly — by  regarding  his  manoeuvres 
with  superfluous  suspicion.  So  this  envoy  wrote  to 
.Lord  Burghley  on  the  2nd  August  (N.S.)— let  the  reader 
niark  the  date— that,  "  although  a  great  doubt  had  been 
conceived  as  to  the  King's  sincerity,  ....  yet 
that  discretion  and  experience  induced  him — the  envoy — to 
think,  that  besides  the  reverent  opinion  to  he  had  of  pnnces' 
oaths,  and  the  general  incommodity  which  will  come  by 
the  contrary,  God  had  so  balanced  princes'  powers  in 
that  age,  as  they  rather  desire  to  assure  them^hes  at  honie, 
than  with  danger  to  invade  their  neighbours**^ 

Perhaps  the  mariners  of  England— a^  that  very  instant 
exchanging  broadsides  off  the  coast  of  Devon  and  Dorset 

1  Parma    to    Philip,    21    July,    1588.       »  Dale  to  Burghly  -  July,  1588.    (S. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  p  q^^^^  ^g .  '  *» 

2  Philip  II.  to  Punna,  21  June,  1588,      '.  ^    ,.     "4      ,,       ssJuIt 

MS.  la;.t  cited  *  ^^^oft  to  Burghley,  "^ -     %  1588.  MS. 

a  Aug. 

last  ciUxL 


1588.  DISUNION  OF  HOLLAND  AND  ENGLAND.  387 

with  the  Spanish  Armada,  and  doing  their  best  to  pro- 
tect their  native  land  from  the  most  horrible  calamity 
which  had  ever  impended  over  it- had  arrived  at  a  less 
reverent  opinion  of  princes'  oaths  ;  and  it  was  well  for 
±.ngland  m  that  supreme  hour  that  there  were  such 
men  as  Howard  and  Drake,  and  Winter  and  Frobisher, 
and  a  who  e  people  with  hearts  of  oak  to  defend  her, 
while  bungling  diplomatists  and  credulous  dotards  were 
domg  their  best  to  imperil  her  existence. 

But  it  is  necessary— in  order  to  obtain  a  complete 
picture  of  that  famous  year  1588,  and  to  understand  the 
causes  from  which  such  great  events  were  sprino-ing— 
to  cast  a  glance  at  the  internal  politics  of  the  States 
most  involved  in  Philip's  meshes. 

Certainly,  if  there  had  ever  been  a  time  when  the 
new  commonwealth  of  the  Netherlands  should  be  both 
united  m  itself  ani  on  thoroughly  friendly  terms  with 
±.ngland,  it  was  exactly  that  epoch  of  which  we  are 
treating.  There  could  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the 
designs  of  Spain  against  England  were  hostile,  and 
fp;^,*  ?^^^^°^  r^^engeful.  It  was  at  least  possible 
that  1  hilip  meant  to  undertake  the  conquest  of  England, 

^?u  n"^^®^^^  ^*  ^^  ^  stepping-stone  to  the  cominest 
ot  Holland.     Both  the  kingdom  and  the  republic  should 
iiave  been  alert,  armed,  fuU  of  suspicion  towards  the 
common  foe,  full  of  confidence  in  each  other.     What 
decisive  blows  might  have  been  struck  against  Parma 
m  the  Netherlands,  when   his   troops  were  starving 
fiickly,  and  mutinous,  if  the  Hollanders  and  Englishmen 
had  been  united  under  one  chieftain,  and  thorouo-hly 
convinced  of  the  impossibility  of  peace !     Could^'the 
-t-nghsh  and  Dutch  statesmen  of  that  day  have  read  all 
the  secrets  of  their  gieat  enemy's  heart-,  as  it  is  our  pri- 
vilege at  this  hour  to  do,  they  would  have  known  that 
m  sudden  and  deadly  strokes  lay  their  best  chance  of 
salvation.     But,   without  that  advantage,  there   were 
men  whose  sagacity  told  them  that  it  was  the  hour  for 
deeds  and  not  for  dreams.     For  to  Leicester  and  \Val- 
singham,  as  well  as  to  Paul  Buys  and  Bameveld,  peace 
with  Spam  seemed  an  idle  vision.     It  was  unfortunate 
tliat    they  were   overruled  by   Queen   Elizabeth   and 
iiurghley,  who  still  clung  tonhat  delusion;  it  was  still 
more  disastrous  that  the  intrigues  of  Leicester  had  done 

2  c  2 


^\ 


I 


383 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


so  much  to  paralyze  the  republig ;  it  was  almost  fatal 
tliat  his  departure,  without  laying  down  his  authority, 
had  given  the  signal  for  civil  war. 

During  the  winter,  spring,  and  summer  of  1588,  while 
the  Duke— in  the  face  of  mighty  obstacles— was  slowly 
proceeding  with  his  preparations  in  Flanders,  to  co- 
operate with  the  armaments  from  Spain,  it  would  have 
been  possible  by  a  combined  movement  to  destroy  his 
whole  plan,  to  liberate  all  the  Netherlands,  and  to  avert, 
by  one  great  effort,  the  ruin  impending  over  England. 
Instead  of  such  vigorous  action,  it  was  thought  wiser  to 
send  commissioners,  to  make  protocols,  to  ask  for  armis- 
tices, to  give  profusely  to  the  enemy  that  which  he  was 
most  in  need  of— time.     Meanwhile  the  Hollanders  and 
English  could  quarrel  comfortably  among  themselves, 
and  the  little  republic,  for  want  of  a  legal  head,  could 
come  as  near  as  possible  to  its  dissolution. 

Young   Maurice— deep    thinker  for    his   years    and 
peremptory  in  action— was  not  the  man  to  see  his  great 
father's  life-work  annihilated  before  his  eyes,  so  long  as 
he  had  an  arm  and  brain  of  his  own.     He  accepted  his 
position  at  the  head  of  the  government  of  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  and  as  chief  of  the  war-party.     Ihe  council  ot 
istate,  mainly  composed  of  Leicester's  creatures,  whose 
commissions  would  soon  expire  by  their  own  limitation, 
could  offer  but  a  feeble  resistaAce  to  such  determined 
individuals   as   Maurice,   Buys,   and   Barneveld.     The 
party  made  rapid  progress.     On  the   other  hand,  the 
Eno-lish  Leicestrians  did  their  best  to  foment  discord  in 
the'^Provinces.     Sonoy  was  sustained  in  his  rebellion  m 
North  Holland,  not  only  by  the  Earl's  partizans,  but  by 
Elizabeth  herself.      Her    rebukes   to   Maunce,   when 
IMaurice  was  pursuing  the  only  course  which  seemed 
to  him  consistent  with  honour  and  sound  policy,  were 
sharper  than  a  sword.     Well  might  Duplessis  Mornay 
observe,    that    the    commonwealth    had    been    rather 
strangled  than  embraced  by  the  English  Queen.     Sonoy, 
in  the  name  of  Leicester,  took  arms  against  Maurice  and 
the  States ;  Maurice  marched  against  him ;   and  Lord 
AVilloughby,  commander-in-chief  of  the  English  forces, 
was   anxious   to  march   against   Maurice.      It    was    a 
spectacle  to  make  angels  weep,  that  of  Englishmen  and 
Hollanders  preparing  to  cut  each  other's  throats,  at  the 


1588.       DANGEROUS  DISCORDS  IN  NORTH  HOLLAND.       389 

moment  when  Philip  and  Parma  were  bending  all  their 
energies  to  crush  England  and  Holland  at  once. 

Indeed,  the  interregnum  between  the  departure  of 
Leicester  and  his  abdication  was  diligently  employed  by 
his  more  reckless  partizans  to  defeat  and  destroy  the 
authority  of  the  States.  By  prolonging  the  interval,  it 
was  hoped  that  no  government  would  be  possible  except 
the  arbitrary  rule  of  the  Earl,  or  of  a  successor  with 
similar  views  :  for  a  republic — a  free  commonwealth — 
was  thought  an  absurdity.  To  entrust  supreme  power 
to  advocates,  merchants,  and  mechanics,  seemed  as  hope- 
less as  it  was  vulgar.  Willoughby,  much  devoted  to 
Leicester  and  much  detesting  Barneveld,  had  small 
scruple  in  fanning  the  flames  of  discord. 

There  was  open  mutiny  against  the  States  by  the 
garrison  of  Gertruydenberg,  and  Willoughby's  brother- 
in-law.  Captain  Wingfield,  commanded  in  Gertruyden- 
berg. There  were  rebellious  demonstrations  in  Kaarden, 
and  Willoughby  went  to  Kaarden.  The  garrison  was 
troublesome,  but  most  of  the  magistrates  were  firm. 
So  Willoughby  supped  with  the  burgomasters,  and  found 
that  Paul  Buys  had  been  setting  the  people  against 
Queen  Elizabeth,  Leicester,  and  the  whole  English 
nation,  making  them  all  odious.  Colonel  Dorp  said 
openly  that  it  was  a  shame  for  the  country  to  refuse 
their  own  natural-bom  Count  for  strangers.  He  swore 
that  he  would  sing  his  song  whose  bread  he  had  eaten.* 
A  *'fat  militia  captain"  of  the  place,  one  Soyssons,  on 
the  other  hand,  privately  informed  Willoughby  that 
Maurice  and  Banieveld  were  treating  underhand  with 
Spain.  Willoughby  was  inclined  to  believe  the  calumny, 
but  feared  that  his  corpulent  friend  would  lose  his  head 
for  reporting  it.  Meantime  the  English  commander  did 
his  best  to  strengthen  the  English  party  in  their  rebel- 
lion against  the  States. 

"  But  how  if  they  make  war  upon  us  ?'*  asked  the 
Leicestrians. 

"  It  is  very  likely,"  replied  AVilloughby,  "  that  if  they 
use  violence  you  will  have  her  Majesty's  assistance,  and 
then  you  who  continue  constant  to  the  end  will  be 
rewarded    accordingly.      Moreover,    who    would    not 

1  Willoughby  to ,  ^eb.  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


!! 


390 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XYHI. 


rather  be  a  horse-keeper  to  her  Majesty  than  a  captain 
to  Bameveld  or  Buys?"* 

When  at  last  the  resignation  of  Leicester— presented 
to  the  States  by  Killigrew  on  the  31st  March  *— seemed 
to  promise  comparative  repose  to  the  republic,  the 
vexation  of  the  Leicestrians  was  intense.  Their  efforts 
to  effect  a  dissolution  of  the  government  had  been  ren- 
dered unsuccessful,  when  success  seemed  within  their 
grasp.  *'  Albeit  what  is  once  executed  cannot  be  pre- 
vented," said  Captain  Champemoun,  "  yet  'tis  thought 
certain  that,  if  the  resignation  of  Lord  Leicester's  com- 
mission had  been  deferred  yet  some  little  time,  the  whole 
country  and  towTis  would  have  so  revolted  and  mutinied 
against  the  government  and  authority  of  the  States,  as 
that  they  should  have  had  no  more  credit  given  them  by 
the  people  than  pleased  her  Majesty.  Most  part  of  the 
people  could  see — in  consequence  of  the  troubles,  dis- 
content, mutiny  of  garrisons,  and  the  like,  that  it  was 
most  necessary  for  the  good  success  of  their  affairs  that 
the  power  of  the  States  should  be  abolished,  and  the 
whole  government  of  his  Excellency  erected.  As  these 
Diatters  icere  husUy  working  into  the  likelihood  of  some^  good 
effect,  came  the  resignation  of  his  Excellency's  commission 
and  authority,  which  so  dashed  the  proceedings  of  it, 
as  that  all  people  and  commanders  well  affected  unto 
her  Majesty  and  my  Lord  of  Leicester  are  utterly  dis- 
couraged. The  States,  with  thfeir  adherents,  before 
they  had  my  Lord's  resignation,  were  much  perplexed 
what  course  to  take,  but  now  begin  to  hoist  their  heads." 
The  excellent  Leicestrian  entertained  hopes,  however, 
that  mutiny  and  intrigue  might  still  carry  the  day.     He 


WlUonghby  to 


10 

-  Feb.  1588. 

z8 


less  to  assure  the  unfortunate  captain, 
whose  head  I  fear  will  pay  for  all. 
(S.  P.  OfRce  MS.)  "  It  was  likewise  said  Further,  I  said  it  was  sure  that  the 
openly  to  Count  Maurice  at  his  table,'  Sir,  States-General,  the  council  of  state, 
if  the  Prince  your  father  had  been  offered  which  I  was  somewhat  acquainted  with, 
the  third  part  by  the  enemy  which  you  nor  the  two  counts  who  had  feasted  us 
have  been,  he  would  have  accepted  it ;  and  and  dnmk  the  health  of  his  Excellency, 
is  it  not  a  gootl  occasion  that  you  may    meant  but  all  well  to  us.'    *  Well,'  said 

the  old  Burgomaster,  'but  that  1  hear 
you  say  so,  1  would  scarcely  believe  it, 
for  mine  ears  have  often  borne  witness 
to  the  eontrary,"'  &c.    Willoughby  to 

^^^'"^ (S.  P.  Office  MS.3  ; 


article  what  you  will,  and  have  whatever 
you  may  demand.  S^jyssons,  a  fat  cap- 
Uin  of  Naarden,  fed  for  their  tooth,  con- 
fessed to  me  that  they  had  practised  with 
the  enemy.  Thus  you  may  see  their  dis- 
positions ;  much  ado  had  I  to  persuade 
the  burgomasters  of  the  honourable 
course  her  Mivjesty  would  hold,  and  no 


— ,  ,  1588. 

•  S  March 

«  Bor,  iii.  224.    Wageuaar,  viii.  265. 


1588.        INTRIGUES  OF  LEICESTER  AXD  HIS  PARTF.         391 

had  seen  the  fat  militiaman  of  Naarden  and  other  cap- 
tains, and  hoped  much  mischief  from  their  schemes. 
''  The  chief  mutineers  of  Gertruydenberg,"  he  said, 
*'may  be  wrought  to  send  unto  the  States,  that,  if  they 
do  not  procure  them  some  English  governor,  they  will 
compound  with  the  enemy,  whereon  the  States  shall  he 
driven  to  request  her  Majesty  to  accept  the  place,  them- 
selves entertaining  the  garrison.  I  know  certain  cap- 
tains discontented  with  the  States  for  arrears  of  pay, 
who  will  contrive  to  get  into  Naarden  with  their  companies, 
with  the  States'  consent,  who,  once  entered,  will  keep 
the  place  for  their  satisfaction,  pay  their  soldiers  out  of 
the  contributions  of  the  country,  and  yet  secretly  hold 
the  place  at  her  Majesty's  command."  * 

This  is  not  an  agreeable  picture  ;  yet  it  is  but  one  out 
of  many  examples  of  the  intrigues  by  which  Leicester 
and  his  party  were  doing  their  best  to  destroy  the 
commonwealth  of  the  Netherlands  at  a  moment  when 
its  existence  was  most  important  to  that  of  England. 

To  foment  mutiny  in  order  to  subveii;  the  authority  of 
Maurice,  was  not  a  friendly  or  honourable  course  of 
action  either  towards  Holland  or  England ;  and  it  was 
to  play  into  the  hands  of  Philip  as  adroitly  as  his  own 
stipendiaries  could  have  done.* 

With  mischief-makers  like  Champeraoun  in  every 
city,  and  with  such  diplomatists  at  Ostcnd  as  Ci'oft  and 
Rogers  and  Valentine  Dale,  was  it  wonderful  that  the 
King  and  the  Duke  of  Parma  found  time  to  mature  their 
plans  for  the  destruction  of  both  countnes  ? 

Lord  Willoughby,  too,  was  extremely  dissatisfied 
with  his  own  position.  He  received  no  commission 
from  the  Queen  for  several  months.  "When  it  at  last 
reached  him,  it  seemed  inadequate,  and  he  became  more 
sullen  than  ever.  He  declared  that  he  would  rather 
serve  the  Queen  as  a  private  soldier,  at  his  own  expense 
— "  lean  as  his  purse  was  " — than  accept  the  limited 
authority  confen-ed  on  him.  He  preferred  to  show  his 
devotion  "  in  a  beggarly  state,  than  in  a  formal  show." 

*  Arthur  Cliampemoun    to   Walsing-    Famese,  "  upon  the  disputes  between  the 

ham.  1  April,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  '"^^^^    *"**   ^^^    English,  and    among 

'*  themselves.    I  tnist  you  will  get  good 

He  commanded  an  English  company  at  fmit  from   their   quarrels  "     Philip  to 

^^'^^'^  *  Parma,  13  May,  1588.    (Arch,  de  Sim. 

2  -I  congratulate  jou,"  wrote  Philip  to  MS.) 


•<f 


\\ 


392 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


He  considered  it  beneath  her  Majesty's  dignity  that 
he  should  act  in  the  field  under  the  States,  but  his 
instnictions  forbade  his  acceptance  of  any  office  from 
that  body  but  that  of  general  in  their  serrice.  He  was 
very  discontented,  and  more  anxious  than  ever  to  be  rid 
of  his  functions.  Without  being  extremely  ambitious, 
he  was  impatient  of  control.  He  desired  not  *'  a  larger- 
shaped  coat,"  but  one  that  fitted  him  better.  "  I  wish 
to  shape  my  garment  homely,  after  my  cloth,"  he  said, 
**  that  the  better  of  my  parish  may  not  be  misled  by 
my  sumptuousness.  I  would  live  quietly,  without 
great  noise,  my  poor  roof  low  and  near  the  ground,  not 
subject  to  be  overblown  with  unlooked-for  storms,  while 
the  sun  seems  most  shining."  * 

Being  the  deadly  enemy  of  the  States  and  their 
leaders,  it  was  a  matter  of  course  that  he  should  be  bitter 
against  Maurice.  ITiat  young  Prince,  bold,  enteiprising, 
and  determined  as  he  was,  did  not  ostensibly  meddle 
with  political  affairs  more  than  became  his  years ;  but 
he  accepted  the  counsels  of  the  able  statesmen  in  whom 
his  father  had  trusted.  Hiding,  hunting,  and  hawking 
seemed  to  be  his  chief  delight  at  the  Hague,  in  the 
intervals  of  military  occupations.  He  rarely  made  his 
appearance  in  the  state-council  during  the  winter,  and 
referred  public  matters  to  the  States-General,  to  the 
States  of  Holland,  to  Barneveld,  ^Buys,  and  Hohenlo.2 
Superficial  observers  like  George  Gilpin  regarded  him 
as  a  cipher ;  others,  like  Robert  Cecil,  thought  him  an 
unmannerly  schoolboy ;  but  Willoughby,  although  con- 
sidering him  insolent  and  conceited,  could  not  deny  his 
ability.  The  peace-partisans  among  the  burghers— a 
very  small  faction— were  furious  against  him,  for  they 
knew  that  Maurice  of  Nassau  represented  war.  They 
accused  of  deep  designs  against  the  liberties  of  their 
country  the  youth  who  was  ever  ready  to  risk  his  life  in 
their  defence.  A  burgomaster  from  Friesland,  who  had 
come  across  the  Zuyder  Zee  to  intrigue  against  the  States' 
party,  was  full  of  spleen  at  being  obliged  to  dance 
attendance  for  a  long  time  at  the  Hague.  He  com- 
plained that  Count  Maurice,  green  of  years,  and  seconded 


»  Willoughby    to    Burghley. 
1688.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) . 


tS  Jan. 
a  Feb. ' 


«  Gilpin  to  Walsingham,  -  Feb.  1588. 
MS.  last  cited. 


1688.        ENMITY  OF  WILLOUGHBY  AND  MAURICE. 


393 


by  greener  counsellors,  was  meditating  the  dissolution 
of  the  state-council,  the  appointment  of  a  new  board 
from  his  own  creatures,  the  overthrow  of  all  other 
authority,  and  the  assumption  of  the  sovereignty  of 
Holland  and  Zeeland,  with  absolute  power.  "  And 
when  this  is  done,"  said  the  rueful  burgomaster,  *'  he 
and  his  turbulent  fellows  may  make  what  terms  they 
like  with  Spain,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Queen  and 
of  us  poor  wretches."  ^ 

But  there  was  nothing  farther  from  the  thoughts  of 
the  turbulent  fellows  than  any  negotiations  with  Spain. 
Maurice  was  ambitious  enough,  perhaps,  but  his  ambi- 
tion i-an  in  no  such  direction.  Willoughby  knew  better, 
and  thought  that  by  humouring  the  petulant  young  man 
it  might  be  possible  to  manage  him. 

"  Maurice  is  young,"  he  said,  '*  hot-headed,  coveting 
honour.  If  we  do  but  look  at  him  through  our  fingers, 
without  much  words,  but  with  providence  enough,* 
baiting  his  hook  a  little  to  his  appetite,  there  is  "no 
doubt  but  he  might  be  caught  and  kept  in  a  fish-pool, 
while  in  his  imagination  he  may  judge  it  a  sea.  If  not* 
'tis  likely  he  will  make  us  fish  in  troubled  waters."  2 

Maurice  was  hardly  the  fish  for  a  mill-pond  even  at 
that  epoch,  and  it  might  one  day  be  seen  whether  or  not 
he  could  float  in  the  great  ocean  of  events.  Meanwhile, 
he  swam  his  course  without  superfluous  gambols  or 
spoutings. 

ITie  commander  of  her  Majesty's  forces  was  not  satis- 
fied with  the  States,  nor  their  generals,  nor  their  poli- 
ticians. "  Affairs  are  going  a  malo  in  pejus"  he  said. 
"  They  embrace  their  liberty  as  apes  their  young.  To 
this  end  are  Counts  Hollock  and  Maurice  set  upon  the 
stage  to  entertain  the  pepular  sort.  Her  Majesty  and 
my  Lord  of  Leicester  are  not  forgotten.  The  Counts  are 
in  Holland,  especially  Hollock,  for  the  other  is  but  the 
cipher.  And  yet  I  can  assure  you  Maurice  hath  wit  and 
spirit  too  much  for  his  time."  * 

As  the  troubles  of  the  interregnum  increased  Wil- 
loughby was  more  dissatisfied  than  ever  with  the 
miserable  condition  of  the  Provinces,  but  chose  to  ascribe 


•  Willoughby   to  Burghley. 
1688.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


IS 


i« 


«  Ibid. 


Jan.^      s  Same  to  same,  -  Jan.  1588.     MS. 


last  cited. 


m 


* 


4 


if 


394 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII, 


it  to  the  machinations  of  tlie  States'  party,  mther  than  to 
the  ambiguous  conduct  of  Leicester.  *'  These  evils,"  he 
said,  "  are  especially  derived  from  the  childish  ambition 
of  the  young  Count  Maurice,  from  the  covetous  and 
furious  counsels  of  the  proud  Hollanders,  now  chief  of 
the  States-General,  and,  if  with  pardon  it  may  be  said, 
from  our  slackness  and  coldness  to  entertain  our  friends. 
The  provident  and  wiser  sort— weighing  what  a  slender 
ground  tlie  appetite  of  a  young  man  is,  unfurnished  with 
the  sinews  of  war  to  manage  so  great  a  cause— for  a 
good  space  after  my  Lord  of  Leicester's  dejiarture, 
gave  him  far  looking  on,  to  see  him  play  his  part  on  the 

stage."  ^ 

Willoughby's  spleen  caused  him  to  mix  his  metaphors 
more  recklessly  than  strict  taste  would  wanant,  but  his 
violent  expressions  painted  the  relative  situation  of 
parties  more  vividly  than  could  be  done  by  a  calm  dis- 
quisition. Maurice  thus  playing  his  part  upon  the 
stage — as  the  general  proceeded  to  observe — "was  a 
skittish  horse,  becoming  by  little  and  little  assured  of 
what  he  had  feared,  and  perceiving  the  harmlessness 
thereof;  while  his  companions,  finding  no  safety  of 
neutrality  in  so  gi'eat  practices,  and  no  overturning  nor 
barricado  to  stop  his  rash  wilded  chariot,  followed 
without  fear ;  and  when  some  of  the  first  had  passed  the 
bog,  the  rest,  as  the  fashicm  is,  never  started  after.  The 
variable  democracy,  embracing  novelty ,  began  to  applaud 
their  prosperity  ;  the  base  and  lewdest  sorts  of  men,  to 
whom  there  is  nothing  more  agreeable  than  change  of 
estates,  as  a  better  monture  to  degrees  than  their  merit, 
took  present  hold  thereof.  Hereby  Paul  Buys,  Baiiie- 
veld,  and  divers  others,  who  were  before  mantled  vnth 
a  tolerable  affection,  though  sQp,soned  with  a  poisoned 
intention,  caught  the  occasion,  and  made  themselves  the 
r>eelzebubs  of  all  these  mischiefs,  and,  for  want  of  better 
angels,  spared  not  to  let  fly  our  golden-winged  ones  in 
the  name  of  guilders,  to  prepare  the  hearts  and  hands 
that  hold  money  more  dearer  than  honesty,  of  which 
sort,  the  country  troubles  and  the  Spanish  practices 
having  suckled  up  many,  they  found  enough  to  serv^e 
their  purpose.     As  the  breach  is  safely  saltable  where 

19  Feb 

»  WiUoughby  to  Walslngham,    ^  ^^^  ,1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1588.    HATRED  BETWEEN  STATES  AND  LEICESTRIANS.     395 

no  defence  is  made,  so  they,  finding  no  head,  but  those 
scattered  arms  that  were  disavowed,  drew  the  sword 
with  I  eter,  and  gave  pardon  with  the  Pope,  as  you  shall 
plainly  perceive  by  the  proceedings  at  Horn.  Thus 
their  force,  fair  words,  or  corruption,  prevailinc^  every- 
where, it  grew  to  this  conclusion— that  the  worst  were 
encouraged  with  their  good  success,  and  the  best  sort 
assured  of  no  fortune  or  favour."  * 

Out  of  all  this  hubbub  of  stage-actors,  skittish  horses 
rash  wilded  chariots,  bogs,  Beelzebubs,  and  golden- 
wmged  angels,  one  truth  was  distinctly  audible  •  that 
Beelzebub,  m  the  shape  of  Bameveld,  had  been  gettino- 
the  upper  hand  in  the  Netherlands,  and  that  the  Lei^ 
cestrians  were  at  a  disadvantage.  In  tnith  those  par- 
tisans were  becoming  extremely  impatient.  Findino. 
themselves  deserted  by  their  great  protector,  they 
naturally  turned  their  eyes  towards  Spain,  and  were 
now  threaten  mg  to  sell  themselves  to  Philip.  The  Earl 
at  his  departure,  had  given  them  privately  much  encou- 
ragement. But  month  after  month  had  passed  by  while 
they  were  waiting  in  vain  for  comfort.     At  last   the 

r  ?f*i'r"*¥*  ^"^  *^  ^^^^'  *^^  unhappy  Leicestrians— came 
to  VV  illoughby,  asking  his  advice  in  their  "  declinino- 
and  despeiate  cause."  ° 

''  Well  nigh  a  month  longer,"  said  that  general,  "  I 
nourished  them  with  compliments,  and  assured   them 
that  my  Lord  of  Leicester  would  take  care  of  them."  2 
Ihe  diet  was  not  fattening.     So  they  began  to  grumble 
more   loudly   than   ever,    and    complained   with  great 
bitterness  of  the  miserable  condition  in  which  they  had' 
been  left  by  the  Earl,  and  expressed  their  fears  lest  the. 
Queen  likewise  meant  to  abandon  them.    They  protested' 
that  their  poverty,  their  powerful  foes,  and  their  slow' 
tnends,  would  compel  them  either  to  make  their  peace 
with  the  States'  party,  or  "  compound  with  the  enemy." 
^  It  would  have  seemed  that  real  patriots,  under  such 
circumstances,  would  hardly  hesitate   in  their  choice, 
and  would  sooner  accept  the  dominion  of  "  Beelzebub  " 
or  even  Paul  Buys,  than  that  of  i'hilip  II.     But  the 
Leicestrians  of  Utrecht  and  Friesland— patriots  as  they 
were— hated  Holland  worse  than  they  hated  the  Inqui- 
sition.     Willoughby  encouraged  them  in  that  hatred. 


i  I 
1 


'ii 


)ughby  .„_..c.^, 
»  Willoughby  to  Walsingham,  MS.  last  cited. 


"  Ibid. 


396 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


He  assured  them  of  her  Majesty's  affection  for  them, 
complained  of  the  factious  proceedings  of  the  States,  and 
alluded  to  the  unfavourable  state  of  the  weather,  as  a 
reason  why — near  four  months  long — they  had  not 
received  the  comfort  out  of  England  which  they  had  a 
right  to  expect.  He  assured  them  that  neither  the 
Queen  nor  Leicester,  would  conclude  this  honourable 
action,  wherein  much  had  been  hazarded,  '*  so  rawly  and 
tragically  "  as  they  seemed  to  fear,  and  warned  them, 
that,  "  if  they  did  join  with  Holland,  it  would  neither 
ease  nor  help  them,  but  draw  them  into  a  more  dis- 
honourable loss  of  their  liberties  ;  and  that,  after  having 
wound  them  in,  the  Hollanders  would  make  their  own 
peace  with  the  enemy."  * 

It  seemed  somewhat  unfair — while  the  Queen's 
government  was  straining  every  nerve  to  obtain  a  peace 
from  Philip,  and  while  the  Hollanders  were  obstinately 
deaf  to  any  propositions  for  treating— that  Willoughby 
should  accuse  them  of  secret  intentions  to  negotiate. 
But  it  must  be  confessed  that  faction  has  rarely  worn  a 
more  mischievous  aspect  than  was  presented  by  the 
politics  of  Holland  and  England  in  the  winter  and 
spring  of  1588. 

Young  Maurice  was  placed  in  a  very  painfid  position. 
He  liked  not  to  be  '*  strangled  in  the  gi'eat  Queen's 
embrace  ;"  but  he  felt  most  keenly  the  necessity  of  her 
friendship,  and  the  importance  to  both  countries  of  a 
close  alliance.  It  was  impossible  for  him,  however,  to 
tolerate  the  rebellion  of  Sonoy,  althi^ugh  Sonoy  was 
encouraged  by  Elizabeth,  or  to  fly  in  the  face  of  Bame- 
veld,  although  Bameveld  was  detested  by  Leicester. 
So  with  much  firmness  and  courtesy,  notwithstanding 
the  extravagant  pictures  painted  by  AVilloughby,  ho 
suppressed  mutiny  in  Holland,  while  avowing  the  most 
chivalrous  attachment  to  the  sovereign  of  England. 

Her  Majesty  expressed  her  surprise  and  her  discon- 
tent, that,  notwithstanding  his  expressions  of  devotion 
to  herself,  he  should  thus  deal  with  Sonoy,  whose  only 
crime  was  an  equal  devotion.  "  If  you  do  not  behave 
with  more  moderation  in  future,"  she  said,  "  you  may 
believe  that  we  are  not  a  princess  of  so  little  courage  as 
not  to  know  how  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  those  who 

1  Willougbby  to  WaUingbam,  MS.  last  cited. 


lo88.    MAURICE'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  QUEEN'S  CHARGES.    397 

are  unjustly  oppressed.  We  should  be  sorry  if  we  had 
cause  to  be  disgusted  with  your  actions,  and  if  we  were 
compelled  to  make  you  a  stranger  to  the  ancient  good 
affection  which  we  bore  to  your  late  father,  and  have 
continued  towards  yourself."  ^ 

But  Maurice  maintained  a  dignified  attitude,  worthy 
of  his  great  father's  name.  He  was  not  the  man  to 
crouch  like  Leicester,  when  he  could  no  longer  refresh 
himself  in  the  *'  shadow  of  the  Queen's  golden  beams," 
important  as  he  knew  her  friendship  to  be  to  himself 
and  his  country.  So  he  defended  himself  in  a  manly 
letter  to  the  privy  council  against  the  censures  of 
Elizabeth.*  He  avowed  his  displeasure,  that,  within 
his  own  jurisdiction,  Sonoy  should  give  a  special  oath  of 
obedience  to  Leicester;  a  thing  never  done  before  in 
the  country,  and  entirely  illegal.  It  would  not  even  be 
tolerated  in  England,  he  said,  if  a  private  gentleman 
should  receive  a  military  appointment  in  Warwickshire 
or  Norfolk  without  the  knowledge  of  the  lord-lieutenant 
of  the  shire.  He  had  treated  the  contumacious  Sonoy 
with  mildness  during  a  long  period,  but  without  effect. 
He  had  abstained  from  violence  towards  him,  out  of 
reverence  to  the  Queen,  under  whose  sacred  name  he 
fc'heltered  himself  Sonoy  had  not  desisted,  but  had 
established  himself  in  organized  rebellion  at  Medenblik, 
declaring  that  he  would  drown  the  whole  country,  and 
levy  black-mail  upon  its  whole  property,  if  he  were  not 
paid  one  hundred  thousand  crowns.  He  had  declared 
that  he  would  crush  Holland  like  a  glass  beneath  his  feet. 
Having  nothing  but  religion  in  his  mouth,  and  pro- 
tecting himself  with  the  Queen's  name,  he  had  been 
exciting  all  the  cities  of  North  Holland  to  rebellion, 
and  bringing  the  poor  people  to  destruction.  He  had 
been  offered  money  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  avaricious 
soldier  in  the  world,  but  he  stood  out  for  six  years'  full 
pay  for  his  soldiers,  a  demand  with  which  it  was  im- 
possible to  comply.  It  was  necessary  to  prevent  him 
from  inundating  the  land  and  destroying  the  estates  of 
the  country  gentlemen  and  the  peasants.  *'  This,  gen- 
tlemen," said  Maurice,   *'  is  the  plain  truth ;  nor  do  I 


ri 


'  Maurice  of  Nassau  to  Privy  Coimcil, 


»  Queen  to  Maurice  of  Nassau,  4  Fub. 
1588.    (S,  P.  Office  MS.)  Ti  ^^''^^'^^^'  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  M&) 


398 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVni. 


M 


believe  that  j^ou  will  sustain  against  me  a  man  who  was 
under  such  vast  obligations  to  my  late  father,  and  who 
requites  his  debt  by  daring  to  speak  of  myself  as  a 
rascal;  or  that  you  will  countenance  his  rebellion 
against  a  country  to  which  he  brought  only  his  cloak 
and  sword,  and  whence  he  has  filched  one  hundred 
thousand  crowns.  You  will  not,  I  am  sure,  permit  a 
simple  captain,  by  his  insubordination,  to  cause  so  much 
mischief,  and  to  set  on  fire  this  and  other  Provinces. 

"If,  by  your  advice,"  continued  the  Count,  *'the 
Queen  should  appoint  fitting  personages  to  office  here — 
men  who  know  what  honour  is,  bom  of  illustrious  and 
noble  race,  or  who  by  their  gi-eat  virtue  have  been 
elevated  to  the  honours  of  the  kingdom — to  them  I  will 
render  an  account  of  my  actions.  And  it  shall  appear 
that  I  have  more  ability  and  more  desire  to  do  my  duty 
to  her  Majesty  than  those  who  render  her  lip-service 
only,  and  only  make  use  of  her  sacred  name  to  fill  their 
purses,  while  I  and  mine  have  been  ever  ready  to  employ 
our  lives,  and  what  remains  of  our  fortunes,  in  the  cause 
of  God,  her  Majesty,  and  our  country."  ^ 

Certainly  no  man  had  a  better  right  to  speak  with 
consciousness  of  the  worth  of  race  than  the  son  of 
William  the  Silent,  the  nephew  of  Lewis,  Adolphus, 
and  Henry  of  Nassau,  who  had  all  laid  down  their  lives 
for  the  liberty  of  their  countr3\  But  Elizabeth  continued 
to  threaten  the  States-General,  through  the  mouth  of 
AVilloughby,  with  the  loss  of  her  protection,  if  they 
should  continue  thus  to  requite  her  favours  with  ingra- 
titude and  insubordination  :  *  and  Maurice  once  more 
respectfully  but  firmly  replied  that  Sonoy's  rebellion 
could  not  and  would  not  be  tolerated  ;  appealing  boldly 
to  her  sense  of  justice,  which  was  the  noblest  attribute 
of  kings." 

At  last  the  Queen  informed  Willoughby,  that— as  the 
cause  of  Sonoy's  course  seemed  to  be  his  oath  of 
obedience  to  Leicester,  whose  resignation  of  office  had 
not  yet  been  received  in  tlie  Netherlands — she  had  now 
ordered  Councillor  Killigrew  to  communicate  the  fact  of 

1  Maurice  of  Nassau  to  Privy  Council,    1588.    MS.  last  cited. 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.)  3  Maurice  of  Nassau  to  Queen  Eliza- 

»  Queen    to    Willoughby,   ^  Marcb,    b^^^.  1»  i»«rcli.  15ti3.    (S.  P.  Office,  MS.) 


r 


1588. 


END  OF  SONOY'S  REBELLION. 


399 


that  resignation.  She  also  wrote  to  Sonoy,  requiring 
him  to  obey  the  States  and  Count  Maurice,  and  to  accept 
a  fresh  commission  from  them,  or  at  least  to  suiTcnder 
Medenblik,  and  to  fulfil  all  their  orders  wdth  zeal  and 
docility.^ 

This  act  of  abdication  by  Leicester,  which  had  been 
received  on  the  22nd  of  January  by  the  English  envoy, 
Herbert,  at  the  moment  of  his  departure  from  the 
Netherlands,  had  been  carried  back  by  him  to  England, 
on  the  ground  that  its  communication  to  the  States  at 
that  moment  would  cause  him  inconveniently  to  postpom 
his  journey.  It  never  officially  reached  the  States-General 
until  the  31st  of  March,  so  that  this  most  dangerous 
crisis  was  protracted  nearly  five  months  long — certainly 
without  necessity  or  excuse — and  whether  through 
design,  malice,  wantonness,  or  incomprehensible  care- 
lessness, it  is  difficult  to  say.* 

So  soon  as  the  news  reached  Sonoy,  that  contumacious 
chieftain  found  his  position  untenable,  and  ho  allowed 
the  States'  troops  to  take  possession  of  Medenblik,  and 
with  it  the  impoi*tant  territory  of  North  Holland,  of 
which  province  Maurice  now  saw  himself  undisputed 
governor.  Sonoy  was  in  the  course  of  the  summer 
deprived  of  all  office,  and  betook  himself  to  England. 
Here  he  was  kindly  received  by  the  Queen,  who  be- 
stowed upon  him  a  ruined  tower,  and  a  swamp  among 
the  fens  of  Lincolnshire.  He  brought  over  some  of  his 
countrymen  well-skilled  in'  such  operations,  sot  himself 
to  draining  and  dyking,  and  hoped  to  find  himself  at 
home  and  comfortable  in  his  ruined  tower.  But  unfor- 
tunately, as  neither  he  nor  his  wife,  notwithstanding 
their  English  proclivities,  could  speak  a  w^ord  of  tho 
language,  they  found  their  social  enjoyments  very 
limited.  Moreover,  as  his  workpeople  w^ere  equally 
without  the  power  of  making  their  wants  understood, 
the  dyking  operations  made  but  little  progress.     So  tho 


1  Queen     to   Willoughby,  -  March, 

1588.    Queen   to  Sonoy,  -  April,  1588. 

(S.  P.  Office  MSS.) 

2  Bor,  lii.  xxlv.  179  «eq,233se7.  Van 
der  Kemp,  i.  62.     Wagmaar,  viii.  270.- 
Kesol.  UuU.  1  April,  1588. 


This  business  of  Col.  Diedrich  Sonoy 
occupies  an  enormous*  simce  in  the 
archives  and  chronicles  of  the  day.  It 
has  been  here  reduced  to  the  smallest 
compass  consistent  with  a  purpose  of  pre- 
senting an  intelligible  account  of  the 
politics  of  Leicester's  administration  and 
iU>  conaeiiucuces.      


i 


400 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


unlucky  colonel  soon  abandoned  his  swamp,  and  retired 
to  East  Friesland,  where  he  lived  a  morose  and  melan- 
choly life  on  a  pension  of  one  thousand  florins,  granted 
him  by  the  States  of  Holland,  until  the  year  1597,  when 
he  lost  his  mind,  fell  into  the  fire,  and  thus  perished.' 

And  thus,  in  the  Netherlands,  through  hollow  nego- 
tiations between  enemies  and  ill-timed  bickerings  among 
friends,  the  path  of  Philip  and  Parma  had  been  made 
comparatively  smooth  during  the  spring  and  early  sum- 
mer of  1588.  What  was  the  aspect  of  affaire  in  Ger- 
many and  France  ? 

The  adroit  capture  of  Bonn  by  Martin  Schenk  had 
given  much  trouble.     Parma  was  obliged  to  detach  a 
strong  force,   under  Prince   Chimay,*  to   attempt  the 
recovery  of  that  important  place,  which — so  long  as  it 
remained   in  the  power  of  the   States— rendered  the 
whole  electorate  insecure  and  a  source  of  danger  to  the 
Spanish  party.     Faraese  endeavoured  in  vain  to  win 
back  the  famous  partizan  by  most  liberal  offers,  for  he 
felt  bitterly  the  mistake  he  had  made  in  alienating  so 
formidable   a  freebooter.      But  the   truculent  Martin 
remained  obdurate  and  irascible.    Philip,  much  offended 
that  the  news  of  his  decease  had  proved  false,  ordered 
rather  than  requested  the  Emperor  Kudolph  to  have  a 
care  that  nothing  was  done   in  Germany  to  interfere 
with  the  great  design  upon  England."     The  King  gave 
warning  that  he  would  suffer  no  disturbance  from  that 
quarter,  but  certainly  the  lethargic  condition  of  Ger- 
many rendered  such  threats  supei-fluous.     There  were 
riders  enough,  and  musketeers  enough,  to  be  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder.     German  food  for  powder  was  offered 
largely  in  the  market  to  any  foreign  consumer,  for  the 
trade  in  their  subjects'  lives  was  ever  a  prolific  source 
of  revenue  to  the   petty  sovereigns — numerous  as  the 
days   of    the    year  —  who    owned    Germany   and    the 

Germans. 

The  mercenaries  who  had  so  recently  been  making 
their  inglorious  campaign  in  Franco  had  been  excluded 
from  that  country  at  the  close  of  1587,  and  furious  were 
the  denunciations  of  the  pulpits  and  the  populace  of 

1  Biir,  Hi.  290.  ^  Philip  II.  to  Parma,  24  April,  1588. 

a  Parma  to  Philip  II.  31  Jau.  1588,    (MS.  last  cited.) 
(Arcli.  de  Sim.  MS.) 


1588.     PHILIP  FOMENTS  THE  CIVIL  WAR  IN  FRANCE.      401 

Paris  that  the  foreign  brigands  who  had  been  devas- 
tating the  soil  of  France,  and  attempting  to  oppose  the 
decrees  of  the  Holy  Father  of  Kome,  should  have  made 
their  escape  so  easily.  Rabid  Lincestre  and  other  priests 
and  monks  foamed  with  rage,  as  they  execrated  and 
anathematized  the  devil-wonshipper  Heniy  of  Valois 
ill  all  the  churches  of  that  monarch's  capital  The 
Spanish  ducats  were  flying  about,  more  profusely  than 
ever  among  the  butchers  and  porters,  and  fishwomen 
of  the  great  city ;  and  Madam  League  paraded  herself 
m  the  daylight  with  still  increasing  insolence.  There 
was  scarcely  a  pretence  at  recognition  of  any  authority 
save  that  of  Philip  and  Sixtus.  France  had  become 
a  wilderness -an  uncultivated,  barbarous  province  of 
Spam.  Mucio-Guise  had  been  secretly  to  Rome  had 
held  interviews  with  the  Pope  and  cardinals,  and  had 
come  back  with  a  sword  presented  by  his  Holiness,  its 
hilt  adorned  with  jewels,  and  its  blade  engraved  with 
tongues  of  fire.^  And  with  this  flaming  sword  the 
avenging  messenger  of  the  Holy  Father  was  to  smite 
the  wicked,  and  to  drive  them  into  outer  darkness. 

And  there  had  been  fresh  conferences  among  the 
chiefs  of  the  sacred  League  within  the  Lorraine  terri- 
tory, and  it  was  resolved  to  require  of  the  Valois  an 
immediate  extermination  of  heresy  and  heretics  throuo-h- 
out  the  kingdom,  the  publication  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
and  the  formal  establishment  of  the  Holy  Inquisitioil 
in  every  province  of  France.  Thus,  while  doing  his 
Spanish  master's  bidding,  the  great  lieutenant  of  the 
League  might,  if  he  was  adroit  enough  to  outwit  Philip 
ultimately  carve  out  a  throne  for  himself. 

Yet  Philip  felt  occasional  pangs  of  uneasiness  lest 
there  should,  after  all,  be  peace  in  France,  and  lest  his 
schemes  against  Holland  and  England  might  be  inter- 
fered with  from  that  quarter.  Even  Farnese,  nearer 
the  scene,  could  not  feel  completely  secure  that  a  sud- 
den reconciliation  among  contending  factions  might  not 
give  rise  to  a  dangerous  inroad  across  the  Flemish 
border.  So  Guise  was  plied  more  vigorously  than  ever 
by  the  Duke  with  advice  and  encouragement,  and 
assisted   with   such  \^alloon   carabineers  as   could  be 


14 


■J 


VOL.  II. 


L'Egloile,  236. 


2   D 


402 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVju. 


spared,*  while  large  subsidies  and  larger  promises  came 
from  Philip,*  whose  prudent  policy  was  never  to  pay 
excessive  sums,  until  the  work  contracted  for  was  dune. 
•'  Mucio  must  do  the  job  long  since  agreed  upon,"  said 
Philip  to  Famesc,  '*  and  you  and  Menduza  must  see 
that  he  prevents  the  King  of  France  from  troubling  me 
in  my  enterprise  against  England.""  If  the  unlucky 
Henry  III.  had  retained  one  spark  of  intelligence,  he 
would  have  seen  that  his  only  chance  of  rescue  lay  in 
the  arm  of  the  Beamese,  and  in  an  honest  alliance  with 
England.  Yet  so  strong  was  his  love  for  the  monks, 
who  were  daily  raving  against  him,  that  he  was  willing 
to  commit  any  baseness  in  order  to  win  back  their 
affection.  He  was  ready  to  exterminate  heresy  and  to 
establish  the  Inquisition,  but  he  was  incapable  of  taking 
energetic  measures  of  any  kind,  even  when  throne  and 
life  were  in  imminent  peril.  Moreover,  he  clung  to 
Epernon  and  the  '^ polifirfues"  in  whose  swords  he  alone 
found  protection,  and  he  knew  that  Epemon  and  the 
politiques  were  the  objects  of  horror  to  Paris  and  to 
the  League.  At  the  same  time  he  looked  imploringly 
towards  England  and  towards  the  great  Huguenot 
chieftain,  Elizabeth's  knight-errant.  He  had  a  secret 
interview  with  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  in  the  garden  of 
the  Beruardine  convent,  and  importuned  that  envoy  to 
implore  the  Queen  to  break  off  her  negotiations  with 
Philip,  and  even  dared  to  offer  the  English  ambassador 
a  large  reward,  if  such  a  result  could  be   obtained. 


*  Herrara,  III.  lii.  72.  2000  infantry 
and  inoo  hurse. 

»  Philip  to  Purma,  27  Nov.  1587.  Same 
to  same,  29  Jan.  1588.  (Arch,  de  Sim. 
MSS.) 

3  Philip  to  Parma,  24  April,  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  Philip  II.  to  Men- 
doza,  1(5  Ffb.  1588.  (Arch,  de  Sim. 
[Paris],  MS.) 

"  A  Mucio  anlmad  y  aconsejad  como 

Boleys,  lo  que  so  cuniple y   le 

pncurad  hazer  tin)."  Philip  II. to  Men- 
d07a,  2  June.  1588.  (Arch,  de  Simancas. 
[Paris],  MS.) 

The  KiniE  was,  however,  perpetually 
warning  Guise  not  to  allow  hiniiielf  or 
l.ls  coiifedcratfs  "  to  brag  openly  of  the 
ns^istance  whiclj  they  were  receiving 
from  Spain,  k-tit  the  ministers  of  Henry 


should  thivk  Philip  partial ;  hut  in 
reality  not  to  waver  a  hair's  breadth  in 
his  determination,  relying  upon  the 
Spanish  King  and  on  tlie  Hiikeof  Parma," 
kc.  Philip  11.  to  Mendoza,  16  July, 
1588.     (Arch,  de  Sim.  [Paris],  MS. 

"  The  public  report  that  we  are  assist- 
ing Guise,"  said  the  King  a  year  before, 
*'ls  very  inconvenient,  and  must  b<?  sup- 
pressed. ,  .  .  My  nephew,  ilie  Duke  of 
Parma,  has  assured  Guise  that  he  will 
assist  him,  and  Guise  ought  to  be  grateful. 
At  the  same  time  Longl^e  has  been  tell- 
ing me  that  his  King  desired  to  join  me 
against  Kngland.  All  this  was  to  de- 
ceive, and  I  have  answered  all  with 
equal  deception,"  &c.  Philip  II.  in 
Mendoza,  6  July,  1587.   MS. 


1588.    LEAGUE'S  THREATS  AND  PLOTS  AGAINST  HENRY.    403 


Stafford  was  also  earnestly  requested  to  beseech  tlie 
Queen's  influence  with  Henry  of  Navarre,  that  he  should 
convert  himself  to  Catholicism,  and  thus  destroy  the 
League. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  magniloquent  Mendoza,  who 
was  fond  of  describing  himself  as  *'  so  violent  and 
terrible  to  the  French  that  they  wished  to  be  rid  of 
him,"'  had— as  usual— been  frightening  the  poor  King, 
who,  after  a  futile  attempt  at  dignity,  had  shrunk 
before  the  bhisterings  of  the  ambassador.  '*  This  King," 
said  Don  Bernardino,  "  thought  that  he  could  impose 
upon  me  and  silence  me,  by  talking  loud,  but,  as  I 
didn't  talk  softly  to  him,  he  has  undeceived  himself.  .  .  . 
I  have  had  another  interview  with  him,  and  found  him 
softer  than  silk,  and  he  made  me  many  caresses,  and 
after  I  went  out  he  said  that  I  was  a  very  skilful 
minister."* 

It  was  the  purpose  of  the  League  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  King's  person,  and,  if  necessary,  to  dispose  of  the 
politiques  by  a  general  massacre,  such  as  sixteen  years 
before  had  been  so  successful  in  the  case  of  Coligny  and 
the  Huguenots.  So  the  populace— more  rabid  ^  than 
ever—were  impatient  that  their  adored  Balafre  should 
come  to  Paris  and  begin  the  holy  work. 

He  came  as  far  as  Gonesse'to  do  the  job  he  had 
promised  to  Thilip,  but  having  heard  that  Henry  had 
reinforced  himself  with  four  thousand  Swiss  from  tlie 
garrison  of  Lagny,  he  fell  back  to  Soissons.  The  King 
sent  him  a  most  abject  message,  imploring  him  not  to 
expose  his  sovereign  to  so  much  danger,  by  setting  his 
foot  at  that  moment  in  the  capital.  The  l^alafre  hesi- 
tated, but  the  populace  raved  and  roared  for  its  darling. 
The  Queen-Mother  urged  her  unhappy  son  to  yield  his 
consent,  and  the  I\Iontpensier— fatal  sister  of  Guise, 
with  the  famous  scissors  ever  at  her  girdle ' — insisted 


-  *'  El  serlo  fyo  tan  terible,  violente, 
y  sedigioso,  que  impido  no  se  estreche 
este  rey  muy  de  veras  con  V.  M;yd  lo 
qual  se  herla  si  faltasse  yo  dest^puesto." 
Minduza  to  Philip  II.,  30  Jan.  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  [Paris],  MS.) 

*  "  Efite  rey  creyo  que  me  espantara 
hizlera  callar  con  hallar  me  alto,  y  con  el 
no  respondalle  yo baxo,  se  ha  desengafiado." 
Ha  teuido  despues  audiencla,  y  halle  lo 


mas  blando  que  una  seda,  y  me  hizo 
muchas  caricias  que  yo  le  reconoii  con 
las  palabras  devidas,  y  despues  del  s;!lir 
de  hablalle,  entlendo  que  dixo  que  yo  era 
un  ministro  bien  avise,"  kc.  Don  B.  <le 
Mendoza  to  Don  Juan  de  Idiaquez,  5 
April,  15!«8.  (Arch,  de  Sim.  [Pails], 
MS.) 
3  L'EstolIe,  244. 

2   D   2 


III 

I  ii 


'•    I 


U 


i 


i 


404 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


1588. 


MUCIO  ARRIVES  IN  PARIS. 


405 


that  her  brother  had  as  good  a  right  as  any  man  to  come 
to  the  city.  Meantime  the  great  chief  of  the  politiques, 
the  hated  and  insolent  Epemon,  had  been  appointed 
governor  of  Normandy,  and  Henry  had  accompanied  his 
beloved  minion  a  part  of  the  way  towards  Konen.  A 
plot  contrived  by  the  Montpensier  to  waylay  the 
monarch  on  his  return,  and  to  take  him  into  the  safe- 
keeping of  the  League,  miscarried,  for  the  King  re- 
entered the  city  before  the  scheme  was  ripe.  On  the 
other  hand,  Nicholas  Toulain,  bought  for  twenty  thou- 
sand crowns  by  the  politiques,  gave  the  King  and  his 
advisers  full  information  of  all  these  intrigues,  and, 
standing  in  Henry's  cabinet,  oftered,  at  peril  of  his  life, 
if  he  might  be  confronted  with  the  conspirators — the 
leaders  of  the  League  within  the  city — to  prove  the 
truth  of  the  charges  which  he  had  made/ 

For  the  whole  city  was  now  thoroughly  organized. 
The  number  of  its  districts  had  been  reduced  from 
sixteen  to  five,  the  better  to  bring  it  under  the  control 
of  the  Leaguers ;  and,  while  it  could  not  be  denied  that 
Mucio  had  been  doing  his  master's  work  very  thoroughly, 
yet  it  was  still  in  the  power  of  the  King — through  the 
treachery  of  Poulain — to  strike  a  blow  for  life  and  free- 
dom, before  he  was  quite  taken  in  the  trap.  But  he 
stood  helpless,  paralyzed,  gazing  in  dreamy  stupor — 
like  one  fascinated — at  the  destruction  awaiting  him. 

At  last,  one  memorable   May   morning,   a   traveller 
alighted  outside  the  gate  of  Saint  Maitin,  and  proceeded 
on  foot  through  the  streets  of  Paris.     He  was 
^^'niJs!^^'  wrapped  in  a  large  cloak,  which  he  held  care- 
fully over  his  face.     When  he  had  got  as  far  as 
the  street  of  Saint  Denis,  a  young  gentleman  among  the 
pjissers-by,  a  good  Leaguer,  accosted  the  stranger,  and, 
with  coarse  pleasantry,  plucked  the  cloak  from  his  face, 
and  the  hat  from  his  head.     Looking  at  the  handsome, 
swarthy  features,   marked   with  a  deep  scar,  and  the 
dark,  dangerous  eyes  which  were   then   revealed,   the 
practical  jester  at  once  recognized  in  the  simple  tra- 
veller the  terrible  Balafre,  and  kissed  the  hem  of  his 
gannents  with  submissive  rapture.      Shouts  of  "  Vive 
Guise !  "  rent  the  air  from  all  the  bystanders,  as  the 

»  T>eThou,  X.  1.  S9,  p.  251  $eq.  Hcrrera.    Poulain,  kc,  320-332.    Apnd  L'Estoile, 
ii.  118  seq.    'Proces  verbal '  de  Nicolas    lieglstre  Journal  de  Henry  ill. 


Duke,  no  longer  affecting  concealment,  proceeded  with 
slow  and  stately  step  toward  the  residence  of  Catharine 
de'  Medici.'  That  queen  of  compromises  and  of  magic 
had  been  holding  many  a  conference  with  the  leaders 
of  both  parties ;  had  been  increasing  her  son's  stupe- 
faction by  her  enigmatical  counsels ;  had  been  anxiously 
consulting  her  talisman  of  goat's  and  human  blood, 
mixed  with  metals  melted  under  the  influence  of  the 
star  of  her  nativity,  and  had  been  daily  visiting  the 
wizard  Ruggieri,  in  whose  magic  circle— peopled^'with 
a  thousand  fantastic  heads— she  had  held  high  converse 
with  the  world  of  spirits,  and  derived  much  sound 
advice  as  to  the  true  course  of  action  to  be  pursued  be- 
tween her  son  and  Philip,  and  between  the  politicians 
and  the  League.  But,  in  spite  of  these  various  sources 
of  instruction,  Catharine  was  somewhat  perplexed,  now 
that  decisive  action  seemed  necessary— a  dethronement 
and  a  new  massacre  impending,  and  judicious  compro- 
mise difficult.  So,  after  a  hurried  conversation  with 
Mucio,  who  insisted  on  an  interview  with  the  King,  she 
set  forth  for  the  Louvre,  the  Duke  lounging  calmly  by 
the  side  of  her  sedan-chair,  on  foot,  receiving  the  homage 
of  the  populace,  as  men,  women,  and  children  together, 
they  swanned  around  him  as  he  walked,  kissing  his 
gannents,  and  rending  the  air  with  their  shouts.*  For 
that  wolfish  mob  of  Paris,  which  had  once  lapped  the 
blood  of  ten  thousand  Huguenots  in  a  single  night,  and 
was  again  i-abid  with  thirst,  was  most  docile  and  fawn- 
ing to  the  great  Balafre.  It  grovelled  before  him,  it 
hung  upon  his  look,  it  licked  his  hand,  and,  at  the 
lifting  of  his  finger,  or  the  glance  of  his  eye,  would 
have  sprung  at  the  throat  of  King  or  Queen-Mother, 
minister,  or  minion,  and  devoured  them  all  before  his 
eyes.  It  was  longing  for  the  sign ;  for  much  as  Paris 
adored  and  was  besotted  with  Guise  and  the  League, 
even  more,  if  possible,  did  it  hate  those  godless  poli- 
ticians, who  had  grown  fat  on  extortions  from  the  poor, 
and  who  had  converted  their  substance  into  the  daily 
bread  of  luxury. 

Nevertheless  the  city  was  full  of  armed  men,  Swiss 

»  L'Eatoile,  250.    De  Thou,  uhi  svp.    Beforme,'  &c.,  iv.  378. 
•Recit  du    Bourgeois    de   ParLV    MS.       »  De  Thou,  L'Estoile,  ttW  ««,.  , 
Dupuys,  cited  by  Capeflgue,  •  Hiit.  de  U 


406 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVHI. 


and  German  mercenaries,  and  burgher  guards,  sworn  to 
fidelity  to  the  throne.  The  place  might  have  been  swept 
clean,  at  that  moment,  of  rebels  who  were  not  yet  armed 
or  fortified  in  their  positions.  The  Lord  had  delivered 
Guise  into  Henry's  hands.  **  Oh,  the  madman  !"  cried 
Sixtus  v.,  when  he  heard  that  the  Duke  had  gone  to 
Paris,  **thus  to  put  himself  into  the  clutches  of  the 
King  whom  he  had  so  deeply  offended!"  And,  "Oh, 
the  wretched  coward,  the  imbecile  !  "  ho  added,  when  he 
heard  how  the  King  had  dealt  with  his  great  enemy.* 

For  the  monarch  was  in  his  cabinet  that  May  morning, 
irresolutely  awaiting  the  announced  visit  of  the  Duke. 
By  his  side  stood  Alphonse  Corse,  attached  as  a  mastiff 
to  his  master,  and  fearing  not  Guise  nor  Leaguer,  man 
nor  devil. 

"  Sire,  is  the  Duke  of  Guise  your  friend  or  enemy  r" 
said  Alphonse.  The  King  answered  by  an  expressive 
shrug. 

"Say  the  word.  Sire,"  continued  Alphonse,  "and  I 
pledge  myself  to  bring  his  head  this  instant,  and  lay  it 
at  your  feet."  - 

And  he  would  have  done  it.  Even  at  the  side  of 
Catharine's  sedan-chair,  and  in  the  very  teeth  of  the 
worshipping  mob,  the  Corsican  would  have  had  the 
Balafre's  life,  even  though  he  laid  down  his  own. 

But  Henry — irresolute  and  fascinated— said  it  was  not 
yet  time  for  such  a  blow.^ 

Soon  aftei-ward,  the  Duke  was  announced.  The  chief 
of  the  League  and  the  last  of  the  Valois  met,  face  to  face, 
but  not  for  the  last  time.  The  interview  was  coldly  re- 
spectful on  the  pai-t  of  ^lucio,  anxious  and  embarrassed 
on  that  of  the  King.  W  hen  the  visit,  which  was  merely 
one  of  ceremony,  was  over,  the  Duke  departed  as  he 
came  receiving  the  renewed  homage  of  the  populace  as 
he  walked  to  his  hotel. 

That  night  precautions  were  taken.  All  the  guards  were 
doubled  around  the  palace  and  through  the  streets.  The 
Hotel  de  Ville  and  the  Place  de  la  Greve  were  made 
secure,  and  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  troops.  But 
luh  May,  the  Place  Maubert  was  left  unguarded,  and  a 
1588.  rabble  rout — all  night  long — was  collecting  in 
that  distant  spot.     Four  companies  of   burgher-guards 

1  De  Thou,  X.  266.  *  L'Estoile,  248.  '  Ibid. 


1588. 


HE  IS  RECEIVED  WITH  ENTHUSIASM. 


407 


went  over  to  the  League  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
The  rest  stood  firm  in  the  cemeter>^  of  the  Innocents, 
awaiting  the  orders  of  the  King.  At  daybreak  on  the 
nth  the  town  was  still  quiet.  There  was  an  awful 
pause  of  expectation.  The  shops  remained  closed  all  the 
morning,  the  royal  troops  were  drawn  up  in  battle-array, 
upon  the  Greve  and  around  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  but  they 
stood  motionless  as  statues,  until  the  populace  began 
taunting  them  with  cowardice,  and  then  laughing  them 
to  scorn.  For  their  sovereign  lord  and  master  still  sat 
paralyzed  in  his  palace. 

The  mob  had  been  surging  through  all  the  streets  and 
lanes,  until,  as  by  a  single  impulse,  chains  were  stretched 
across  the  streets,  and  barricades  thromi  up  in  all  the 
principal  thoroughfares.  About  noon  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
who  had  been  sitting  quietly  in  his  hotel,  with  a  very 
few  armed  followers,  came  out  into  the  street  of  the 
Hotel  Montmoiency,  and  walked  calmly  up  and  down, 
arm-in-arm  with  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  between  a 
double  hedge-row  of  spectatois  and  admirers,  three  or 
four  ranks  thick.  He  was  dressed  in  a  white  slashed 
doublet  and  hose,  and  wore  a  very  large  hat.'  Shouts  of 
triumph  resounded  from  a  thousand  brazen  throats,  as 
he  moved  calmly  about,  receiving,  at  every  instant,  ex- 
presses from  the  great  gathering  in  the  Place  Maubert. 

"  Enough,  too  much,  my  good  friends,"  he  said,  taking 
off  the  great  hat— ("  I  don't  know  whether  he  wa« 
laughing  in  it,"  observed  one  who- was  looking  on  that 
day)—"  Enough  of  '  Long  live  Guise  ! '  Cry  '  Long;  live 
the  King! '"-^  ^  b 

There  was  no  response,  as  might  be  expected,  and  the 
people  shouted  more  hoarsely  than  ever  for  Madam 
Lcjigue  and  the  Balafr6.  The  Duke's  face  was  full  of 
gaiety ;  there  was  not  a  shadow  of  anxiety  upon  it  in 
that  perilous  and  eventful  moment.  He  saw  that  the 
day  was  his  own. 

For  now,  the  people,  ripe,  ready,  mustered,  armed, 
barricaded,  awaited  but  a  signal  to  assault  the  King's 
mercenaries,  before  rushing  to  the  palace.  On  every 
house-top  missiles  were  provided  to  hurl  upon  their 
heads.  There  seemed  no  escape  for  Henry  or  his  Ger- 
mans from  impending  dogm,  when  Guise,  thoroughly 
triumphant,  vouchsafed  them  their  lives. 


*  L'Estoile,  250. 


«  IblO. 


408 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


**  You  must  give  me  these  soldiers  as  a  present,  my 
friends,"  said  he  to  the  populace. 

And  so  the  armed  Swiss,  French,  and  German  troopers 
and  infantry,  submitted  to  be  led  out  of  Paris,  following 
with  docility  the  aide-de-camp  of  Guise,  Captain  St.  Paul, 
who  walked  quietly  before  them,  with  his  sword  in  its 
scabbard,  and  directing  their  movements  with  a  cane. 
Sixty  of  them  were  slain  by  the  mob,  who  could  not, 
even  at  the  command  of  their  beloved  chieftain,  quite 
forego  their  expected  banquet.  But  this  was  all  the 
blood  shed  on  the  memorable  day  of  Barricades,  when 
another  Bartholomew  Massacre  had  been  expected.^ 

Meantime,  while  Guise  was  making  his  promenade 
through  the  city,  exchanging  embraces  with  the  rabble, 
and  listening  to  the  coarse  congratulations  and  obscene 
jests  of  the  porters  and  fishwomen,  the  poor  King  sat 
crying  all  day  long  in  the  Louvre.  The  Queen-Mother 
was  with  him,  reproaching  him  bitterly  with  his  irreso- 
lution and  want  of  confidence  in  her,  and  scolding  him 
for  his  tears.  But  the  unlucky  Henry  only  wept  the 
more  as  he  cowered  in  a  comer. 

"  These  are  idle  tears,"  said  Catharine.  **  This  is  no 
time  for  crydng.  And  for  myself,  though  women  weep  so 
easily,  I  feel  my  heart  too  deeply  wrung  for  tears.  If 
they  came  to  my  eyes  they  would  be  tears  of  blood."  ^ 

Next  day  the  last  Valois  walked  out  of  the  Louvre,  as 
if  for  a  promenade  in  the  Tuileries,  and  proceeded 
straightway  to  the  stalls,  where  his  horse  stood  saddled. 
Du  Halde,  his  equerry,  buckled  his  master's  spurs  on, 
upside  down.  '*  No  matter,"  said  Henry,  *'  I  am  not 
riding  to  see  my  mistress.  I  have  a  longer  journey 
before  me.'*  ^ 

And  so — followed  by  a  rabble  rout  of  courtiers,  with- 
out boots  or  cloaks,  and  mounted  on  sorrv  hacks — the 
King  of  France  rode  forth  from  his  capital  post-haste, 
and,  turning  as  he  left  the  gates,  hurled  back  impotent 


> 'L'Estoile.'  De  Thou,  257-261.  Her- 
rem,  «W  sup. 

'  "  I^  Reyna  Madre  dizo  al  Rey  qnan 
mal  avisado  havia  sido  quexaiido(»ele  de 
la  poca  confian^a  que  tenia  de  ella,  y  que 
nunca  la  haria  descuhierto  sus  8e<Tetos, 
nl  procurado  su  dafio  para  executar  seme- 
Jant«  resohicion  sin  su  parescer  y  esto 
con  palahraa  de  taiito  sentimiento  que  el 
Bey  se  entemecio  Uoraado,  y  ella  le  dizo 


ser  lagnmas  perdidas  aquellas,  per  no  ser 
tiempo  de  llorar ;  que  si  bien  las  mugeres 
lo  hazian  tan  facilraente,  que  ella  tenia 
tan  zerrado  el  pecho  que  no  podria  llorar, 
y  que  si  la  vinlessen  a  los  ojos  lagrimas, 
serian  de  sangre."  Relation  de  lo  sub- 
cedido  k  Paris  desde  los  9  hasta  13  de 
Mayo,  1588.  (Arch,  de  Sim  [rarl.>], 
MS.) 
s  L'Estoile,  252. 


1588.  THE  KING  FLIES,  AND  SPAIN  TRIUMPHS  IN  PARIS.  409 


imprecations  upon  Paris  and  its  mob.  *  Thenceforth, 
for  a  long  interval,  there  was  no  king  in  that  country. 
Mucio  had  done  his  work,  and  earned  his  wages,  and 
Philip  II.  reigned  in  Paris.  The  commands  of  the 
League  were  now  complied  with.  Heretics  were  doomed 
to  extermination.  The  edict  of  19th  July,  19th  Juiy. 
1588,  was  published  with  the  most  exclusive  i^***- 
and  stringent  provisions  that  the  most  bitter  Eomanist 
could  imagine,*  and,  as  a  fair  beginning,  two  young 
girls,  daughters  of  Jacques  Forcade,  once  '  procureur  au 
parlement,'  were  burned  in  Paris,  for  the  crime  of 
Protestantism.^ 

The  Duke  of  Guise  was  named  Generalissimo  of  the 
Kingdom  (2Gth  August,  1588).  Henry  gave  in  his  sub- 
mission to  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  edicts,  the  Inqui- 
sition, and  the  rest  of  the  League's  infernal  machinery, 
and  was  formally  reconciled  to  Guise,  with  how  much 
sincerity  time  was  soon  to  show."* 

Meantime  Philip,  for  whom  and  at  whose  expense  all 
this  work  had  been  done  by  the  hands  of  the  faithful 
Mucio,  was  constantly  assuring  his  royal  brother  of 
France,  through  envoy  Longlee,  at  Madrid,  of  his  most 
affectionate  friendship,  and  utterly  repudiating  all  know- 
ledge of  these  troublesome  and  dangerous  plots.  Yet 
they  had  been  especially  organized — as  we  have  seen 
—by  himself  and  the  Balafre,  in  order  that  France  might 
be  kept  a  prey  to  civil  war,  and  thus  rendered  incapable 
of  offering  any  obstruction  to  his  great  enterprise  against 
England.  Any  complicity  of  Mendoza,  the  Spanish 
ambassador  in  Paris,  or  of  the  Duke  of  Parma,  who  were 
important  agents  in  all  these  proceedings,  with  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  was  strenuously  and  circumstantially  denied  ; 
and    the  Balafre,  on  the  day  of   the    barricades,  sent 


1  L'Estoile,  De  Thou,  Herrera,  ubi  sup. 
Pasquler,  vol.  ii.,  lettre  iv.,  331-334  (ed. 
1723). 

*  The  King  bound  hlm8elf  by  oath  to 
extirpate  heresy,  to  remove  all  persons 
suspected  of  that  crime  from  oflRce,  and 
never  to  lay  down  arms  so  long  as  a 
single  heretic  remained.  By  secret  arti- 
cles, two  armies  against  the  Huguenots 
were  agreed  upon,  one  under  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  the  other  under  some  geneml 
to  be  appointed   by  the  King.     The 


Council  of  Trent  was  forthwith  to  be 
proclaimed,  and  by  a  refinement  of 
malic-e  the  I^eague  stipulated  that  all 
officers  appointed  in  Paris  by  the  Duke  of 
Guise  on  the  day  after  the  barricades 
should  resign  their  powers,  and  be  imme- 
diately re-appointed  by  the  King  hims^'lf. 
De  Thou.  X.  I.  86,  pp.  324,  325. 

3  Duplessis  Mornay,  iv.  246.  L'Ea- 
toile,  258. 

*  De  Thou,  ubi  sup. 


A 


10 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


Brissac  to  Elizabeth's  envoy,  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  to 
ansure  him  as  to  his  personal  safety,  and  as  to  the  deep 
affection  with  which  England  and  its  Queen  were  re- 
garded by  himself  and  all  his  friends.  Stafford  had  also 
been  advised  to  accept  a  guard  for  his  house  of  embassy. 
His  reply  was  noble. 

"  I  represent  the  majesty  of  England,"  he  said,  '*  and 
can  take  no  safeguard  from  a  subject  of  the  sovereign  to 
whom  I  am  accredited." 

To  the  threat  of  being  invaded,  and  to  the  advice  to 
close  his  gates,  he  answered,  "  Do  you  see  these  two 
doors?  Know  then,  if  1  am  attacked,  I  am  detei mined 
to  defend  myself  to  the  last  drop  of  my  blood,  to  serve 
as  an  example  to  the  universe  of  the  law  of  nations, 
violated  in  my  person.  Do  not  imagine  that  I  shall 
follow  your  advice.  The  gates  of  an  ambassador  shall 
be  open  to  all  the  world." 

Bi  issac  returned  with  this  answer  to  Guise,  who  saw 
that  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt  making  a  display  in  the 
eyes  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  but  gave  private  orders  that 
the  ambassador  should  not  be  molested.' 

Such  were  the  consequences  of  the  day  of  the  barri- 
cades—and thus  the  path  of  Philip  was  cleared  of  all 
obstructions  on  the  part  of  France.  His  Mucio  was  now 
generalissimo.  Henry  was  virtually  deposed.  Henry 
of  Navarre,  poor  and  good-humoured  as  ever,  was  scarcely 
so  formidable  at  that  moment  as  he  might  one  day  be- 
come. When  the  news  of  the  day  of  barricades  was 
brought  at  night  to  that  cheerful  monarch,  he  started 
from  his  couch.  *'  Ha,"  he  exclaimed  with  a  laugh,  *'  but 
they  havn't  yet  caught  the  Beaniese !  "  '^ 

And  it  might  be  long  before  the  League  would  catch 
the  Bearae^e  ;  but,  meantime,  he  could  render  slight 
assistance  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 

In  England  there  had  been  much  fruitless  negotiation 
between  the  government  of  that  country  and  the  com- 
missioners from  the  States-General.  There  was  per- 
petual altercation  on  the  subject  of  Utrecht,  Leyden, 
Sonoy,  and  the  other  causes  of  contention  ;  the  Queen — 
as  usual — being  imperious  and  choleric,  and  the  envoys, 

'  r>e  Thon,  X.  264-266.  'lis  ne  tiennent  encore  le   Beamois.'" 

'  "Etant  couchd  sur  son  lit  vert,  il  se    L'Efituile,  252, 
leva,  et  tout  gaiment    dit    ces    motii: 


1588.        STATES  EXPOSTULATE  WITH  THE  QUEEN.  411 

in  her  opinion,  very  insolent.     But  the  principal  topic 
of  discussion   was  the   peace   negotiations,   which   tho 
States-General,  both  at  home  and  through  their  dele- 
gation in  England,  had  been  doing  their  best  to  prevent ; 
steadily  refusing  her  Majesty's  demand   that   commis- 
sioners, on  their  part,  should  be  appointed  to  participate 
in  the  conferences  at  Ostend.     Elizabeth  promised  that 
there  should  be  as  strict  regard  paid  to  the  interests  of 
Holland  as  to  those  of  England,  in  case  of  a  pacification, 
and  that  she  would  never  forget  her  duty  to  them,  to 
herself,  and  to  the  world,  as  the  protectress  of  the  re- 
fonned  religion.      Tho   deputies,   on   the  other  hand, 
warned  her  that  peace  with  Spain  was  impossible  ;  that 
the  intention  of  the  Spanish  court  was  to  deceive  her, 
while  preparing  her  destruction  and  theirs  ;  that  it  was 
hopeless  to  attempt  the  concession  of  any  freedom  of 
conscience  from  Philip  II. ;  and  that  any  stipulations 
which  might  be  made  upon  that,  or  any  other  subject, 
by  the  Spanish  commissioners,  would  be  tossed  to  the 
wind.     In  reply  to  the  Queen's  loud  complaints  that  the 
States  had  been  trifling  with  her,  and  undutiful  to  her, 
and  that  they  hud  kept  her  waiting  seven  months  long 
for  an  answer  to  her  summons  to  participate  in  the  ne- 
gotiations, they  replied,  that  up  to  the  15th  October  of 
the  previous  year,  although  there  had  been  flying  ru- 
mours of  an  intention   on   the   part  of  her   Majesty's 
government  to  open   those   communications   with    the 
enemy,  it  had,  ''nevertheless  been  earnestly  and   ex- 
pressly, and  with  high  words  and  oaths,  denied  that 
there  was  any  truth  in  those  rumours."     Since  that  time 
the  States  had  not  once  only,  but  many  times,  in  private 
letters,  in  public  documents,  and  in  conversations  with 
Lord  Leicester  and  other  eminent   personages,   depre- 
cated any  communications  whatever  with  Spain,  asserting 
uniformly  their  conviction  that  such  proceedings  would 
bring  ruin  on  their  country,  and  imploring  her  Majesty 
nut  to  give  ear  to  any  propositions  whatever.' 

And  not  only  were  tho  envoys,  regularly  appointed 
by  the  States-General,  most  active  in  England  in  their 
attempts  to  prevent  the  negotiations,  but  delegates  from 
the  Xetherland  churches  were  also  sent  to  the  Queen, 
to  reason  with  her  on  the  subject,  and  to  utter  solemn 

'  Bor,  III.  xxiv.  223. 


I 


r 

I 


412 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.        Chap.  XVIII. 


It 


1 


warnings  that  the  cause  of  the  reformed  religion  would 
be  lost  for  ever,  in  case  of  a  treaty  on  her  part  witli 
Spain.  When  these  clerical  envoys  reached  England 
the  Queen  was  already  beginning  to  wake  from  her 
dehision ;  although  her  commissioners  were  still — as  we 
have  seen— hai-d  at  work,  pouring  sand  through  their 
sieves  at  Ostend,  and  although  the  steady  protestations 
of  the  Duke  of  Farma,  and  the  industrious  circulation 
of  falsehoods  by  Spanish  emissaries,  had  even  caused 
her  wisest  statesmen,  for  a  time,  to  participate  in  that 
delusion. 

For  it  is  not  so  great  an  impeachment  on  the  sagacity 
of  the  great  Queen  of  England,  as  it  would  now  appear 
to  those  who  judge  by  the  light  of  subsequent  facts,  that 
she  still  doubted  whether  the  armaments,  notoriously 
preparing  in  Spain  and  Flanders,  were  intended  against 
herself;  and  that— even  if  such  were  the  case— she  still 
believed  in  the  possibility  of  averting  the  danger  by 
negotiation. 

So  late  as  the  beginning  of  May,  even  the  far-seeing 
and  anxious  Walsingham  could' say  that  in  England 
**  they  were  doing  nothing  but  honouring  St.  George,  of 
whom  the  Spanish  Armada  seemed  to  be  afmid.  We 
hear,"  he  added,  "  that  they  will  not  be  ready  to  set  for- 
ward before  the  midst  of  May,  but  I  trust  that  it  will  Ite 
May  mm  twelvemonths.  The  'King  of  Spain  is  too  old  and 
too  sickly  to  fall  to  conquer  hingdoms.  If  he  be  well  coun- 
selled, his  best  course  will  be  to  settle  his  own  kingdoms 
in  his  own  hands."' 

And  even  much  later,  in  the  middle  of  July— when 
the  mask  was  hardly  maintained— even  then  there  was 
no  certainty  as  to  the  movements  of  the  Armada  ;  and 
Walsingham  believed,  just  ten  davs  before  the  famous 
fleet  was  to  appear  off  Plymouth,  'that  it  had  dispersed 
and  returned  to   Spain,   never  to  re-appear.*      As  to 


•  Walsingham    to 

«  April 


1588. 


Sir    Ed.    Norrte, 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


91  Majr 

*•  By  the  middle  of  July,"  says  Stowe, 
"it  wais  said  by  some  of  honourable  rank 
and  great  judgment,  that  the  whole  fleet 
of  the  invasion  was  a  Popish  brag  and  a 
French  tale."    760. 

«  Walsingham  to  E.  Norris,  -  July, 


1588.   (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

•*  And  for  the  navy  of  Spain,  we  have 
lately  received  advertisements  that  by 
reason  of  their  great  wants,  as  well  of 
mariners  as  of  necessary  provision,  but 
especially  through  the  infection  fallen 
among  their  men,  they  are  forced 
to  return,  and  have  dispersed  them- 
selves." (! !) 


1588.  ENGLISH  STATESMEN  STILL  DECEIVED.  413 

Parma's  intentions,  they  were  thought  to  lie  rather  in 
the  direction  of  Ostend  than  of  England;  and  Elizabeth, 
on  the  20th  July,  was  more  anxious  for  that  city  than 
for  her  o\^  kingdom.  "  Mr.  Ked,  I  am  persuaded,"  she 
wrote  to  Norris,  *'  that  if  the  Spanish  fleet  break  the 
Prince  of  Parma's  enterprise  for  England  will  fall  to  the 
ground,  and  then  are  you  to  look  to  Ostend.  Haste  vour 
works."  1  ^ 

All  through  the  spring  and  early  summer,  Stafford,  in 
Paris,  was  kept  in  a  state  of  much  perplexity  as  to  the 
designs  of  Spain — so  contradictory  were  the  stories  cir- 
culated, and  so  bewildering  the  actions  of  men  known  to 
be  hostile  to  England.  In  the  last  days  of  April  he 
intimated  it  as  a  common  opinion  in  Paris,  that  these 
naval  preparations  of  Philip  were  an  elaborate  farce ; 
"  that  the  great  elephant  would  bring  forth  but  a  mouse  ; 
thai  the  great  processions,  prayers,  and  pardons  at 
Rome,  for  the  prosperous  success  of  the  Armada  against 
England,  would  be  of  no  effect ;  that  the  King  of  Spain 
was  laughing  in  his  sleeve  at  the  Pope,  that  he  could 
make  such  a  fool  of  him ;  and  that  such  an  enterprise 
wa^  a  thing  the  King  never  durst  think  of  in  deed,  but 
only  m  show  to  feed  the  world."  * 

Thus,  although  furnished  with  minute  details  as  to 
these  armaments,  and  as  to  the  exact  designs  of  Spain 
against  his  country,  by  the  ostentatious  statements  of 
the  Spanish  ambassador  in  Paris  himself,  the  English 
envoy  was  still  inclined  to  believe  that  these  statements 
were  a  figment,  expressly  intended  to  deceive.  Yet  he 
was  aware  that  Lord  Westmoreland,  Lord  Paget.  Sir 
Charles  Paget,  Morgan,  and  other  English  retugees, 
were  constantly  meeting  with  Mendoza,  that  they  were 
told  to  get  themselves  in  readiness,  and  to  go  down -as 
well  apix)inted  as  might  be— to  the  Luke  of  Parma  • 
that  they  had  been  '*  sending  for  their  tailor  to  make 
them  apparel,  and  to  put  themselves  in  equipage  ;"  that, 
in  particular,  Westmoreland  had  been  assured  of  beino^ 
restored  by  Philip  to  his  native  country  in  better  con- 
dition than  before.  The  Catholic  and  Spanish  party  in 
I*ans  were,  however,  much  dissatisfied  with  the  news 

»  Leicester  to  E.  Norris.  P.S.  by  Queen       -  o.     t.    «    -.  i9 

115  J         ^'   »      ^  >■    '•"*<•«    April,  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


414 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


from  Scotland,  and  were  getting  more  and  more  afraid 
that  King  James  would  object  to  the  Spaniards  getting 
a  foot-hold  in  his  coimtrj%  and  that  "  the  Scots  would 
soon  be  playing  them  a  Scottish  trick."  * 

Stafford  was  plunged  still  more  inextricably  into  doubt 
by  the  accounts  from  Longlee  in  Madrid.*  That  diplo- 
matist, who  had  been  completely  convinced  by  l*hilip 
as  to  his  innocence  of  any  participation  in  the  criminal 
enterprises  of  Guise  against  Heniy  111.,  was  now  almost 
staggered  by  the  unscrupulous  mendacity  of  that  mo- 
narch with  regard  to  any  supposed  designs  against 
England.  Although  the  Armada  was  to  be  ready  by 
the  1 5th  May,  Longlee  was  of  opinion — notwithstanding 
many  bold  announcements  of  an  attack  upon  Elizabeth 
— that  the  real  object  of  the  expedition  was  America. 
There  had  recently  been  discovered,  it  was  said,  ''  a  new 
country,  more  rich  in  gold  and  silver  than  an}'  yet  foimd, 
but  so  full  of  stout  people  that  they  could  not  master 
them."  '  To  reduce  these  stout  people  beyond  the  At- 
lantic, therefore,  and  to  get  possession  of  new  gold  mines, 
was  the  real  object  at  which  Philip  was  driving,  and 
Longlee  and  Stafford  were  both  very  doubtful  whether 
it  were  worth  the  Queen's  while  to  exhaust  her  finances 
in  order  to  protect  herself  against  an  imaginary  invasion. 
Even  so  late  as  the  middle  of  July,  six'to  one  teas  offered  on 
the  Paris  Exchange  that  the  Spanish  fleet  would  never 
be  seen  in  the  English  seas,  and  those  that  offered  the 
bets  were  known  to  be  well-wishers  to  the  Spanish 
party.'' 

Thus  sharp  diplomatists  and  statesmen  like  Longlee, 
Stafford,  and  Walsingham,  were  beginning  to  lose  their 
fear  of  the  great  bugbear  by  which  England  had  so  long 
been  haunted.  It  was  therefore  no  deep  stain  on  the 
Queen's  sagacity  that  she,  too,  was  willing  to  place  cre- 
dence in  the  plighted  honour  of  Alexander  Farnese,  the 
great  prince  who  prided  himself  on  his  sincerity,  and 
who,  next  to  the  King  his  master,  adored  the  virgin 
Queen  of  England. 


S4  April 
4  May' 


»   Stafford   to   Walsingham, 

1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  Depeches  de  Ijouglee  envoye  de 
Menri  111.  en  Kspajme,  Mars,  Avril,  Mai, 
15M8,  Funds  St.  dtimain.  (liib.  imp. 
de  France,  MS.) 


3   Stafford    to   Walsingham, 
1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

<    Stafford  to  Walsingham, 
1588.     (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


84  April 
4  May' 


13 


July, 


1588.  DEPUTIES  FROM  NETHERLAND  CHURCHES.  415 

The  deputies  of  the  Netherland  churches  had  come, 
with  the  pel-mission  of  Count  Maurice  and  of  the  Stateaj- 
General,  but  they  represented  more  strongly  than  any 
other  envoys  could  do  the  English  and  the  monarchical 
party.     They  were  instructed  especially  to  implore  the 
Queen  to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  their  country  •  to 
assure  her  that  the  restoration  of  Philip— who  had  been 
a  wolf  instead  of  a  shepherd  to  his  flock— was  an  im- 
possibility, that    he  had  been  solemnly  and   for   ever 
deposed ;  that  under  her  sceptre  only  could  the  Provinces 
ever  recover  their  ancient  prosperity ;  that  ancient  and 
modem  history  alike  made  it  manifest  that  a  free  republic 
could  never  maintain  itself,  but  that  it  must,  of  necessity, 
run  Its  coui-se  through  sedition,  bloodshed,  and  anarchy^ 
until  liberty  was  at  last  crushed  by  an  absolute  des- 
potism ;  that  equality  of  condition,  the  basis  of  democratic 
institutions,  cuuld  never  be  made  firm  :  and  that  a  for- 
tunate exception,  like  that  of  Switzerland,  whose  his- 
torical and  political  circumstances  were  peculiar,  could 
never  serve  as  a  model  to  the  Netherlands,  accustomed 
as  those  Provinces  had  ever  been  to  a  monarchical  form 
of  government ;  and  that  the  antagonism  of  aristocratic 
and  democratic  elements  in  the  States  had  already  pro- 
duced discord,  and  was  threatening  destruction  to  the 
whole  country.     To  avert  such  dangers  the  splendour 
of   royal   authority   was   necessary,   according  to   the 
venerable  commands  of  Holy  Writ ;  and  therefore  the 
Netherland    churches    adknowl edged    themselves    the 
foster  children  of  England,  and  begged  that  in  political 
matters  also  the  inhabitants  of  the  Provinces  might  be 
accepted  as  the  subjects   of  her  Majesty.     They  also 
implored  the  Queen  to  break  off  these  accursed  nego- 
tiations with  Spain,  and  to  provide  that  hencefortlwn 
the  Netherlands  the  reformed  religion  might  be  freely 
exercised,  to  the  exclusion  of  am/  other.'' ' 

Thus  it  was  very  evident  that  these  clerical  envoys, 
although  they  were  sent  by  permission  of  the  States,  did 
not  come  as  the  representatives  of  the  dominant  party 
Jf  or  that  *'  Beelzebub,"  Barneveld,  had  different  notions 
from  theirs  as  to  the  possibility  of  a  republic,  and  as  to 
the  propriety  of  tolerating  other  forms  of  worship  than 

•Instructions  from  the  Churches  or  the    qneon  of  England,  apud  Bor.  lii.  255- 
Kethtrlands    for    the    Deputies    to  the    2.9. 


II 


416 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVni. 


his  own.  But  it  was  for  such  pernicious  doctrines,  on 
religious  matters  in  particular,  that  he  was  called  Beel- 
zebub, Pope  John,  a  papist  in  disguise,  and  an  atheist : 
and  denounced,  as  leading  young  Maurice  and  the  whole 
country  to  destruction. 

On  the  basis  of  these  instructions,  the  deputies  drew 
up  a  memorial  of  pitiless  length,  filled  with  astounding 
12  July,  parallels  between  their  own  position  and  that 
1588. '  Qf  the  Hebrews,  Assyrians,  and  other  distin- 
guished nations  of  antiquity.  'They  brought  it  to  W'al- 
singham  on  the  12th  July,  1588,  and  the  much-enduring 
man  heard  it  read  from  beginning  to  end.  He  expressed 
his  approbation  of  its  sentiments,  but  said  it  was  too 
long.  It  must  be  put  on  one  sheet  of  paper,  he  said,  if 
her  Majesty  was  expected  to  read  it. 

*'  Moreover,"  said  the  Secretary  of  State,  *'  although 
your  arguments  are  full  of  piety,  and  your  examples 
from  Holy  Writ  very  apt,  1  must  tell  you  the  plain 
truth.  Great  princes  are  not  always  so  zealous  in 
religious  matters  as  they  might  be.  Political  transac- 
tions move  them  more  deeply,  and  they  depend  too  much 
on  worldly  things.  However,  there  is  no  longer  much 
dan  O'er,  for  our  envoys  will  return  from  Flanders  in  a 
few  days."  ^ 

"  But,"  asked  a  deputy,  "  if  the  Spanish  fleet  does  not 
succeed  in  its  entei-prise,  will  the  peace-negotiations  be 
renewed  ?  " 

'*Byno  means,"  said  Walsingham ;  "the  Queen  can 
never  do  that,  consistently  with  her  honour.  They 
have  scattered  infamous  libels  against  her — so  scanda- 
lous, that  you  would  be  astounded  should  you  read 
them.  Arguments  drawn  from  honour  are  more  valid 
with  princes  than  any  other." 

He  alluded  to  the  point  in  their  memorial  touching 
the  free  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion  in  the 
{*rovinces. 

** 'Tis  well  and  piously  said,"  he  observed;  "but 
princes  and  great  lords  are  not  always  very  earnest  in 
such  matters.  I  think  that  her  IVIajesty's  envoys  will 
not  press  for  the  free  exercise  of  the  religion  so  very 
much ;  not  more  than  for  two  or  three  years.  By  that 
time— should    our    negotiations    succeed — the    foreign 

I  '  Report  of  the  Deputies,'  in  Bor,  ili.  259. 


1588.  HOLD  CONFERENCE  WITH  THE  QUEEN.  417 

troops  will  have  evacuated  the  Netherlands  on  condi- 
tion that  the  States-General  shall  settle  the  religious 
question.    '  o^'^^^o 

'•  ^,''K  ffiP.^'"'''^^^  ^^^"'  ^^  ^^  t^^  deputies,  "  the 

majority  of  the  States  w  Popish:' 

"  Be  it  so,"  replied  Sir  Francis  ;  -  nevertheless  they 
will  sooner  permit  the  exercise  of  the  reformed  reli-ion 
tlian  take  up  arms  and  begin  the  war  anew  "  * 

He  then  alluded  to  the  proposition  of  the  deiuities  to 
exclude  all  religious  worship  but  that  of  the  reformed 

1^  M  M  '  T  y,^l^?\^!^-^«  ^^^y  expressed  themselves. 
Her  Majesty,  said  he,  -  is  well  disposed  to  iH'imit 
some  exercise  of  their  religion  to  the  l>apists.  So  far  as 
regards  my  own  feelings,  if  we  were  now  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  reformation,  and  the  papacy  were  .till  entire 
1  should  willingly  concede  such  exercise  ;  but  now  that 
the  papacy  has  been  overthrown,  I  think  it  would  not 
be  safe  to  give  such  pennission.  When  we  were  dis- 
puting, at  the  time  of  the  pacification  of  Ghent,  whether 
the  1  opish  religion  should  be  partially  permitted,  the 
i  nnce  of  Orange  im.9  of  the  affinnative  opinion ;  but  I 
who  was  then  at  Antwerp,  entertained  the  contrary? 
conviction.  ^ 

\v\^-'^H'  ^^'^  ^^^  ^^  ^^'^  ^deputies-pleased  to  find  that 
^^alslngham  was  more  of  their  way  of  thinking  on  reli- 
gious toleration  than  the  great  IVince  of  Oran-e  had 
hL'cn  or  than  3Iaurice  and  Bameveld  then  were-- but 
her  Majesty  will,  we  hope,  follow  the  advice  of  her  good 
and  faithful  counsellors."  ^ 

;*  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  answered  Sir  Francis  "  creat 
pnnces  are  not  always  inspired  with  a  sincere  and 
upright  zeal ;  -it  was  the  third  time  he  had  made  this 
oDservahon-"  although,  so  far  as  regards  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  religion  in  the  Xetherlands,  that  is  a  matter 
of  necessity.  Of  that  there  is  no  fear,  since  otherwise 
all  the  pious  would  depart,  and  none  would  remain  but 
'  apists,  and,  what  is  more,  enemies  of  England,  l^here- 
lore  the  Queen  is  aware  that  the  religion  mu.t  be 
maintained.    "  o  ^^ 

Ue  then  advised  the  deputies  to  hand  in  the  memorial 
to  her  31ajesty,  without  any  long  speeches,  for  which 
there  was  then  no  time  or  opportunity  ;  and  it  was  sub- 

'  •  Report  of  the  Deputies,'  ii^iior.  last  cited.  «  ibid. 


t 


418 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVIII. 


seqiiently  arranged  that  they  should  be  presented  to  tlie 
Queen  as  she  would  be  mounting  her  horse  at  8t.  James's 
to  ride  to  Kichmond. 

Accordingly  on  the  1 5th  July,  as  her  ]\Iaiesty  came 
forth  at  the  gate,  with  a  throng  of  nobles  and  ladies — 

July  15,  f^ome  about  to  accompany  her  and  some  biddin^-* 
^^"^^  her  adieu— the  deputies  fell  on  their  knees 
before  her.  Notwithstanding  the  advice  of  Walsingham, 
Daniel  de  Dieu  was  bent  upon  an  oration. 

*'  Oh  illustrious  Queen  !  "  he  began,  *'the  churches  of 
the  Uniti'd  Netherlands " 

He  had  got  no  further,  when  the  Queen,  interrupting, 
exclaimed,  "  Oh  !  I  beg  you— at  another  time— I  cannot 
now  listen  to  a  speech.     Let  me  see  the  memorial." 

Daniel  de  Dieu  then  humbly  presented  that  document, 
which  her  Majesty  g^aciou^ly  received,  and  then,  getting 
on  horseback  rode  off"  to  IiMchmond.* 

The  memorial  was  in  the  nature  of  an  exhortation  to 
sustain  the  religion,  and  to  keep  clear  of  all  negotiations 
with  idolaters  and  unbelievers;  and  the  memorialists 
supported  themselves  by  copious  references  to  Deutero- 
noniy,  Proverbs,  Isaiah,  Timothy,  and  Psalms,  relying 
mainly  on  the  case  of  .lehosaphat,  who  came  to  disgi-ace 
and  disiister  through  his  treaty  with  the  idolatrous  King 
Ahab.  With  regard  to  any  composition  with  Spain, 
they  observed,  in  homely  language,  that  a  l)urnt  cat 
feare  the  tire  :  and  they  assured  the  Queen  that,  by  fol- 
lowing their  advice,  she  would  gjiin  a  glorious  and  im- 
mortal name,  like  those  of  David,  Ezekiel,  Josiah,  and 
others,  whose  fragrant  memory,  even  as  precious  in- 
cense from  the  apothecary's,  endureth  to  the  end  of  the 
world.* 

It  was  not  surprising  that  Elizabeth,  getting  on 
horseback  on  the  15tli  July,  1588,  with  her  head  full 
of  Tilbury  Fort  and  Medina  Sidonia,  should  have  as 
little  relish  for  the  aftairs  of  Ahab  and  JehosayJiat,  as 
for  those  melting  s))eeches  of  Diomede  and  of  Turnus 
to  which  Dr.  \'alentine  Dale  on  his  part  was  at  that 
moment  invoking  her  attention. 

On  the    20th   July   the   deputies  were  infoimed  by 

>  '.Report  of  the  Deputies,'  259,  260-    Churches;  ic,  apud    Bor.  iii.    260-262 
262.  «e2. 

3    •  Memorial      from      the       United 


1588. 


AND  PRESENT  LONG  MEMORIALS. 


419 


Leicester  that  her  Majesty  would  grant  them  an  inter- 
view, and  that  they  must  come  into  his  quarter    juiy  20. 
of  the  palace  and  await  her  arrival.  '588.  ' 

Between  six  and  seven  in  the  evening  she  came  into 
the  throne-room,  and  the  deputies  again  fell  on  their 
knees  before  lier.^ 

She  then  seated  herself — the  deputies  remaining  on 
their  knees  on  her  right  side  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
standing  at  her  left— and  proceeded  to  make  many  re- 
marks touching  her  earnestness  in  the  pending  negotia- 
tions to  provide  for  their  religious  freedom.  It  seemed 
that  she  must  have  received  a  hint  from  Walsingham  on 
the  subject. 

"  I  shall  provide,"  she  said,  "  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  reformed  worship." 

De  Dieu. — *'  The  enemy  will  never  concede  it." 

The  Queen.—''  I  think  differently." 

De  Dieu. — "  There  is  no  place  within  his  dominions 
where  he  has  permitted  the  exercise  of  the  pure  religion. 
lie  has  never  done  so." 

The  Queen.—"  He  conceded  it  in  the  pacification  of 
Ghent." 

De  Dieu. — "  But  he  did  not  keep  his  agreement.  Don 
John  had  concluded  with  the  States,  but  said  he  was 
not  held  to  his  promise,  in  case  he  should  repent ;  and 
the  King  wrote  afterwards  to  our  States,  apd  said  that 
he  was  no  longer  bound  to  his  pledge." 

The  Queen. — "  That  is  quite  another  thing." 
De  Dieu. — "  He  has  very  often  broken  his  faith." 
The  Queen. — "  He  shall  no  longer  be  allowed  to  do 
so.  K  he  does  not  keep  his  word,  that  is  my  affair,  not 
yours.  It  is  my  business  to  find  the  remedy.  Men 
would  say,  See  in  what  a  desolation  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land has  brought  this  poor  peojjle.  As  to  the  freedom 
of  worship,  I  should  have  proposed  three  or  four  years' 
interval — leaving  it  afterwards  to  the  decision  of  the 
States." 

De    Dieu. — "But    the    majority    of   the    States    is 
Popish." 

The  Queen. — "  I  mean  the  States-General,  not  the 
States  of  any  particular  Province." 


»  Bor.  «1.  262,  263. 


hti 


2  E  2 


420 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVHI. 


De  Dieu. — "  The  greater  part  of  the  States-General 

is  Popish." 

The  Queen.—"  I  mean  the  three  estates— the  clergy, 
the  nobles,  and  the  cities."  The  Queen— as  the  deputies 
observed— here  fell  into  an  error.  She  thought  that 
prelates  of  the  reformed  church,  as  in  England,  had 
seats  in  the  States-General.  Daniel  de  Dieu  explained 
that  they  had  no  such  position. 

The  (Jueen.— "  Then  how  were  you  sent  hither?" 
De  Dieu. — "  We  came   with   the   consent^  of  Count 
Maurice  of  Nassau." 

The  Queen.—"  And  of  the  States  ?  " 
De  Dieu. — "  We  came  with  their  knowledge." 
The  Queen. — "  Are  you  sent  only  from  Holland  and 
Zeeland  ?     Is  there  no   envoy  from  Utrecht   and  the 
other  Provinces  ?  " 

Helmichius.— "  We  two,"  pointing  to  his  colleague 
Sossingius,  "  are  from  Utrecht." 

The  Queen.— "What?  Is  this  young  man  also  a 
minister?"  She  meant  Helmichius,  who  had  a  verj^ 
little  beard,  and  looked  young. 

Sossingius.—"  He  is  not  so  young  as  he  looks." 

The  Queen. — "  Youths  are  sometimes  as  able  as  old 

men."  . 

De   Dieu. — "  I    have   heard   our  brother  preach  m 

France  more  than  fourteen  years  ago," 

The  Queen.- "He  must  have  begim  young.^^  How 
old  were  vou  when  you  first  became  a  preacher  ?  " 

Helmichius. — "  Twenty-three  or  twenty-four  years  of 


age. 


The  Queen. — "  It  was  with  us,  at  first,  considered  a 
scandal  that  a  man  so  young  as  that  should  be  admitted 
to  the  pulpit.  Our  antagonists  reproached  us  with  it  in 
a  book  called  *  Sciindale  de  FAngleterre,'  saying  that  w^e 
had  none  but  schoolboys  for  ministers.  I  understand 
that  you  pray  for  me  as  warmly  as  if  I  were  your  sove- 
reign princess.  I  think  I  have  done  as  much  for  the 
religion  as  if  I  were  your  Queen." 

Helmichius.—"  We  are  far  from  thinking  otherwise. 
^Xe  acknowledge  willingly  your  Majesty's  benefits  to 
our  churches." 

The  Queen.—"  It  would  else  be  ingratitude  on  your 

part." 


1588.        MORE  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  THE  QUEEN.         421 

Helmichius.— "Ihit  the  King  of  Spain  will  never  keep 
any  promise  about  ihe  religion." 

The  Queen. — "  He  will  never  come  so  far :  he  does 
nothing  but  make  a  noise  on  all  sides.  Item,  I  don't 
think  he  has  much  confidence  in  himself." 

De  Dieu.—"  Your  Majesty  has  many  enemies.  The 
Lord  hath  hitherto  supported  you,  and  we  pray  that  He 
may  continue  to  uphold  your  Majesty." 

The  Queen. — "  I  have  indeed  many  enemies ;  but  I 
make  no  great  account  of  them.  Is  there  anything  else 
you  seek  ?  " 

De  Dieu. — "  There  is  a  special  point :  it  concerns  our, 
or  rather  your  Majesty's,  city  of  Flushing.  We  Impc 
that  Kusselius — (so  he  called  Sir  William  Russell) — 
may  be  continued  in  its  government,  although  he  wishes 
his  discharge." 

"  Aha !  "  said  the  Queen,  laughing  and  lising  from  her 
seat,  "  I  shall  not  answer  you ;  I  shall  call  some  one  else 
to  answer  you." 

She  then  summoned  Russell's  sister.  Lady  AVarwick. 

"  If  you  could  speak  French,"  said  the  Queen  to  that 
gentlewoman,  "  I  should  bid  you  reply  to  these  gentle- 
men, who  beg  that  your  brother  may  remain  in  Flush- 
ing, so  very  agreeable  has  he  made  himself  to  them." 

The  Queen  was  pleased  to  hear  this  good  opinion  of 
Sir  William,  and  this  request  that  he  might  continue  to 
be  governor  of  Flushing,  because  he  had  uniformly  sup- 
ported the  Leicester  party,  and  was  at  that  monient  in 
high  quarrel  with  Count  Maurice  and  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  States. 

As  the  deputies  took  their  leave,  they  requested  an 
answer  to  their  memorial,  which  was  graciously  ino- 
mised.* 

Three  days  aftei-w^ards,  23rd  July,  Walsingham  gave 
them  a  written  answer  to  their  memorial — conceived  in 
the  same  sense  as  had  been  the  expressions  of 
her  Majesty  and  her  connsellors.     Support  to    ^^jsJg^' 
the  Ketherlands  and  stipulations  for  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion  were  promised  ;  but  it  was  im- 
possible for  these  deputies  of  the  churches  to  obtain  a 
guarantee  from  England  that  the  Popish  religion  should 

1  •  Report  of  the  Deputies  of  the  Netherland  Churches,'  iu  Bor,  iii.  2G2  seq. 


VWM 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XYHI. 


be  excluded  from  the  Provinces,  in  case  of  a  successful 
issue  to  the  Queen's  negotiation  with  Spain.^ 

And  thus  during  all  those  eventful  days — the  last  weehs 
of  July  and  the  first  we^ks  of  August— the  clerical  deputa- 
tion remained  in  England,  indulging  in  voluminous  pro- 
tocols and  lengthened  conversations  with  the  Queen  and 
the  principal  members  of  her  government.  It  is  aston- 
ishing, in  that  breathless  interval  of  history,  that  so 
much  time  could  be  found  for  quill- driving  and  ora- 
tory. 

Nevertheless,  both  in  Holland  and  England,  there  had 
been  other  work  than  protocol]  ing.  One  throb  of  i)a- 
triotism  moved  the  breast  of  both  nations.  A  longing  to 
grapple,  once  for  all,  with  the  great  enemy  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  inspired  both.  In  Holland,  the  States- 
General  and  all  the  men  to  whom  the  people  looked  for 
guidance,  had  been  long  deprecating  the  peace-negotia- 
tions. Extraordinary  supplies — more  than  had  ever 
been  gi-anted  before — were  voted  for  the  expensas  of  the 
campaign ;  and  Maurice  of  Nassau,  fitly  embodying  the 
warlike  tendencies  of  his  coimtry  and  race,  had  been 
most  importunate  with  Queen  Elizabeth  that  she  would 
accept  his  services  and  his  advice.*  Armed  vessels  of 
every  size,  from  the  gim-boat  to  the  galleon  of  1200  tons 
— then  the  most  imposing  ship  in  those  watei-s — swarmed 
in  all  tlie  estuaries  and  rivei-s,  and  along  the  Dutch  and 
Flemish  coast,  bidding  defiance  to  Parma  and  his  anna- 
ments  :  and  ofters  of  a  large  contingent  from  the  fleets 
of  Joost  de  Moor  and  Justinus  de  Nassau,  to  serve  under 
Seymour  and  Howard,  were  freely  made  by  the  States- 
General. 

It  was  decided  early  in  July,  by  the  board  of  admiralty, 
presided  over  by  Prince  Maurice,  that  the  largest  square- 
rigged  vessels  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  should  cruise 
between  England  and  the  Flemish  coast,  outside  the 
banks ;  that  a  squadron  of  lesser  ships  should  be  stationed 
within  the  banks  ;  and  that  a  fleet  of  sloops  and  fly-boats 
should  hover  close  in  shore,  about  Flushing  and  Ram- 
mekens.  All  the  war-vessels  of  the  little  republic  were 
thus  fiiUy  employed.  But,  besides  this  arrangement, 
Maurice  was  empowered  to  lay  an  embargo — under  what 


1588.        THE  QUEEN  ROUSED  FROM  HER  DELUSION.         423 

penalty  he  chose  and  during  his  pleasure— on  all  square- 
rigged  vessels  over  JOO  tons,  in  order  tliat  there  might 
be  an  additional  supply  in  case  of  need.  Ninety  ships 
of  war  under  W  armond,  admiral,  and  Van  der  Does, 
vice-admiral  of  Holland;  and  Justinus  de  Nassau, 
admiral,  and  Joost  de  Moor,  vice-admiral  of  Zeeland ; 
together  with  fifty  merchant-vessels  of  the  best  and 
strongest,  equipped  and  armed  for  active  service,  com- 
posed a  formidable  fleet.' 

The  States-General,  a  month  before,  had  sent  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  good  ships,  under  Admiral  Kosendael,  to 
join  Lord  Henry  Se^nnour,  then  cmising  between  Hover 
and  Calais.  A  tempest  drove  them  back,  and  their 
absence  from  Lord  Henry's  fleet  being  misinterpreted  by 
the  English,  the  States  were  censured  for  ingratitude 
and  want  of  good  faith.  But  the  injustice  of  the  accusa- 
tion was  soon  made  manifest,  for  these  vessels,  reinforcing 
the  great  Dutch  fleet  outside  the  banks,  did  better  service 
than  they  could  have  done  in  the  straits.  A  squadron 
of  strong  well-armed  vessels,  having  on  board,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  regular  equipment,  a  picked  force  of  twelve 
hundred  musketeers,  long  accustomed  to  this  peculiar 
kind  of  naval  warfare,  with  crews  of  grim  Zeelanders, 
who  had  faced  Alva  and  Valdez  in  their  day,  now  kept 
close  watch  over  Famese,  determined  that  he  should 
never  thrust  his  face  out  of  any  haven  or  nook  on  the 
coast  so  long  as  they  should  be  in  existence  to  prevent 
him.* 

And  in  England  the  protracted  diplomacy  at  Ostend, 
ill-timed  though  it  was,  had  nut  paralyzed'  the  arm  or 
chilled  the  heart,  of  the  nation.  A\  hen  the  great  Queen, 
arousing  herself  from  the  delusion  in  which  the  false- 
hoods of  Famese  and  of  l*hilip  had  lulled  her,  should 


1  •  Report,'  Sec  ubi  sup. 


«  Bor,  iii.  318, 319. 


1  So  soon  as  the  Sonny  difflonlty,  by 
which  so  much  mischief  liad  been  cmiiod, 
should  Iw  terminated,  Maurice  aufiounccd 
his  hitentiou  to  the  C^uecn,  "a  a)ml)aiti*- 
I'ennpmt  par  mer  et  par  terre,  p».ur 
I'empecher  qu'il  ne  pronne  terrc."  "  Je 
supplio  V.  M.,"  he  continued,  "d- com- 
mander h  M.  I'admiral  Howard  de  tenir 
correspondance  avec  moi,  conmie  aussi 
je  ferai  avec  Sa  Si•igni^ '      Maurice  de 

<o 

so 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


Nassau  to  the  Qiuen.    ™   April,    }^3. 


"  So  pouvant,  pour  mon  devoir  vous 
celer  qu'un  des  plus  grands  empediements 
que  jr  1 1  on  It  en  vos  ajrains  de  paniega 
<.-t  v((li.  inyatiation  de  paix  qui  engcndre 
de  telles  confusions  que  les  forces  ne 
peuvent  etre  employees  par  mer  et  par 
terre  si  t6t  et  si  bien  que  je  desirenU. 
Je  feral  toute  fols  toute  diligence  d'etre 
prest  assez  a  temps  pour  rompre  les 
desseins  du  Due  de  Parma,  &c.  Same  to 
same,  same  date. 

-  Bor,  iil.  xxiil.  319-321. 


42-t 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


once  more  represent — as  no  man  or  woman  better  than 
Elizabeth  Tudor  could  represent — the  defiance  of  England 
to  foreign  insolence  ;  the  resolve  of  a  whole  people  to 
die  rather  than  yield ;  there  Avas  a  thrill  of  joy  tlirougli 
the  national  heart.  When  the  enforced  restraint  was  at 
last  taken  oft',  there  was  one  bound  towards  the  enemy. 
Few  more  magnificent  spectacles  have  been  seen  in 
history  than  the  enthusiasm  which  pervaded  the  country 
as  the  great  danger,  so  long  defen-ed,  was  felt  at  last  t(> 
be  closely  approaching.  The  little  nation  of  four  millions, 
the  merry  England  of  the  sixteenth  century,  went  for- 
ward to  the  death-grapple  with  its  gigantic  antagonist 
as  cheerfully  as  to  a  long-expected  holiday.  Spain  wjis 
a  vast  empire,  overshadowing  the  world  ;  England,  in 
comparison,  but  a  province  ;  yet  nothing  could  surpass 
the  steadiness  with  which  the  conflict  was  awaited. 

For,  during  all  the  months  of  suspense,  the  soldiers 
and  sailore,  and  many  statesmen  of  England,  had  depre- 
cated,   even   as   the    Hollanders   had   been   doing,   the 
dangerous   delays  of  Ostend.      Elizabeth  was  not  em- 
bodying the  national  instinct,  when  she  t«dked  of  peace, 
and    shrank    penuriously   from   the   exi)enses   of    war. 
There  wtus  much  disappointment,  even  indignation,  at 
the  slothfidness  with  which  the  prepamtions  for  defence 
went  on,  during  the  period  when  there  was  yet  time  to 
make  them.     It  was  feared  with  justice  that  England, 
utterly  mifoiiified  as  were  its  cities,  and  defended  only 
bv  its  little  navy  without,  and  by  imtaught  enthusiasm 
within,  might,  after  all,  prove  an  easier  conquest  than 
Holland  and  Zeeland,  every  town  in  whose  temtorj' 
bristled  with  fortifications.     If  the  English  ships— well- 
tiuined  and  swift  sailers  as  they  were— were  unprovided 
with  spai-s  and  cordage,  beef  and  biscuit,  powder  and 
shot,  and  the  militia-men,  however  enthusiastic,  were 
neither  drilled  nor  armed,  was  it  so  very  certain,  after 
all,  that  successful  resistance  would  be  made  to  the  great 
Armada,  and  to  the  veteran  pikemen  and  musketeers 
of  Famese,  seasoned  on  a  himdred   battle-fields,  and 
equi]>ped  as  for  a  tournament?      There  was  generous 
confidence  and  chivalrous  loyalty  on  the  part  of  Eliza- 
beth's naval  and  military  commanders  ;  but  there  had 
been  deep  regret  and  disappointment  at  her  course. 
Hawkins  was  anxious,  all   through   the  winter  and 


1588.         DISSATISFACTION  WITH  QUEEN'S  COURSE.  425 

spring,  to  cruise  with  a  small  squadron  off  the  coast  of 
Spam.  With  a  dozen  vessels  he  undertook  to  "  distress 
anythmg  that  went  through  the  seas."  The  cost  of  such 
a  squadron,  with  eighteen  hundred  men,  to  be  relieved 
every  four  months,  he  estimated  at  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  pounds  sterling  the  month,  or  a  shilling  a  day 
for  each  man ;  and  it  would  be  a  very  unlucky  month, 
he  said,  in  which  they  did  not  make  captures  to  three 
tunes  that  amount ;  for  they  would  see  nothing  that 
would  not  be  presently  their  own.  "  We  might''  have 
peace,  but  not  with  God,"  said  the  pious  old  slave-trader ; 
*'but  rather  than  serve  Baal,  let  us  die  a  thousand 
deaths.  Let  us  have  open  war  with  these  Jesuits,  and 
every  man  will  contribute,  fight,  devise,  or  do,  for  the 
liberty  of  our  country." ' 

And  it  was  oi)en  war  with  the  Jesuits  for  which  those 
stout-hearted  sailors  longed.  All  were  afraid  of  secret 
mischief.  The  diplomatists— who  were  knuwTi  to  be 
flitting  about  France,  Flanders,  Scotland,  and  England- 
were  birds  of  ill  omen.  King  James  was  beset  by  a 
thousand  bribes  and  expostulations  to  avenge  his  mother's 
death ;  and  although  that  mother  had  murdered  his 
father,  and  done  her  best  to  disinherit  himself,  yet  it 
was  feared  that  Spanish  ducats  might  induce  him  to  be 
true  to  his  mother^s  revenge,  and  false  to  the  reformed 
religion.*  Nothing  of  good  was  hoped  for  from  France. 
"For  my  part,"  said  Lord  Admiral  Howard,  "I  have 
made  of  the  French  King,  the  Scottish  King,  and  the 
King  of  Spain,  a  trinity  that  I  mean  never  to  trust  to 
be  saved  by,  and  I  would  that  others  were  of  my 
opinion."^ 

The  noble  sailor,  on  whom  so  much  responsibility 
rested,  yet  who  was  so  trammelled  and  thwarted  by  the 
timid  and    parsimonious  policy  of  Elizabeth    and    of 


Hawkins  to  Walsinghara,  —   Feb. 
1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  "En  hora,  buena  ayen  llegado  el 
Conde  de  Morton  y  Coronel  St'niple," 
says  Philip,  speaking  of  one  of  the  hun- 
dred attempts'  of  the  Scotch  Catholics 
employed  by  him  to  bring  about  a  co- 
«>peratlon  on  the  part  of  James  with  the 
Spanish  designs  upon  England,  "  aunqwe 
s^un  los  avisos  que  embiastes  de  Ingla- 


tierra  menos  frutos  baran  que  se  prome- 
tian.  pues  tienen  horeses  al  Rey  tan  de 
su  niano.  Pero  bien  es  que  hagaos  las 
diiigeuclas  que  se  pueden,  tentando  si  la 
sangre  de  su  madre  le  estlmola  a  la  ven- 
gan^a,"  &c.  Philip  II.  to  Mendoza,  21 
June,  1588.  (Arch,  de  Simancaji  [in  the 
Arch,  de  I'Empire,  at  Paris],  MS.) 

3   Howard    to    Walsingham, 


i\ 


1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


27  'an. 
6  Feb.' 


^'i 


426 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


Burghley,  chafed  and  shook  his  chains  like  a  captive. 
*'  Since  England  was  England,"  he  exclaimed,  "  there 
was  never  such  a  stratagem  and  mask  to  deceive  her  as 
this  treaty  of  peace.  I  pray  God  that  we  do  not  curse 
for  this  a  long  grey  beard  with  a  white  head  witless, 
that  will  make  all  the  world  think  us  heai-tless.  Yon 
know  whom  I  mean.'"  And  it  certiiinly  was  not  difficult 
to  understand  the  allusion  to  tlie  pondering  Lord-Trea- 
surer.— ^''Opus  est  aliquo  Dcedalo,  to  direct  us  out  of  the 
maze,"  *  said  that  much  puzzled  statesman  ;  but  lie  hardly 
seemed  to  be  making  himself  wings  with  which  to  lift 
England  and  himself  out  of  the  labyrinth.  The  ships 
were  good  ships,  but  there  was  intolerable  delay  in 
getting  a  sufficient  number  of  them  as  ready  for  action 
as  was  the  spirit  of  their  commanders. 

*'  Our  ships  do  show  like  gallants  here,"  said  Winter ; 
"  it  would  do  a  man's  heart  good  to  behold  them.  Would 
to  God  the  Prince  of  Parma  were  on  the  seas  with  all 
his  forces,  and  we  in  sight  of  them  1  You  should  hear 
that  we  would  make  his  enterprise  very  unpleasant  to 
him."^ 

And  Howard,  too,  was  delighted  not  only  with  his 
own  little  flag-ship  the  Ark-Rnyal—''  the  odd  ship  of  the 
world  for  all  conditions," — but  with  all  of  his  fleet  that 
could  be  mustered.  Although  wonders  were  reported, 
by  ©very  arrival  from  the  south,  of  the  coming  Armada, 
the  Lord-Admiral  was  not  appalled.  He  was  perhaps 
rather  imprudent  in  the  defiance  he  flung  to  the  enemy. 
**Let  me  have  the  four  great  ships  and  twenty  hoys, 
with  but  twenty  men  a-piece,  and  each  with  but  two 
iron  pieces,  and  her  Majesty  shall  have  a  good  account 
of  the  Spanish  forces ;  and  I  will  make  the  King  wish 
his  galleys  home  again.  Few  as  we  are,  if  his  forces 
be  not  hundreds,  we  will  make  good  sport  with  them."* 

But  those  four  great  ships  of  her  Majesty,  so  much 
longed  for  by  Howard,  were  not  foithcoming.  He  com- 
plained that  the  Queen  was  "  keeping  them  to  protect 
Chatham  Church  withal,  when  they  should  be  serving 


I  Howard    to  Walslngham,  MS.  last 
cited. 


3  Sir  Will.  Winter  to  Hawkins, 


«    Burghley    to    WiUoughby.   1  Feb.    '''•'•    ^^^  ^'  ""^'^  ^'^-^ 

16 


«8Feh., 
U  Mar. 


1588.    (a  P.  Office  MS.) 


*  Howard  to  Burghley,    ^^^',  15)^8. 

10  Mar. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1588.  BITTER  COMPLAINTS  OF  LORD  HOWARD.  427 

their  turn  abroad." '  The  Spanish  fleet  was  already  re- 
ported as  numbering  from  210  sail,  with  36,000  men,* 
to  400  or  500  ships,  and  80,000  soldiers  and  mariners  ^ 
and  yet  Drake  was  not  ready  with  his  squadron.  "  The 
fault  is  not  in  him,"  said  Howard,  "  but  I  pray  God  her 
Majesty  do  not  repent  her  slack  dealing.  We  must  all 
lie  together,  for  we  shall  be  stirred  very  shortly  with 
heave  ho !  I  fear  ere  long  her  Majesty  will  be  sorry 
she  hath  believed  some  so  much  as  she  hath  done."* 

Howard  had  got  to  sea,  and  was  cruising  all  the 
stormy  month  of  March  in  the  Channel  with  his  little 
unprepared  squadron,  expecting  at  any  moment— such 
was  the  profound  darkness  which  enveloped  the  world 
at  that  day— that  the  sails  of  the  Armada  might  appear 
in  the  offing.  He  made  a  visit  to  the  Dutch  coast,  and 
was  delighted  with  the  enthusiasm  ^dth  which  he  was 
received.  Five  thousand  people  a  day  came  on  board 
his  ships,  full  of  congratulation  and  delight ;  and  he  in- 
formed the  Queen  that  she  was  not  more  assured  of  the 
Isle  of  Sheppey  than  of  Walcheren,^ 

Nevertheless  time  wore  on,  and  both  the  army  and 
navy  of  England  were  quite  unprepared,  and  the  Queen 
was  more  reluctant  than  ever  to  incur  the  expense 
necessary  to  the  defence  of  her  kingdom.  At  least  one 
of  those  galleys,  which,  as  Howard  bitterly  complained, 
seemed  destined  to  defend  Chatham  ( liuVch,  was  im- 
portunately demanded;  but  it  was  already  Easter-day 
(17th  April),  and  she  was  demanded  in  vain.  "  Lord! 
when  should  she  serve,"  said  the  Admiral,  "  if  not  at  such 
a  time  as  this  ?  Either  she  is  fit  now  to  serve,  or  fit  for 
the  fire.  I  hope  never  in  my  time  to  see  so  great  a 
cause  for  her  to  be  used.  I  dare  say  her  Majesty  will 
look  that  men  should  fight  for  her,  and  I  know  they 
will  at  this  time.  The  King  of  Spain  doth  not  keep 
any  ship  at  home,  either  of  his  own  or  any  other,  that 
he  can  get  for  money.  Well,  well,  I  must  pray  heartily 
for  peace,"  said  Howard  with  increasing  spleen,  '*  for  I 


>   Howard  to  Walsingham,  -  March, 

1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
2  Ibid. 

'  Drake  to  the  IQueen,  ^^'.   1588. 

8  Mar 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


II 

*  Howard  to  Walsingham,  -  March, 


1588,  MS. 

*  Sanie    to 
(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


same,  -   March,    1588. 


I 


)  ! 


!j 


428 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVIH. 


see  the  support  of  an  honourable  war  will  never  appear. 
Sparing  and  war  have  no  affinity  together."  * 

In  trnth  Elizabeth's  most  faithful  subjects  weie 
appalled  at  the  ruin  which  she  seemed  by  her  mistaken 
policy  to  be  rendering  inevitable.  "I  am  sorry,"  said 
the  Admiral,  "  that  her  Majesty  is  so  careless  of  this 
most  dangerous  time.  I  fear  me  much,  and  with  grief 
I  think  it,  that  she  relieth  on  a  hope  that  will  deceive 
her,  and  greatly  endanger  her,  and  then  it  will  not  be 
her  money  nor  her  jewels  that  will  help  ;  for  as  they 
will  do  good  in  time,  so  they  will  help  nothing  for  the 
redeeming  of  time."  * 

The  preparations  on  shore  were  even  more  dilatory 
than  thijse  on  the  sea.     We  have  seen  that  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  once  landed,  expected  to  march  directly  upon 
London ;    and   it   was   notorious    that    there    were   no 
fortresses   to   oppose   a   march  of  the  first  general  in 
Europe  and  his  veterans  upon   that   unprotected   and 
wealthy  metropolis.      An   army  had   been  enrolled— a 
force  of  86,010  foot,  and  13,8;U  cavalry;  but  it  was  an 
army  on  paper  merely.     Even  of  the  80,000,  only  48,000 
were  set  down  as  trained;    and  it  is  certain  that  the 
training  had  been  of  the  most  meagre  and  unsatisfactory 
description.^     Leicester  was  to  be  commander-in-chief; 
but   we  have   already   seen   that  nobleman   measuring 
himself,  not  much  to  his   advantage,  with   Alexander 
Farnese,  in  the  Isle  of  Bommel,  on  the  sands  of  Blanken- 
burg,  and  at  the  gates  of  Sluys.     His  army  was  to  con- 
sist of  27,000  infontry  and   2000   horse ;    yet   at  mid- 
summer it  had  not  reached  half  that  number.      Lord 
Chamberlain  Ilunsdon  was  to  protect  the  Queen's  person 
with  another  army  of  36,000  ;  but  this  force  was  purely 
an    imaginary   one ;    and   the   lord-lieutenant   of    each 
county  was  to  do  his  best  with  the  militia.     But  men 
were  perpetually  escaping  out  of  the  general  service, 
in  order  to  make  themselves  retainers  for  private  noble- 
men, and  be  kept  at  their  expense.     "  You  sliall  hardly 
believe,   said  Leicester,   *'how  many  new  liveries  be 
gotten  within  these  six  weeks,  and  no  man  fears  the 


'  Howard  to  Wabingham,  —  April, 

158*».    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
•  Same  to  same,  MS.  last  cited. 


»  Murden,  60S-613.  '  Hardwicke  Pa- 
pers,' I.  676.  Lingard,  viii.  273.  Camden, 
ili.  405.    Stowc,  750. 


1588.    WANT  OF  PREPARATION  IN  ARMY  AND  NAVY.      429 

penalty.  It  would  be  better  that  every  nobleman  did 
as  Lord  Dacres,  than  to  take  away  from  the  principal 
service  such  as  are  set  down  to  serve."* 

Of  enthusiasm  and  courage,  then,  there  was  enough, 
while  of  drill  and  discipline,  of  powder  and  shot,  there 
was  a  deficiency.  No  braver  or  more  competent  soldier 
could  be  found  than  Sir  Edward  Stanley— the  man 
whom  we  have  seen  in  his  yellow  jerkin,  helping  him- 
self into  Fort  Zutj^hen  with  the  Spanish  soldier's  pike— 
and  yet  Sir  Edward  Stanley  gave  but  a  sorry  account  of 
the  choicest  soldiers  of  Chester  and  Lancashire,  whom 
he  had  been  sent  to  inspect.  ''  I  find  them  not,"  he 
said,  "according  to  your  expectation,  nor  mine  own 
liking.  They  were  appointed  two  years  past  to  have 
been  trained  six  days  by  the  year  or  more,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  muster-master,  but,  as  yet,  they  have  not 
been  trained  one  daij,  so  that  they  have  benefited  nothing, 
nor  yet  know  their  leaders.  There  is  now  promise  of 
amendment,  which,  T  doubt,  will  be  very  sIoav,  in  re- 
spect to  my  Lord  Derby's  absence."* 

My  Lord  Derby  was  at  that  moment,  and  for  many 
months  afterwards,  assisting  Valentine  Dale  in  his 
classical  prolusions  on  the  sands  of  Bourbourg.  He  had 
better  ha\  e  been  mustering  the  train-bands  of  Lancashire. 
There  was  a  general  indisposition  in  the  rural  districts 
to  expend  money  and  time  in  military  business,  until 
the  necessity  should  become  imperative.  I^rofessional 
soldiers  complained  bitterly  of  the  canker  of  a  lono- 
peace.  "  For  our  long  quietness,  which  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  send  us,"  said  Stanley,  "  they  think  their  money 
very  ill  bestowed  which  they  expend  on  armour  or 
weapon,  fur  that  they  be  in  hope  they  shall  never  have 
occasion  to  use  it,  so  they  may  pass  muster,  as  they  have 
done  heretofore.  I  want  gTcatly  powder,  for  there  is 
little  or  none  at  all."^ 


'  Uicester    to   Walsingbam,    !i^, 
1888.    (S.  P.  Office  MS) 
-  Kdward  Stanley  to  the  PrivT  Council. 

S8  Feb. 

^ivwd;'  ^^^^-    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  Ibid. 

All  the  spring,  Sir  John  Norris  waa 
doing  what    he  could  to    exercise    the 


soldiers  in  London,  The  captains  of  the 
Artilkrj- -Garden  had  been  tolerablj'  well 
drilled  for  several  years,  but  the  rank 
and  file  were  ignorant  enough  of  the  art 
of  war.  "There  has  been  a  general 
muster  of  men  fit  to  bear  arms  here," 
said  a  resident  of  London  in  April,  "  and 
t1i"re  have  not  been  found  ten  thousand 
bufficieut  .men.    This  will  seem  strange 


I 


430 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVHI. 


The  day  was  fast  approaching  when  all  the  powder 
in  England  would  be  too  little  for  the  demand.  But 
matters  had  not  very  much  mended  even  at  midsummer. 

3  It  is  true  that  Leicester,  who  was  apt  to  be 

15  '^"^^'  sanguine — particularly  in  matters  under  his 
^^^^'  immediate  control — spoke  of  the  handful  of 
recruits  assembled  at  his  camp  in  Essex,  as  "soldiers 
of  a  year's  experience,  rather  than  a  month's  camping ;" 
but  in  this  opinion  he  differed  from  many  competent 
authorities,  and  was  somewhat  in  contradiction  to 
himself.  Nevertheless  he  was  glad  that  the  Queen 
had  determined  to  visit  him,  and  encourage  his  sol- 
diers. 

"I  have  received  in  secret,"  he  said,  "those  news 
that  please  me,  that  your  Majesty  doth  intend  to  behokl 
the  poor  and  bare  company  that  lie  here  in  the  field, 
most  willingly  to  serve  you,  yea,  most  ready  to  die  for 
you.  You  shall,  dear  Lady,  behold  as  goodly,  loyal, 
and  as  able  men  as  any  prince  Christian  can  show  you, 
and  yet  but  a  handful  of  your  own,  in  comparison  of  the 
rest  you  have.  What  comfort  not  only  these  shall  re- 
ceive who  shall  be  the  happiest  to  behold  yourself  I 
cannot  express ;  but  assuredly  it  will  give  no  small 
comfort  to  the  rest,  that  shall  be  overshined  with  the 
beams  of  so  gracious  and  princely  a  party,  for  what 
your  royal  Majesty  shall  do  to  these  will  be  accepted  as 
done  to  all.  Good  sweet  Queen,  alter  not  your  purpose, 
if  God  give  you  health.  It  will  be  your  pain  for  the 
time,  but  your  pleasure  to  behold  such  people.  And 
surely  the  place  must  content  you,  being  as  fair  a  soil 
and  as  goodly  a  prospect  as  may  be  seen  or  found,  as 
this  extreme  weather  hath  made  trial,  which  doth  us 


to  you,  but  it  is  as  true  as  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Jolin.  There  is  a  great  want  of 
puwder.  and  no  hope  of  supply,  except 
that  which  can  be  manufacturwl  in 
England."  Avis  de  I^ndres,  Avril,  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Siraancas,  MS.) 

The  eneouraKfment  glvon  to  the  peace- 
party  In  the  metropolis  by  the  Ostend 
negotiations  was  acting  like  a  poison. 
"  'Fhe  i)eople  here  are  anxious  for  peace," 
wrote  a  secret  correspondent  of  the 
Spanish  government ;  "  and  if  the  Duke 


of  Parma  gives  the  least  hope  in  the 
world  of  it,  they  will  all  throw  down 
their  anns."  Much  encouragenu^nt,  too, 
was  given  to  Philip  by  the  alleged  dis- 
loyalty of  many  inhabitants  of  Ix>ndon. 
"  There  is  an  Infinity  of  fellows  here," 
said  the  writer,  "  who  desire  the  sacking 
of  London  not  less  than  the  Spaniards 
themselves  do,  and  are  doing  all  they 
am  to  advance  the  Catholic  cause." 
Avisos  de  Londres,  21-25-2H  Mayo,  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Slmancas  [Paris],  MS.) 


1588.        PATRIOTISM  OF  MERCHANTS  AND  OTHERS.  431 

little  annoyance,  it  is  so  firm  and  dry  a  giound.  Your 
usher  also  liketh  your  lodging— a  proper,  secret,  cleanly 
house.  Your  camp  is  a  little  mile  off,  and  your  person 
will  be  as  sure  as  at  St.  James's,  for  my  life."  ' 

But  notwithstanding  this  cheerful  view  of  the  position 
expressed  by  the  commander-in-chief,  the  month  of  July 
had  passed,  and  the  earit/  days  of  August  had  already 
arrived ;  and  yet  the  camp  was  not  fonned,  nor  any- 
thing more 'than  that  mere  handful  of  troops  mustered 
about  Tilbury,  to  defend  the  road  from  Dover  to  Lon- 
don. The  army  at  Tilbury  never  exceeded  sixteen  or 
seventeen  thousand  men.'' 

The  whole  royal  navy— numbering  about  thirty-four 
vessels  in  all— of  difterent  sizes,  ranging  from  1100  and 
1000  tons  to  30,  had  at  last  been  got  ready  for  sea.  Its 
aggregate  tonnage  was  11,820;^  not  half  so  much  as  at 
the  present  moment — in  the  case  of  one  marvellous 
merchant  steamer— /oaAv  upon  a  single  keel. 

These  vessels  carried  837  guns  and  G279  men.     But 
the  navy  was  reinforced  by  the  patriotism  and  liberality 
of  English  merchants  and  private  gentlemen.     The  city 
of  London,  having  been  requested  to  furnish  15  ships  of 
war  and  5000  men,  asked  two  days  for  deliberation,  and 
then  gave  30  ships  and  10,000  men,-*  of  which  number 
2710  were  seamen.    Other  cities,  particularly  Plymouth, 
canie  forward  with  proportionate  liberality,  and  private 
individuals,  nobles,  merchants,  and  men   of  humblest 
rank,  were  enthusiastic  in  volunteering  into  the  naval 
sei-vice,   to  risk  property  and   life   in   defence   of  the 
country.     By  midsummer  there  had  been  a  total  force 
uf  197   vessels  manned,  and  pai-tially  equipped,  with 
an  aggregate  of  29,744  tons,  and  15,785  seamen.     Of 
this   fleet   a   very   large   number  were    mere    coasters 
of  less  than   100  tons  each;    scarcely  ten   ships  were 
above  500,  and  but  one  above   1000  tons— the  Tnuinph, 
Captain   Frobisher,   of  1100   tons,   42   guns,   and  500 
sailors.' 

Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  Lord  High- Admiral  of 


»  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  -^  July,  1588. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
*  Stowe,  750. 


8  Barrow,  266,  267. 

*  Stowe,  743.    Compare  estimates  in 
Barrow,  268. 
»  Ibid. 


i  'I 

!i 


:i- 


I 


432  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.         Chap.  XVHI. 

England,  distinguished  for  his  martial  character,  public 
spirit,  and  admirable  temper,  rather  than  for  experience 
or  skill  as  a  seaman,  took  command  of  the  whule  fleet, 
in  his  "  little  mid  ship  for  all  conditions,"  the  Ark  Royal, 
of  800  tons,  425  sailors,  and  55  gims. 

Next  in  rank  was  Vice- Admiral  Drake,  m  the  Revenge, 
of  500  tons,  250  men  and  40  gims.  Lord  Henry  Sey- 
mour, in  the  Rainbow,  of  precisely  the  same  size  and 
streno-th,  commanded  the  inner  squadron,  which  cnused 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  French  and  Flemish  coa.st. 

The  Hollanders  and  Zeelanders  had  undertaken  to 
l)lockade  the  Duke  of  Parma  still  more  closely,  and 
pledged  themselves  that  he  should  never  venture  to 
show  liimself  upon  the  open  sea  at  all.  Ihe  mouth  ot 
the  Scheldt,  and  the  dangerous  shallows  of!*  the  coast 
of  Newport  and  Dunkirk,  swarmed  with  their  deter- 
mined and  well-seasoned  craft,  from  the  flybooter  or 
filibuster  of  the  rivers,  to  the  larger  armed  vessels, 
built  to  confront  every  danger,  and  to  deal  with  any 

adversaiy.  ,  „  t   i  ^      • 

Farnese,  on  his  part,  within  that  well- guarded  tem- 
tory,  had,  for  months  long,  scarcely,  slackened  m  his 
preparations,  day   or   night.     Whole  forests  had   been 
felled  in  the  land  of  AVaasto  furnish  him  with  transports 
and  gun-boats,  and  with  such  rapidity,  that— according 
to   his   enthusiastic  historiographer— each  tree  seemed 
by  mao-ic  to  metamorpliose  itself  into  a  vessel  at  the 
woi-d  of  command.'      Shipbuilders,  pilots,  and  seamen 
were  brought   from   the    Baltic,  from  Hamburg,  from 
Genoa.    The  whole  surface  of  the  obedient  Netherlands, 
whence  wholesome  industry  had  long  been   banished, 
was   now  the  scene  of  a   prodigious   baleful  activity. 
Tortable   bridges   for   fording   the   rivers   of   England, 
stockades  for  entrenchments,  rafts  and  oars,  were  pro- 
vided in  vast  numl)ers,  and  Alexander  dug  canals  and 
widened  natural  streams  to   fticilitate   his   opiratK»ns. 
These  wretched  Provinces,  crippled,  impoverislied,  lan- 
gui«hing  for  peace,   were  forced  to   contribute  out  ot 
their  povertv,  and  to  find  strength  even  in  their  ex- 
haustion, to  furnish  the  machinery  for  destroying  their 

1  Strada,  il.  ix.  542.  21  Dec.  1587.    (Arch,  de  Simancas.  MS.) 

2  Strada,  ubi  tup.    Panna  to  Philip,    Metereu,  xv.  270. 


1588. 


ACTIVITY  OF  PARMA. 


433 


own   countrymen,  and  fur  hurling  to   perdition   their 
most  healthiul  neighbour. 

And  this  approaching  destruction   of  England—now 
genera  ly  believed  in-wa^  like  the  sound  of  a  trumpet 
throughout  Catholic  Europe.     Scions   of  royal   hou.^s 
gi-andees  ot  azure  blood,  the  baistard  of  Philip  II     the 
bastard  of  Savoy,  the  bastard  of  Medici,  the  Margrave  of 
Burghaut,  the  Archduke  Charles,  nephew  of  the  Em- 
peror, the  Princes  of  Ascoli  and  of  Melfi,  the  Prince  of 
Morocco,  and  others  of  illustrious  name,  with  many  a 
noble  English  traitor,  like  Paget,  and  Westmoreland,  and 
Stanley,  all  hurried  to  the  camp  of  Faniese,  as  to  some 
tamous  tournament,  in  which  it  was  a  disgrace  to  chi- 
valry if  their  names  were  not  enrolled.     The  roads  were 
trampled  witli  levies  of  fresh  troops  from  Spain,  Naples, 
Corsica    the  States  of  the  Church,  the  Milanese,  Ger- 
many, Burgundy. 

Bias  Capizuuca  was  sent  in  person  to  conduct  rein- 
forcements from  the  north  of  Italy.  The  famous  Tcrzio 
ot  Naples,  under  Carlos  Pinelo,  arrived  3500  stron<r_ 
the  most  splendid  regiment  ever  known  in  the  history 

T^\  ^'r""^  '''''''  ^^^  ^^  engraved  corslet  and 
musket-barrel,  and  there  were  many  who  wore  gilded 
armour,  while  tlieir  waving  plumes  and  festive  capa- 
risons made  them  look  like  holiday-makers,  rather  than 
real  campaigners,  in  the  eyes  of  the  inhabiUmts  of  the 
various  cities  through  which  their  road  led  (hem  to 
Flanders.'  By  the  end  of  April  the  Duke  of  Parma  saw 
himself  at  the  head  of  60,000  men,  at  a  monthly  expense 
of  4o4,31o  crowns  or  dollars.*  Yet  so  rapid  was  the 
progress  of  disease— incident  to  northern  climates— 
among  those  southern  soldiers,  that  we  shall  find  the 
uuniber  woefully  diminished  before  they  were  likely  to 
set  foot  upon  the  English  shore. 

Thus  great  prepamtions,  simultaneously  with  pompous 
negotiations,  had  been  going  forward  month  after  month 
m  England,  Holland,  Flanders.     Nevertheless,  winter' 
tf "of :/T;*^''"^'  ^^  summer,  ha.1  passed  away,  and  on 
the  29th  July,  1588,  there  remained  the  same  siekenin< 


''^ 


'Camero.'Guerra8deFlandes'(lG25).    1588.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.)    Com. 

3  .1L,    .       „  P^r*^  ytri*da  II.  ix.  540. 

Heladoii  PaillcuUr;  &c.  29  April, 

VOL.  II.  *  o    „  ■ 

-i    F 


434 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XVHI. 


1588. 


PHILIP  IL  IN  HIS  CABINET. 


uncertainty,  which  was  the  atmosphere  in  which  the 
nations  had  existed  for  a  twelvemonth. 

Howard  had  cruised  for  a  few  weeks  between  Eng- 
land and  Spain,  without  any  results,  and,  on  his  return, 
had  found  it  necessary  to  implore  her  Majesty,  as  late  as 
July,  to  "trust  no  more  to  Judas'  kisses,  but  to  her 
Bword,  not  her  enemy's  word."  * 

I  Howard  to  Walslngham.  ^^.  15S8,  In  Botow.  2f?C 


4aj 


CHAPTEK  XIX. 

riii,rli„n    «lih    ^  '"'""•'        ""  '""IMilSMls—liiscrililiciiuf  il„.  H„.t_n„. 

M»*  fruuloss  by  l>„iU,,-s  1,„1,K.,»  -  Koglund  r,,„t,„  a,  fe^,  ^  ,  ;;^ «;  .^''L^Ti- 
S.  f  rZ,  ti  'v"-^''T'''  "'  "'"■"'*  •'^J""™1»-  England's  „arr„w 
h^p,  Iran.  Briat  1  ml  -  Various  Rum<,urs  as  to  Iho  Armada's  Fat-  -Pl.ilin  for 
^on.  l,me  „.  l*,ubt-He  Mlcv..  him^lf  victorious  -  Is  tr.,„un  J^^ 

ll  ILT  *''?^  ^  'r""  '?  "P°"  ^'^'^  '^^'''^y  lottei-writer 
Ihe  drama  '  "  '"'  "''  ''^  "'"^  l'^''^"'S  ^'^  P'"*  "' 
IIi«  counsellors  wore  very  few.  ni.s  chief  advisors 
wf  '?*''";  V.ke  Pi'vate  secretaries  tlian  cabiuet  ,nini.s- 
teis;  for  I'luhi,  had  been  withdnnviug  „ore  and  anoie 
in  o  seelnsion  and  my..tery  as  the  webwork  of  his  schemes 
luultip  led  and  widened.  He  liked  to  do  liis  work 
assisted  by  a  very  few  confidential  sei^ants.  The  Priuee 

Cardinal  Granvee.  So  were  Erasso  and  Delga.lo.  His 
midnight  council -/««ta  d,  „,.•/,— fur  tliusf  from  its 
original  hour  of  assembling,  and  the  air  of  secrecy  in 
w  leh  ,t  was  enwrapped,  it  was  habitually  atHed-was 

m  ni.f  f  T^  °^  TV  *'"'  ^'"""t  '^«  Cliinehon  was 
minster  for  the  household,  for  Italian  allaii^,  and  for  the 

monarcV  l-^/P"^'.  ^"'^  ^Hstoval  dc  Moura,  the 
cSle"      '         ^'^"^""^teied  the  affairs  of  Portugal  and 


«  llerrtra,  111.  il.  13.45,  .^^  .jg^ 


!l 


i 


^       i        ml 


436 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


The  president  of  the  council  of  Italy,  after  Granvelle's 
death,  was  Quiroga,  cardinal  of  Toledo,  and  inquisitor- 
general.*  Enoraiously  long  letters,  in  the  King's  name, 
were  prepared  chiefly  by  the  two  secretaries,  Idiaquez 
and  Moura.  In  their  hands  was  the  vast  con-espondence 
with  Mendoza  and  Parma,  and  Olivarez  at  Kome,  and 
with  Mucio,  in  which  all  the  stratagems  for  the  subju- 
gation of  Protestant  Europe  were  slowly  and  artistically 
contrived.  Of  the  great  conspiracy  against  human  liberty, 
of  which  the  Pope  and  Philip  were  the  double  head, 
this  midnight  triumvirate  was  the  chief  executive  com- 
mittee. 

These  innumerable  despatches,  signed  by  Philip,  were 
not  the  emanations  of  his  own  mind.  ITie  King  had  a 
fixed  purpose  to  subdue  Protestantism  and  to  conquer 
the  world ;  but  the  plans  for  carrying  the  jmii^ose  into 
effect  were  developed  by  subtler  and  more  comprehen- 
sive minds  than  his  own.  It  was  enough  for  him  to 
ponder  wearily  over  schemes  which  he  was  supposed  to 
dictate,  and  to  give  himself  the  appearance  of  super- 
yisine:  what  he  scarcely  comprehended.  And  his  work 
of  supervision  was  often  confined  to  pettiest  details. 
The  handwriting  of  Spain  and  Italy  at  that  day  was 
beautiful,  and  in  our  modem  eyes  seems  neither  anti- 
quated nor  ungraceful.  But  Philip's  scrawl  was  like 
that  of  a  clown  just  admitted  to  a  writing-school,  and  the 
whole  margin  of  a  fairly  penned  despatch,  perhaps  fifty 
pages  long,  laid  before  him  for  comment  and  signatiire 
by  Idiaquez  or  Moura,  would  be  sometimes  covered  with 
a  few  awkward  sentences,  which  it  was  almost  impos- 
sible to  read,  and  which,  when  deciphered,  were  apt  to 
reveal  suggestions  of  astounding  triviality.* 

Thus  a  most  important  despatch— in  which  the  King, 
with  his  own  hand,  was  supposed  to  be  conveying  secret 
intelligence  to  IMendoza  concerning  the  Armada,  together 
with  minute  directions  for  the  regulation  of  Guise's 
conduct  at  the  memorable  epoch   of  the  banicades— 


'  Herrera,  uhi  sup. 

'  No  man  who  has  had  personal  expfri- 
ence  in  the  Archives  of  Simancosi,  or  who 
has  Btudied  with  his  own  eyes  the  great 
collection  of  document-s  originally  Ix-long- 
j!if  to  that  depository,  and  now  presorvi  d 
m  the  Archives  of  the  Emiiire  at  rarid, 


will  assert  that  th^  description  in  the  text 
is  exaggeratal.  The  pai  agraphs  written 
in  the  King's  own  hand  are  almost  ille- 
gible, and  evidently  wrltU'n  with  great 
dlfficnUy.  When  deciphered,  they  are 
foiuid  to  be  always  awkward,  generally 
ungrammatical,  and  very  often  puerile. 


1588.  HIS  SYiJTEM  OF  WORK  AND  DECEPTIOX.  437 

contained  but  a  single  comment  from  the  monarch's  own 
pen.  .  '  The  Armada  has  been  in  Lisbon  about  a  month 
—quassi  un  rms  —wrote  the  secretary.  *-  There  is  but 
one  s  m  quasi;'  said  Philip.' 

Again  a  despatch  of  Mendoza  to  the  King  contained 
he  intelligence  that  Queen  Elizabeth  was,  at  the  date  of 
the  letter  residing  at  St.  James's.     Philip,  who  had  no 
objection  to  display  his  knowledge  of  English  aifairs— as 
became  the  man  who  had  already  been  almost  sovereicm 
of  England  and  meant  to  be  entirely  so-supplied  a 
piece  of  information  in  an  apostille  to  this  despatch. 
fet.  James  is  a  house  of  recreation,"  he  said   "  which 
was  once  a  monastery.     There  is  a  park  between  it.  and 
the  palace  which  is  called  Huytal ;  but  ichy  it  is  called 
HayM,  I  am  sure  I  do'nt  know."*     His  researches  in 
the  English  language  had  not  enabled  him  to  recojmize 
the  adjective  and  substantive  out  of  which  the  abstruse 
compound  White-Hall  {Huyt-al),  was  formed. 
^    On  another  occasion,  a  letter  from  England  containing 
impoi-tant  intelligence  concerning  the  number  of  soldiers 
enrolled  in  that  country  to  resist  the  Spanish  invasion, 
11  quantity   of    gunpowder    and    various    munitions 
collected,  with  other  details  of  like  nature,  furnished 
besides  a  bit  of  information  of  less  vital  interest.     "  In 
the  windows  of  the  Queen's  presence-chamber  they  have 
discovered  a  great  quantity  of  lice,  all  clustered  toLrether," 
said  the  writer.  ^ 

Such  a  minute  piece  of  statistics  could  not  escape  the 
microscopic  eye  of  Philip.  So,  disregarding  the  soldiers 
and  the  gunpowder,  he  commented  o>.ly  on  this  last- 
nientioned  clause  of  the  letter ;  and  he  did  it  cautiously 
too,  as  a  King  surnamed  the  Prudent  should  :— 

"  But  perhaps  they  were  fleas,"  wrote  Philip.^ 

xW^l^?  J  A  ^*'!"^^^'  ^  J»"«'  158«.  espaiioles  con  voz  de  ser  deshecha  toda  la 

\lT<  ..  ix  ^      o  •  ^^  Simancas  [Paris],  armada  de  V^.  M.«."  &c. 
^  ^•.r/^r^'^'^'T"    .  ^^'^^  »»  J'hillp's  hand:  "Casa  de  pla- 

Gpm.«        ^^  f  ""^^  '^^'^^''  *  '*^'"  «''■  '1"«  f"^  monasterio-es  un  parque 

^ic.    ;ri^:,""P^'^  ^'  ""y'*^'    entreellayelpalacioquesellamaHTtal! 
U  CA8.a  de  Londres.  y  para  guarda  do  su    y  no  se  porque  yo."    Alendoza  to  Philln 

KTtr'T"^'^'*'""^^'^"-    "•  20  Aug.  15S8.    (Arch.  dTsimS 
t>rc8,  y   mil  cavalleros  que  estuviessen    [Paris],  MS) 

P^mTv  M        ''"^'^''  "'''''^'■^"  '^  '^'^  presonc  M-n  la  courde  !a  Hevneon  a  trouve 

Pedro  d.  Valdez  y  a  todus  los  de  mas  que  fort  grand  non.br.  de  poulx  qui  8e  s^nt 

etomaron  en  carros  a  Londres  para  que  coule.  ensemble."     iCe  is  a  Sp(^"h 

vies«.  el  pueblo  que  avian  tornado  pr.^s  translation  appended  to  thL  l2^^ 


43  S 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


Such  examples — and  man}'  more  might  be  given — 
gnfficiently  indicate   the  nature  of  the  man  on  whom 
snch  enonnons  responsibilities  rested,  and  who  had  been, 
by  the  adnlation  of  his  fellow-creatnres,  elevated  into  a 
god.     And  wo  may  east  a  glance  upon  him  as  he  sits  in 
his  cabinet — bnried  among  those  piles  of  despatches — 
and  receiving  inetliodically,  at  stated  hours,  Idiaquez,  or 
Moura,  or  Chincon,  to   settle   the  affairs  of  so  many 
millions  of  the  human  race ;  and  we  may  watch  exactly 
the  progress  of  th-.it  scheme,  concerning  which  so  many 
contradictory  rumouis  were  circulating  in  Europe.     In 
the  month  of  April  a  Walsingham  could  doubt,  even  in 
August  an  ingenuous  comptroller  could  disbelieve,  the 
reality  of  the  great  project,  and  the  Pope  himself,  even 
while  pledging  himself  to  assistance,  had  been  systemati- 
cally deceived.     He  had   supposed  the  whole  scheme 
Tendered  futile  by  the  exploit  of  Drake  at  Cadiz,  and 
had  declared  that  ''  the  Queen  of  England's  distaff  was 
worth  more  than  I*hilip's  sword,  that  the  King  was  a 
poor  creature,  that  he  would  never  be  able  to  come  to 
a  resolution,  and  that  even  if  he  should  do  so,  it  would 
be  too  late  ;"  '  and  he  had  subsequently  been  doing  his 
best,  through  his   nuncio  in   France,  to  persuade  the 
Queen  to  embrace  the  Catholic  religion,  and  thus  save 
herself  from  the  impending  danger,     llenrj'  III.  had 
even  been  urged  by  the  Pope  to  send  a  special  ambassa- 
dor to  her  for  this  purpose — as  if  the  persuasions  of  the 
wretched  A^alois  were  likely  to  be  eflective  with  Eliza- 
beth Tudor— and  Burghley  had,  by  means  of  spies  in 
Home,  who  pretended  to  be  Catholics,  given  out  intima- 
tions that  the  Queen  was  seriously  contemplating  such 
a  step.*  Thus  the  Pope,  notwithstanding  Cardinal  Allan, 


and  on  the  nwrgin,  in  Philip's  hand,  is 
written  :  "  Gran  uiimero  de  piojos  o  qulza 
pulgoa."  Avisos  de  Londn^s,  1  April. 
1586.  (Arch,  de  Simancaa  [Paris],  MS.) 
•  Un  Vandini,  griui  vanquero  de  Roma, 
que  ti'*ne  correspondencia  con  este  Rey 
Xmo  y  intelligcncia  con  muchos  Cat***  le 
ha  escrito  haver  dicho  el  Papa  quando 
Bupo  lo  que  Draques  avia  hecho  en  Gales, 
que  Su  Magt*  (Riilip  II.)  era  iK-rsona  de 
poco,  que  nunca  se  acaveva  de  rewdver,  y 
quatido  lo  hiziesse  no  serla  en  tiempo — 
han  aqul  no  solo  solemnirAdo  pero  publi- 
cudu  afiadiendo  que  valia  mas  la  rueca  de 


la  Reyna  de  Insrlaterra  que  h\  espada  del 
Rey  de  Espafia,  &c,  kc.  MendoZii  to 
Idiaiiuiz,  16  July,  1587.  (.Vrch  de  Sim- 
ancas  [Paris],  MS.) 

*  "  Me  he  visto  con  el  nuncio,  y  me  li;i 
dlclioque  Su  Santi**,  avlamese«i,que  pitlio 
a  pste  Rey  embiasse  a  la  dc  Inglaterra  lo 
l)ifn  que  le  estaria  hazerse  Catolica,  y  esto 
per  tener  Su  S«l  avisos  poder  vtnir  en  ello 
con  3emejantes  persuasiones que  cstc  lUy 
escrlvio  a  su  embaxre  que  tlene  en  Ingla- 
terra le  avisasse  si  estava  en  esta  disposl- 
cion  la  Reyna,  el  qual  respondio  el  Toso- 
rero  Cecil  per  medio  de  esplones  que  teuii 


}5Si.      HIS  VAST  BUT  VAGUE  SCHEME  OF  CONQUEST.      439 

the  famous  million,  and  tho  bull,  was  thought  by  Mcu- 
doza  to  be  growing  lukowam  in  the  Spanish  cause,  and 
to  be  urging  upon  the  "  Englishwoman  "  the  prop  iety 
of  ^convertnig  herself,  even  at  tho  late  hour  of  Ma/, 

«-1^li*  ^^"'P-'  *°'"  ^'*'*'"''''  ^'^  ^^°»  maturing  his  scheme, 
«lule    reposing   entire    confidence-beyond    his    own 

th^'?h  tl'"'V"I'T  Vr'^  '""  Alexander  Faniese;  and 
the  Duke-alone  of  all  men-was  perfectly  certain  that 
the  invasion  would,  this  year,  bo  artempted. 

n,I  !ft<P'f' "/.^''"°'*^  °^  ^^^  e^Ptdition  was  the  Mar- 
wllf    '",     ^''"=''  ^  •"'*''  "f  considerable  naval  expe- 

IZ«  S;'"?  •'°"''*''*  ?^  ^"'^•"^e-  ^l^o.  i'l  thirty 

J  ears,  had  never  sustained  a  defeat."    He  had  however 

shown  no  desire  to  risk  one,  when  Drake  liad  oflered 
him  tho  memorable  challenge  in  the  year  lo87  and 
perhaps  h,«  reputation  of  the  invincible  captain  had 
Wn  obtained  by  the  same  adroitness  on  previous  occa 
sions.  He  was  no  friend  to  Alexander  Farnese,  and  was 
much  disgusted  when  infonnod  of  the  share  allotted  to 
tue  Duke  in  the  great  undertaking."  A  course  of  rc- 
wl?f  I  if  P'^'Tctual  reprimand  was  the  treatment  to 
which  ho  was,  in  consequence,  subjected,  which  was  not 
more  conducive  to  the  advancement  of  tho  expedition 
han  It  was  to  the  health  of  tho  captain-goneral  Early 
nJanuaiy  the  Cardinal  Archduke  was  sent  to  Lisbon 
to  lecture  him,  with  instructions  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
a  1  his  remonstrances,  to  deal  with  him  peremptorily,  to 

^■^^  f.     'i'^'',"-"'?  ^"''"■^  °?  *''«  '^"^^"t  to  •"«  Majesty, 
and  to  order  lunito  accept  his  post  or  to  decline  it  witli- 

?  "  conditions  m  which  latter  contingency  lie.was  to  be 
mtormed  tliat  his  successor  was  already  decided  upon  ' 

ini  r  ^^J^^*-  ""^  "'?*  *^''SiWe  way  perhaps  for  bring- 
ng  the  captain-general  into  a  cheerful  mood ;  particu- 
teiTv^''  "^T  expected  to  be  ready  w  Junuwy  to  sail 
to  the  Flemish  coast.'  Nevertheless  the  Marquis  ex- 
en  Ronu  flngiendo  ser  Catolicos  avIa  hecho  MS ) 
liegar  esu  voj  a  Su  Sd  para  ganar  tieinpo  >  Herrera  I II  iil  7n 
y  entlblar  1»  ™  persuadlr  la  emprcsa  a  V        " 

ncaao  al  Canjl  de  Joyoaa  que  »ei  ia  muy    de  SImancas  MS  1 
b.ea  que  eate  Rey  embtase  un  embaxr.        .  lis  °^cl!«i 

»  i^ms    ;imh  r^'  '°  '"''r',""  'V     f  ^'  ^'•'="'-'»1»«-  ^'O.  "»  (Arch, 
o  ^iaj ,  1&88.  (Arch  de  bmiancas  [Paris],    de  SImancas  MS.), 


»  Ibid. 

^-.v.m*«,    **a,     ill,        I  \/, 

'  1-is  Adverttiiclas  de  Su  Magd  para 
el  Maiquts  de  Sjinta  Cruz,  1588.    (Arch 


440 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588. 


DEATH  OF  SANTA  CRUZ. 


441 


pressed  a  hope  to  accomplish  his  sovereign's  wishes; 
and  gi-eat  had  been  the  bustle  in  all  the  dockyards  of 
Naples,  Sicily,  and  Spain ;  particularly  in  the  provinces 
of  Guipuzcoa,  Biscay,  and  Andalusia,  and  in  the  four 
great  cities  of  the  coast.  War-ships  of  all  dimensions, 
tenders,  transports,  soldiers,  sailors,  sutlers,  munitions 
of  war,  provisions,  were  all  rapidly  concentrating  in 
Lisbon  as  the  great  place  of  rendezvous;  and  Philip 
confidently  believed,  and  as  confidently  informed  the 
Duke  of  Parma,  that  he  might  be  expecting  the  Armada 
at  any  time  after  the  end  of  January.* 

Perhaps  -in  the  historj^  of  mankind  there  has  never 
been  a  vast  project  of  conquest  conceived  and  matured 
in  so  protracted  and  yet  so  desultory  a  manner,  as  was 
this  fjxmous  Spanish  invasion.  There  was  something 
almost  ]>uei'ile  in  the  whims  rather  than  schemes  of 
Philip  for  carrying  out  his  purpose.  It  was  probable 
that  some  resistance  would  be  ofibred,  at  least  by  the 
navy  of  England,  to  the  subjugation  of  that  country,  and 
the  King  had  enjoyed  an  opportunity,  the  preceding 
summer,  of  seeing  the  way  in  which  English  sailors  did 
their  work.  He  had  also  appeared  to  understand  the 
necessity  of  covering  the  passage  of  Famese  from  the 
Flemish  ports  into  the  Thames,  by  means  of  the  great 
Spanish  fleet  from  Lisbon.  Nevertheless  he  never 
seemed  to  be  aware  that  Farnese  could  not  invade 
England  quite  by  himself,  and  was  perpetually  expect- 
ing to  hear  that  he  had  done  so. 

**Ht»lland  and  Zeeland,"  wrote  Alexander  to  Philip, 
*'  have  been  arming  with  their  accustomed  promptness ; 
England  has  made  great  preparations.  I  have  done  my 
best  to  make  the  impossible  possible ;  but  your  letter 
told  me  to  wait  for  Santa  Cruz,  and  to  expect  him  very 
shortly.  If,  on  the  contrary,  you  had  told  me  to  make 
the  passage  without  him,  I  would  have  made  the  attempt, 
although  we  had  eveiy  one  of  us  perished.  Four  ships 
of  war  could  sink  every  one  of  my  boats.  Nevei-theless 
I  beg  to  be  informed  of  your  Majesty's  final  order.  If 
I  am  seriously  expected  to  make  the  passage  without 
Santa  Cniz,  I  am  ready  to  do  it,  although  I  should  go 
all  alone  in  a  cock-boat."'  f 

1  Herrera,  III.  iii.  90,  91.  una   zabra."    Pamia  to   Philip,  21  Dec. 

s  "  Aunque  huviesse  de  passar  sulu  en    1587.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 


But  Santa  Cruz  at  least  was  not  destined  to  assist  in 
the  conquest  of  England ;    for,  worn  out  with  fati-ue 
and  vexation,  goaded  by  the  reproaches  and  insults  of 
Philip,  banta  Cruz  was  dead.»     He  was  replaced  in  the 
chief  command   of  the  fleet  by  the   Duke   of  Medina 
bidonia,  a  grandee  of  vast  wealth,  but  with  little  capacity 
and  less  experience.     To  the  iron  marquis  it  was  said 
lA  ^.P^^^""  ^"ke*  tad  succeeded;   but  the  duke  of 
gold  did  not  find  it  easier  to  accomplish  impossibilities 
than  his  predecessor  had  done.    Day  after  day,  through- 
out the,  months  of  winter  and  spring,  the  King  had  been 
writing  that  the  fleet  was  just  on  the  point  of  sailino- 
and  as  frequently  he  had  been  renewing  to  Alexander 
farnese  the  intimation  that  perliaps,  after  all,  he  mi<^ht 
find  an  opportunity  of  crossing  to  England,  without 
waiting   for   its   arrival.^      And   Alexander,    with   the 
same  regularity,  had  been  informing  his  master  that 
the  troops  m  the  Netherlands  had  been  daily  dwindlini? 
from  sickness  and  other  causes,  till  at  last,  instead  of 
the  30,000  effective  infantry,  with  which  it  had  been 
originally  intended  to  make  tlie  enterprise,  he  had  not 
more  than  17,000,  in  the  month  of  April.*     The  6000 
bpaniards    whom  he  was  to  receive  from  the  fleet  of 
iUedma  bidonia,  would  therefore  be  the  very  mainsprino- 
ot  his  army.*     After  leaving  no  more  soldiers  in  the 
Aetherlands   than  were   absolutelv   necessary   fur  the 
defence  of  the  obedient  Provinces  against  the  rebels,  he 
could  only  take  with  him  to  England  23,000  men,  even 
atter  the   reinforcements   from   Medina.      "  AVhen   we 
talked  of  taking  England  by  siirju-ise,"  said  Alexander, 
^  we  never  thought  of  le.-s  than  30,000.     Now  that  she 
is  alert  and  ready  for  us,  and  that  it  is  certain  we  must 
hght  by  sea  and  by  land,  50,000  would  be  few."«     Ho 
almost  ridiculed  the  King's  suggestion  that  a  feint  might 
De  made  by  way  of  besieging  some  few  places  in  Holland 
or  Zeeland.     The  whole  matter  in  hand,  he  said,  had 
become  as  public  as  possible,  and  the  only  efficient  blind 
was  the  peace-negotiation ;    for  many  believed,  as  the 

IsV^r?^;-"'^?;''!-.^**'^*™^       *  ^*™^  *^  f"^"'?'  20  March,  1588. 
18  Feb.  1588.    (Arch,  de  Simancas.  MS.)    (Arch,  de  Siniaiicas,  MS.) 

s  p^y^  f  *  V*P'  '  "  Kl  nlervo  principal."    (Ibid.) 

(irch  difsiln    ""M«f  ^'^'■'^'   ''''•       '  ^""^''^'^  Philip,3lJan.  ISSd.CArch. 
I  ATch.  de  Simancas.  MS.)  de  Simancas,  MS.) 


\\ 


442 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FLEET. 


443 


English  depTities  were   now  treating  at  Ostend,  that 
peace  would  follow.* 

At  last,  on  the  28th,  29th,  and  30th  May,  1588,  the 
fleet,  which  had  been  waiting  at  Lisbon  more  than  a 
month  for  favourable  weather,  set  sail  from  that  port, 
after  having  been  duly  l^lessed  by  the  Cardinal  Archduke 
Albert,  viceroy  of  Portugal.* 

There  were  rather  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty 
ships  in  all,  divided  into  ten  squadrons.'     There  was 
the  squadron  of  Portugal,  consisting  of  ten  galleons,  and 
commanded  by  the   captain-general,    Medina   Sidonia. 
In  the  squadron  of  Castile  were  fourteen  ships  of  various 
sizes,  under  General  Diego  Flores  de  Yaldez.     This 
officer  was  one  of  the  most  experienced  naval  officers 
in  the  Spanish  service,  and  was  subsequently  ordered, 
in  consequence,  to  sail  with  the  generalissimo  in  his 
flag-ship.*      In   the   squadron  of  Andalusia  were   ten 
galleons   and   other  vessels,  under   General   Pedro   de 
Yaldez.     In  the  squadron  of  Biscay  were  ten  galleons 
and  lesser  ships,  under  General  Juan  Martinez  de  lle- 
calde,  upper  admiral  of  the  fleet.     In  the  squadron  of 
Guipuzcoa  were  ten  galleons,  under  General  Miguel  de 
Oquendo.     In  the  squadron  of  Italy  were  ten  ships, 
under  General  Martin  de  Bertendona.     In  the  squadron 
of  Ureas,  or  store-ships,  wei*e  twenty-three  sail,  under 
General  Juan  Gomez  de  Medina.     The  squadron  of  ten- 
ders, caravels,  and  other  vessels,  numbered  twwity-two 
sail,  under  General  Antonio  Hurtado  de  Mendoza.    The 
squadron  of  four  galeasses  was  commanded  by  Don  Hugo 
de  Moncada.     I'he  squadron  of  four  galeras,  or  galleys, 
was  in  charge  of  Captain  Diego  de  Medrado. 

Next  in  command  to  Medina  Sidonia  was  Don  Alonzo 
de  Leyva,  captain-general  of  the  light  horse  of  Milan. 
Don  Francisco  de  Bobadilla  was  marshal-general  of  the 
camp.  Don  Diego  de  Pimentel  was  marshal  of  the  camp 
to  the  famous  Terzio  or  legion  of  Sicily.* 


I  Parma  to  rJiilip.  20  March,  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Simanuis,  MS.) 

s  Philip  II.  to  Mendozii,  24  April,  1588, 
and  2  June,  1588.  (Arch,  de  Simancas 
[PariO.  MSS.)    Bor,  iii.  321,  322. 

3  Herrera,  lll.lii.  93.  seq.  Philip  11. 
to  Parma,  13  May,  1588,  says  150,  but 
there  were  many  small  vessels  and  trans- 
ports equipped,  which  never  left  Spain. 


The  number  of  effective  ships  of  all  kinds 
was  probably  less  than  140. 

*  Herrera,  ttbi  sup. 

*  Herrera,  ubi  sup.    Compare  Stradii, 
II.  Ix.  546,  Siq.    Bor,  III.  xxv.  317,  stq. 
Meteren,  xv.  270.    Camden,  iil.  410,  scq. 
Ciiniero,  226.    Colon>a,  f.  5,  seq.  Barrow 
266-270. 


h 


The  total  tonnage  of  the  fleet  was  59,120  :  the  number 
of  guns  was  8165.  Of  Spanish  troops  there  were  19,295 
on  board  :  there  were  8252  sailors  and  2088  galley-slaves. 
Besides  these,  there  was  a  force  of  noble  volunteers, 
belonging  to  the  most  illustrious  houses  of  Spain,  with 
their  attendants,  amounting  to  nearly  2000  in  all.  There 
was  also  Don  Martin  Alaccon,  administrator  and  vicar- 
general  of  the  Holy  Inquisition,  at  the  head  of  some 
290  monks  of  the  mendicant  orders,  priests  and  familiars.* 
The  grand  total  of  those  embarked  was  about  :jO,OUO. 
The  expense  of  the  fleet  was  estimated  by  Don  Diego 
de  Pimentel  at  12,000  ducats  a-da3%  and  the  daily 
cost  of  the  combined  naval  and  military  force  under 
Farnese  and  Medina  Sidonia  was  stated  at  30,000 
ducats.^ 

The  size  of  the  ships  ranged  from  1200  tons  to  300. 
The  galleons,  of  which  there  were  about  sixty,  were 
huge  round-stemmed  clumsy  vessels,  with  bulwarks  three 
or  four  feet  thick,  and  built  up  at  stem  and  stern,  like 
castles.  The  galeasses— of  which  there  were  four — 
were  a  third  larger  than  the  ordinary  galley,  and  were 
rowed  each  by  three  hundred  galley-slaves.  They  con- 
sisted of  an  enormous  towering  fortress  at  the  stem,  a 
castellated  structure  almost  equally  massive  in  front, 
with  seats  for  the  rowers  a-midships.  At  stem  and  stern 
and  between  each  of  the  slaves'  benches  were  heavy 
cannon.  These  galeasses  were  floating  edifices,  very 
wonderful  to  contemplate.  They  were  gorgeously  de- 
corated. There  were  splendid  state-apartments,  cabins, 
chapels,  and  pulpits  in  each,  and  they  were  amply  pro- 
vided with  awnings,  cushions,  streamers,  standards, 
gilded  saints,  and  bands  of  music.^  To  take  part  in  an 
ostentatious  pageant,  nothing  could  be  better  devised. 
To  fulfil  the  great  objects  of  a  war-vessel —to  sail  and 
to  fight — they  were  the  worst  machines  ever  launched 
upon  the  ocean.  The  four  galleys  were  similar  to  the 
galeasses  in  every  respect  except  that  of  size,  in  which 
they  were  by  one-third  inferior. 

All  the  ships  of  the  fleet— galeasses,  galleys,  galleons, 
and  hulks — were  so  encumbered  with  top-hamper,  so 

1  Meteren,  tthi  svp.  Bor,  iii.  .?25  seq. 

«  Examination  of  f)on  Diopo  d--  Pimon-       »  Strada  II.  ix.  546.    Meteren,  xv.  270. 
tel  before  the  council  of  Holland ;  apud 


444 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


overweighted  in  proportion  to  their  draught  of  water, 
tliat  they  could  bear  but  little  canvas,  even  with  smooth 
seas  and  light  and  favourable  winds.  In  violent  tem- 
pests, therefore,  they  seemed  likely  to  suffer.  To  the 
eyea  of  the  IGth  century  these  vessels  seemed  enormous. 
A  ship  of  1300  tons  was  then  a  monster  rarely  seen,  and 
a  fleet,  numbering  from  130  to  150  sail,  with  an  aggre- 
gate tonnage  of  60,000,  seemed  sufficient  to  conquer  the 
world,  and  to  justify  the  an-ogant  title,  by  which  it  had 
baptised  itself,  of  tVic  Invincible. 

Such  was  the  machhiery  which  Philip  had  at  last  set 
afloat,  for  the  purpose  of  dethroning  Elizabeth  and  esta- 
blishing the  Inquisition  in  England.  One  hundred  and 
forty  ships,  eleven  thousand  Spanish  veterans,  as  many 
more  recniits,  partly  Spanish,  partly  Portuguese,  two 
thousand  grandees,  as  many  galley-slaves,  and  three 
hundred  barefooted  friars  and  inquisitors. 

The  plan  was  simple.  Medina  Sidonia  was  to  proceed 
straight  from  I.isbtm  to  Calais  roads :  there  he  was  to 
wait  for  the  Duke  of  Panna,  who  was  to  come  forth  from 
Newport,  Sluys,  and  Dunkirk,  bringing  with  him  his 
17,000  veterans,  and  to  assume  the  chief  command  of 
the  whole  ex[)edition.  ITiey  were  then  to  cross  the 
channel  to  Dover,  land  the  army  of  Parnia,  reinforced 
with  6000  Spaniards  from  the  fleet,  and  with  these 
23,000  men  Alexander  was  to  march  at  once  upon 
London.  Medina  Sidonia  was  to  seize  and  fortify  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  guard  the  entrance  of  the  harbours  against 
any  interference  from  the  Dutch  and  English  fleets,  and 
— so  soon  as  the  conquest  of  England  had  been  effected 
— he  w'as  to  proceed  to  Ireland.'  It  had  been  the  wish 
of  Sir  William  Stanley  that  Ireland  should  be  subjugated 
first,  as  a  basis  of  operations  against  England  ;  but  this 
had  been  overniled.  The  intrigues  of  Mendoza  and 
Farnese,  too,  with  the  Catholic  nobles  of  Scotland, 
had  proved,  after  all,  unsucce.sisfnl.  King  James  had 
yielded  to  superior  offers  of  money  and  advancement 
held  out  to  him  by  Elizabeth,  and  was  now,  in  Alex- 
ander's words,  a  confirmed  heretic* 

There  was  no  course  left,  therefore,  but  to  conquer 
England  at  once.      A  strange  omission  had,  however, 

»  Letters  of  PhlUp  and  of  Parma  already       «  Parma  to  Philip  11.  8  June,  1588. 
cited.    (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  (Arch,  do  Sim.  MS.) 


1588.    THE  JUNCTION  WITH  PARMA  UNPROVIDED  FOR.     445 

been  made  in  the  plan  from  first  to  last.  The  com- 
mander of  ihe  whole  expedition  was  the  Duke  of  Parma  : 
on  his  head  Wiis  the  whole  responsibility.  Not  a  gun 
was  to  be  fired-if  it  could  be  avoided— until  he  had 
come  forth  with  his  veterans  to  make  his  junction  \n  ith 
the  Invincible  Armada  ofl*  Calais.  Yet  there  was  no 
arrangement  whatever  to  enable  him  to  come  forth— 
not  the  slightest  provision  to  efl'ect  that  junction.  It 
would  almost  seem  that  the  letter-writer  of  the  Escorial 
had  been  quite  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  the  Dutch 
fleets  off"  Dunkirk,  Newport  and  Flushing,  although  he 
had  certainly  received  infonnation  enough  of  this  for- 
midable obstacle  to  his  plan. 

"  Most  joyful  I  shall  be,"  said  Farnese— writing  on 
one  of  the  days  when  he  had  seemed  most  convinced  by 
Valentine  Dale's  arguments,  and  driven  to  despair  by 
his  postulates—**  to  see  myself  with  these  soldiers  on 
English  ground,  where,  with  God's  help,  I  hope  to  ac- 
complish your  Majesty's   demands.'"      He  was   much 
troubled,  however,  to  find  doubts  entei-tained  at  the  last 
moment  as  to   his    6000   Spaniards;    and  certainly   it 
hardly  needed  an  argument  to  prove  that  the  invasion 
of  England  with  but   17,000  soldiers  was  a  somewhat 
hazardous  scheme.     Yet  the  pilot  Moresini  had  brought 
him  letters  from  Medina  Sidonia,  in  which  the  Duke 
expressed    hesitation   about    parting  with   those    COOO 
veterans,  unless  the  English  fleet  should  have  been  pre- 
viously destroyed,  and  had  also  again    expressed   his 
hope  that  Farma  would  be  punctual  to  the  rendezvous.* 
Alexander  immediately  combated  these  views  in  letters 
to  Medina  and  to  the  King.     He  avowed  that  he  would 
not  depart  one  tittle  from  the  plan  originally  laid  down. 
The  6000  men,  and  more  if  possible,  were  to  be  fur- 
nished him,  and  the  Spanish  Armada  was  to  protect  his 
own  flotilla,  and  to  keep  the  channel  clear  of  enemies. 
No  other  scheme  was  possible,  he  said,  for  it  was  clear 
that  his  collection  of  small  flat-bottomed  river-boats  and 
hoys  could  not  even  make  the  passage,  except  in  smooth 
weather.     They  could  not  contend  with  a  storm,  much 
less  with  the  enemy's  ships,  which  would  destroy  them 
Titterly  in  case  of  a  meeting,  without  his  being  able  to 
avail  himself  of  his  soldiers— who  would  be  so  closely 

1  Parmu  to  Philip,  22  June,  1588.  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  z  ibid. 


f 


446 


THE  UNITED  NETHEliLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


packed  as  to  be  hardly  moveable — or  of  any  human  help. 
The  preposterous  notion  that  he  should  come  out  with 
his  flotilla  to  make  a  junction  with  Medina  off  Calais, 
was  over  and  over  again  denounced  by  Alexander  with 
vehemence  and  bitterness,  and  most  boding  expressions 
were  used  by  him  as  to  the  probable  result,  were  such  a 
delusion  persisted  in.' 

Every  possible  precaution,  therefore,  but  one  had 
been  taken.  The  King  of  France — almost  at  the  same 
instant  in  which  Guise  had  been  receiving  his  latest 
instructions  from  the  Escorial  for  dethroning  and  destroy- 
ing that  monarch — had  been  assured  by  Philip  of  his 
inalienable  affection  :  had  been  informed  of  the  object  of 
this  great  naval  expedition — which  was  not  by  any  means, 
as  Mendoza  had  stated  to  Henry,  an  enterprise  against 
France  or  England,  but  only  a  deteimined  attempt  to 
clear  the  sea,  once  for  all,  of  those  English  pirates  who 
had  done  so  much  damage  for  years  past  on  the  high 
seas— and  had  been  requested,  in  case  any  Spanish  ship 
should  be  driven  by  stress  of  weather  into  French  poi-ts, 
to  afford  them  that  comfort  and  protection  to  which  the 
vessels  of  so  close  and  friendly  an  ally  were  entitled.* 

Thus  there  was  bread,  beef,  and  powder  enough — 
there  were  monks  and  priests  enough— standards,  galley- 
slaves,  and  inquisitors  enough  ;  but  there  were  no  light 
vessels  in  the  Armada,  and  no  heavy  vessels  in  Parma's 
fleet.  Medina  could  not  go  to  Famese,  nor  could  Famese 
come  to  Medina.  The  junction  was  likoly  to  be  difficult, 
and  yet  it  had  never  once  entered  the  heads  of  Philip 
or  his  counsellors  to  provide  fur  that  difficulty.  The 
King  never  seemed  to  imagine  that  Famese,  with  40,000 

22    Juno,    1588. 


»  Parma  to    Philip, 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 

a  "  Habl'-ys  antes  al  Roy  dc  mi  parte, 
y  convlniendo  hablarle,  le  direys  qvic  el 
attrovimiento  de  los  corsiirios  iuglebes  me 
ha  obliRado  a  dessear  liiiipiar  d«-llos  la 
mar,  este  verano,  y  que  assi  he  mandado 
hazeruna  armada  piira  este  cfTioto,  m  la 
qnal  avra  cuydado  de  hazer  ttxio  el  buen 
tratamiento  que  es  razon  a  t^us  buenos 
subditcsquetoparen.de  que  lehe  qucrldo 
dar  parte  y  pedlr  le  como  tanibicn  lo 
Ivareys  en  mi  norabre,  y  si  aipiuiDS  buxeles 
de  mi  armada  aportaran  con  temporal  a 
sus  puertos  ordene,  que  S'-an  tratiid  >s  c< -n- 
foruie  a  la  buena  paz  y    hermandud  que 


entre  m  'sotros  hay,  qnitandole  por  aqui  la 
Bo^pecha  destas  fuerzas,  y  gravgeandole 
jMta  lo  que  se  pretende,  y  este  oficio  bas- 
tara  por  agora,  sin  llegar  a'  mas  particu- 
laridudes,"  &c  Philip  II.  to  Mendozii, 
24  April,  15H8.  (Arch,  de  Sim.  [Paris], 
A.  5t),  148,  MS.) 

Thitt  letter  reached  Mendoza  in  Paris 
Just  before  that  envoy,  according  to  his 
master's  instructions,  wjis  assisting  Guise 
to  make  his  memorable  btroke  of  the 
•  barriuvdes." 

There  is  another  letter  of  tlie  same 
purport  nearly  three  months  later.  Philip 
II.  to  Mendoza,  18  July,  1588.  (Arch.de 
Sim.  [Parisl  A.  56,  159,  MS.) 


1588. 


THE  GALE  OFF  FINISTERRE. 


447 


or  50,000  soldiers  in  the  Netherlands,  a  fleet  of  300 
transports,  and  power  to  dispose  of  very  large  funds  for 
one  great  purpose,  could  be  kept  in  prison  by  a  fleet  of 
Dutch  skippers  and  corsairs. 

With  as  much  sluggishness  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  their  clumsy  architecture,  the  ships  of  the 
Armada  consumed  nearly  three  weeks  in  sailing  from 
Lisbon  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Cape  Finisterre.  Here 
they  were  overtaken  by  a  tempest,  and  were  scattered 
hither  and  thither,  almost  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds 
and  waves  :'  for  those  unwieldy  hulks  were  ill  adapted 
to  a  tempest  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  There  were  those 
in  the  Armada,  however,  to  whom  the  storm  was  a 
blessing.  David  Gwynn,  a  Welsh  mariner,  had  sat  in 
the  Spanish  hulks  a  wretched  galley-slave— as  prisoner 
of  war — for  more  than  eleven  years,  hoping,  year  after 
year,  for  a  chance  of  escape  from  bondage.*  He  sat  now 
among  the  rowers  of  the  great  galley,  the  Vasam,  onu 
of  the  humblest  instruments  by  which  the  subjugation 
of  his  native  land  to  Spain  and  Ttome  was  to  be  effected. 

Very  naturally,  among  the  ships  wliioh  suffered  most 
in  the  gale  were  the  four  huge  unwieldy  galleys— a 
squadron  of  four  under  Don  Diego  de  Medrado— with 
their  enormous  turrets  at  stem  and  stern,  and  their  low 
and  open  waists.  The  chapels,  pulpits,  and  gilded 
Madonnas  proved  of  little  avail  in  a  hurricane.  The 
Diana,  largest  of  the  four,  went  down  with  all  hands ; 
the  Princess  was  labouring  severely  in  the  trough  of  the 
sea,  and  the  V^asana  was  likewise  in  imminent  danger. 
So  the  master  of  this  galley  asked  the  AN'elsh  slave,  who 
had  far  more  experiencB  and  seamanship  than  he  pos- 
sessed himself,  if  it  were  possible  to  save  the  vessel. 
Gwynn  saw  an  oportunity  for  which  he  had  been  waiting 
eleven  years.  He  was  ready  to  improve  it.  He  pointed 
out  to  the  captain  the  hopelessness  of  attempting  to 
overtake  the  Armada.  They  should  go  down,  he  said, 
as  the  Diana  had  already  done,  and  as  the  Princess  was 
like  at  any  moment  to  do,  unless  they  took  in  every  rag 
of  sail,  and  did  their  best  with  their  oars  to  gain  the 
nearest  port.  But  in  order  that  the  rowers  might  exert 
themselves   lo  the  utmost,  it  was   necessary  that  the 

1  Herrera,  Strada^Bor,  Meteren,  Camdon,  Camero  Coloma,  Barrow,  ubi  sup. 

«  Bor,  iii,  322  seg. 


448 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


i! 


soldiers,  who  were  a  useless  incumbrance  on  deck,  should 
go  below.  Thus  only  could  the  ship  be  properly  handled. 
The  captain,  anxious  to  save  his  ship  and  his  life,  con- 
sented. Most  of  the  soldiers  were  sent  beneath  the 
hatches  :  a  few  were  ordered  to  sit  on  the  benches  among 
the  slaves.  Now  there  had  been  a  secret  understanding 
for  many  days  among  these  unfortunate  men,  nor  were 
tliey  wholly  without  weapons.  They  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  make  toothpicks  and  other  trifling  articles  for 
sale  out  of  broken  sword-blades  and  other  refuse  bits  of 
steel.  There  was  not  a  man  among  them  who  had  not 
thus  provided  himself  with  a  secret  stiletto.^ 

At  first  Gwynn  occupied  himself  with  arrangements 
for  weathering  the  gale.  So  soon,  however,  as  the  ship 
liad  been  made  comparatively  easy,  he  looked  around 
him,  suddenly  threw  down  his  cap,  and  raised  his  hand 
to  the  rigging.  It  was  a  preconcerted  signal.  The  next 
instant  he  stabbed  the  captain  to  the  heart,  while  each 
one  of  the  galley-slaves  killed  the  soldier  nearest  him  ; 
then,  i-ushing  below,  they  surprised  and  overpowered 
the  rest  of  the  troops,  and  put  them  all  to  death.* 

Coming  again  upon  deck,  David  Gwynn  descried  the 
fourth  galley  of  the  squadron,  called  the  Royal,  com- 
manded by  Commodore  Medrado  in  person,  bearing 
down  upon  them,  before  the  wind.  It  was  obvious  that 
the  Vasana  was  already  an  object  of  suspicion. 

"  Comrades,"  said  Gwynn,  "  God  has  given  us  libei-ty, 
and  by  our  courage  we  must  prove  ourselves  worthy  of 

the  boon."  * 

As  he  spoke  there  came  a  broadside  from  the  galley 
Royd  which  killed  nine  of  his  crew.  David,  nothing 
daunted,  laid  his  ship  close  alongside  of  tlie  Royal,  with 
such  a  shock  that  the  timbers  quivered  again.  Then, 
at  the  head  of  his  liberated  slaves,  now  thoroughly 
armed,  he  dashed  on  board  the  galley,  and,  after  a  furious 
conflict,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  the  slaves  of  the 
Royal,  succeeded  in  mastering  the  vessel,  and  putting  all 
the  Spanish  soldiei-s  to  death.  This  done,  the  combined 
rowers,  welcoming  Gwynn  as  their  deliverer  from  an 
abject  slavery  which  seemed  their  lot  for  life,  willingly 
accepted  his  orders.  The  gale  had  meantime  abated, 
and  the  two  galleys,  well  conducted  by  the  experienced 


I  Uor,  iii.  322  it(i. 


»  Ibid. 


8  Ibid. 


1588. 


EXPLOITS  OF  DAVID  GWYNN. 


449 


and  intrepid  Welshman,  made  their  way  to  the  coast  of 
Fmnce,  and  landed  at  Bayonne  on  the  3 1st,  dividino- 
aniong  them  ihe  property  found  on  board  the  two  galleys'! 
Thence,  by  land,  the  fugitives,  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  m  number-Frenchmen,  Spaniards,  Englishmen, 
lurks,  and  Moore— made  their  way  to  Kochelle.  Gwynn 
had  an  interview  with  Henry  of  Navarre,  and  received 
from  that  chivalrous  king  a  handsome  present.  After- 
wards he  found  his  way  to  England,  and  was  well  com- 
mended by  the  Queen.  The  rest  of  the  liberated  slaves 
dispersed  m  various  directions.* 

I'his  was  the  first  adventure  of  the  invincible  Annada. 
Of  the  squadron  of  galleys,  one  was  already  sunk  in  the 
sea,  and  two  of  the  others  had  been  conquered  by  their 
own  slaves.    The  fourth  rode  out  the  gale  with  difficulty 

re- 
put 
„  .,     .  -    ,  ^ijon,  and  other  northern 

ports  of  Spain.*  At  the  Groyne-a^  the  English  of  that 
day  were  accustomed  to  call  Comna— they  remained  a 
month,  repairing  damages  and  recruiting ;  and  on  the 
22nd  of  July«  (N.S.)  the  Armada  set  sail.  Six  days 
later,  the  Spaniards  took  soundings,  thirty  leagues  from 
the  SciUy  Islands,  and  on  Friday,  the  29th  of  July  ofl* 
the  Lizard,-*  they  had  their  first  glimpse  of  the  land  of 
promise  presented  them  by  Sixtus  Y.,  of  which  they 
had  at  last  come  to  take  possession. 

On  the  same  day  and  night  the  blaze  and  smoke  of 
ten  thousand  beacon-fires  from  the  Land's  End  to  Mar- 
gate, and  from  the  Isle  of  Wight  to  Cumberland,  gave 
wai-ning  to  every  Englishman  that  the  enemy  was  at 
last  upon  them.  Almost  at  that  veiy  instant  intelli- 
gence had  been  brought  from  the  court  to  the  Lord- 
Admiral  at  Plymouth,  that  the  Armada,  dispersed  and 
shattered  by  the  gales  of  June,  was  not  likely  to  make 
Its  appearance  that  year;  and  orders  had  consequently 


»  Bor.  Metcren.  xv.  272.  Compare  Cam- 

den  Iv.  410,   wbo  had  beard,   bowever, 

/    nothing  but  the  name  of  Gwynn.  and 

/     who  speaks  of  the  "  trtackcry  of  the 

^        Turkish  rowers."  (!) 

*  Herrera,  HI.  iji,  94. 
'  Medina  Sidonia  from  bis  galleon  San 
Mnrtin  to  Parma.  25  July,  1586.  (Arch. 
d.' Sim.  MS.) 
VOL.  II. 


The  dates  in  the  narrative  will  be 
always  piven  according  to  the  New  Style, 
then  already  adopted  by  Spain,  Holland* 
and  France,  although  not  by  England. 
The  dates  thus  given  are,  of  course,  ten 
days  later^than  they  appear  in  contem- 
porary English  record?. 

*  llerrera,  uld  sup. 

2  Q 


450 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


been  given  to  disarm  the  four  largest  ships,  and  send 
them  into  dock.'  Even  Walsingham,  as  already  stated, 
had  participated  in  this  strange  delusion.* 

Before  Howard  had  time  to  act  npon  this  ill-tiraod 
suggestion— even  had  he  been  disposed  to  do  so— he 
received  authentic  intelligence  that  the  great  fleet  was 
off  the  Lizard.  Neither  he  nor  Francis  Drake  were 
the  men  to  lose  time  in  such  an  emergency,  and  before 
that  Friday  night  was  spent,  sixty  of  the  best  English 
ships  had  been  warped  out  of  Plymouth  harbour.^ 

On  Saturday,  30th  July,  the  wind  was  very  light  at 
south-west,  with  a  mist  and  drizzling  rain,*  but  by  three 
in  the  afternoon  the  two  fleets  could  descry  and  count 
each  other  through  the  haze.* 

By  nine  o'clock,   lilst  July,  about  two  miles  from 
liOoe,'  on  the  Cornish  coast,  the  fleets  had  their  meet- 
ing.    There  were  136  sail  of  the  Spaniards,  of  which 
ninety  were  large  ships,  and  sixty-seven  of  the  English.' 
It  was  a  solemn  moment.     The  long-expected  Armada 
presented  a  pompous,  almost  a  theatrical  appearance. 
The  ships  seemed  arranged  for  a  pageant  in  honour  of 
a  victory  already  won.     Disposed  in  form  of  a  crescent, 
the  horns  of  which  were  seven  miles  asunder,   those 
gilded,    towered,    floating    castles,    with   their  gaudy 
standards  and  their  martial  music,  moved  slowly  along 
the  channel,  with  an   air  of  indolent   pomp.      Their 
captain-general,  the  Golden  Duke,  stood  in  his  private 
shot-proof  fortress,"*  on  the  deck  of  his  great  galleon  the 
SiiiHt  Martin,  surrounded  by   generals  of  infantry  and 
colonels  of  cavalry,  who  knew  as  little  as  he  did  himself 
of  naval  matters.     The  English  vessels,  on  the  other 
hand— with  a  few  exceptions,  light,  swift,  and  easily 
handled— could  sail  round  and  round   those   unwieldy 
galleons,  hulks,  and  galleys  rowed  by  fettered  slave- 
gangs.     The  superior  seamanship  of  free  Englishmen, 
commanded  by  such   experienced   captains  as   Drake, 


1  Meteren,  xt.  272.  Camden.  HI.  410. 
Mnrdin.  615-621.  Tbe  ships  were  the 
Triumph,  White  Bftar,  ElizaMh,  Jonat, 
and  Vietary.    Livgard,  vili.  280. 

*  Walsingham   to  Sir   Ed. 

July,  1.188.     (a  P.  Offlw  MS.) 

»  Herrera,  uW  tup.  Howard  to  Wal- 
singham, —  July.  1588,  in  Barruw,  230. 


*  Herrera,  101. 

*  Ibid.    Howard  to  Walsingham.  uhi 
sup. 

e  R  Tomson  to  — 


so  July, 


Norri^  - 


(S,  P.  Office  MS.) 

7  Ibid. 

8  Meuren,  xv.  274. 


9  Aug. 


1588. 


1388.      FIRST  EXGAGEMENTS  IN  ENGLISH  CHANNEL.       451 

Frobisher,  and  navvkjns-from  infancy  at  home  on  blue 
water-was  manifest  m  the  veiy  first  encounter.  They 
obtained  the  weather-gage  at  once,  and  cannonaded  the 
enemy  at  intervals  with  considerable  effect,  easily 
escaping  at  will  out  of  range  of  tlie  sluggish  Armada 
which  was  incapable  of  bearing  ,.ail  in  pu^Juit,  althou4 
provided  with  an  armament  which  could  si;k  all  its 
enemies  at  clo^  quarters.  "  We  had  some  small  fi-ht 
with  them  that  Sunday  afternoon,"  said  Hawkins  '  ^ 

f  r.        A  .v!       '^  ,''"'f '^'^  ""^   '•":>»1   standard   at  tlie 

httle    to  offer  general  battle     It  was  in  vain.     The 
l^nghsh,  fol  owing  at  the  heels  of  the  enemy,  refused  all 
such  invitations,  and  attacked  <,nly  the  /ear-guard  of 
the  Armada,  where  Recalde  commmukd.    That  Admiral 
steadily  maintaining  his  post,  faced  liis  nimble  anta- 
gonists, who  contmued  to  teaze,  to  maltreat,  and  to 
elude  hin,   while  the  rest  of  the  fleet  proceeded  slowly 
"P  the  Channel,  closely  followed  by  the  enemy.     And 
!iw  o?  ™'""S  fgl^' ^""tinued  along  the  coast,  in  full 
view  of  riymouth,  whence  boats  with  reinforcements 
and  volunteers  were  peipetually  awiving  to  the  English 
ships,  until  the  battle  had  drifted  quite  out  of  read,  of 
the  town. 

l.i^'T^^r  ^^"^  ^'1  "'.'^^^^  ^Slit"  the  Spaniards  had 
earned  a  lesson,  and  might  even  entertain  a  doubt  of 
their  invincibility.  But  before  the  sun  set  there  were 
serious  disasters.  Much  powder  and  .hot  had 
e^xpended  by  the  Spaniards  to  veJy  little  purpose  and 
so  a  master-gunner  on  board  Admiral  Oquendo's  flan;. 
*^liip  was  reprimanded  for  careless  ball-practice      Tho 

U^Til  '  ?  T  ^  ^^f  ""^g'  ^^^^^ged  with  his  captain, 
iciid  d  train  to  tlie  powder-magazine,  fired  it,  and  threw 
himself  into  the  sea.«    The  two  decks  blew  up      The 

whf  ?!'  '*  *''"  '^"'^  ''''^  ^"^^  ^^^  ^^^"^«'  Carrying 
with  it  the  paymaster-general  of  the  fleet,  a  large  poi  - 

T  on  of  treasure,  and  nearly  two  hundred  mon «     'ITio 

'Miip  was  a  wreck,  but  it  was  possible  to  save  the  rest  c  f 

tlie   crew.     So   Medina   Sidonia  sent   light   .-^^I^  ^f 

'Hawkins    to   Walsingham  ^Li^,    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
IS'^S.    (S.P.0fficeMS.)  *'"^-       ..'  "^'-f^ra.  III.  Hi.  100.102.     CarodciL 

^  Report  of  certain  Marlher«.  Aug.  15S8.    "'•'''•    ^'"''"•323. 

2  G  2 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


remove  them,  and  wore  with  his  flagship,  to  defend 
Oquendo,  who  had  already  been  fastened  upon  by  his 
English  pursuers.  But  the  Spaniards,  not  being  so 
light  in  hand  as  their  enemies,  involved  themselves  in 
much  emburrassment  by  this  manoeuvre  ;  and  there  was 
much  falling  fonl  of  each  other,  entanglement  of 
rigging,  and  carrying  away  of  yards.  Oquendo's  men, 
however,  were  ultimately  saved,   and  taken  to  other 

ships.* 

Meantime  Don  Pedro  do  Valdez,  commander  of  the 
Andalusian  squadron,  having  got  his  galleon  into  col- 
lision with  two  or  three  Spaaish  ships  successively,  had 
at  last  carried  away  his  fore-mast  close  to  the  deck,  and 
the  wreck  had  fallen  against  his  main-mast.  He  lay 
crippled  and  helpless,  the  Armada  was  slowly  deserting 
him,  night  was  coming  on,  the  sea  was  running  high, 
and  the  English,  ever  hovering  near,  were  ready  to 
grapple  with  him.  In  vain  did  Don  Pedro  fire  signals 
of  distress.  The  captain-general — even  as  though  the  un- 
lucky galleon  had  not  been  connected  with  the  Catholic 
fleet — calmly  fired  a  gun  to  collect  his  scattered  ships, 
and  abandoned  Valdez  to  his  fate.  "  He  left  me  com- 
fortless in  sight  of  the  whole  fleet,"  said  poor  Pedro, 
**and  greater  inhumanity  and  unthankfulness  I  think 
was  never  heard  of  among  men."  *        . 

Yet  the  Spaniard  comported  himself  most  gallantly. 
Frobisher,  in  the  largest  ship  of  the  English  fleet,  the 
Tnumph,  of  1100  tons,  and  Hawkins  in  the  Victory,  of 
800,  cannonaded  him  at  a  distance,  but,  night  coming 
on,  he  was  able  to  resist ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  follow- 
ing morning  that  he  surrendered  to  the  Revenge.^ 

Drake  then  received  the  gallant  prisoner  on  board  his 
flagship— much  to  the  disgust  and  indignation  of  Fro- 
bisher and  Hawkins,  thus  disappointed  of  their  prizc- 


1  Herrara.  III.  III.  100-102.  Camden, 
iii.  412.     Bor.  ili.  323. 

2  Valdez  to  Philip  II.  ("  Englished  "), 
31  Aug.  158t».  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Com- 
pare Herrera,  Bor,  Camden,  ubi  sup. 

3  MS,  letter  of  VaMez  before  cited. 
Bor,  Camden,  uW  iup.  Meteren,  xv.  272. 
Herrera,  III.  111.  100-102,  who  draws  en- 
tirely from  the  journal  of  a  Spanish  offi- 
cer In  the  Armada,  and  who  calls  the 
two  famous  English  naval  commtmdcrs, 


Frobesquerio  and  Avesnlsio. 

Many  EnjjUsh  names  look  almost  as 
strangely  In  their  Spanish  dress  as  these 
two  familiar  ones  of  Frobisher  and  Haw- 
kins. Thus  l)r.  Bartholomew  Clerk  is 
called,  for  some  mysterious  reason,  I>r. 
Quiberich;  Col.  Patton  becomes  Col. 
Reyton ;  while  Lord  High  Admiral  How- 
ard of  Effingham  figures  in  the  chroni- 
cles as  Carlos  Haurat,  Count  of  ContulxT- 
land.    Herrera,  Hi.  p.  49. 


1588.        CONSIDERABLE  LO.^SES  OF  THE  SPANIARDS.         453 

and  ransom-money'-treated  him  with  much  courtesy 
and  gave  his  word  of  lionour  that  he  and  his  men  should 
be    treated    fairly,  like  good  prisoners    of   war.     ^^his 
pledge  wa^  redeemed,  for  it  was  not  the  English,  as  it 
was  the  bpanish  custom,  to  convert  captives  into  slaves 
but  only  to  hold  them  for  ransom.     Valdez  responded 
•to  Drakes  politeness  by  kissing  his  hand,  embracing 
him,  and  overpowering  him  with  magnificent  compli- 
ments.      He  was  then  sent  on  board  the  Lord-Admiral 
who  received  him  with  similar  urbanity,  and  expressed 
his  regret  that  so  distinguished  a  personage  should  have 
been  so  coolly  deserted  by  the  Duke  of  Medina.     Don 
redro  then  returned  to  the  Revenge,  where,  as  the  guest 
ot  Drake,  he  was  a  witness  to  all  subsequent  events  up 
to  the  10th  of  August,  on  which  day  he  was  sent  to 
London  with  some  other  officers,^  Sir  Francis  claimins: 
his  ramsom  as  his  lawful  due.* 

Here  certainly  was  no  very  trimphant  beginning  for 
the  Invincible  Armada.     On  the  very  first  day  of  their 
being  in  presence  of  the  English  fleet— then  but  sixty- 
seven  in  number,  and  vastly  their  inferior  in  size  and 
weight  of  metal— they  had    lost  tlie  flagships  of  the 
Guipuzcoan  and  of  the  Andalusian  squadrons,  with  a 
general-admiral,  450  officers  and  men,  and  some  100  GOO 
ducats  of  treasure.     They  had  been    out-manoeuvred 
out-sailed,  and    thoioughly  maltreated  by  their  anta- 
gonists, and  they  had  been  unable  to  inflict  a  sino-le 
blow  m  return.     Thus  the  »  small  fight  "  had  been  a 
cheerful  one  for  the  opponents  of  the  Inquisition,  and 
the  Lnghsh  were  propurtionably  encouraged. 

On  Monday,  1st  of  August,  Medina  Sidonia  placed 
the  rear-guard— consisting  of  the  galeasses,  the  galleons, 
^t  MattJiew,  St.  Luke,  St.  James,  and  the  Floretwe,  and 
other  ships,  forty-tbree  in  all— under  command  of  Don 
Antonio  de  Leyva.  He  was  instructed  to  entertain  the 
enemy-j-so  constantly  hanging  on  the  rear— to  accept 
every  chance  of  battle,  and  to  come  to  close  quarters 
whenever  it  should  be  possible.  The  Spaniards  felt 
conhdent  of  sinking  ever}^  ship  in  the  English  iiavi^  if 
they  could  but  once  come  to  grappling;    but  it  was 

'  See  pape  498,  note  \  ,  ^  ^,  ,„. 

2  Meteren,  Bor,  uW  sup.  ^''''^^  **"  Walsingliam,  'j^,  1588, 

in  Barrow,  p,  303.  *  Ibid. 


454 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


growinf^  more  obvious  every  hour  that  the  giving  or 
withholding  battle  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  their 
foes.  Meantime — while  the  rear  was  thus  protected  by 
Leyva's  division — the  vanguard  and  main  body  of  the 
Aimada,  led  by  the  captain-general,  would  steadily 
pursue  its  way,  according  to  the  royal  instructions, 
until  it  arrived  at  its  appointed  meeting-place  with 
the  Duko  of  Farnia.  Moreover,  the  Duke  of  Medina, 
dissatisfied  with  the  want  of  discipline  and  of  good 
(Seamanship  hitherto  displayed  in  his  fleet,  now  took 
occasion  to  send  a  serjeant-major,  with  wiitten  sailing 
directions,  on  board  each  ship  in  ihe  Armada,  witli 
express  orders  to  hang  every  captain,  without  appeal 
or  consultation,  who  should  leave  the  position  assigned 
him  ;  and  the  hangmen  were  sent  with  the  serjeant- 
majors  to  ensure  immediate  attention  to  these  arrange- 
ments.* Juan  Gil  was  at  the  same  time  sent  off  in  a 
sloop  to  the  Duke  of  Parma,  to  carry  the  news  of  the 
movements  of  the  Aimada,  to  request  information  as  to 
the  exact  spot  and  moment  of  the  junction,  and  to  beg 
for  pilots  acquainted  with  the  French  and  Flemish 
coasts.  "  In  case  of  the  slightest  gale  in  the  world," 
said  Medina,  "  I  don't  know  how  or  where  to  shelter 
such  large  ships  as  ours."  * 

Disposed  in  this  manner,  the  Spaniards  sailed  leisurely 
along  the  English  coast  with  light  westerly  breezes, 
watched  closely  by  the  Queen's  fleet,  which  hovered  at 
a  moderate  distance  to  windward,  without  offering,  that 
day,  any  obstruction  to  their  course. 

By  five  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  2nd  of  August, 
the  Armada  lay  between  Portland  Bill  and  St.  Alban's 
Tue8.,2  Aug.  Head,  when  the  wind  shifted  to  the  north-east, 

^^^^-  and  gave  the  Spaniards  the  weather-gage.* 
The  English  did  their  best  to  get  to  windward,  but  the 
Ihikc,  standing  close  into  the  land  with  the  whole 
Armada,  maintained  his  advantage.  The  English  then 
went  about,  making  a  tack  seaward,  and  were  soon  after- 
wards assaulted  by  the  Spaniards.  A  long  and  spirited 
action  ensued.     Howard  in  his  little  Ark  Rmjal — *'  the 

»  Herrera,  III.  111.  105.    "Sin  replica  to  P&nna,    2    Aug.     1688.      (Arch   de 

nl  consulta,"  &c.  Sim.  MS.) 

2  "Conelmenor  temporal  del  mundo  '  Declaration  of  the   Proceedings   of 

oon  se  sabe  donde   se   puedcn  abrigar  the  two  Fle«'ts,  July  19-31  (O.S.),  1588. 

mm   tan    grandes."      Medina    Sidonia  (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  Herrera,  111.  lit  1(J6. 


1588.  ]        GENERAL  ENGAGEMENT  NEAR  PORTLAND.         455 

odd  ship  of  the  world  for  all  conditions  "—was  engaged 
at  different  times  with  Bertendona,  of  the  Italian 
squadron,  with  Alonzo  de  Leyva  in  the  Ratta,  and  with 
other  large  vessels.  He  was  hard  pressed  for  a  time 
but  was  gallantly  supported  by  the  Nonpareil  Captain 
lanner ;  and  after  a  long  and  confused  combat,  in  wliich 
the  bt.  Mark,  the  St.  Luke,  the  St.  Matthew,  the  St.  Philip 
the  St.  John,  ihe  St.  Jame.^  the  St.  John- Baptist,  the  St 
Martin  and  many  other  great  galleons,  with  saintly  and 
apostolic  names,  fought  pell-mell  with  the  Lion,  the 
hear,  the  Bull,  the  Tiger,  the  Dreadnought,  the  Revenge,  the 
\  ictory,  the  Triumph,  and  other  of  the  more  profanely- 
baptized  English  sliips,  the  Spaniards  were  again  baffled 
m  all  their  attempts  to  close  with,  and  to  board,  their 
ever-attacking,  ever-flying  adversaries.  The  cannon- 
ading^ was  incessant.  "  We  had  a  sharp  and  a  long 
hght,  said  Hawkins.'  Boat-loads  of  men  and  munitions 
were  perpetually  arriving  to  the  English,  and  many 
high-bom  volunteers— like  Cumberland,  Oxford,  North- 
umberland, Raleigh,  Brooke,  Dudley,  Willoughby,  Noel, 
William  Hatton,  Thomas  Cecil,  and  others-could  no 
longer  restrain  their  impatience,  as  the  roar  of  battle 
sounded  along  the  coasts  of  Dorset,  but  flocked  merrily 
on  board  the  ships  of  Drake,  Hawkins.  Howard,  and 
J^robisher,  or  came  in  small  vessels  which  they  had 
chartered  for  themselves,  in  order  to  have  their  share  in 
the  delights  of  the  long-expected  struggle.* 

The  action,  irregular,  desultory,  but  lively,  continued 
nearly  all  day,  and  until  the  English  had  fired  away 
most  of  their  powder  and  shot.=*  The  Spaniards,  too, 
notwithstanding  their  years  of  preparation,  were  already 
short  of  light  metal,  and  Medina  Sidonia  had  been  daily 
sending  to  Parma  for  a  supply  of  four,  six,  and  ten  pound 
balls.  So  much  lead  and  gunpowder  had  never  before 
been  wasted  in  a  single  day ;  for  there  was  no  great 
damage  inflicted  on  either  side.  The  artillery  practice 
wa^  certainly  not  much  to  the  credit  of  either  nation. 

*'  If  her  Majesty's  ships  had  been  manned  with  a  full 

1  Hawklna     to    Walslngham,    -'i^  «"/'• 

1588       rs    P    rvffl.^   Mv.^       J*"^"*^-  '  MS.  Utter  of  Hawkins  last  cited.     "• 

III    111    uifi-L  ^    !f.  •        "':!"■*•  *  **^'"*  «*'*'>"»*  to  Pamm.  2    Aug. 

ren    vv   tl     o  ^/v"^ '''•     ^^'^-  l^^'''     (^rch.  de  Sim.  MS.)     Herrerf^ 

twl   ^\    ^''^^'   "'•  '*12.413.  III.  lU.  108.                                 ^                 ^ 

'  tterrera,  Bor,  Meteren,  Camden,  ubi 


456  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XIX. 

supply  of  good  gimners,"  said  honest  William  Thomas 
an  old  artilTeryirfan,  -  it  wonld  have  been  the  woefullest 
time  ever  the  Spaniard  took  in  hand,  and  the  most  noble 
victory  ever  heard  of  wonkl  have  been  her  Majesty  s 
But  our  sins  were  the  cause  that  so  miich  powder  and 
shot  were  spent,  so  long  time  in  fight,  and  m  comparison 
so  little  harm  done.  It  were  greatly  to  be  wished^that 
her  Majesty  were  no  longer  deceived  m  this  way. 

Yet  the  English,  at  any  rate,  had  succeeded  m  dis- 
playing their  seamanship,  if  not  their  gimnery,  to  ad- 
vantege.  In  vain  the  unwieldy  hulks  and  galleons  had 
attempted  to  grapple  with  their  l^g^^T^^S!;^  ^^^^' 1^,^ 
pelted  them,  braved  them,  damaged  their  sails  and  geai- 
ing,  and  then  danced  lightly  off  into  the  distance  ;  until 
at  last,  as  night  fell,  the  wind  came  out  from  the  west 
again,  and  the  English  regained  and  kept  the  weather- 

^fhe  Queen's  fleet,  now  divided  into  four  squadrons, 
under  Howard,  Drake,  Hawkins,  and  Frobisher 
amounted  to  near  one  hundred  sail,  exclusive  of  Lord 
Henry  Seymour's  division,  which  was  cruising  in  the 
Straits  of  Dover.  But  few  of  all  this  number  were  ships 
of  war,  however,  and  the  merchant  vessels,  although 
zealous  and  active  enough,  were  not  thought  very  effec- 
tive "  If  vou  had  seen  the  simple  service  done  by  the 
merchants  ^nd  coast  ships,"  said  Winter,  -  you  would 
have  said  we  had  been  little  holpen  by  them,  otherwise 
than  that  they  did  make  a  show."  •  ^         ^ 

All  night  the  Spaniards,  holding  their  course  towards 
Calais,  after  the  long  but  indecisive  conflict  had  ter- 
minated, were  closely  pursued  by  their  wary 
!^::^  antagonists.  On  Wednesday,  3rd  of  August 
1588.  xliQVG  was  some  slight  cannonading,  with  but 
slender  results;  and  on  Thursday,  the  4th,  b.>th  fleets 
were  off  Dunnose,  on  the  Isle  of  A\  ight.  The  great 
hulk  Smtana  and  a  galleon  of  Port^igal,  having  been 
somewhat  damaged  the  previous  day,  were^  lagging 
behind  the  rest  of  the  Armada,  and  were  vigorously 

1  WUllam  Tliomas.  master-crunner  of  ^^  Burghley.  ^^  1588.    (S.  P.  Office 
Flashing    (who  much   annplalnod  Uiat 

the  loss  of  Its  charter  by  the  worehip-  Mh.)  ^ 

ful    corporation    of    Rtmners.    founded       2  sir  W.  Whiter  to  Walslngham,  - 
by    Henry    VIH..   had  caused   Its   de-  p  ^^  j^g.) 

ci'.iindmuchmlschlef  to  consequence),  ^"S-   "^        "^ 


1588.  SUPERIOR  SEAMANSHIP  OF  THE  ENGLISH.  457 

attacked  by  the  Tnumph  and  a  few  other  vessels.  Don 
Antonio  de  Ley  va,  with  some  of  the  galeasses  and  large 
galleons,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  Frobisher,  although  in 
much  peril,  maintained  an  unequal  conflict,  within  close 
range,  with  great  spirit.* 

Seeing  his  danger,  the  Lord  Admiral  in  the  Ark  Royal 
accompanied  by  the   Golden  Liov,  the    White  Bear,  the 
Elizaheth,  the   Victory,  and  the  Leicester,  bore  boldly  down 
into  the  very  midst  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  and  laid  himself 
withm  three  or  four  hundred  yards  of  Medina's  flag- 
ship, the  St.  MaHin,  while  his  comrades  were  at  equally 
close  quarters  with  Vice-Admiral  Recalde  and  the  gal- 
leons of  Oquendo,  Mexia,   and  Almanza.     It  was  the 
hottest  conflict  which  had  yet  taken  place.*     Here  at 
last  was  thorough  English  work.     The  two  great  fleets, 
which  were   there  to  subjugate  and  to  defend  the  realm 
of  Elizabeth,  were  nearly  yard-arm  and  yard-arm  toge- 
ther—all England  on  the  lee.    Broadside  after  broadside 
of  great  guns,   volley  after  volley  of  arquebusry  from 
maintop  and  rigging,  were  warmly  exchanged,  and  much 
daniage  was  inflicted  on  the  Spaniards,  whose  gigantic 
ships  were  so  easy  a  mark  to  aim  at,  while  from  their 
turreted  heights  they  themselves  fired  for  the  most  part 
harmlessly  over  the  heads  of  their  adversaries.     The 
leaders  of  the  Annada,  however,  were  encouraged,  for 
they  expected  at  last  to  come  to  even  closer  quarters, 
and  there  were  some  among  the  English  who  were  mad 
enough  to  wish  to  board. 

But  so  soon  as  Frobisher,  who  was  the  hero  of  the 
day,  had  extricated  himself  from  his  difficulty,  the 
Lord- Admiral— having  no  intention  of  risking  the 
existence  of  his  fleet,  and  with  it  perhaps  of  the  English 
crown,  upon  the  hazard  of  a  single  battle,  and  having 

been  himself  somewhat  damaged  in  the  fight gave  the 

signal  for  retreat,  and  caused  the  Ark  Moyal  to  be  towed 
out  of  action.  Thus  the  Spaniards  were  frustrated  of 
their  hopes,  and  the  English,  having  inflicted  much 
punishment  at  comparatively  small  loss  to  themselves, 
again  stood  off  to  windward,  and  the  Armada  continued 
it><  indolent  course  along  the  cliffs  of  Fieshwater  and 
Blackgang.* « 


J  Declaration  of  the.Procoedlnjfs.  Ac.    Camden,  wfti  «mj>. 
(MS.  before  cited.)  Bor,  Henrera,  Meteren,       2  Ibid. 


»  Ibid. 


453 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


On  Friday,  5th  Angiist,  the  English,  having  received 
men  and  munitions  from  shore,  pursued  their  antagonists 
Fri..5Atig.  at  a  moderate  distance  ;  and  the  Lord- Admiral, 
{588.      profiting  by  the  pause — for  it  was  almost  a  flat 
calm— sent  for  IVIartin  Frobisher,  John  Hawkins,  Roger 
Townsend,  Lord  lliomas  Howard,  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  and  Lord  Edmund  Sheffield,  and  on  the  deck 
of  the  Royal  Ark  conferred  the  honour  of  knighthood 
on  each  for  his  gallantry  in  the  action  of  the  previous 
day.'     Medina  Sidonia,  on  his  part,  was  again  despatch- 
ing messenger  after  messenger  to  the  Duke  of  Parma, 
asking  for  small  shot,  pilots,  and  forty  fly-boats,  with 
which  to  pursue  the   teasing    English  clippers.*     Ihe 
Catholic  Armada,  he  said,  being   so  large  and  heavy 
was  quite  in  the  power  of  its  adversaries,  who  could 
assault,  retreat,  fight,  or  leave  ofif  fighting,  while  he 
had  nothing  for  it  but  to  proceed,  as  expeditiously  as 
might  be,  to  his  rendezvous  in  Calais  roads. 

And  in  Calais  roads  the  great  fleet— sailing  slowly  all 
Sat..  6  Aug.  next  day  in  company  with  the  English,  with- 
1588.      out  a  shot  being  fired  on  either  side— at  last 
dropped  anchor  on  Saturday  afternoon,  August  6th.     ^ 

Here,  then,  the  Invincible  Armada  had  anived  at  its 
appointed  resting-place.  Here  the  great  junction  of 
Medina  Sidonia  with  the  Duke  of  Tarma  was  to  be 
effected,  and  now  at  last  the  curtain  was  to  nse  upon  the 
last  act  of  the  great  drama  so  slowly  and  elaborately 

prepared.  ,  .r^  o  j 

That  Saturday  afternoon,  Lord  Henry  Seymour  and 
his  squadron  of  sixteen  lay  between   Dungeness  and 
Folkestone,  waiting  the  approach  of  the  two  fleets.     He 
spoke  several  coasting-vessels  coming  from  the  west ; 
but  they  could  give  him  no  information— strange  to  say 
—either  of  the  Spaniards  or  of  his  own  countrymen.^ 
Seymour,  having  hardly  three  days'  provision  in  his 
fleet,  thought  that  there  might  be  time  to  take  in  sup- 
plies, and  so  bore  into  the  Downs.    Hardly  had  he  been 
there  half  an  hour,  when  a  pinnace  arrived  from  the 
Lord- Admiral,  with  orders  for  Lord  Henry's  squadron 

1  Camden,   Hi.  414.      Bor,    III.    323,       ,  ^.^   ^    Winter* to  WalslnRliam.  -J 

324 

2  Medina  Sidonia  to    P  iraia,  4   Aug.    Aug.  15SS.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

1588.    (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 


1588. 


BOTH  FLEETS  OFF  CALAIS. 


459 


to  hold  Itself  in  readiness.    There  was  no  longer  time  for 
victualling  and  very  soon  afterwards  the  order  was  given 
to  make  sail  and  bear  fur  the  French  coast.     The  wind 
was,  however,  so  light  that  tl.e  whole  day  was  spent  be- 
fore Seymour  with  his  ships  could  cross  the  Channd.   At 
last,  towards  seven  in  the  evening,  he  saw  the  great 
nnpTf  fr'?^  ^"^'^'^  "I^  ^'^  ^  balf-moon,  and  riding  at 
J^^,       Afn]'"^^  ^^7  ''^^''  ^^^^^  other-a  little  to  the 
eastward  of  Calais,  and  very  near  the  shore.'     The  Encr- 
lish,  under  Howard,  Drake,  Frobisher,  and   Hawkin'l 
were  slowly  following,  and-so  soon  as  Lord  Henry 
arriving  from  the  opposite  sliore,  had  made  his  junction 
with  them-the  wliole  combined  fleet  dropped  anchor 

halt  of  the  Spaniards.     That  invincible  force  had  at  last 
almost  reached  itj  destination.     It  was  now  to  recei^ 
the  co-operation  of  the  great  Famese,  at  the  head  of  an 
Z'^^L     7^^'^''^'  disciplined  on  a  hundred  battle-fields, 
confident  from  countless  victories,  and  anayed,  as  they 
bri^lln?""'      ^f.^^tf  ?^s  splendour,  to  follow  the  mos^t 
biilliant  general  m  Christendom  on  his  triumphal  march 
mto  the  capital  of  England.     The  long-threaLedTua 
sion  was  no  longer  an  idle  figment  of  "politicians,  mall 
Clous  y  spread  abroad  to  poison  men's  minds  as  to  the 
intentions  of  a  long-enduring  but  magiianimous,  and  on 
he  whole  friendly  sovereign,     llie  inask  had  been  a^ 
last   thrown  down,  and   the   mild   accents  of  rhilin's 
diplomatists    and  their   English   dupes,   interchanging 
protocols  so  decorously  month  after  month  on  the  sinds 
ot  Bourbourg,  had  been   drowned   by  the  peremntorv 

m  upon  their  placid  conferences.  It  had  now  becomi 
supererogatory^  to  ask  for  Alexander's  word  of  honour 
Tr  wl  /v.^  l^'^  ^'^^'*  ^^^'^  ^^  ^'^''^'^^^^  Allan's  pamphlet. 
Q^^^£:tir''''  contemplated  hostilities  a^^ainst 

Never,  since  England  was  England,  had  such  a  sight 
been  seen  as  now  revealed  itself  in  those  narrow  strlits 
between  Dover  and  Calais.  Along  that  long,  low,  sandy 
shore,  and  quite  within  the  range'of  the  Calais  forS 

^^   iL''''^^"^'^^^^  ^^^  ^^'^^y  Sp^^i«h  ships-tiie  greater 
number  of  them  the  largest  and  most  heavily  armed  in 

»  Sir  W.  Winter  to  Walsingham,  just  cited. 


460  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  Chap.  XIX. 

the  world-lay  face  to  face,  and  scarcely  out  of  cannon- 
Bbot.  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  English  sloops  and 
frigates,  the  strongest  and  swiftest  that  the  •''lYirw 
furaish,  and  commanded  by  men  whose  exploits  had 
nintr  throuo"li  the  world.  ,  ^    , 

fJ^^^llon^  the  coast,  invisible    but  l^'-wn  to  be 

performing  a  most  perilous  and  .^^t^V'^'''''?.'nfh  the 
squadron  of  Dutch  vessels  of  all  sizes,  lining  bo  h  the 
inner  and  outer  edges  of  the  sandbanks  off  the  Flemish 
coasts,  and  swarming  in  all  the  estuaries  and  mlets  of 
that  intricate  and  dangerous  cruismg-ground  between 

Dunkirk  and  Walcheren.  Th-^^fl^f  ^^  .^^^^^^^^^ 
Zeeland,  numbering  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  g^^lleons 
8loops,  and  fly-boate,  under  Warmond,  Nassau  Van  der 
Does,  de  Moor,  and  Rosendael,  lay  patiently  blockading 
every  possible  egress  from  Newport,  or  Gravelines,  or 
^iTyror  Flushinl,  or  Dunkirk,  and  longing  to  g^^^^^^^^^ 
with  the  Duke  of  Fai-ma,'  so  soon  as  his  fleet  of  gunboate 
and  hoys,  packed  with  his  Spanish  and  Italian  veterans, 
XuW  vc^nture  to  set  forth  upon  the  sea  for  their  long- 

nritT^tpous  spectacle,  that  mid.immer  night 
,ipon  those  naiTow  sea^.  Tlie  moon  whidi  was  at  the 
full  was  rising  calmly  upon  a  scene  of  anxious  expecta- 
tion. Would  s"ie-  not  be  looking,  by  the  morrow's  night, 
upon  a  subjugated  England  a  re-enslaved  Holland^^ 
upon  the  downfoll  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  ?  Those 
ships  of  Spain,  which  lay  there  with  their  banners 
wavincr  in  the  moonlight,  discharging  salvoes  of  antici- 
pated triumph  and  filfing  the  air  with  strains  of  insolent 
fnusic,  would  they  not,  by  daybreak,  be  ^lovrng  str^^^^^^ 
to  their  pui-pose,  bearing  the  conquerors  of  the  world  to 
the  scene  of  their  cherished  hopes  ? 

That  English  fleet,  too,  which  rode  there  at  anchor  so 
anxiously  on  the  watch-^would  that  swarm  of  nimble 
li^vUtly-handled.  but  slender  vessels,  which  had  held 
their  own  hitherto  in  hurried  and  desultory  skirmishes-- 
be  able  to  cope  with  their  great  antagonist  now  that  the 
moment  had  anived  for  the  death  grapple?  Wo^^^  not 
Howard,  Drake,  Frobisher,  Seymour,  W  inter,  and  Haw- 
kins, be  swept  out  of  the  stmits  at  last  yielding  an  open 
pass^e  to  Medina,  Oquendo,   Kecalde,  and   Farnese  ^ 

I  Box,  IVL  321  teq.    Meteren,  xv.  272, 273.      _ 


1588. 


PROJECT  OF  HOWARD  AND  WINTER. 


4G1 


Would  those  Hollanders  and  Zeelanders,   cruising   so 
vigilantly  among  their  treacherous    shallows,  dare   to 
maintain  their  post,  now  that  the  terrible  "  Holofernese," 
with  his  invincible  legions,  was  resolved  to  come  forth? 
So  soon  as  he  had  cast  anchor,  Howard  despatched  a 
pinnace  to  the  Vanguard,  with  a  message  to  Winter  to 
come  on  board  the  flagship.^    When  Sir  W  illiam  reached 
the  Ark,  it  was  already  nine  in  the  evening.     He  was 
anxiously  consulted  by  the  Lord-Admiral  as  to  the  couise 
now  to  be  taken.    Hitherto  the  English  had  been  teasino- 
and  perplexing  an  enemy,  on  the  retreat,  as  it  were,  by 
the  nature  of  his  instructions.    Although  anxious  to  o-ive 
battle,  the  Spaniard  was  forbidden  to  descend  upon'^the 
coast  until  after  his  junction  with  Parma.     So  the  Eng- 
lish had  played  a  comparatively  easy  game,  hangin'g 
upon   their  enemy's   skirts,  maltreating  him   as   they 
doubled  about  him,  cannonading  him  from  a  distance 
and  slipping  out  of  his  reach  at  their  pleasure.     But  he 
was  now  to  be  met  face  to  face,  and  the  fate  of  the  two 
free  commonwealths  of  the  world  was  upon  the  issue  of 
the  struggle,  which  could  no  longer  be  deferred. 

Winter,  standing  side  by  side  with  the  Lord-Admiral 
on  the  deck  of  the  little  Ark  Royal,  gazed  for  the  fiist 
time  on  those  enormous  galleons  and  galleys  with  which 
his  companion  was  already  sufficiently  familiar. 

*'  Considering  their  hugeness,"  said  he,  "'twill  not  be 
possible  to  remove  them  but  by  a  device."  * 

Then  remembering,  in  a  lucky  moment,  somethino- 
that  he  had  heard  four  years  before  of  the  fire-ships  seni 
by  the  Antwerpers  against  Parma's  bridge— the  inventor 
of  which,  the  Italian  Gianibelli,was  at  that  very  moment 
constructing  fortifications  on  the  Thames  *  to  assist  the 
English  against  his  old  enemy  Famese— Winter  sug- 
gested that  some  stratagem  of  the  same  kind  should  be 
attempted  against  the  Invincible  Armada.*  There  was 
no  time  nor  opportunity  to  prepare  such  submarine  vol- 
(^noes  as  had  been  employed  on  that  memorable  occa- 
sion ;  but  burning  ships  at  least  might  be  sent  among 
the  fleet.     Some  damage  would  doubtless  be  thus  in- 

cit'ed  ^  '"^^"^  ^  Walsingbara,  MS.  already       *  Thus  distinctly  stated   by  Sir  Wm. 

*  ll.ld.  Winter,  In   his   admirable    letter   of  - 

*  MetercD,  xv.  2:i  •  Aug.    (MS.  already  cited.) 


462 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


flictcd  by  the  fire,  and  perhaps  a  panic,  suggested  by 
momories  of  Antwei-p  and  by  the  knowledge  that  the 
fliinous  Mantnan  wizard  was  then  a  resident  of  England, 
would  be  still  more  eftective.  In  Winter's  opinion,  the 
Armada  might  at  least  be  compelled  to  slip  its  cables, 
and  be  thrown  into  some  confusion  if  the  project  were 
fairly  carried  out. 

Howard  approved  of  the  device,  and  determined  to 
hold,  next  morning,  a  council  of  war  for  arranging  the 
details  of  its  execution.^ 

While  the  two  sat  in  the  cabin,  conversing  thus 
earnestly,  there  had  well  nigh  been  a  serious  misfortune. 
The  ship  White  Bear,  of  1000  tons  burthen,  and  three 
others  of  the  English  fleet,  all  tangled  together,  came 
drifting  with  the  tide  against  the  Ark.  There  were 
many  yards  carried  away,  much  tackle  spoiled,  and  fur  a 
time  there 'was  great  danger,  in  the  opinion  of  \\' inter, 
that  some  of  the  \ery  best  ships  in  the  fleet  would  be 
crippled  and  quite  destroyed  on  the  eve  of  a  general  en- 
gagement. By  alacrity  and  good  handling,  however, 
the  ships  were  separated,  and  the  ill  consequences  of  an 
accident — such  as  had  already  proved  fatal  to  several 
Spanish  vessels — were  fortunately  averted.* 

Next  day,  Sunday,  7th  August,  the  two  great  fleets 
were  still  lying  but  a  mile  and  a  half  apart,  calmly 
Sun., 7  Aug.  gazing  at  each  other,  and  rising  and  falling 
i5>»8.  at  their  anchors  as  idly  as  if  some  vast  summer 
regatta  were  the  only  purpose  of  that  great  assemblage 
of  shipping.  Nothing  as  yet  was  heard  of  Farnese. 
Thus  far,  at  least,  the  Hollanders  had  held  him  at  bay, 
and  there  was  still  breathing-time  before  the  catastrophe. 
So  Howard  hung  out  his  signal  for  council  early  in  the 
morning,  and  very  soon  after  Drake  and  Hawkins,  Sey- 
mour. Winter,  and  the  rest,  were  gravely  consulting  in 
his  cabin. ^ 


1  Winter's  Letter.  MS. 

It  has  been  stated  by  many  writers 
—Camden,  ill.  415,  Meteron,  xv.  2T3, 
and  others— that  this  project  of  the 
fire-ships  was  directly  commanded  by 
the  Qusen.  Others  attribute  the  de- 
vice to  the  Lord-Admiral  (Bor,  Hi. 
324),  or  to  Drake  (Strada,  \x.  559), 
while  Coloma  (i.  7)  prefers  to  regard 
the  whole  matter   as  quite   a   trilling 


accident,  "  harto  peqiieiio  accidente ; " 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  merit 
of  the  original  suggestion  belongs  exclu- 
sively to  winter.  To  give  the  glory 
of  the  achievement  to  her  Mtgesty, 
who  knew  nothing  of  it  whatever, 
was  a  most  gratuitous  exhibition  of 
loyalty. 

•i  Winter's  Tetter.  3HS. 

»  Ibid. 


1588. 


IMrATIEXCE  OF  THE  SPANIARDS. 


4(33 
It^was  decided  that  Winter's  suggestion   should  be 

TotiTT-  '''^-  ^''  ^^'""'-y  ralmerwas  immediately 
despatched  m  a  pinnace  to  Dover,  to  bring  off  a  number  of 
old  vessels  ht  to  be  fired,  together  with  f  supply  Thgh 
T    ;  tar,  rosin,  .ulphur,  and  other  combu.^les  most 
adapted  to  the  purpose.^     But  as  time  wore  away,  irbe- 
came  obviously  impossible  for  Palmer  to  return  that 
nigh     and  it  was  determined  to  make  the  most  of  wha 
could  be  collected  in  the  fleet  itself.^     Otherwise  it  was 
to  be  leared  that  the  opportunity  might  be  for  evcT  lo 't 
I  arma,  crushing  all  opposition,  might  suddenly  appear 
at  any  moment  upon  the  Channel ;  and  the  whole  SiE 
Arniada,  placing  itself  between  him  and  his  enemies 
would  engage  the  English  and  Dutch  fleets,  and  cTe; 
"X^^J^^    ''--'''  ^^-  ^^  t-  ^^te  to  think 
On  the  other  hand,  upon  the  decks  of  the  Armada 

every  W  "V"^^''''"''  '^'f  ^^^'^  ^^'^"^^  ^"-^"^--d 
evciy  hour.     1  he  governor  of  Calais,  M.  de  Gouidon, 

had  sent  his  nephew  on  board  the  flagship  of  Medina 
Sidonia,  with  courteous  salutations,  professions  of  friend- 
ship, and  bountiful  refreshments.  There  was  no  fear- 
Tw.i  I"'''''  was  for  the  time  in  the  ascendancy- 
fliat  the  sc^hemes  of  Philip  would  be  interfered  witlAy 

incf T;!,  A  S^^^"^^^*  ¥.^'  however,  sent  serious  warn- 
ing of  the  dangerous  position  in  which  the  Armada  had 
placed  itse  f.  He  was  quite  right.  Calais  roads  were 
no  safe  anchorage  for  huge  vessels  like  those  of  Spain 
and  Poitugal;  for  the  tides  and  cross-currents  to  S 
they  were  exposed  were  most  treacherous.^  It  was  calm 
enough  at  the  moment,  but  a  westerly  gale  midit  in  a 
ew  hours,  dnye  the  whole  fleet  hop^ssly  ^ng^h^ 
^and_banks  of  the  dangerous  Flemish  coast.     Moreover 

IndS'  f^2^\!'^'jt^y  -ell  furnished  with  charts 
and  pilots  lor  the  English  coast,  was  comparatively  un- 

Cv'v  T'""''  '^'  ^r«^^^  "'^^'^^  might  beset  hfm  off 
gers,  day  after  day,  to  Farnese,  begging  for  a^-sistance 

p  e::;ron  Th^  ^!5  ^'r^  .^"^  '^^^^-^  ^^^^^^^^ 

presence  on  the  field  of  action.*     It  was  the  time  and 

,  Whiter.  Utter.  MS.  ,588.    4    Aug.    I58«.     5     Aug.    1588. 

»  Horrera,  ITT.  ,„   io8  !*"."*    ^    ^'^'"'P    ^'-   '    ^"«-    1S««. 

*  Medina   Sidunla  to'rarma.  2  Aug.    MS^)^'  '      ^^'^-    ^'.  '^'^"^^' 


464 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


place  for  Alexander  to  assume  the  chief  command.  The 
Armada  was  ready  to  make  front  against  the  English 
fleet  on  the  left,  while  on  the  right,  the  Duke,  thus  pro- 
tected, might  proceed  across  the  Channel  and  take 
possession  of  England. 

And  the  impatience  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  on 
board  the  fleet  was  equal  to  that  of  their  commanders. 
There  was  London  almost  before  their  eyes— a  huge 
mass  of  treasure,  richer  and  more  accessible  than  those 
mines  beyond  the  Atlantic  which  had  so  often  rewarded 
Spanish  chivalry  with  fabulous  wealth.  And  there  were 
men  in  those  galleons  who  remembered  the  sack  of 
Antwerp,  eleven  years  before— men  who  could  tell,  from 
personal  experience,  how  helpless  was  a  great  conimer- 
cial  city,  when  once  in  the  clutch  of  disciplined  brigands 
— men  who,  in  that  dread  ''  fury  of  Antwerp,"  had  en- 
riched themselves  in  an  hour  with  the  accumulations  of 
a  merchant's  life-time,  and  who  had  slain  fathers  and 
mothers,  sons  and  daughters,  brides  and  bridegrooms, 
before  each  other's  eyes,  until  the  number  of  inhabitants 
butchered  in  the  blazing  streets  rose  to  many  thousands ; 
and  the  plunder  from  palaces  and  warehouses  was  counted 
by  millions,  before  the  sun  had  set  on  the  *'  gieat  fury." 
Those  Spaniards,  and  Italians,  and  Walloons,  were  now 
thirsting  for  more  gold,  for  more  blood;  and  as  the 
capital  of  England  was  even  more  wealthy  and 'far  more 
defenceless  than  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  Nether- 
lands had  been,  so  it  was  resolved  that  the  London  "  fury  " 
should  be  more  thorough  and  more  productive  than  the 
**fury"  of  Antwerp,  at  the  memory  of  which  the  world 
still  shuddered.  And  these  ]>rofessiunal  soldiers  had 
been  taught  to  consider  the  English  as  a  pacific,  delicate, 
effeminate  race,  dependent  on  good  living,  without  ex- 
perience of  war,  quickly  fatigued  and  discouraged,'  and 
even  more  easily  to  be  plundered  and  butchered  than 
were  the  excellent  burghers  of  Antwei*p. 

And  so  these  southern  conquerors  looked  down  from 
their  great  galleons  and  galeasses  upon  the  English 
vessels.  More  than  three-quarters  of  them  were  mer- 
chantmen. There  was  no  comparison  whatever  between 
the  relative  strength  of  the  fleets.  Tn  number  they  were 
about  equal— being  each  from  one  himdred  and  thirty 

»  Examination  of  Don  Diego  de  Hmeutel,  In  Bor,  111.  325,  326.. 


1583.  FIRE^HIPS  SENT  AGAINST  THE  ARMADA.  465 

to  one  hundred  and  fifty  strong,-but  the  Spaniards  had 
twice  the  tonnage  of  the  English,  four  times  the  artillcr? 
and  nearly  three  times  the  number  of  men  '  ' 

Where  was  Farnese?  Most  imi^tiently  the  Golden 
Duke  paced  the  deck  of  the  Saint  Martin.  Most  eagerly 
were  thousands  of  eyes  strained  towards  the  eS 

But  the  day  wore  on  to  it«  close,  and  still  the  same 
inexplicable  and  mysterious  silence  prevailed.  ThZt 
was  utter  solitude  on  the  waters  in  the  direction  of 
Gravelmes  and  Dunkirk-not  a  sail  upon  the  ^an  the 

entered  the  LT  ?'^'  '"'*'  P'"*""""'''  ^"^  ''  ^^^  never 
entered  the  head  of  any  man  in  the  Armada  that  Alex- 
ander could  not  come  out  when  ho  chose  ' 

And  now  to  impatience  succeeded  suspicion  and  in- 
dignation ;  and  there  were  curses  upon  sluggishneL  a  ml 
upon  treachery      For,  in  the  horrible  afmosX^e  of 

epo  h  t ''!,  "'"'^  '''  ^1^°'^'-<1«  --i  ItalianTof  tha 
lllTJVi'-  ^"S'^  ™*"   suspected  his  brother,   and 
already  Medina  Sidonia  suspected  Famese  of  playing 

the  Duke  and  the  English  commissioners  at  Bourboure 
Ihere  were  hints  that  Alexander  was  playing  hiVown 
game,  that  he  meant  to  divide  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Netherlands  with  the  heretic  Elizabeth,  to°desert  his 

f^JT!  "f  'V^'^'j  '^  P"*^'"^!*^-  the  destructL  of 
his  master  s  Armada,  and  the  downfall  of  his  master's 
sovereignty  in  the  north.     Men  told  each  other  too  of 

hJ«^!  ^'IJ""";  """".e^'ng  ^hich  Alexander  might 
have  received  information,  and  in  which  many  believed 

ttroSn:,''"'?'!"!?  *^^  ^^^^^'  °f  «-'«*  -*i-«  to 
to  Z  J?;-        i"*°  ^""/'^e,  so  soon  as  he  should  appear, 

ment  an^  *  ^''^TI  '^^'''"'  ^'^  ^  ^pain  for  punish: 
tW  f»nV  ^Pn"^!  *'"'  ''"♦on  of  command  in  the  hand  of 
Th,„  •  .k"*^  Pastrana,  Philip's  bastard  by  the  Eboli « 
liZ'cZ  ^f^'"'\°^  Alexander,  all  wa.  Suspense  and 
triuZZ        ■  ^^''J^'^^VOs^'^le  that  disaster  instead  of 

the  l^m^'.'"  ?*°'".".*^"/  *'"^™  t'''-o"g»i  the  treachery  of 
the  commander-m-chief.     Four  and  twenty  hours   and 

Sfh'^  tt^'"''  ^y'^'S  in  that  dangerous  roadstead 
and  although  the  weather  had  been  calm  and  the  sea 


»  Examination,  &c.,1ast  cited. 
VOL.  IX. 


*  Strada,  II.  x.  567,  568. 
2   H 


466 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


tranquil,  there  seemed  sometliing  brooding  in  the  atmos- 
phere. 

As  the  twilight  deepened,  the  moon  became  totally 
obscured,  dark  cloud-masses  spread  over  the  heavens, 
the  sea  grew  black,  distant  thunder  rolled,  and  the  sob 
of  an  approaching  tempest  became  distinctly  audible.^ 
Such  indications  of  a  westerly  gale  were  not  encouraging 
to  those  cumbrous  vessels,  with  the  treacherous  quick- 
sands of  Flanders  under  their  lee. 

At  an  hour  past  midnight,  it  was  so  dark  that  it  was 
difficult  for  the  most  practised  eye  to  pierce  far  into  the 
gloom.  But  a  faint  drip  of  oars  now  struck  the  ears  of 
the  Spaniards  as  they  watched  from  the  decks.  A  few 
moments  afterwards  the  sea  became  suddenly  luminous, 
and  six  flaming  vessels  appeared  at  a  slight  distance, 
bearing  steadily  down  upon  them  before  the  wind  and 
tide.* 

There  were  men  in  the  Armada  who  had  been  at  the 
siege  of  Antwei-p  only  three  years  before.  They  remem- 
bered with  horror  the  devil-ships  of  Gianibelli,  those 
floating  volcanoes,  which  had  seemed  to  rend  earth 
and  ocean,  whose  explosion  had  laid  so  many  thousands 
of  soldiers  dead  at  a  blow,  and  which  had  shattered  the 
bridge  and  floating  forts  of  Famese,  as  though  they  had 
been  toys  of  glass.  They  knew,  too,  that  the  famous 
engineer  was  at  that  moment  in  England. 

In  a  moment  one  of  those  hon-ible  panics,  which 
spread  with  such  contagious  rapidity  among  large  bodies 
of  men,  seized  upon  the  Spaniards.  There  was  a  yell 
throughout  the  fleet— "  The  fire-ships  of  Antwerp,  the 
fire-ships  of  Antwerp ! "  and  in  an  instant  every  cable 
was  cut,  and  frantic  attempts  were  made  by  each  galleon 
and  galeasse  to  escape  what  seemed  imminent  destruc- 
tion. The  confusion  was  beyond  description.  Four  or 
five  of  the  largest  ships  became  entangled  with  each 
other.  Two  others*  were  set  on  fire  by  the  flaming 
vessels,   and  were   consumed.      Medina  Sidonia,   who 


1  Strada,  II.  x.  560.  distinctly  appears  from  Winter's  letter. 

2  Winter's  Letter,  MS.  already  cited-  so  often  cited.  "  We  perceived  that 
Compare  Herrera,  III,  ill.  108.  Mete-  there  were  two  great  fires  more  than 
ren,  xv.  273.  Bor,  lil.  324  teq.  Strada,  ours  (previously  stated  by  him  as  six  In 
II.  X.  660,  561.    Camden,  ill.  415.  number),  and  far  greater  and  huger  tlian 

3  This  fact,  menUoned  by  no  historian,  any  our  fired  vessels  could  make." 


1588. 


A  GREAT  GALEASSE  DISABLED. 


4G7 


had  been  warned,  even  before  his  departure  from  Spain,^ 
that  some  such  artifice  would  probably  be  attempted, 
and  who  had  even,  early  that  morning,  sent  out  a  party 
of  sailors  in  a  pinnace*  to  search  for  indications  of  the 
scheme,  was  not  surprised  or  dismayed.  He  gave  orders 
—as  well  as  might  be— that  everj-  ship,  after  the  danger 
should  be  passed,  was  to  return  to  its  post,  and  await 
his  further  orders.^  But  it  was  useless,  in  that  moment 
of  unreasonable  panic,  to  issue  commands.  The  despised 
Mantuan,  who  had  met  with  so  many  rebuffs  at  Philip's 
court,  and  who— owing  to  official  incredulity— had  been 
but  partially  successful  in  his  magnificent  enterprise  at 
Antwerp,  had  now,  by  the  mere  terror  of  his  name, 
inflicted  more  damage  on  Philip's  Armada  than  had 
hitherto  been  accomplished  by  Howard  and  Drake, 
Hawkins  and  Frobisher,  combined. 

So  long  as  night  and  darkness  lasted,  the  confusion 
and  uproar  continued.  When  the  Monday  morning 
dawned,  several  of  the  Spanish  vessels  lay  dis- 
abled, while  the  rest  of  the  fleet  was  seen  at  a  Aug!^f' 
distance  of  two  leagues  from  Calais,  driving  ^^**«- ' 
towards  the  Flemish  cpast.  The  threatened  gale  had 
not  yet  begun  to  blow,  but  there  were  fresh  squalls  from 
the  W.S.W.,  which,  to  such  awkward  sailers  as  the 
Spanish  vessels,  were  difficult  to  contend  with.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  English  fleet  was  all  astir,  and  ready  to 
pursue  the  Spaniards,  now  rapidly  drifting  into  the 
North  Sea.  In  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Calais, 
the  flagship  of  the  squadron  of  galeasses,  commanded 
by  Don  Hugo  de  Moncada,  was  discovered  using  her 
foresail  and  oars,  and  endeavouring  to  enter  the  harbour. 
She  had  been  damaged  by  collision  with  the  St.  John  of 
Sicily  and  other  ships<  during  the  night's  panic,  and  had 
her  rudder  quite  torn  away.*  She  was  the  largest  and 
most  splendid  vessel  in  the  Armada— the  show-ship  of 
the  fleet,  '*  the  very  glory  and  stay  of  the  Spanish  navy  ;"  "^ 
and  during  the  previous  two  days  she  had  been  visited 
and  admired  by  great  numbers  of  Frenchmen  from  the 
shore. 


^  •'  Advertldo  va  el  dunque  del  Intento 
de  Drake  quanto  al  quemar  los  navlos." 
Philip  il.  to  Mendoza,  21st  June,  1588. 
(Archives  de  Simancas  [IVis],  MS.) 

'  Herrera,  III.  in.  io».  3  ibld. 


*  'Declaration  of  the  Proceedings   of 
the  two  Fleets.'  (MS.  already  cited.) 

*  R.    Tomson  to  ,   ?^'^   1588. 

0  Aug. 

fS.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  H  2 


ii 


468 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


h^ 


Lord  Admiral  Howard  bore  down  upon  her  at  once, 
but  as  she  was  already  in  shallow  water,  and  was  rowing 
steadily  towards  the  town,  he  saw  that  the  Ark  could 
not  follow  with  safety.  So  he  sent  his  long-boat  to  cut 
her  out,  manned  with  fifty  or  sixty  volunteers,  most  of 
them  *'  as  valiant  in  courage  as  gentle  in  birth"  '—as  a 
partaker  in  the  adventure  declared.  The  Margaret  and 
Joan  of  London,  also  following  in  pursuit,  ran  herself 
a-ground,  but  the  master  despatched  his  pinnace  with 
a  body  of  musketeers,  to  aid  in  the  capture  of  the 
cral  passe 

°  That  huge  vessel  failed  to   enter  the  harbour,  and 
stuck  fast  upon  the  bar.     There  was  much  dismay  on 
board,  but  Don  Hugo  prepared  resolutely  to  defend  him- 
self.    The  quays  of  Calais  and  the  line  of  the  French 
shore  were  lined  with  thousands  of  eager  spectators,  as 
the  two   boats— rowing   steadily  towards    a    galeasse, 
which  carried  forty  brass  pieces  of  artillery,  and  was 
manned  with  three  hundred  soldiers  and  four  hundred 
and  fifty  slaves— seemed  rushing  upon  their  own  destnic- 
tion.     Of  these  daring  Englishmen,  patricians  and  ple- 
beians together,  in  two  open  pinnaces,  there  were  not 
more  than  one  hundred  in  numj)er,  all  told.     They  soon 
laid  themselves  close  to  the  Capitana,  far  below  her  lofty 
sides,  and  called  on    Don  Hugo    to    surrender.     The 
answer  was  a  smile   of   derision    from    the    haughty 
Spaniard,  as  he    looked   down    upon  them  from  what 
seemed  an  inaccessible  height.     Then  one  Wilton  cox- 
swain of  the  Delight,  of  \V  inter's  squadron,  clambered 
up  to  the  enemy's  deck  and  fell  dead  the  same  instant.' 
Then  the  English  volunteers  opened  a  volley  iipon  the 
Spaniards.     "  Tliey  seemed  safely  ensconced  in   then- 
ships,"   said   bold    Dick  Tomson,  of  the  Margaret  and 
Joan,  "  while  we  in  our  open  pinnaces,  and  far  under 
them,  had  nothing  to  shroud  and  cover  us."     Moreover 
the  numbers  were  seven  hundred  and  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred.    But  the  Spaniards,  still  quite  disconcerted  by  the 
events  of  the  preceding  night,  seemed  under  a  spell. 
Otherwise  it  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  for  the 


»  Tomson's  Letter.  MS.  jutt  cited. 
«  Ibid. 


»  Winter  to  Walslngham,  M.S.  before 
cited. 


1588.     ATTACKED  AND  CAPTURED  Br  ENGLISH  BOATS.     4G9 

great  galeasse  to  annihilate  such  puny  antagonists  in  a 
very  short  space  of  time.'  jt     ^        -» 

The  English  pelted  the  Spaniards  quite  cheerfully 
however,  with  arquebus-shot,   whenever  they  showed 
themselves  above  the  bulwarks,  picked  off  a  consider- 
able number,  and  sustained  a  rather  severe  loss  them- 
selves,  Lieutenant  Preston,  of  the  Ark  R.yyal,  among 
others,  being  dangerously  wounded.     "  We  had  a  prett? 
skirmish  for  half  an  hour,"  said  Tomson.     At  last  Don 
Hugo  de  Moncada,  furious  at  the  inefficiency  of  his  men 
and  leading  them  for^vard  in  person,  fell  back  on  his  deck 
with  a  bullet  through  both  eyes.^     The  panic  was  in- 
stantaneous, for,  meantime,  several  other  Enrfish  boats 
-some  with  eight,  ten,  or  twelve  men  on  board— were 
seen  pulling  towards  the  galeasse ;  while  the  dismayed 
soldiers  at  once  leaped  overboard  on  the  land  side,  and 
attempted  to  escape  by  swimming  and  wading  to  the 
shore.     Some   of    them   succeeded,    but   the    greater 
number  were  drowned.     The  few  who  remained-not 
more  than  twenty  in  alP-hoisted  two  handkerchiefs 
upon  two  rapiers  as  a  signal  of  truce.*     The  English 
accepting  it  as  a  symbol  of  defeat,  scrambled  with  great 
difficulty  up  the  lofty  sides  of  the  Capitam,  and,  for  an 
hour  and  a  halt,  occupied  themselves  most  agreeably  in 
plundering  the  ship  and  in  liberating  the  slaves  * 

It  was  their  intention,  with  the  flood-tide,  to  get 
the  vessel  off  as  she  was  but  slightly  damaged,  and  of 
very  great  value.  But  a  serious  obstacle  arose  to  this 
arrangement  For  presently  a  boat  came  alongside, 
with  young  M.  de  Gourdon  and  another  French  captain 
and  hailed  the  galeasse.  There  was  nobody  on  board 
who  could  speak  French  but  Richard  Tomson.  So 
Richard  returned  the  hail,  and  asked  their  business.^ 
iney  said  they  came  from  the  governor. 

"  And  what  is  the  governor's  pleasure  ?"  asked  Tom- 
son, when  they  had  come  up  the  side. 

"  The   governor   has   stood    and   beheld  your  fight 
and  rejoiced  in   your  victory,"  was   the   reply;  -and 
ne  says  that  for  your  prowess  and  manhood  you  well 


! 

H 

4  I 

I  I 

I 

i   ' 


1  Tomson's  Letter,  MS.  Compare  Ilor- 
rwa,  III.  lii.  108.  Bor,  iJi.  324,  325. 
Metcren,  xv.  27.?.  Camden,  iil.  415. 
Strada,  II.  ix.  561.    Coloma*!.  7.  8 

•Ibid. 


'  Coloma,  Mfci  *i(p. 

*  Tomson's  Letter,  MS.  before  cited. 

*  Bor,  iii.  325. 

6  Tomson's  Letter,  MS.  before  cited. 


I: 


11 
III 


470 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


deserve  fhe  pillage  of  the  galeasse.  He  requires  and 
commands  you,  however,  not  to  attempt  carrj'ing  off 
either  the  ship  or  its  ordnance ;  for  she  lies  a-ground 
under  the  battery  of  his  castle,  and  within  his  juris- 
diction, and  does  of%right  appertain  to  him." 

This  seemed  hard  upon  the  hundred  volunteers,  who, 
in  their  two  open  boats,  had  so  manfully  earned  a  ship 
of  1200  tons,  40  guns,  and  750  men;  but  Eichard  an- 
swered diplomatically. 

"We  thank  M.  de  Gourdon,"  said  he,  "for  granting 
the  pillage  to  mariners  and  soldiei-s  who  had  fought 
for  it,  and  we  acknowledge  that  without  his  goodwill 
wo  cannot  carry  away  anything  we  have  got,  for  the 
ship  lies  on  ground  directly  under  his  batteries  and 
bulwarks.  Concerning  the  ship  and  ordnance,  we 
pray  that  he  would  send  a  pinnace  to  my  Lord  Admiral 
Howard,  who  is  here  in  pereon  hard  by,  from  whom  he 
will  have  an  honourable  and  friendly  answer,  which  we 
shall  all  obey." 

With  this  the  French  officers,  being  apparently  con- 
tent, were  about  to  depart;  and  it  is  not  impossible 
that  the  soft  answer  might  have  obtained  the  galeasse 
and  the  ordnance,  notwithstanding  the  an-angemcnt 
which  Philip  II.  had  made  with  his  excellent  friend 
Heniy  III.  for  aid  and  comfort  to  Spanish  vessels  in 
French  ports.  Unluckily,  however,  the  inclination  for 
plunder  being  rife  that  morning,  some  of  the  English- 
men hustled  their  French  visitors,  phmdered  them  of 
their  rings  and  jewels,  as  if  they  had  been  enemies, 
and  then  permitted  them  to  depart.  They  rowed  off 
to  the  shore,  vowing  vengeance,  and  within  a  few 
minutes  after  their  return  the  battery  of  the  fort  was 
opened  upon  the  English,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
make  their  escape  as  they  could  with  the  plunder 
already  secured,  leaving  the  galeasse  in  the  possession 
of  M.  do  Gourdon.* 

This  adventure  being  terminated,  and  the  pinnaces 
having  returned  to  the  fleet,  the  Lord- Admiral,  who  had 
l>een  lying  off  and  on,"  now  bore  away  with  all  his  force 
in  pursuit  of  the  Spaniards.  The  Invincible  Armada, 
already  sorely  crippled,  was  standing  n.n.e.  directly  be- 

1  Tomson'a  Letter,  MS.  before  cited.    Stra.la.  Coloma,  wW  mp. 
Compare  Herrera,  Bor.  Meteren,  Camden.       *  Winter's  Utter,  MS.  before  cited. 


1588.         GENERAL  ENGAGEMENT  OF  BOTH  FLEETS.         471 


fore  a  fresh  topsail  breeze  from  the  s.s.w.  The  English 
came  up  with  them  soon  after  nine  o'clock  a.m.  off 
Gravelines,  and  found  them  sailing  in  a  half-moon, 
the  admiral  and  vice-admiral  in  the  centre,  and  the 
flanks  protected  by  the  three  remaining  galeasses  and 
by  the  great  galleons  of  Portugal.* 

Seeing  the  enemy  approaching,  Medina  Sidonia 
ordered  his  whole  fleet  to  luff  to  the  wind,  and  prepare 
for  action.*  The  wind,  shifting  a  few  points,  was  now  at 
W.X.W.,  so  that  the  English  had  both  the  weather-gage 
and  the  tide  in  their  favour.  A  general  combat  began 
at  about  ten,  and  it  was  soon  obvious  to  the  Spaniards 
that  their  adversaries  were  intending  warm  work.  Sir 
Francis  Drake  in  the  Revenge,  followed  by  Frobisher  in 
the  Triumph,  Hawkins  in  the  Victory,  and  some  smaller 
vessels,  made  the  first  attack  upon  the  Spanish  flag- 
ships. Lord  Henry  in  the  Rainbow,  Sir  Henry  Palmer 
in  the  Antelojye,  and  others,  engaged  with  three  of  the 
largest  galleons  of  the  Armada,  while  Sir  William 
Winter  in  the  Vanguard,  supported  by  most  of  his 
squadron,  charged  the  starboard  wing.* 

The  portion  of  the  fleet  thus  assaulted  fell  back  into 
the  main  body.  Four  of  the  ships  ran  foul  of  each 
other,*  and  Winter,  driving  into  their  centre,  found  him- 
self within  musket-shot  of  many  of  their  most  formidable 
ships. 

"  I  tell  you,  on  the  credit  of  a  poor  gentleman,"  he 
said,  "  that  there  were  five  hundred  discharges  of  demi- 
cannon,  culverin,  and  demi-culverin,  from  the  Vanguard; 
and  when  I  was  farthest  off  in  firing  my  pieces,  I  was 
not  out  of  shot  of  their  harquebus,  and  most  time  within 
speech,  one  of  another.",^ 

The  battle  lasted  six  hours  long,  hot  and  furious  ;  for 
now  there  was  no  excuse  for  retreat  on  the  pai;t  of  the 
Spaniards,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  the  intention  of 
the  Captain-General  to  return  to  his  station  off  Calais,  if 
it  were  within  his  power.  Nevertheless  the  English 
still  partially  maintained  the  tactics  which  had  proved 
so  successful,  and  resolutely  refused  the  fierce  attempts 
of  the  Spaniards  to  lay  themselves  alongside.     Keeping 

»  Winter's  Tetter,  MS.  before citetl.         MS.    Lord  H.Seymour  to  the  Queen  In 

«  Herrera,  III.  lil/iio,  Barrow.  305. 

»  Herrera,  last  cited.    Winter's  Letter,       *  Winter's  Letter,  MS.  a  Hid. 


472 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


within  imisket-range,  the  well- disciplined  English 
mariners  poured  broadside  after  broadside  against  the 
towering  ships  of  the  Armada,  which  afforded  so  easy  a 
mark  ;  while  the  Spaniards,  on  their  part,  found  it  im- 
possible, while  wasting  incredible  quantities  of  powder 
and  shot,  to  inflict  any  severe  damage  on  their  enemies. 
Throughout  the  action,  not  an  English  ship  was  de- 
stroyed, and  not  a  hundred  men  were  killed.*  On  the 
other  hand,  all  the  best  ships  of  the  Spaniards  were 
riddled  through  and  through,  and  with  masts  and  yards 
shattered,  sails  and  rigging  torn  to  shreds,  and  a  north- 
west wind  still  drifting  thom  towards  the  fatal  sand- 
banks of  Holland,  they  laboured  heavily  in  a  chopping 
sea,  firing  wildly,  and  receiving  tremendous  punishment 
at  the  hands  of  Howard,  Drake,  Seymour,  Winter,  and 
their  followers.  Not  even  master-gunner  Thomas  could 
complain  that  day  of  "  blind  exercise  "  on  the  part  of 
the  English,  with  "  little  harm  done  "  to  the  enemy. 
There  was  scarcely  a  ship  in  the  Armada  that  did  not 
suffer  severely;*  for  nearly  all  were  engaged  in  that 
memorable  action  off  the  sands  of  Gravelines.  The 
Captain-General  himself.  Admiral  Ilecalde,  Alonzo  de 
Leyva,  Oquendo,  Diego  Flores  de  Valdez,  Bertendona, 
Don  Francisco  de  Toledo,  Don  Diego  de  Piraentel,  Telles 
Enriquez,  Alonzo  de  Luzon,  Garibay,  with  most  of  the 
great  galleons  and  galeasses,  were  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight,  and  one  after  the  other  each  of  those  huge  ships 
was  disabled.  Three  sank  before  the  fight  was  over, 
many  others  were  soon  drifting  helpless  wrecks  towards 
a  hostile  shore,  and,  before  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
at  least  sixteen  of  their  best  ships  had  been  sacrificed, 
and  from  four  to  five  thousand  soldiers  killed.^ 

Nearly  all  the  largest  vessels  of  the  Armada,  there- 
fore, having  been  disabled  or  damaged — according  to 
a  Spanish  eye-witness— and  all   their  small  shot  ex- 

»  Herrera,  m.Ui.  110.  MS.) 

2  "  God  hath  mightily  presenred  her       '  Bor,  iii.  327.    Heirera,  vbi  svp.  '  Pe- 
Majesty's  forces  with  the  least  losses  that    claration  of  the  Proceedmgs,'  MS.  Howard 

ever  hath  been  heard  of  being  within    toVValsingham  1  Aug.  1586.  Drake  to 

the  compass  of  so  great  volleys  of  shot,  i/ 

both  small  and  great.    I  verily  believe    ^^  Queen,  ^  Aug.    1586;   in   Barrow, 

there  Is  not  three-score  men  lost  of  her 

Majesty's  forces."    Captain  J.  Fenner  to    306-310. 

Wftlsingham,  -  Aug.  1588.   (S.  P.  Office 


18 


iv 


1588. 


LOSS  OF  SEVERAL  SPANISH  SHIPS. 


473 


hausted,  Medina  Sidonia  reluctantly  gave  orders  to 
retreat.  The  Captain- General  was  a  bad  sailor,  but  he 
was  a  chivalrous  Spaniard  of  ancient  Gothic  blood, 
and  he  felt  deep  mortification  at  the  plight  of  his  in- 
vincible fleet,  together  with  undisguised  resentment 
against  Alexander  Famese,  through  whose  treachery 
and  incapacity  he  considered  the  great  Catholic  cause 
to  have  been  so  foully  sacrificed.  Crippled,  maltreated, 
and  diminished  in  number,  as  were  his  ships,  he  would 
have  still  faced  the  enemy,  but  the  winds  and  currents 
were  fast  driving  him  on  a  lee-shore,  and  the  pilots, 
one  and  all,  assured  him  that  it  would  be  inevitable 
destruction  to  remain.  After  a  slight  and  very  inef- 
fectual attempt  to  rescue  Don  Diego  de  Pimentel  in 
the  St,  Matt/iew — who  refused  to  leave  his  disabled  ship 
—and  Don  Francisco  de  Toledo,  whose  great  galleon, 
the  St.  Philip^  was  fast  driving,  a  helpless  wreck, 
towards  Zeeland,  the  Armada  bore  away  n.n.e.  into 
the  open  sea,  leaving  those  who  could  not  follow  to 
their  fate.^ 

The  St.  MattJiew,  in  a  sinking  condition,  hailed  a 
Dutch  fisherman,  who  was  offered  a  gold  chain  to  pilot 
her  into  Newport.  But  the  fisherman,  being  a  patriot, 
steered  her  close  to  the  Holland  fleet,  where  she  was 
immediately  assaulted  by  Admiral  Van  der  Does,  to 
whom,  after  a  two  hours'  bloody  fight,  she  struck  her 
flag.*  Don  Diego,  marshal  of  the  camp  to  the  famous 
legion  of  Sicily,  brother  of  the  Marquis  of  Tavei-a, 
nephew  of  the  Viceroy  of  Sicily,  uncle  to  the  Viceroy 
of  Naples,  and  numbering  as  many  titles,  dignities, 
and  high  affinities,  as  could  be  expected  of  a  grandee 
of  the  first  class,  was  taken,  with  his  officers,  to  the 
Hague."  "  I  was  the  means,"  said  Captain  Borlase, 
"  that  the  best  sort  were  saved,  and  the  rest  were  cast 
overboard  and  slain  at  our  entry.  He  fought  with  us 
two  hours,  and  hurt  divers  of  our  men,  but  at  last 
yielded."* 

John  Van  der  Does,  his  captor,  presented  the  banner 
of  the  St.  Matthew  to  the  great  church  of  Leyden, 
where— such  was  its  prodigious  length— it  hung  from 

»  Herrera,  III.  lil.  109.    Meteren,  xv.        «  Ibid. 
273,274.    Bor,lil.  325.  Camden,  iii.  416,        .„    ,  ,„  ,  a 

416.  *  Borlase  t^WalsUigham,  -  Aug.  1588^ 

«  Bor,  ubi  tup.         *  (s.  p.  Office  MS.) 


474 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


ceiling  to  floor  without  being  entirely  unrolled  ;*  and 
there  it  hung,  from  generation  to  generation,  a  worthy 
companion  to  the  Spanish  flags  which  had  been  left 
behind  when  Yaldez  abandoned  the  siege  of  that  heroic 
city  fifteen  years  before. 

The  galleon  St.  Philip,  one  of  the  four  largest  ships  in 
the  Armada,  dismasted  and  foundering,  drifted  towards 
Newport,  where  camp-marshal  Don  Francisco  de  Toledo 
hoped  in  vain  for  succour.  La  IVIotte  made  a  feeble 
attempt  at  rescue,  but  some  vessels  from  the  Holland 
fleet,  being  much  more  active,  seized  the  unfortunate 
galleon,  and  carried  her  into  Flushing.  The  captors 
found  forty-eight  brass  cannon  and  other  things  of 
value  on  board,  but  there  were  some  casks  of  Ribadavia 
wine  which  was  more  fatal  to  her  enemies  than  those 
pieces  of  artillery  had  proved.  For  while  the  rebels 
were  refreshing  themselves,  after  the  fatigues  of  the 
capture,  with  large  draughts  of  that  famous  vintage,  the 
St.  Philip,  which  had  been  bored  through  and  through 
with  English  shot,  and  had  been  rapidly  filling  with 
water,  gave  a  sudden  luich,  and  went  down  in  a 
moment,  carrying  with  her  to  the  bottom  three  hundred 
of  those  convivial  Hollanders."  * 

A  large  Biscay  galleon,  too,  of  Recalde's  squadron, 
much  disabled  in  action,  and  now,  like  many  others, 
unable  to  follow  the  Armada,  was  summoned  by  Captain 
Cross,  of ''the  Hope,  48  guns,  to  surrender.  Although 
foundering,  she  resisted,  and  refused  to  strike  her  flag. 
One  of  her  officei-s  attempted  to  haul  down  her  colours, 
and  was  run  through  the  body  by  the  captain,  who,  in 
his  turn,  was  struck  dead  by  a  brother  of  the  officer  thus 
slain.  In  the  midst  of  this  quarrel  the  ship  "^ent  down 
with  all  her  crew.^ 

Six  hours  and  more,  from  ten  till  nearly  five,  the  fight 
had  lasted — a  most  cruel  battle,  as  the  Spaniards  declared. 
There  were  men  in  the  Armada  who  had  served  in  the 
action  of  Lepanto,*  and  who  declared  that  famous  en- 


*  Bor,  Meteren,  uhi  Slip. 


ehe  sank.    '  Declaration  of  the  Proceed- 


2  Coloraa,  1.   8vo.    Compare  Meteren,  ings,'  &c.  MS. 

Bor,  ubi  sup.  etal.  ...          ,    x      ,.-  ,  .     .          8    . 

3  Meteren.  xv.  273-  who  Irelates  the  *  ^"^''''^  ^"^  ^Nalsmgham.  -  Aiig. 
anecdote  on  the  authority  of  some  sailors  158?^.  (S.  P.  Oflflce  MS.)  "Some  make 
who  made  their  escape  by  jumping  over-  little  account,"  says  the  Lord- Admiral, 
board,  and  who  were  picked  up  Just  before  "  of  the  Spanish  forces  by  sea,  but  I  do 


1588.      ARMADA  FLIES,  FOLLOWED  BY  THE  EX.GLISH.      475 

counter  to  have  been  far  surpassed  in  severity  and  spirit 
by  this  fight  off  Gravelines.  "  Surely  every  man  in 
our  fleet  did  well,"  said  Winter,  "  and  the  slaughter  the 
enemy  received  was  great."  ^  Nor  would  the  Spaniards 
have  escaped  even  worse  punishment,  had  not,  most  un- 
fortunately, the  penurious  policy  of  the  Queen's  govern- 
ment rendered  her  ships  useless  at  last,  even  in  this 
supreme  moment.  They  never  ceased  cannonading  the 
discomfited  enemy  until  the  ammunition  was  exhausted. 
"  When  the  cartridges  were  all  spent,"  said  Winter,  "  and 
the  munitions  in  some  vessels  gone  altogether,  we 
ceased  fighting,  but  followed  the  enemy,  who  still  kept 
away."  *  And  the  enemy — although  still  numerous,  and 
seeming  strong  enough,  if  properly  handled,  to  destroy 
the  whole  English  fleet — fled  before  them.  There  re- 
mained more  than  fifty  Spanish  vessels,  above  six 
hundred  tons  in  size,  besides  sixty  hulks  and  other 
vessels  of  less  account ;  while  in  the  whole  English  navy 
were  but  thirteen  ships  of  or  above  that  burthen. 
"Their  force  is  wonderful  great  and  strong,"  said 
Howard,  '*but  we  pluck  their  feathers  by  little  and 
little." « 

For  Medina  Sidonia  had  now  satisfied  himself  that  he 
should  never  succeed  in  boarding  those  hard-fighting  and 
swift-sailing  craft,  while,  meantime,  the  horrible  panic 
of  Sunday  night  and  the  succession  of  fights  throughout 
the  following  day,  had  completely  disorganised  his  fol- 
lowers. Crippled,  riddled,  shoni,  but  still  numerous, 
and  by  no  means  entirely  vanquished,  the  Armada  was 
flying  with  a  gentle  breeze  before  an  enemy  who,  to  save 
his  existence,  could  not  have  fired  a  broadside. 

"  Though  our  powder  and  shot  was  well  nigh  spent," 
said  the  Lord- Admiral,  "  we  put  on  a  brag  countenance 
and  gave  them  chase,  as  though  we  had  wanted  nothing. 


»»4 


warrant  you,  all  the  world  never  saw 
such  a  force  as  theirs  was.  And  some 
Spanish  there  we  have  taken  that  were 
in  the  fight  of  Lepanto  do  say,  that  the 
worst  of  our  four  fights  that  we  have  had 
with  them  did  exceed  far  the  fight  they 
had  there  ;  and  they  say  that  at  some  of 
our  fights  we  had  twenty  times  as  much 
great  shot  there  played  than  they  had 
there." 

"  It  was  a  most  cmel  battle"  (crudelis- 


sima  batalla),    says   Herrera,  from  the 
Journal  of  a  Spaniard  present  (iii.  108). 

1  Winter's  Letter,  ^  Aug.   1588.  (MS. 

before  cited.) 
»  Winter's  Letter,  MS.  last  cited. 

'  Howard  to  Walsingham,  — ^'1588. 

8  Aug. 

(S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

*  Same  to  same,  —Aug.  1588,  in  Bar- 
row,  306, 307. 


H: 


17 


476 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588. 


ENGLISH  INSUFFICIENTLY  PROVIDED. 


477 


And  the  brag  countenance  was  successful,  for  that  "  one 
day*s  service  had  much  appalled  the  enemy," '  as  Drake 
observed ;  and  still  the  Spaniards  fled  with  a  freshening 
8  Aug.  gale  all  through  the  Monday  night.  "  A  thino- 
1588.  greatly  to  be  regarded,"  said  Fenner,  of  the 
Nonpareil,  *'  is  that  that  the  Almighty  hath  stricken  them 
with  a  wondeiful  fear.  I  have  hardly  seen  any  of  their 
companies  succoured  of  the  extremities  which  befell 
them  after  their  fights,  but  they  have  been  left  at  utter 

^"^»  ^^il®  tliey  t>ear  as  much  sail  as  ever  they  possibly 
can. 

On  Tuesday  momins:,  0th  August,  the  English  ships 
were  off  the  Isle  of  Walcheren,  at  a  safe  distance  from 
Toes..  Aug.  9.  the  shore.  *'  The  wind  is  hanging  westerly," 
»***«•  said  Richard  Tomson,  of  the  Margaret  and 
Joan,  "  and  we  drive  our  enemies  apace,  much  marvellino- 
m  what  port  they  will  direct  themselves.  Those  that 
are  left  alive  are  so  weak  and  heartless  that  they  could 
be  well  content  to  lose  all  charges  and  to  be  at  home 
both  rich  and  poor."  '  ' 

;*  In  my  conscience,"  said  Sir  William  Winter,  "  I 
thmk  the  Duke  would  give  his  dukedom  to  be  in  Spain 
again."  *  ^ 

The  English  ships,  one  hundred  and  four  in  number,* 
being  that  morning  half  a  league  to  windward,  the  Duke 
gave  orders  for  the  whole  Armada  to  lay  to  and  await 
their  approach.     But  the  English  had  no  disposition  to 
e^^age,  for  at  that  moment  the  instantaneous  destruction 
of  their  enemies  seemed  inevitable.    Ill-managed,  panic- 
struck,  staggering  before  their  foes,  the  Spanish  fleet 
was  now  close  upon  the  fatal  sands  of  Zeeland.    Already 
there  were  but  six  and  a  half  fathoms  of  water,  rapidly 
shoaling  under  their  keels,  and  iha  pilots  told  Medina 
that  all  were  irretrievably  lost,  for  the  freshening  north- 
wester was  driving  them  steadily  upon  the  banks.     The 
English,  easily  escaping  the  danger,  hauled  their  wind, 
and  paused  to  see  the  ruin  of  the  proud  Armada  accom- 
plished before  their  eyes.     Nothing  but  a  change  of 
wind  at  the  instant  could  save   them  from  perdTtion. 


:>  Prake  to  Walsingham,  in  Barrow,    (S.  P.OfBceMS.) 
3***-  »  Tomaon'tf  Letter.  MS,  before  dtod. 

*  ■  *  Winter's  Letter,  MS.  before  cited. 

*  Herrera,  110. 


*  Fenner  to  Wakingham,  -  Aug.  1588 

i4  ' 


There  was  a  breathless  shudder  of  suspense,  and  then 
there  came  the  change.  Just  as  the  foremost  ships,  were 
about  to  ground  on  the  Ooster  Zand,  the  wind  suddenly 
veered  to  the  south-west,  and  the  Spanish  ships  quickly 
squaring  their  sails  to  the  new  impulse,  stood  out  once 
more  into  the  open  sea.* 

All  that  day  the  galleons  and  galeasses,  under  all  the 
canvas  which  they  d!ared  to  spread,  continued  their  flight 
before  the  south-westerly  breeze,  and- still  the  Lord- 
Admiral,  maintaining  the  brag  countenance,  followed,  at 
an  easy  distance,  the  retreating  foe.  At  4  p.m.,  Howard 
fired  a  signal  gun,  andean  up  a  flag  of  council.  Winter 
could  not  go,  for  he  had  been  wounded  in  action,  but 
Se}Tnour  and  Drake,  Hawkins,  Frobisher,  and  the  rest 
were  present,  and  it  was  decided  that  Lord  Henry  should 
return,  accompanied  by  Winter  and  the  rest  of  the  inner 
squadron,  to  guard  the  Thames-mouth  against  any 
attempt  of  the  Duke  of  Parma,  while  the  Lord-Admiral 
and  the  rest  of  the  navy  should  continue  the  pursuit  of 
the  Armada.* 

Very  wroth  was  Lord  Henry  at  being  deprived  of  his 
share  in  the  chase.  *'  The  Lord-Admiral  was  altogether 
desirous  to  have  me  strengthen  him,"  said  he,  "and 
having  done  so  to  the  uttermost  of  my  goodwill  and  the 
venture  of  my  life,  and  to  the  distressing  of  the  Spaniards, 
which  was  thoroughly  done  on  the  Monday  last,  I  now 
find  his  Lordship  jealous  and  loath  to  take  part  of  the 
honour  which  is  to  come.  So  he  has  used  his  authority  to 
command  me  to  look  to  our  English  coast,  threatened 
by  the  Duke  of  Parma.  I  pray  God  my  Lord-Admiral 
do  not  find  the  lack  of  the  liambcnc  and  her  companions, 
for  I  protest  before  God  I  vowed  I  would  be  as  near  or 
nearer  with  my  little  ship  to  encounter  our  enemies  as 
any  of  the  greatest  ships  in  both  armies."^ 

There  was  no  insubordination,  however,  and  Sey- 
mour's squadron,  at  twilight  of  Tuesday  evening,  August 
9th— according  to  orders,  so  that  the  enemy  might  not 
see  their  departure— bore  away  fur  Margate."  But 
although  Winter  and  Seymour  were  much  disappointed 
at  their  enforced  return,  there  was  less  enthusiasm  among 

1  Herrera,  no.    Camden,  ill.  416.  i 

•  Winter's  Letter,  MS.  ,7  -^"8-  '588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

»  Lord  H.  Seymour  to  Walsingham,       «  \\'lnter'8  Letter.  MS. 


. 


It 


« 


478 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX 


the  sailors  of  the  fleet.  Pursuing  the  Spaniards  without 
powder  to  fire,  and  without  beef  and  bread  to  eat,  was 
not  thought  amusing  by  the  English  crews.  Howard 
had  not  three  days'  supply  of  food  in  his  lockers,  and 
Seymour  and  his  squadron  had  not  food  for  one  day. 
Accordingly,  when  Seymour  and  Winter  took  their  de- 
parture, '*they  had  much  ado,"  so  Winter  said,  "with 
the  staying  of  many  ships  that  would  have  retunied  with 
them,  besides  their  own  company.'*  *  Had  the  Spaniards, 
instead  of  being  panic- struck,  but  turned  on  their  pur- 
suers, what  might  have  been  the  result  of  a  conflict  with 
starving  and  unarmed  men  ?  •     • 

Howard,  Drake,  and  Frobisher,  with  the  rest  of  the 
fleet,  followed  the  Armada  through  the  North  Sea  from 
Tuesday  night  (9th  August)  till  Friday  (the  12th),  and 
still,  the  strong  south-wester  swept  the  Spaniards  before 
them,  uncertain  whether  to  seek  refuge,  food,  water,  and 
room  to  repair  damages,  in  the  realms  of  the  treacherous 
King  of  Scots,  or  on  the  iron-bound  coasts  of  Norway. 
Medina  Sidonia  had,  however,  quite  abandoned  his  inten- 
tion of  returning  to  England,  and  was  only  anxious  for  a 
safe  return  to  Spain.  So  much  did  he  dread  that  northern 
passage,  unpiloted,  around  the  grim  Hebrides,  that  he 
would  probably  have  surrendered,  had  the  English  over- 
taken him  and  once  more  offered  battle.  He  was  on  the 
point  of  hanging  out  a  white  flag — as  they  approached 
him  for  the  last  time—but  yielded  to  the  expostulations 
of  the  ecclesiastics  on  board  the  Saint  Martin,  who  thought, 
no  doubt,  that  they  had  more  to  fear  from  England  than 
from  the  sea,  should  they  be  earned  captive  to  that 
countiy,  and  who  persuaded  him  that  it  would  be  a  sin 
and  a  disgrace  to  surrender  before  they  had  been  once 
more  attacked.' 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Devonshire  skipper,  Vice- 
Admiral  Drake,  now  thoroughly  in  his  element,  could 
not  restrain  his  hilarity,  as  he  saw  the  Invincible 
Armada  of  the  man  whose  beard  he  had  so  often  singed, 


I  Winter's  I.€tter,  MS. 

>  "  Had  the  English  been  well/urnished 
with  victuals  and  munition,"  saysStowe, 
"  they  would  in  the  pursuit  have  brought 
the  Spaniards  to  their  mercy.  On  the 
other  hand,  had  the  Spaniards  but  two 
days  longer  continued  fight,  they  must 


have  driven  the  English  to  retreat,  for 
want  of  shot  and  powder,  leaving  the 
Spaniards  masters  of  the  field,"  719. 

«  Meteren,  xv.  274,  on  the  authority 
of  certain  Dutch  fishermen,  who  had  been 
impressed    on    board   the  San  Martin 
Reyd,  viil.  147. 


1588.         A  GREAT  STORM  DISPERSES  THE  ARMADA.         479 

rolling  through  the  German  Ocean,  in  full  flight  from 
the  country  which  was  to  have  been  made,  that  week,  a 
Spanish  province.  Unprovided  as  were  his  ships,  he 
was  for  risking  another  battle,  and  it  is  quite  possible 
that  the  brag  countenance  might  have  proved  even  more 
successful  than  Howai'd  thought. 

"  We  have  the  army  of  Spain  before  us,"  wrote  Drake, 
from  the  llevenge,  *'  and  hope  with  the  grace  of  God  to 
wrestle  a  pull  with  him.  There  never  was  any  thing 
pleased  me  better  than  seeing  the  enemy  fly  in  o-  with  a 
southerly  wind  to  the  northward.  God  grant  you  have 
a  good  eye  to  the  Duke  of  Parma,  for  with  the  grace  of 
God,  if  we  live,  I  doubt  not  so  to  handle  the  matter  with 
the  Duke  of  Sidonia  as  he  shall  wish  himself  at  St.  Mary's 
Port  among  his  orange-trees."  ' 

But   Howard  decided   to  wrestle    no    further  pull. 
Having   followed   the   Spaniards  till   Friday,   12th  of 
August,  as  far  as  the  latitude  of  56°  17',  the  Lord 
Admiral  called  a  council.  It  was  then  decided,    JJffiy, 
in  order  to  save  English  lives  and  ships,  to  put      ^^^^- ' 
into  the  Frith  of  Forth  for  water  and  provisions,  leaving 
two  "pinnaces  do  dog  the  fleet  «ntil  it  should  be  past 
the  Isles  of  Scotland."  *     But  the  next  day,  as  the  wind 
shifted  to  the  north-west,  another  council  decided  to 
take  advantage  of  the  change,  and  bear  away  for  the 
North  Foreland,  in  order  to  obtain  a  supply  of  powder, 
shot,  and  provisions." 

Up  to  this  period,  the  weather,  though  occasionally 
threatening,  had  been  moderate.  During  the  week 
which  succeeded  the  eventful  night  off  Calais,  neither 
the  Armada  nor  the  English  ships  had  been  much  im- 
peded in  their  manoeuvres  by  storms  or  heavy  seas. 
But  on  the  following  Sunday,  14th  of  August,  there  was 
a  change.  The  wind  shifted  again  to  the  south-west, 
and,  during  the  whole  of  that  day  and  the  Monday,  blew 
a  tremendous  gale.*  "  'Twas  a  more  violent  storm,^'  said 
Howard,  "  than  was  ever  seen  before  at  this  time  of  the 


1  Drake  to.Walsingham,  JJi^^  1588.    ham,  T-  Aug.  1586.  in  Rarrow, 


lU  Aug. 

in  Barrow,  304. 

«  Fenner  to  Walsingham,  -  Aug.  158S. 
(S.  P  .  Office  MS.)    Howard  to  Walslng- 


306. 

3  Fenner's  Letter,  MS.  last  cited. 
<  Ibid. 


480 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


year."^  The  retreating  English  fleet  was  scattered, 
many  ships  were  in  peril,  "  among  the  ill-favoured 
sands  off  Norfolk,"  but  within  four  or  five  days  all 
arrived  safely  in  Margate  roads.* 

Far  different  was  the  fate  of  the  Spaniards.  Over 
their  Invincible  Armada,  last  seen*  by  the  departing 
English  midway  between  the  coasts  of  Scotland  and 
Denmark,  the  blackness  of  night  seemed  suddenly  to 
descend.  A  mystery  hung  for  a  long  time  over  their 
fate.  Damaged,  leaking,  without  pilots,  without  a  com- 
petent commander,  the  great  fleet  entered  that  furious 
storm,  and  was  whirled  along  the  iron  crags  of  Norway 
and  between  the  savage  rocks  of  Faroe  and  the  Hebrides. 
In  those  regions  of  tempest  the  insulted  North  wreaked 
its  full  vengeance  on  the  insolent  Spaniards.  Disaster 
after  disaster  marked  their  perilous  track ;  gale  after 
gale  swept  them  hither  and  thither,  tossing  them  on 
sand-banks  or  shattering  them  against  granite  cliffs.  The 
coasts  of  Norway,  Scotland,  Ireland,  were  strewn  with 
the  wrecks  of  that  pompous  fleet  which  claimed  the  do- 
minion of  the  seas ;  with  the  bones  of  those  invincible 
legions  which  were  to  have  sacked  London  and  made 
England  a  Spanish  viceroyalty. 

Through  the  remainder  of  the  month  of  August  there 
was  a  succession  of  storms.  On  the  2iid  September  a 
fierce  south-wester  drove  Admiral  Oquendo  in  his  gal- 
leon, together  with  one  of  the  great  galeasses,  two  large 
Venetian  ships,  the  Ratta  and  the  Bdmzara,  and  thirty- 
six  other  vessels,  upon  the  Irish  coast,  where  nearly 
every  soul  on  board  perished,  while  the  few  who  escaped 
to  the  shore— notwithstanding  their  religious  affinity 
with  the  inhabitants— were  either  butchered  in  cold 
blood,  or  sent  coupled  in  halters  from  village  to  village, 
in  order  to  be  shipped  to  England.*  A  few  ships  were 
driven  on  the  English  coast ;  others  went  ashore  near 

Kochelle. 

Of  the  four  galeasses  and  four  galleys,  one  of  each 
returned  to  Spain.  Of  the  ninety-one  great  galleons  and 
hulks,  fifty-eight  were  lost  and  thirty-three  returned.* 


1  Howard  to  Walslngham,  -  Aug.  1688. 

18 

<3.  P.  Office  Ma) 
Ibid. 


»  Drake,  In  Stowe,  750  seq.  Barrow, 
319.  Meteren,  xv.  274.  Bor,  iii.  326, 
327. 

*  Meteren  and  Bor,  ubi  sup. 


1588. 


RESULT  OF  THE  INVASION. 


481 


Of  the  tenders  and  zabras,  seventeen  were  lost  and 
eighteen  returned.  Of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
vessels,  which  sailed  from  Conifia  in  July,  but  fifty- 
three,'  great  and  small,  made  their  escape  to  Spain,  and 
•these  were  so  damaged  as  to  be  utterly  worthless.  The 
Invincible  Armada  had  not  only  been  vanquished  but 
annihilated. 

Of  the  30,000  men  who  sailed  in  the  fleet,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  not  more  than  10,000  ever  saw  their  native 
land  again.  Most  of  the  leaders  of  the  expedition  lost 
their  lives.  Medina  Sidonia  reached  Santander  in  Oc- 
tober, and,  as  Philip  for  a  moment  believed,  "  with 
the  greater  part  of  the  Armada,"  although  the  King 
soon  discovered  his  mistake.*  Eecalde,  Diego  Flores  de 
Valdez,  Oquendo,  Maldonado,  Bobadilla,  Manriquez, 
either  perished  at  sea  or  died  of  exhaustion  immediately 
after  their  return.  Pedro  de  Valdez,  Vasco  de  Silva, 
Alonzo  de  Sayas,  Pimentel,  Toledo,  with  many  other 
nobles,  were  prisoners  in  England  and  Holland.  There 
was  hardly  a  distinguished  family  in  Spain  not  placed 
in  mourning,  so  that,  to  relieve  the  universal  gloom,  an 
edict  was  published  forbidding  the  wearing  of  mourning 
at  all.  On  the  other  hand,  a  merchant  of  Lisbon,  not 
yet  reconciled  to  the  Spanish  conquest  of  his  country^ 
permitted  himself  some  tokens  of  hilarity  at  the  defeat 
of  the  Armada,  and  was  immediately  hanged  by  express 
command  of  Philip.  Thus — as  men  said — one  could 
neither  cry  nor  laugh  within  the  Spanish  dominions.' 

This  was  the  result  of  the  invasion,  so  many  years 
preparing,  and  at  an  expense  almost  incalculable.  In  the 
year  1588  alone,  the  cost  of  Philip's  annaments  for  the 
subjugation  of  England  could  not  have  been  less  than 
six  millions  of  ducats,  and  there  was  at  least  as  large  a 
sum  on  board  the  Armada  itself,  although  the  Pope  re- 
fused to  pay  his  promised  million.*  And  with  all  this 
outlay,  and  with  the  sacrifice  of  so  many  thousand  lives. 


I  Meteren  and  Bor,  ubi  sup.  Compare 
Strada,  ii.  ix.  563,  who  seta  before  hia 
readers  the  "  absurd  discrepancy  "  between 
the  English-Dutch  and  the  Spanish  ac- 
counts of  these  losses.  According  to 
tht;  Spaniards,  thirty-three  vessels  were 
lost  or  captured,  and  10,000  men  were 
missing.    According   to  their   enemies, 

VOL.  II. 


only  10,000  men  and  about  sixty  ships 
escaped.  Meteren's  account,  xv.  274, 
is  minute,  and  seems  truthful,  and  is 
followed  In  the  text. 

2  Philip    II,  to  Parma,  10  Oct.  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Simancas,  MS.) 

3  Reyd.  viii.  148. 

*  Philip  II.  to  Parma  (MS.  Just  cited.) 

2  I 


482 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588. 


GREAT  ENERGY  OF  PARMA. 


483 


nothing  had  been  accomplished,  and  Spain,  in  a  moment, 
instead  of  seeming  terrible  to  all  the  world,  had  become 

ridiculous.* 

"Beaten  and  shuifled  together  from  the  Lizard  to 
Calais,  from  Calais  driven  with  squibs  from  their  anchors/ 
and  chased  out  of  sight  of  England  about  Scotland  and 
Ireland,"  as  the  Devonshire  skipper  expressed  himself, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  the  Spaniards  presented  a  sorry 
sight.  "Their  invincible  and  dreadful  navy,"  said 
Drake,  *'  with  all  its  great  and  temble  ostentation,  did 
not  in  all  their  sailing  about  England  so  much  as  sink 
or  take  one  ship,  bark,  pinnace,  or  cock-boat  of  ours,  or 
even  bum  so  much  as  one  sheep-cote  on  this  land."* 

Meanwhile  Famese  sat  chafing  under  the  unjust  re- 
proaches heaped  upon  him,  as  if  he,  and  not  his  master, 
had  been  responsible  for  the  gigantic  blunders  of  the 

invasion."  ■ 

"As  for  the  Prince  of  Parma,"  said  Drake,  "  I  take 
him  to  be  as  a  bear  robbed  of  her  whelps."  *  The  Ad- 
miral was  quite  right.  Alexander  was  beside  himself 
with  rage.  Day  after  day,  he  had  been  repeating  to 
Medina  Sidonia  and  to  Philip  that  his  flotilla  and  tmns- 
ports  could  scarcely  live  in  any  but  the  smootliest  sea, 
while  the  supposition  that  they  could  ser^-e  a  warlike 
purpose  he  pronounced  absolutely  ludicrous.  He  had 
always  counselled  the  seizing  of  a  place  like  Flushing, 
as  a  basis  of  operations  against  England,  but  had  been 
overruled ;  and  he  had  at  least  reckoned  upon  the  In- 
vincible Armada  to  clear  the  way  for  him,  before  he 
should  be  expected  to  take  the  sea.* 

With  prodigious  energ>%  and  at  great  expense,  he  had 
constructed  or  improved  internal  water-communications 
from  Ghent  to  Sluys,  Newport,  and  Dunkerk.     He  had 


1  The  wits  of  Rome  were  very  severe 
upon  Philip.  "  S'il  y  a  auciin."  aaid  a 
Piistiviil  stuck  up  in  thnt  city,  "qui  sache 
d;s  iiouvelles  de  Tarmee  d'Hspajaie,  i»er- 
dtip  en  mer  depiils  troia  scmaines  oa 
environ,  et  qui  puisse  apprendrt-  ce  qu'elle 
est  devenue,  qu'il  en  vienne  a  revelation, 
et  s'addresse  au  palain  St.  I*ierre,  ou  le  St. 
Pere  lui  fera  donner  son  vin."  L'Etoile, 
263. 

»  Drake,  in  Stowe,  before  cited. 

3  "  It  seems  the  Hulce  of  Parma  is  in 
a  great  chafe,"  said  Seymour,"  to  lee  his 


ships  in  durance  at  Dunlcirlc,  also  to  find 
such  disaimfiture  of  the  Spanish  fleet  hard 
by  his  nose  I  can  say  no  more,  but  (io«l 
duth  show  his  mighty  hand  for  protectinp 
this  little  island."  •  Seymour  to  Walsln^- 

ham.  Aug.  -  1588.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
*  Drake  to  Walslngham,  ^  Aug.  1588, 

in  Barrow,  310. 

4  Parma's    Letters    to   Pliillp,    before 
cited,  pattim.    (Arch,  de  Simancas,  ilS.) 


thus  transported  all  his  hoys,  barges,  and  munitions  for 
the  invasion,  from  all  points  of  the  obedient  Netherlands 
to  the  sea-coast,  without  coming  within  reach  of  the 
Hollanders  and  Zeelanders,  who  were  keeping  close 
watch  on  the  outside.  But  those  Hollandei*s  and  Zee- 
landen*^,  guarding  every  outlet  to  the  ocean,  occupying 
every  hole  and  cranny  of  the  coast,  laughed  the  invaders 
of  England  to  scorn,  braving  them,  jeering  them,  daring 
them  to  come  forth,  while  the  A\  alloons  and  Spaniards 
slirank  before  such  amphibious  assailants,  to  whom  ^ 
combat  on  the  water  was  as  natnral  as  upon  dry  land. 
Alexander,  upon  one  occasio^,  transported  with  rage, 
selected  a  band  of  one  thousand  musketeers,  partly 
Spanish,  partly  Irish,  and  ordered  an  assault  upon  those 
insolent  boatmen".  With  his  own  hand — so  it  was  related 
— he  struck  dead  more  than  one  of  his  own  officers  who 
remonstrated  against  these  commands  ;  and  then  the 
attack  was  made  by  his  thousand  musketeers  upon  the 
Hollanders,  and  every  man  of  the  thousand  was  slain.* 

He  had  been  reproached  for  not  being  ready,  for  not 
having  embarked  his  me^  ;  but  he  had  been  ready  for  a 
month,  and  his  men  could  be  embarked  in  a  single  day. 
"  But  it  was  impossible,"  he  said,  '*  to  keep  them  long 
packed  up  on  board  vessels  so  small  that  there  was  no 
room  to  turn  about  in :  the  people  would  sickeVi,  would 
rot,  would  die."  *  So  soon  as  he  had  received  informa- 
tion of  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  before  Calais — which  was 
on  the  8th  August — he  had  proceeded  the  same  night  to 
Newport,  and  embarked  16,000  men,  and  before  dawn 
he  was  at  Dunkerk,  where  the  troops  stationed  in  that 
port  were  as  i-apidly  placed  on  board  the  transports.* 
Sir  William  Stanley,  with  his  700  Irish  kernes,  were 
among  the  first  shipped  for  the  enterprise.*  Two  days 
long  these  regiments  lay  heaped  together,  like  sacks  of 
com,  in  the  boats — as  one  of  their  officers  described  it ' 
—and  they  lay  cheeifully,  hoping  that  the  Dutch  fleet 
would  be  swept  out  of  the  sea  by  the  Invincible  Annada, 
and  patiently  expecting  the  signal  for  setting  sail  to 

'  Bor.  lil.  323,  324.    Strada,  li.  Ix.  562.  1588.    (Arch,  de  Simancas.  MS.) 
P^eyd.  viil.  147.  3  Parma    to     Philip,    lo   Aug.    1588. 

*  "  Porque  los  baxeles  son  tan  petjue-  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 
fios     que    no    hay    plaza     para     revol-        *  Meteren,  xv.  273,  274. 
verse.    U  gonte  se  enfermeria,  pudriera,        *  Strada,  II.  x.  659.  562. 
yperderia."    Parma  to  •Philip,  8  Aug. 

2  I  2 


y 


484 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588. 


MADE  FRUITLESS  BY  PHILIP'S  DULNESS. 


485 


Ensland.  Then  came  the  Prince  of  Ascoli,  who  had 
gone  ashore  from  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Calais,  accompa- 
nied by  sergeant-major  Gallinato  and  other  messengers 
from  Medina  Sidonia,  bringing  the  news  of  the  fire-ships 
and  the  dispersion  and  flight  of  the  Armada.' 

**  God  knows,"  said  Alexander,  "  the  distress  in  which 
this  event  has  plunged  me,  at  the  very  moment  when  I 
expected  to  be  sending  your  Majesty  my  congi-atulations 
on  the  success  of  the  great  undertaking.  But  these  are 
the  works  of  the  Lord,  who  can  recompense  your  Majesty 
by  giving  you  many  victories,  and  the  fulfilment  of  your 
Majesty's  desires,  when  He  thinks  the  proper  time 
arrived.  Meantime  let  ^lim  be  praised  for  all,  and  let 
your  Majesty  take  great  care  of  your  health,  which  is 
the  most  important  thing  of  all."  * 

Evidently  th«  Lord  did  not  think  the  proper  time  yet 
arrived  for  fulfilling  his  Majesty's  desires  for  the  subju- 
gation of  England,  and  meanwhile  the  King  might  find 
what  comfort  he  could  in  pious  commonplaces  and  in 
attention  to  his  health. 

But  it  is  very  certain  that,  of  all  the  high  parties  con- 
cenied,  Alexander  Farnese  was  the  least  reprehensible 
for  the  overthrow  of  Philip's  hopes.  No  man  could  have 
been  more  judicious — as  it  has  been  sufficiently  made 
evident  fn  the  course  of  this  narrative — in  arranging  all 
the  details  of  the  great  enterprise,  in  pointing  out  all 
the  obstacles,  in  J)roviding  for  all  emergencies.  No 
man  could  have  been  more  minutely  faithful  to  his 
master,  more  treacherous  to  all  the  world  beside.  Ener- 
getic, inventive,  patient,  courageous,  and  stupendously 
false,  he  had  covered  Flanders  with  canals  and  bridges, 
had  constructed  flotillas,  and  equipped  a  splendid  army, 
as  thoroughly  as  he  had  puzzled  Comptroller  Croft  And 
not  only  had  that  diplomatist  and  his  wiser  colleagues 
been  hoodwinked,  but  Elizabeth  and  Burghley,  and,  for 
a  moment,  even  Walsingham,  were  in  ^the  dark ;  while 
Henry  III.  had  been  his  passive  victim,  and  the  magni- 
ficent Balafre  a  blind  instrument  in  his  hands.  Nothing 
could  equal  Alexander's  fidelity  but  his  perfidy.  Nothing 
could  surpass  his  ability  to  command  but  his  obedience. 
And  it  is  ver}^  jjossible  that,  had  Philip  followed  his 
nephew's  large  designs,  instead  of  imposing  upon  him 

»  Parma  to  Phllip'^lo  Aug.  (MS.  last  clttd.)  2  Ibid. 


his  own  most  puerile  schemes,  the  result  for  England, 
Holland,  and  all  Christendom,  might  have  been  very 
different  from  the  actual  one.  The  blunder  against 
which  Farnese  had  in  vain  warned  his  master  was  the 
stolid  ignorance  in  which  the  King  and  all  his  counsellors 
chose  to  remain  of  the  Holland  and  Zeeland  fleet.  For 
them,  Warmond  and  Nassau,  and  Van  der  Does  and 
Joost  de  Moor,  did  not  exist,  and  it  was  precisely  these 
gallant  sailors,  with  their  intrepid  crews,  who  held  the 
key  to  the  whole  situation. 

To  the  Queen's  glorious  naval  commanders,  to  the 
dauntless  mariners  of  England,  with  their  well-handled 
vessels,  their  admirable  seamanship,  their  tact  and  their 
courage,  belonged  the  joys  of  the  contest,  the  triumph, 
and  the  glorious  pursuit ;  but  to  the  patient  Hollanders 
and  Zeelanders,  who,  with  their  hundred  vessels,  held 
Farnese,  the  chief  of  the  great  enteq^rise,  at  bay,  a  close 
prisoner  with  his  whole  army  in  his  own  ports,  daring 
him  to  the  issue,  and  ready — to  the  last  plank  of  their 
fleet,  and  to  the'  last  drop  of  their  blood — to  confront 
both  him  and  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  an  equal 
share  of  honour  is  due.  The  safety  of  the  two  free  com- 
monwealths of  the  world  in  that  terrible  contest  was 
achieved  by  the  people  and  the  mariners  of  the  two  states 
combined. 

Great  was  the  enthusiasm,  certainly,  of  the  English 
people  as  the  volunteers  marched  through  London  to 
the  place  of  rendezvous,  and  tremendous  were  the  cheers 
when  the  brave  Queen  rode  on  horseback  along  the  lines 
of  Tilbury.  Glowing  pictures  are  revealed  to  us  of 
merry  little  England,  arising  in  its  strength,  and  danc- 
ing forth  to  encounter  the  Spaniards,  as  if  to  a  great 
holiday.  "  It  was  a  pleasant  sight,"  says  that  enthu- 
siastic merchant-tailor  John  Stowe,  *'to  behold  the 
cheerful  countenances,  courageous  words,  and  gestures 
of  the  soldiers,  as  they  marched  to  Tilbuiy,  dancing, 
leaping  wherever  they  came,  as  joyful  At  the  news  of 
the  foe's  approach  as  if  lusty  giants  were  to  run  a  race. 
And  Bellona-like  did  the  Queen  infuse  a  second  spirit 
of  loyalty,  love,  and  resolutiou  into  every  soldier  of 
her  army,  who,  ravished  with  their  sovereign's  sight, 
prayed  heartily  that  the  Spaniards  might  land  quickly, 
and,  when  they*heard  they  were  fled,  began  to  lamopt,'' ' 

1  Stowe.  749. 


486 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


CiiAP.  XIX. 


But  if  the  Spaniards  had  not  fled,  if  there  had  been 
no  English  navy  in  the  Channel,  no  squibs  at  Calais,  no 
Dutchmen  off  Dunkerk,  there  might  have  been  a  dif- 
ferent picture  to  paint.  No  man  who  has  studied  the 
history  of  those  times  can  doubt  the  universal  and  en- 
thusiastic determination  of  the  English  nation  to  repel 
the  invaders.  Catholics  and  Protestants  felt  alike  on 
the  gi-eat  subject.  Philip  did  not  flatter  himself  with 
assistance  from  any  English  Papists,  save  ejtiles  and 
renegades  like  Westmoreland,  Paget,  Throgmorton, 
Morgan,  Stanley,  and  the  rest.  The  bulk  of  the  Catholics, 
who  may  have  constituted  half  the  population  of  England, 
although  malcontent,  were  not  rebellious  ;  and,  notwith- 
standing the  precautionary  measures  taken  by  govern- 
ment against  them,  Elizabeth  proudly  acknowledged 
their  loyalty.* 

But  loyalty,  courage,  and  enthusiasm  might  not  have 
sufficed  to  supply  the  want  of  numbers  and  discipline. 
According  to  the  generally  accepted  statement  of  con- 
temporary chroniclers,  there  were  some  75,000  men 
under  arms:  20,000  along  the  southern  coast,  23,000 
Tinder  Leicester,  and  33,000  under  Lord  Chamberlain 
Hundson,  for  the  special  defence  of  the  Queen's  person.* 

But  it  would  have  been  very  difficult,  in  the  moment 
of  danger,  to  bring  anything  like  these  numbers  into 
the  field.  A  drilled  and  disciplined  army— whether  of 
regulars  or  of  militia-men— had  no  existence  whatever. 
If  the  merchant-vessels,  which  had  been  joined  to  the 
royal  fleet,  were  thought  by  old  naval  commanders  to 
be  only  good  to  make  a  show,  the  volunteers  on  land 
were  likely  to  be  even  less  effective  than  the  marine 


1  "  Said  It  was  their  Intention  lo  occupy 
the  whole  kingdom  of  England— to  keep 
the  English  Queen  a  prisoner,  but  to  treat 
her  as  a  Queeti,  until  the  King  should 
otherwise  ordain.  Said  that  they  had 
understood  there  were  many  Catholics  In 
England,  but  that  they  made  not  much 
account  of  them,  knowing  that  the  Queen 
had  taken  care  that  they  should  not  give 
any  assistance,  and  believing  that  most 
of  them  would  have  fought  for  their 
native  land,"  «tc.  &c.  Answers  of  I>on 
Diego  de  Bmentel  to  Interrogations  be- 
fore Adrian  van  der  Myle,  John  van 
Olden- Rirnevcld,  Admiral  Villers,  and 
Famars,  in  Bor,  III.  xxilL  325, 326. 


"  This  Invasion,  tending  to  the  reducing 
©f  this  realm  to  the  subjection  of  a  stran- 
ger—a matter  so  greatly  misllked  gene- 
rally by  the  subjects  of  this  reahn  of  all 
sorts  and  of  all  religions,  yea,  by  no 
small  number  of  them  tliat  are  known  to 
be  addicted  to  the  Romish  religion— who 
are  resolutely  bent  to  withstand  the 
same  with  the  employment  of  their  goods 
and  hazard  of  their  lives,"  &c  Queen  to 
the  Commissioners  at  Bourbourg  (signed, 
but  stayed  by  her  Majesty's  order),  July 

-.1588.    (S.  P.Office  MS.) 

*  Camden,  ili.  405. 


1588.      ENGLAND  READIER  AT  SEA  THAN  ON  LAND.        487 


militia,  so  much  more  accustomed  than  they  to  hard 
work.  Magnificent  was  the  spirit  of  the  great  feudal 
lords  as  they  rallied  round  their  Queen.  The  Earl  of 
Pembroke  offered  to  serve  at  the  head  of  three  hundred 
hor^e  and  five  hundred  footmen,  armed  at  his  own  cost, 
and  all  ready  to  *'  hazard  the  blood  of  their  hearts"  in 
defence  of  her  person.  "  Accept  hereof,  most  excellent 
sovereign,"  said  the  Earl,  "  from  a  person  desirous  to 
live  no  longer  than  he  may  see  your  Highness  enjoy 
your  blessed  estate,  maugre  the  beards  of  all  confe- 
derated leaguers."  * 

The  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  too,  was  ready  to  serve  at 
the  head  of  his  retainers,  to  the  last  drop  of  his  blood. 
"Though  I  be  old,"  he  said,  *'yet  shall  your  quarrel 
make  me  young  again.  Though  lame  in  body,  yet  lusty 
in  heart  to  lend  your  greatest  enemy  one  blow,  and  to 
stand  near  your  defence,  every  way  wherein  your 
Highness  shall  employ  me."  * 

But  there  was  perhaps  too  much  of  this  feudal  spirit. 
The  lieutenant-general  complained  bitterly  that  there 
was  a  most  mischievous  tendency  among  all  the  militia- 
men to  escape  from  the  Queen's  colours,  in  order  to 
enrol  themselves  as  retainers  to  the  great  lords.^  This 
spirit  was  not  favourable  to  efficient  organization  of  a 
national  army.  Even  had  the  commander-in-chief  been 
a  man  of  genius  and  experience,  it  would  have  been 
difficult  for  him,  under  such  circumstances,  to  resist  a 
splendid  army,  once  landed  and  led  by  Alexander 
Farnese ;  but  even  Leicester's  most  determined  flatterers 
hardly  ventured  to  compare  him  in  military  ability 
with  that  first  general  of  his  age.  The  best  soldier 
in  England  was  unquestionably  Sir  John  Norris,  and 
Sir  John  was  now  marshal  of  the  camp  to  Leicester.  The 
ancient  quarrel  between  the  two  had  been  smoothed 
oyer,  and  —  as  might  be  expected  —  the  Earl  hated 
Norris  more  bitterly  than  before,  and  was  perpetually 
vituperating  him,  as  he  had  so  often  done  in  the 
Netherlands.  Eoger  Williams,  too,  was  entrusted  with 
the  important  duties  of  master  of  the  horse,  under  the 

I  Pembroke  to  the   Queen,  -f^.    ^^^^-    (^-  ?•  Office  MS.) 
1688.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)  ^  ^"*  *  Leicester  to    Walslngham.  ^^ 


»  Shrewsbury  to  the  Queen,    -   Aug. 


1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


488 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


lieutenant-general,  and  Leicester  continued  to  bear  the 
grudge  towards  that  honest  Welshman  which  had  begun 
in  Holland.  These  were  not  promising  conditions  in  a 
camp,  when  an  invading  army  was  every  day  expected  ; 
nor  was  the  completeness  or  readiness  of  the  forces  suffi- 
cient to  jender  harmless  the  quarrels  of  the  com- 
manders. 

The  Armada  had  arrived  in  Calais  roads  on  Saturday 
afternoon,  the  6th  August.  If  it  had  been  joined  on 
that  day,  or  the  next— as  Philip  and  Medina  Sidonia 
fully  expected— by  the  Duke  of  Parma's  flotilla,  the 
invasion  would  have  been  made  at  once.  If  a  Spanish 
army  had  ever  landed  in  England  at  all,  that  event 
would  have  occurred  on  the  7th  August.  The  weather 
was  not  unfavourable,  the  sea  was  smooth,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  the  catastrophe  of  the  great 
drama  was  that  night  accomplished  were  a  profoimd 
mystery  to  every  soul  in  England.  For  aught  that 
Leicester,  or  Burghley,  or  Queen  Elizabeth  knew  at 
the  time,  the  army  of  Famese  might,  on  Monday,  have 
'been  marching  upon  London.  Now,  on  that  Monday 
morning,  the  army  of  Lord  Hundson  was  not  assembled 
at  all,  and  Leicester,  with  but  four  thousand  men  under 
his  command,  was  just  commencing  his  camp  at  Tilbury.* 
lilie  "  Bellona-like "  appearance  of  the  Queen  on  her 
^hite  palfrey,  with  truncheon  in  hand,  addressing  her 
troops  in  that  magnificent  burst  of  eloquence  which  has 
so  often  been  repeated,  was  not  till  eleven  days  after- 
wards, August  -  ;*  not  till  the  great  Armada,  shattered 
and  tempest-tossed,  had  been,  a  week  long,  dashing 
itself  against  the  cliffs  of  Norway  and  the  Faroes,  on  its 
forlorn  retreat  to  Spain. 

Leicester,  courageous,  self-confident,  and  sanguine  as 
ever,  could  not  restrain  his  indignation  at  the  parsi- 
mony with  which  his  own  impatient  spirit  had  to  con- 
tend.    "  Be  you  assured,"  said  he,  on  the  Srd  August^ 

I  •  I  have  a  most  apt  place  to  begin  ground  for  the  encamping  of  the  soldiers, 
our  camp  In,  not  far  from  the  fort,  at  a  Yesterday  went  to  Chelmsford  to  order 
place  called  West  Tilbury."    Leicester    all  the  soldiers  hither  this  day."  Same  to 

to  Privy  CouncU..^i^,  1588.      (S.  P.    Walslngham.  -^^^  1588.  CS.P- Office 

Office  MS.)  MS.) 

"  I  did  peruse  and  make  choice  of  the       *  Lingard,  viii.  285. 


1588. 


THE  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL'S  COMPLAINTS. 


489 


when  the  Armada  teas  off  the  Isle  of  Wight ^  "  if  the  Spanish 
fleet  arrive  safely  in  the  narrow  seas,  the  Duke  of 
Parma  will  join  presently  with  all  his  forces,  and  lose 
no  time  in  invading  this  realm.  Therefore  I  beseech 
you,  my  good  Lords,  let  no  man,  by  hope  or  other 
abuse,  prevent  your  speedy  providing  defence  against 
this  mighty  enemy  now  knocking  at  our  gate."  ^ 

For  even  at  this  supreme  moment  doubts  were  enter- 
tained at  court  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Spaniards. 

Next  day  he  informed  Walsingham  that  his  four 
thousand  men  had  arrived.  *'  They  be  as  forward  men 
and  willing  to  meet  the  enemy  as  I  ever  saw,"  4  Aug. 
said  he.*  He  could  not  say  as  much  in*praise  of  ^^^**- 
the  commissariat.  '*  Some  want  the  captains  showed," 
he  observed,  "  for  these  men  arrived  without  one  meal 
of  victuals,  so  that,  on  their  arrival,  they  had  not  one 
barrel  of  beer  nor  loaf  of  bread — enough  after  twenty 
miles'  march  to  have  discouraged  them,  and  brought 
them  to  mutiny.  I  see  many  causes  to  increase  my 
former  opinion  of  the  dilatory  wants  you  shall  find 
upon  all  sudden  hurley-burleys.  In  no  former  time 
was  ever  so  great  a  cause  ;  and  albeit  her  Majesty  hath 
appointed  an  army  to  resist  her  enemies  if  they  land, 
yet  how  hard  a  matter  it  will  be  to  gather  men 
together,  I  find  it  now.  If  it  will  be  five  days  to 
gather  these  countrymen,  judge  what  it  will  be  to  look 
in  short  space  for  those  that  dwell  forty,  fifty,  sixty 
miles  off"." ' 

He  had  immense  difficulty  in  feeding  even  this 
slender  force.  "  I  made  proclamation,"  said  he,  "  two 
days  ago,  in  all  market  towns,  that  victuallers  should 
come  to  the  camp  and  receive  money  for  their  provi- 
sions, but  there  is  not  one  victualler  come  in  to  this 
hour.  I  have  sent  to  all  the  justices  of  peace  about  it 
from  place  to  place.  I  speak  it  that  timely  consideration 
be  had  of  these  things,  and  that  they  be  not  deferred 
till  the  worst  come.  Let  her  Majesty  710^  defer  the  time, 
upon  any  supposed  hope,  to  assemble  a  convenient  force  of 
horse  and  foot  about  her.     Her  Majesty  cannot  be  strong 

1  Leicester  to  Privy  Council.  -^"'^.    («.  P.  Office  MS.) 


]58d.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


•  Leicester    to    Walsingham, 


«  Same  to  Walslngham.   \'^^.  1588.    "88.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


so  3\i\j 


490 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588.       HIS  QUARRELS  WITH  NORRIS  AND  WILLIAMS.       491 


enough  too  soon ;  and  if  her  navy  had  not  heen  strong 
and  abroad  as  it  is,  what  care  had  herself  and  her 
whole  realm  been  in  by  this  time  !  And  what  care  she 
will  be  in  if  her  forces  be  not  only  assembled,  but  an 
array  presently  dressed  to  withstand  the  mighty  enemy 
that  is  to  approach  her  gates ! 

"God  doth  know,  I  speak  it  not  to  bring  her  to 
charges.  I  would  she  had  less  cause  to  spend  than 
ever  she  had,  and  her  cotters  fuller  than  ever  they 
were ;  but  I  will  prefer  her  life  and  safety,  and  the 
defence  of  the  realm,  before  all  sparing  of  charges  in 
the  present  danger."  * 

Thus,  on  the  5th  August,  no  army  had  been  assem- 
bled— not  even  the  body-guard  of  the  Queen,  —  and 
Leicester,  with  four  thousand  men,  unprovided  with  a 
barrel  of  beer  or  a  loaf  of  bread,  was  about  commencing 
his  entrenched  camp  at  Tilbury.  On  the  6th  August 
the  Armada  was  in  Calais  roads,  expecting  Alexander 
Famese  to  lead  his  troops  upon  London ! 

Norris  and  Williams,  on  the  news  of  Medina  Sidonia's 
approach,  had  rushed  to  Dover,  much  to  the  indignation 
of  Leicester,  just  as  the  Earl  was  beginning  his  en- 
trenchments at  Tilbury.  '*  I  assuie  you  I  am  angiy 
with  Sir  John  Norris  and  Sir  Roger  Williams,"  he  said. 
"  I  am  here  cook,  caterer,  and  huntsman.  I  am  left  with 
no  one  to  supply  Sir  John's  place  as  marshal,  but,  for  a 
day  or  two,  am  willing  to  work  the  harder  myself.  I 
ordered  them  both  to  return  this  day  early,  which  they 
faithfully  promised.  Yet,  on  arriving  this  morning,  I 
hear  nothing  of  either,  and  have  nobody  to  marshal  the 
camp  either  for  horse  or  foot.  This  manner  of  dealing  doth 
much  mislike  me  in  them  both.  I  am  ill-used.  'Tis  now 
four  o'clock,  but  here's  not  one  of  them.  If  they  come 
not  this  night,  I  assure  you  I  will  not  receive  them  into 
office,  nor  bear  such  loose,  careless  dealing  at  their  hands. 
If  you  saw  how  weakly  I  am  assisted  you  would  be 
sorry  to  think  that  we  here  should  be  the  front  against 
the  enemy  that  is  so  mighty,  if  he  should  land  here. 
And  seeing  her  Majesty  hath  appointed  me  her  lieu- 
tenant-general, I  look  that  respect  be  used  towards  me, 
such  as  is  due  to  my  place."  * 


I  Leicester    to    Walslngham, -j^"^. 
1588.  (MS.  already  cited.) 


s  Same    to    some, 
already  cited.) 


tSJuly 
4  Aug.  ' 


(MS. 


Thus  the  ancient  grudge  between  Leicester  and  the 
Earl  of  Sussex's  son  was  ever  breaking  forth,  and  was 
not  likely  to  prove  beneficial  at  this  eventful  season. 

Next  day  the  Welshman  anived,  and  Sir  John  pro- 
mised to  come  back  in  the  evening.  Sir  Roger  brought 
word  from  the  coast  that  Lord  Henry  Seymour's  fleet 
was  in  want  both  of  men  and  powder.  **  Good  Lord !  " 
exclaimed  Leicester,  '*  how  is  this  come  to  pase,  that 
both  he  and  my  Lord- Admiral  are  so  weakened  of  men  ? 
I  hear  they  be  running  away.  I  beseech  you,  assemble 
your  forces,  and  play  not  away  this  kingdom  by  delays. 
Hasten  our  horsemen  hither  and  footmen.  .  .  s  Aug. 
If  the  Spanish  fleet  come  to  the  narrow  seas,  the  ^^'***- 
Trinceof  Parma  will  play  another  part  than  is  looked  for."^ 

As  the  Armada  approached  Calais,  Leicester  was  in- 
formed that  the  soldiers  at  Dover  began  to  leave  the 
coast.     It  seemed  that  they  were  dissatisfied  with  the 
penuriousness   of  the  government.     "Our   soldiers   do 
break  away  at  Dover,  or  are  not  pleased.     I  assure  you, 
without  wages,  the  people  will  not  tarry,  and  contribu- 
tions go  hard  with  them.     Surely  I  find  that  her  Majesty 
must  needs  deal  liberally,  and  be  at  charges  to  entertain 
her  subjects  that  have   chargeably  and  liberally  used 
themselves  to  serve  her."  *    The  lieutenant-general  even 
thought  it  might  be  necessary  for  him  to  proceed  to 
Dover   in  person,  in  order  to  remonstrate  with  these 
discontented  troops ;  for  it  was  possible  that  those  ill- 
paid,  undisciplined,  and  very  meagre  forces  would  find 
much    difficulty   in    opposing    Alexander's    march    to 
London,  if  he  should  once  succeed  in  landing.     Leicester 
had  a  very  indifferent  opinion  too  of  the  train-bands  of 
the  metropolis.     *'  For  your  Londoners,"  he  said,  "  I  see 
their  service  will  be  little^   except   they  have   their  own 
captains,  and,  having  them,  /  look  for  none  at  all  by  them, 
when  we  shall  meet  the  enemy."  *    This  was  not  com- 
plimentary, certainly,   to   the   training  of  the  famous 
Artillery  Garden,  and  furnished  a  still  stronger  motive 
for  defending  the  road  over  which  the  capital  was  to  be 
approached.     But  there  was  much  jealousy,  both  among 
citizens  and  nobles,  of  any  authority  entrusted  to  pro- 
fessional  soldiers.     "I  know  what  burghers  be,  well 

1  Same   to  same.  fi^^.  i588.   .(MS.    «  Same  to  same.  ^.  (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
already  cited  s  ibid.  "*" 


f 


\ 


\ 


492 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


f  T 


enough,"  said  the  Earl,  "as  brave  and  well-entertained 
as  ever  the  Londoners  were.  If  they  should  go  forth 
from  the  city  they  should  have  good  leaders.  You  know 
the  imperfections  of  the  time,  how  few  leaders  you  have, 
and  the  gentlemen  of  the  counties  are  very  loth  to  have 
any  captains  placed  with  them.  So  that  the  beating  out 
of  our  best  captains  is  like  to  be  cause  of  great  danger."  ^ 
'Sir  John  Smith,  a  soldier  of  experience,  employed  to 
drill  and  organize  some  of  the  levies,  expressed  still 
more  disparaging  opinions  than  those  of  Leicester  con- 
cerning the  probable  efficiency  in  the  field  of  these 
English  armies.'  The  Earl  was  very  angry  with  the 
knight,  however,  and  considered  him  incompetent,  inso- 
lent, and  ridiculous.  Sir  John  seemed,* indeed,  more 
disposed  to  keep  himself  out  of  harm's  way  than  to 
render  service  to  the  Queen  by  leading  awkward 
recruits  against  Alexander  Famese.  He  thought  it 
better  to  nurse  himself. 

"  You  would  laugh  to  see  how  Sir  John  Smith  has 
dealt  since  my  coming,"  said  Leicester.  "  He  came  to 
me,  and  told  me  that  his  disease  so  grew  upon  him  as  he 
must  needs  go  to  the  baths.  I  told  him  I  would  not  be 
against  his  health,  but  he  saw  what  the  time  was,  and 
what  pains  he  had  taken  with  his  coimtrymen,  and  that 
I  had  provided  a  good  place  for  him.  Next  day  he 
came  again,  saying  little  to  my  offer  then,  and  seemed 
desirous,  for  his  health,  to  be  gone.  I  told  him  what 
place  I  did  appoint,  which  was  a  regiment  of  a  great 
part  of  his  countrymen.  He  said  his  health  was  dear  to 
him,  and  he  desired  to  take  leave  of  me,  which  I  yielded 
imto.  Yesterday,  being  our  muster-day,  he  came  again 
to  me  to  dinner;  but  such  foolish  and  vainglorious 
paradoxes  he  burst  withal,  without  any  cause  offered, 
as  made  all  that  knew  anything  smile  and  answer  little, 
but  in  sort  rather  to  satisfy  men  present  than  to  argue 
with  him." » 

And  the  knight  went  that  day  to  review  Leicester's 
choice  troops — the  four  thousand  men  of  Essex — but  was 
not  much  more  deeply  impressed  with  their  proficiency 


*  Leicester  to  Walsingham, 


aeJuly      47.    Llngard,  vill.  273. 

"■         '  Leicester    to  Walsingham,    y  ^ug.^ 


1588.   (S.  P.  0fflc«  MS.) 
a  Hardwicke  Papers,  1.  675.  Strype,  iv.    1588.    0^  already  cited.) 


1588.  WANT  OF  ORGANIZATION*  IN  ENGLAND. 


493 


than  ho  had  been  with  that  of  his  own  regiment.    He 
became  very  censorious. 

"  After  the  muster,"  said  the  lieutenant-general,  "  he 
entered  again  into  such  strange  cries  for  ordering  of  men, 
and  for  the  fight  with  the  weapon,  as  made  me  think  he 
was  not  well.  God  forbid  he  should  have  charge  of 
men  that  knoweth  so  little,  as  I  dare  pronounce  that  he 
doth ! " » 

Yet  the  critical  knight  was  a  professional  campaigner, 
whose  opinions  were  entitled  to  respect ;  and  the  more  so, 
it  would  seem,  because  they  did  not  materially  vary  from 
those  which  Leicester  himself  was  in  the  habit  of  ex- 
pressing. And  these  interior  scenes  of  discord,  tumult, 
persimony,  want  of  organization,  and  unsatisfactoiy 
mustering  of  troops,  were  occurring  on  the  very  Saturday 
and  Sunday  when  the  Armada  lay  in  sight  of  Dover 
cliffs,  and  when  the  approach  of  the  Spaniards  on  the 
Dover-road  might  at  any  moment  be  expected. 

Leicester's  jealous  and  overbearing  temper  itself  was 
also  proving  a  formidable  obstacle  to  a  wholesome 
system  of  defence.  He  was  already  displeased  with  the 
amount  of  authority  entrusted  to  Lord  Hunsdon,  dis- 
posed to  think  his  own  rights  invaded,  and  desirous 
that  the  Lord  Chamberlain  should  accept  office  under 
himself.  He  wished  saving  clauses  as  to  his  own  autho- 
rity inserted  in  Hunsdon's  patent.  "  Either  it  must  be 
so,  or  I  shall  have  wrong,"  said  he,  "  if  he  absolutely 
command  where  my  patent  doth  give  me  power.  You 
may  easily  conceive  what  absurd  dealings  are  likely  to 
fall  out,  if  you  allow  two  absolute  commanders."  * 

Looking  at  these  pictures  of  commander-in-chief, 
officers,  and  rank  and  file— as  painted  by  themselves— 
we  feel  an  inexpressible  satisfaction  that  in  this  great 
crisis  of  England's  destiny  there  were  such  men  as 
Howard,  Drake,  Frobisher,  Hawkins,  Seymour,  Winter, 
Fenner,  and  their  gallant  brethren,  cniising  that  week 
in  the  Channel,  and  that  Nassau  and  Warmond,  De  Moor 
and  Van  der  Does,  were  blockading  the  Flemish  coast. 

Ihere  was  but  little  preparation  to  resist  the  enemy 
once  landed.     There  were  no  fortresses,  no  regular  anny 
no  population   trained   to  any  weapon.     There    were 

1  Leicester  to  Walsingham     ^-i^     ^^^^'  (MS- already  cited.)  «  Ibid. 

*  °  7  Aug.  • 


iii 


494 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


patriotism,  loyalty,  courage,  and  enthusiasm,  in  abun- 
dance ;  but  the  commander-in-chief  was  a  queen's 
favourite,  odious  to  the  people,  with  very  moderate 
abilities,  and  eternally  quarrelling  with  officers  more 
competent  than  himself;  and  all  the  arrangements  were 
so  hopelessly  behindhand  that,  although  great  disasters 
might  have  been  avenged,  they  could  scarcely  have  been 

avoided.  '    . 

Eemembering  that  the  Invincible  Armada  was  lying 
in  Calais  roads  on  the  6th  of  August,  hoping  to  cross  to 
Dover  the  next  morning,  let  us  ponder  the  words  ad- 
dressed on  that  ver>^  day  to  Queen  Elizabeth  by  the 
Lieutenant-General  of  England.  ^ 

«*  My  most  dear  and  gracious  Lady,"  said  the  Earl, 
**  it  is  most  true  that  those  enemies  that  approach  your 
kingdom  and  person  are  your  undeserved  foes,  and  being 
so,  and  hating  you  for  a  righteous  cause,  there  is  the 
less  fear  to  be  had  of  their  malice  or  their  forces ;  for 
there  is  a  most  just  God  that  beholdeth  the  innocence 
of  that  heart,  the  cause  you  are  assailed  for  is  His  and 
His  Church's,  and  He  never  failed  any  that  faithfully 
do  put  their  chief  trust  in  His  goodness.  He  hath,  to 
comfort  you  withal,  given  you  great  and  mighty  means 
to  defend  yourself,  which  means  I  doubt  not  but  your 
Majesty  will  timely  and  princely  use  them,  and  your 
good  God  that  ruleth  all  will  assist  you  and  bless  you 
with  victory."  * 

He  then  proceeded  to  give  his  opinion  on  two  points 
concerning  which  the  Queen  had  just  consulted  him— 
the  propriety  of  assembling  her  army,  and  her  desire  to 
place  herself  at  the  head  of  it  in  person. 

On  the  first  point  one  would  have  thought  discussion 
superfluous  on  the  6th  of  August.  "  For  your  army,  it 
ui  more  than  time  it  were  gathered  and  about  you"  said  Lei- 
cester, "  or  so  near  you  as  you  may  have  the  use  of  it  at 
a  few  hours'  warning.  The  reason  is  that  your  mighty 
enemies  are  at  hand,  and,  if  God  suifers  them  to  pass  by 
your  fleet,  you  are  sure  they  will  attempt  their  purpose 
of  landing  with  all  expedition.  And  albeit  your  navy 
be  very  strong,  but,  as  we  have  always  heard,  the  other 
is  not  only  far  greater,  but  their  forces  of  men  much 


87  July 


1  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  J^.  158?.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

8  Aug. 


1588. 


ROYAL  PARSIMONY  AND  DELAY. 


495 


beyond  yours.  No  doubt,  if  the  Prince  of  Parma  come 
forth,  their  forces  by  sea  shall  not  only  be  greatly  aug- 
mented, but  his  power  to  land  shall  the  easier  take  efiect 
whensoever  he  shall  attempt  it.  Therefore  it  is  most 
requisite  that  your  Majesty  at  all  events  have  as  great  a 
force  every  way  as  you  can  devise;  for  there  is  no 
dalliance  at  such  a  time  nor  with  sUch  an  enemy.  You 
shall  othei-wise  hazard  your  own  honour,  besides  your 
person  and  country,  and  must  ofiend  your  gracious  God 
that  gave  you  these  forces  and  power,  though  you  will  not 
use  them  wlien  you  should.'^ ^ 

It  seems  strange  enough  that  such  phrases  should  be 
necessary  when  the  enemy  was  knocking  at  the  gate ; 
but  it  is  only  too  true  that  the  land-forces  were  never 
organized  until  the  hour  of  danger  had,  most  fortunately 
and  unexpectedly,  passed  by.  Suggestions  at  this  late 
moment  were  now  given  for  the  defence  of  the  throne, 
the  capital,  the  kingdom,  and  the  life  of  the  great 
Queen,  which  would  not  have  seemed  premature  had 
they  been  made  six  months  before,  but  which,  when 
oftered  in  August,  excite  unbounded  amazement.  Alex- 
ander would  have  had  time  to  march  from  Dover  to 
Durham  before  these  directions,  now  leisurely  stated 
with  all  the  air  of  novelty,  could  be  carried  into  efi*ect. 

**  Now  for  the  placing  of  your  army,"  says  the  lieu- 
tenant-general on  the  memorable  Saturday,  6th  of 
August:  "no  doubt  but  I  think  about  London  the 
meetest,  and  I  suppose  that  others  will  be  of  the  same 
mind.  And  your  Majesty  should  forthwith  give  the 
charge  thereof  to  some  special  nobleman  about  you,  and  like- 
wise place  all  your  chief  officers  that  every  man  may 
know  what  he  sfiall  do,  and  gather  as  many  good  horse  above 
all  things  as  you  can,  and  the  oldest,  best,  and  assuredest 
captains  to  lead ;  for  therein  will  consist  the  greatest 
hope  of  good  success  under  God.  And  so  soon  as  your 
army  is  assembled,  let  them  by  and  ly  be  exercised,  evei-y  man 
to  know  his  weapon,  and  that  there  be  all  other  things 
prepared  in  readiness  for  your  army,  as  if  they  should 
march  upon  a  day's  warning,  especially  carriages,  and  a 
commissary  of  victuals,  and  a  master  of  ordnance."* 

Certainly,  with  Alexander  of  Parma  on  his  way  to 
London,  at  the  head  of  his  Italian  pikemen,  his  Spanish 

»  Leicester  to  the  Queen,  MS.  last  cited.  s  ibid. 


•  I    V 


*! 


ii 


(IP 


;    « 


496 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


musketeers,  his  famous  veteran  legion—"  that  nursing 
mother  of 'great  soldiers  "  »^it  was  indeed  more  *^?J^ 
time  that  every  man  should  know  what  he  should  do 
that  an  army  of  Englishmen  should  be  assembled,  and 
that  every  man  should  know  his  weapon  By  and 
by  "  was  easily  said,  and  yet  on  the  6th  of  August  it 
was  by  and  by  that  an  army,  not  yet  mustered,  not  yet 
officered,  not  yet  provided  with  a  general,  a  commissary 
of  victuals,  or  a  master  of  ordnance,  was  to  be  exercised 

»«  every  man  to  know  his  weapon." 

English  courage  might  ultimately  triumph  over  the 
mistakes  of  those  who  governed  the  country,  and  over 
those  disciplined  brigands  by  whom  it  was  to  be  mvaded 
But  meantime  every  man  of  those  invaders  had  already 
learned  on  a  hundred  battle-fields  to  know  Ai.  weapon. 

It  was  a  magnificent  determination  on  the  part  ot 
Elizabeth  to  place  herself  at  the  head  of  her  troops ;  and 
the  enthusiasm  which  her  attitude  inspired,  whep  she 
had  at  last  emancipated  herself  from  the  delusions  of  di- 
plomacy and  the  seductions  of  thrift,  was  some  recompense 
at  least  for  the  perils  caused  by  her  procrastination. 
But  Leicester  could  not  approve  of  this  hazardous  thougli 

heroic  resolution."  x     •     -u     k.^^A<. 

The  danger  passed  away.     The  Invincible  Armada 

was  driven  out  of  the  Channel  by  the  courage,  the 

splendid  seamanship,  and   the   enthusiasm  of  J^nglisti 


1  "  Aquel  terclo  viejo,  padre  de  todos 
los  demas,  y  scmlnario  de  los  mayores 
soldados  que  ha  visto  en  nuestxo  liefflpo 
Europa."    Coloma.  ii.  26'o. 

«  Leicester  to  the  Ciiieen,  MS.  before 

cited. 

«  Now  for  your  person,"  he  said,  "being 
the  most  dainty  and  sacred  thing  we 
have  in  this  world  to  care  for,  a  man 
must  tremble  when    he    thinks  of   It, 
especially  finding  your  Majesty  to  have 
that  princely  couraRC  to  transport  your- 
self to  the  uttermost  confines  of  your 
realm  to  meet  your  enemies  and  defend 
your  subjects.  I  cannot,  most  dear  gucen, 
consent  to  that;  for  upon  your  well-doing 
consists  all  and  some    for  your  whole 
kingdom,  and  therefore  presefve  it  above 
all !  Yet  will  1  not  that,  in  some  sort,  so 
princely  and    so   rare  a   magnanimity 
■hould  not  appear  to  your  people  and 
the  world  as  It  is,  and  thus  far.  If  it  please 


you,  you  may  do  it  to  draw  yourself  to 
your  house  at  Havering  ;  and  your  army, 
btlng  .ibout  London,   as   at    Stratford. 
Eastham,  Hackney,  and  the  villages  there 
about,  shall  be  alway  not  only  a  defence 
but  a  ready  supply  to  those  counties  of 
Essex  and  Kent,  if  need  be,  and  in  the 
meantime  your  Majesty  may  comfort  this 
army  and  ilie  people  of  both  those  coun- 
ties, and  ma}'  see  both  the  camp  and  the 
forts.    It  is  not  above  fourteen  miles  from 
Havering,  and  a  very  convenient  place  for 
your  Majesty  to  lie  in  by  the  way.    To 
rest  you  at  the  camp,  I  trust  you  will 
be  pleased  with  your  poor  lieutenant's 
cibin,  and  within  a  mile  there  is  a  gentle- 
man's house  where  you  may  also  lie. 
Thus  you  may  comfort  not  only  these 
thousands,  but  many  more   that   shall 
hear  of  it,  and  thus  far,  but  no  farther, 
can  I  consent  to  adventure  your  person." 


1588. 


QUARRELS  OF  ENGLISH  ADMIRALS. 


497 


sailors  and  volunteers.  The  Duke  of  Parma  was  kept 
a  close  prisoner  by  the  fleets  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  • 
and  the  great  stoim  of  the  14th  and  15th  of  August  at 
last  completed  the  overthrow  of  the  Spaniards 

It  was,  however,  supposed  for  a  long  time  that  they 
would  come  bac.k,  for  the  disasters  which  had  befallen 
them  in  the  north  were  but  tardily  known  in  England. 
Ihe  sailors  by  whom  England  had  been  thus  defended 
m  her  utmost  need,  were  dying  by  hundreds,  and  even 
thousands,  of  «hip-fever,  in  the  latter  days  of  August. 
Men  sickened  one  day,  and  died  the  next,  so  that  it 
seemed  probable  that  the  ten  thousand  sailors  by  whom 
the  English  ships  of  war  were    manned  would  have 
almost  wholly  disappeared,  at  a  moment  when  their 
services  might  be  imperatively  required.    Nor  had  there 
been  the  least  precaution  taken  for  cherishing  and  saving 
these  brave  defenders  of  their  country.     They  rotted  in 
their  ships,  or  died  in  the  streets  of  the  naval  ports 
because  there  were  no  hospitals  to  receive  them  »  ' 

^''  lis  a  most  pitiful  sight,"  said  the  Lord- Admiral, 
to  see  here  at  Margate  how  the  men,  having  no  place 
where  they  can  be  received,  die  in  the  streets.  lam 
driven  of  force  myself  to  come  on  land  to  see  them 
bestowed  m  some  lodgings ;  and  the  best  I  can  get  is 
bams  and  such  outhouses,  and  the  relief  is  small  that  I 
can  provide  for  them  here.  It  would  grieve  any  man's 
heart  to  see  men  that  have  served  so  valiantly  die  so  misera}>hj ^ ^ 
Ihe  survivors,  too,  were  greatly  discontented;  for, 
after  having  been  eight  months  at  sea,  and  enduring 
great  privations,  they  could  not  get  their  wages.  -  Find- 
ing it  to  come  thus  scantily,"  said  Howard,  -it  breeds 
a  maiTellous  alteration  among  them."^ 

But  more  dangerous  than  the  pestilence  or  the  discon- 
tent was  the  misunderstanding  which  existed  at  the 
moment  between  the  leading  admirals  of  the  English 
Hawkin.  T  i^  was  Seymour  angry  with  HowardTbut 
Hawkins  aiid  Irobisher  were  at  daggers  drawn  With 
Drake;  and  Sir  Martm-if  contemporary  affidavits  can 


'Lord  Howard  to  the  Queen ;  same 
toVValshigham;  same  to  IVivy  Council, 

iSepT"-    (S- p.  Office  MSS.) 


VOL.   II. 


2  Howard  to  Burghlcy.  ^  Aug.    (S.  P. 
Office  ais.) 

'  Howard    to   Privy  Council,   "^"'^- 
1588.    (S.  r.  Office  MS.)  '    ^  ^^^ 

2   K 


498 


THE  UNITED  KETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


be  tmsted— did  not  scruple  to  heap  the  most  virulent 
abuse  upon  Sir  Francis,  calling  him,  in  language  better 
fitted  for  the  forecastle  than  the  quarter-deck,  a  thief 
and  a  coward,  for  appropriating  the  ransom  of  Don 
Pedro  Valdez,  in  which  both  Frobisher  and  Hawkinn 
claimed  at  least  an  equal  share  with  himself.' 

And  anxious  enough  was  the  Lord-Admiral,  ^4th  his 
sailors  perishing  by  pestilence,  with  many  of  his  ships 
so  weakly  manned  that— as  Lord  Henry  Sejnnour  de- 


1  "The  -°th    day  of  August,    1588, 

I  arrived  at  Harwich,"  sjiys  Matthew 
Suirke,  mariner  on  boanl  the  Kevevge, 
flagship  of  Sir  KruiK  is  Drake,  "  and  de- 
livered letters  sent  by  the  Ix>rd- Admiral 
to  the  l>onl  Sheffield.  ...  I  found  wtih 
him  Sir  John  Hawkins,  Sir  Martin  Fro- 
bisher, with  divers  others.  .  .  .  Then  Sir 
Martin  Frobisher  began  some  speeches 
concerning  the  service  done  in  this  action, 
and  said :— '  Sir  Francis  Drake  reporteth 
that  no  man  hath  dune  any  good  service 
but  he,  but  he  sliall  well  understand  tliat 
others  have  done  as  good  service  as  he, 
and  better  too.  He  came  braggltig  up  at 
the  first  Indeed,  and  gave  them  his  prow 
and  his  broatlslde,  and  then  kept  his  lolT, 
and  was  glad  that  he  was  gone  again, 
like  a  cowardly  knave  or  traitor— 1  rest 
doubtful  which,  but  the  one  I  will 
swear. 

" '  Further,  said  he,  be  hath  done  good 
gervlce  indeed,  for  he  took  Don  Pedro; 
for  after  he  had  seen  her  In  the  evening 
thiit  she  had  spent  her  masts,  then,  like  a 
coward,  he  kept  by  lier  all  night,  becauw? 
he  would  have  the  spoil.  He  thinketh  to 
cozen  ua  of  our  shares  of  I5.(t00  ducats, 
but  we  will  have  our  sharee,  or  I  vill 
make  him  upend  the  best  blood  in  his  belly, 
for  he  hath  done  enough  of  those  cozen- 
ing cheats  already. 

•• '  He  hath  used  certain  speeches  of  me 
(continued  Sir  Martin)  which  I  will 
make  hlra  eat  again,  or  I  will  make  him 
spend  the  best  blood  In  his  belly.  Fur- 
thermore, he  reporteth  tliat  no  man  hath 
done  so  good  service  as  he,  but  he  lleth 
in  his  teeth,  for  there  are  others  that 
have  done  as  good,  and  better  too. 

"  •  Then  he  demanded  of  me  if  we  (In 
the  Rettnge)  did  not  see  Don  I'edro  over- 
night or  no.  Unto  which  I  answered 
No.  Then  he  told  me  that  I  lied,  for 
she  was  seen   to   all  the  fleet.     Unto 


which  I  answered  I  would  lay  my  head 
that  not  any  one  man  in  the  fleet  did  w^e 
her  until  it  wa.s  morning,  that  we  were 
within  two  or  three  cables'  lengths  of  her. 
AVhereunto  he  answered.  Aye.  marry,  you 
were  within  two  or  three  cables'  lengths, 
for  you  were  no  farther  off  all  night,  but 
lay  a-hull  by  her.  Whereunt<  •  I  answen  d 
No.  for  we  bear  a  good  sail  all  night,  off 
and  on. 

"  •  Then  he  asked  me  to  what  end  we 
stood  off  from  the  fleet  all  night,    I  an- 
swered that  we  had  descried  three  or  four 
hulks,  and  to  that  end  we  wrought,  not 
knowing  what  they  were.    Th»^n  stiid  he, 
sir  Francis  was  appointed  to  bear  a  light 
all  that  night,  which  light  we  looked  for, 
but  there  was  none  to  l>e  seen  ;  and  In  the 
morning,  when  we  should  hav^  dealt  with 
them,  there  was  not  about  five  or   i<ix 
near  to  the  admiral,  by  reas'on  we  saw 
not  his  light.    After  this,  and  many  more 
speeches  which  I  am  not  able  to  remem- 
ber, the  Lord  Sheffield  demanded  of  me 
what  I  was.     Unto  which  I  answered  I 
had  been  In  the  action  with  Sir  Francis  In 
the  Revenge  this  seven  or  eight  months. 
Then  he  demanded  of  me.  What  art  ihou 
—a  soldier  ?    And  I  answered,  I  am  a  ma- 
riner, like  your  Honour.    Then,  said  he, 
I  have  no  more  to  say  unto  you.    You 
may  depart.' 

"  All  this  I  do  confess  to  be  true,  as  It 
was  spoken  by  Sir  Martin  Frobisher.  and 
do  acknowledge  it  in  the  presence  of  these 
parties  whose  names  are  hereunder  writ- 
ten. Captain  Flatt ;  Captain  Vaughan  ; 
Mr.  Grange,  master  of  the  ArKr :  John 
Grave,  masU'r  of  the  Revenge;  Captain 
Si>endeloe. 

"Moreover,  he  said  that  Sir  Francii* 
was  the  cause  of  all  these  troubles,  and 
lO  this  action  he  showed  himself  the  most 
coward.    By  me,  Matthew  Starke,  Aug. 

10 


-,  1588."  (S.  P.  Office  \LS.) 


1588.   ENGLAND'S  NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM  GREAT  PERIL.  499 

clared— there  were  not  mariners  enough  to  weigh  the 
anchors,'  and  with  the  great  naval  heroes,  on  whose 
efforts  thQ  safety  of  the  realm  depended,  wrangling  like 
fishwomen  among  themselves,  when  rumours  came,  as 
they  did   almost  daily,  of  the   return  of  the  Spanish 
Armada,  and  of  new  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  Far- 
nese      He  was  naturally  unwilling  that  the  fruits  of 
English  valour  on  the  seas  should  now  be  sacrificed  by 
the  false  economy  of  the  government.     He  felt  that, 
after  all  that  had  been  endured  and  accomplished,  the 
Queen  and  her  counsellors  were  still  capable  of  leaving 
England  at  the  mercy  of  a  renewed  attempt.     "  I  know 
not  what  you  think  at  the  court,"  said  he ;  "  but  I  think, 
and  so  do  all  here,  that  there  cannot  be  too  great  forces 
maintained  for  the  next  five  or  six  weeks.  God  knoweth 
whether   the   Spanish   fleet   will    not,  after   refreshino- 
themselves  in    Norway,   Denmark,  and    the  Orkneys'^ 
return.     I  think  they  dare  not  go  back  to  Spain,  with 
this  dishonour  to  their  King  and  overthrow  of  the  Pope's 
credit.    Sir,  sure  bind,  sure  find.    A  kingdom  is  a  grand 
wager.     Security  is  dangerous,  and,  if  God  had  not  been 
our  best f fiend,  we  should  have  found  it  so."* 

Nothing  could  be  more  replete  with  sound  common 
sense  than  this  simple  advice,  given  as  it  was  in  utter 
ignoiance  of  the  fate  of  the  Armada,  after  it  had  been 
lost  sight  of  by  the  English  vessels  off  the  Frith  of  Forth, 
and  of  the  cold  refreshment  which  it  had  found  in  Nor- 
way and  the  Orkneys.  But  Burghley  had  a  store  of 
pithy  apophthegms,  for  which  he  knew  he  could  always 
find  sympathy  in  the  Queen's  breast,  and  with  which  he 
could  answer  these  demands  of  admirals  and  generals. 
**  To  spend  in  time  convenient  is  wisdom ;"  he  observed 
— *'  to  continue  charges  without  needful  cause  bringeth 
repentance  ;" — "  to  hold  on  charges  without  knowledgn 
of  the  certainty  thereof  and  of  means  how  to  support 
them,  is  lack  of  wisdom  ;"  *  and  so  on. 

saving  of  a  little  charge.    The  Duke  of 
Parma  Is  nigh,  and  will  not  let  to  send 
dally  to  the  Duke  of  Sldonla,  If  he  may 
^  Ho»a«l  to  W.ls.„ghan..    -     Aug.    a„j  „„ ,.    j^^    ^  Walsl,«h™.    H 

'"'^Ir^h'^TLTiy  .a.    ,-,„te.    —    <-•'—.,  ■" 

cometh  on  apace,"  said  Drake,  » but  my       ^  Memorial    in    Burghley's    hand,  - 

poor  opinion  is  that  I  dare  not  advise  her    Aug.  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS)  "" 

Majesty  to  hazard  a  kingdom  with  the  '' 


»  Seymour    to    Walslnghara, 
1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


23  Aug. 
i  Sept." 


2  K  2 


600 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


Yet  the  Spanish  fleet  might  have  returned  into  the 
Channel— for  aught  the  Lord-Treasurer  on  the  22nd 
August  knew— or  the  Dutch  fleet  might  have  relaxed  in 
its  vigilant  watching  of  Famese's  movements.  It  might 
have  then  seemed  a  most  plentiful  lack  of  wisdom  to 
allow  English  sailors  to  die  of  plague  in  the  streets  for 
want  of  hospitals,  and  to  grow  mutinous  for  default  ot 
pay.  To  have  saved  under  such  circumstances  would 
perhaps  have  brought  repentance. 

The  invasion  of  England  by  Spam  had  been  most  por- 
tentous, lliat  the  danger  was  at  last  averted  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  English  nation-  both 
patricians  and  plebeians-to  the  heroism  of  the  little 
English  fleet,  to  the  spirit  of  the  naval  commanders  and 
volunteers,  to  the  stanch  and  effective  support  of  the 
Hollanders,  and  to  the  hand  of  God  shattering  the  Ar- 
mada at  last;  but  very  little  credit  can  be  conscien- 
tiously awarded  to  the  diplomatic  or  the  military  efforts 
of  the  Queen's  government.^  Miracles  alone  in  the 
opinion  of  Roger  Williams,  had  saved  England  on  this 

occasion  from  perdition.*  .  ,    .    ,  -,    x-  -a 

Towards  the  end  of  August,  Admiral  do  Nassau  paid 
a  visit  to  Dover  with  forty  ships,  "  well  appointed  and 
furnished."^  He  dined  and  conferred  with  Seymour, 
Palmer,  and  other  officers— Winter  being  still  laid  up 
with  his  wound— and  expressed  the  opinion  that  Medina 
Sidonia  would  hardly  return  to  the  Channel,  after  the 
banquet  he  had  received  from  her  Majesty  s  navy  be- 


i  An  exception  Is  always  to  be  made  In 
favour  of  the  SecreUiry  of  State.  Although 
stunned  for  a  moment  by  tlie  superhimmn 
iwrfidy  of  Philip  and  Farnese.  and   de- 
ceived by  false  intelligence  as  to  the  con- 
ditions of  tlie  Armada  after  the  gale  near 
Corm^ii,  Walsingham  had  been  ever  watch- 
ful, and  constantly   uttering  words   of 
s*ilemn  warning.    "  Plain  dealing  is  be!>t 
amonp  friends."  said  Seymour.    "I  will 
not  flutter  you,  but  you  have  fought  more 
with  your  pen  than  many  here  In  our 
English  navy  with  their  enemies.     But 
that  your  place  and  moet  necessary  attend- 
ance about  her  Majesty  cannot  be  spared, 
your  value  and  deserts  opposite  the  enemy 
liad  showed  Itself. 

«'  For  myself,"  added  tlie  b..ld  sailor, who 
was  much  dis:^atisQed  at  the  prosjxct  of 


"  being  penned  and  moored  in  roads,"  in- 
stead of  cruizing  after  tlie  Spaniards,  "  I 
have  not  spared  my  body,  which,  I  thanlc 
God,  is  able  to  go  through  thlclc  and  thin. 
....  Spare  me  not  while  1  am  abroad,  for 
when  God  shall  return  me,  I  will  be  kin  to 
the  bear.  I  will  hold  to  the  stake  b^'fore  I 
come  abroad  again."    Lord  H.  Seymour 

to  Walsingham,   from   the  Rainbow,  - 

Aug.  1588.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)    Same  to 

S3AUK.   >.Q 

same,  ^^^  MS. 

2  R.  Williams  to  Walsingham,  July, 
158S.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

17 

3  SejTnour  to  Walsingham,    —    Aug. 

15^1*.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 


1588.    VARIOUS  RUMOURS  AS  TO  THE  ARMADA'S  FATE.    501 

tween  Calais  and  Gravelines.  He  also  gave  the  infor- 
mation that  the  States  had  sent  fifty  Dutch  vessels  in 
pursuit  of  the  Spaniards,  and  had  compelled  all  the 
herring-fishermen  for  the  time  to  serve  in  the  ships  of 
war,  although  the  prosperity  of  the  country  depended 
on  that  industry.  "  I  find  the  man  very  wise,  subtle, 
and  cunning,"  said  Seymour  of  the  Dutch  Admiral,  "and 
therefore  do  I  trust  him."  * 

Nassau  represented  the  Duke  of  Parma  as  evidently 
discouraged,  as  having  already  disembarked  his  troops, 
and  as  very  little  disposed  to  hazard  any  further  enter- 
prise against  England.  "  I  have  left  twenty-five  Krom- 
stevens,"  said  he,  "  to  prevent  his  egress  from  Sluys,  and 
I  am  immediately  returning  thither  myself.  The  tide  will 
not  allow  his  vessels  at  present  to  leave  Dunkirk,  and  I 
shall  not  fail— before  the  next  full  moon— to  place  my- 
self before  that  place,  to  prevent  their  coming  out,  or 
to  have  a  brush  with  them  if  they  venture  to  put  to 


sea. 


'»  8 


But,  after  the  scenes  on  which  the  last  full  moon  had 
looked  down  in  those  waters,  there  could  be  no  further 
pretence  on  the  part  of  Famese  to  issue  from  Sluys  and 
Dunkirk,  and  England  and  Holland,  were  thencefoilh 
saved  from  all  naval  enterprises  on  the  part  of  Spain. 

IMeantime,  the  same  uncertainty  which  prevailed  in 
England  as  to  the  condition  and  the  intentions  of  the 
Armada  was  still  more  remarkable  elsewhere.  Theie 
was  a  systematic  deception  practised  not  only  upon 
other  governments,  but  upon  the  King  of  Spain  as  well. 
Philip,  as  he  sat  at  his  writing-desk,  was  regarding  him- 
self as  the  monarch  of  England,  long  after  his  Armada 
had  been  hopelessly  dispersed.* 

In  Paris,  rumours  were  circulated  during  the  first 
ten  days  of  August  that  England  was  vanquished,  and 
that  the  Queen  was  already  on  her  way  to  Rome  as  a 
prisoner,  where  she  was  to  make  expiation,  barefoot, 
before  his  Holiness.     Mendoza — now  more  magnificent 


>  Seymour  to  Walsingham,   —    Aug. 


se  deliberent  se  mettre  en  mer."  Just,  de 


17 


Nassau  to  Walsingham,    —  Aug.  1588. 


1588.   (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

'  "Cependant  Je  ne  fauldral  de  me  re-    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
touroer  contre  la  prochalne  lune  devant       3  pbiup  jj   ^^  Parma,  18  Aug.  1588. 
Dunquerque  pour  empecher  la  sortie  a    (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 
ceux  dedans,  ou  de  me  nagler  avec  eux  s'Ua 


602 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588.  PHILIP  FOR  A  LONG  TIME  IN  DOUBT. 


503 


than  ever— stalked  into  Notre  Dame  with  his  drawn 
sword  in  his  hand,  crying  out  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Vic- 
tory, victor}'  !"*  and  on  the  10th  of  August  ordered  bon- 
fires to  be  made  before  his  house;  but  afterwards 
thought  better  of  that  scheme.*  He  had  been  deceived 
by  a  variety  of  reports  sent  to  him  day  after  day  by 
agents  on  the  coast ;  and  the  King  of  France— better 
informed  by  Stafford,  but  not  unwilling  thus  to  feed  his 
spite  against  the  insolent  ambassador — affected  to  be- 
lieve his  fables.  He  even  confirmed  them  by  intelli- 
gence, which  he  pretended  to  have  himself  received 
from  other  sources,  of  the  landing  of  the  Spaniards  in 
England  without  opposition,  and  of  the  entire  subjuga- 
tion of  that  country  without  the  striking  of  a  blow." 

Hereupon,  on  the  night  of  August  10th,  the  envoy 
— "like  a  wise  man,"  as  Stafford  obsei-ved* — sent  off 
four  couriers,  one  after  another,  with  the  great  news  to 
Spain,  that  his  master's  heart  might  be  rejoiced,  and 
caused  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject  to  be  printed  and  dis- 
tributed over  Paris.*  "  I  will  not  waste  a  large  sheet  of 
paper  to  express  the  joy  which  we  must  all  feel,"  he 
wrote  to  Idiaquez,  *'  at  this  good  news.  God  be  praised 
for  all,  who  gives  us  small  chastisements  to  make  us 
better,  and  then,  like  a  merciful  Father,  sends  us 
infinite  rewards.'"  And  in  the  same  strain  he  wrote, 
day  after  day,  to  Moura  and  Idiaquez,  and  to  Philip 
himself. 

Staffoi-d,  on  his  side,  was  anxious  to  be  infoimed  by 
his  government  of  the  exact  truth,  whatever  it  were,  in 
order  that  these  figments  of  Mendoza  might  be  contra- 
dicted. **  That  which  cometh  from  me,"  he  said,  "  will 
be  believed,  for  I  have  not  been  used  to  tell  lies,  and  in 
very  truth  I  have  not  the  face  to  do  it."' 

I  Stowe,  744>750. 


*  Sir  E.  Stafford  to  Walaingham.    - 

Aug.  1588.    (S.  F.  Office  MS.) 
»  Reyd,  viii.  148. 

*  Stafford   to    Walslngham,  MS.    last 
cited. 

*  Ibid.    Reyd,  irf)»  tup 


cedes  7  beneficlos."  Mendoza  to  Idlaqupz, 
13  Aug.  1 588.  (  Arch,  de  Sim.  [lliris],  MS.) 
Same  lo  Ililllp  II.,  same  date. 

The  wivoy  thought  that  the  *•  Almighty 
Father  of  mercy  Imd  conferred,  as  infinitt^ 
rewards  and  benefits,"  u|x)n  his  Spanish 
children,  the  sacking  of  Ix>ndon,  and  the 
butchering  of  the  Kngllsh  nation— rewards 


•  "  No  quiero  ocupar  V.  M.  con  larga  and  ixmeflts  similar  to  those  which  tluy 
carta  el  Regoiljo  que  tendra  con  las  bueruis  had  formerly  enjoyed  in  the  Nether- 
nuevascon  que  queria  despacfaar.  IWos  lands. 
MA  alavado  por  tudo.  qui  noo  muesira 
chieos  castlgos  por  enmendanios,  y  da 
oomo  padre  dc  miaerlcordia  lofinitoe  mer- 


T  Stafford   to  Wahiingbam, 
MS.  before  cited. 


1 

a 


And  the  news  of  the  Calais  squibs,  of  the  fight  off 
Gravelines,  and  the  retreat  of  the  Armada  towards  the 
north,  could  not  be  very  long  concealed.  So  soon, 
therefore,  as  authentic  intelligence  reached  the  English 
envoy  of  those  events— which  was  not,  however,  for 
marJi/  ten  days  after  their  occurrence  '—Stafford  in  his 
turn  wrote  a  pamphlet,  in  answer  to  that  of  Mendoza, 
and  decidedly  the  more  successful  one  of  the  two.  It 
cost  him  but  five  crowns,  he  said,  to-print  four  hundred 
copies  of  it ;  but  those  in  whose  name  it  was  published 
got  one  hundred  crowns  by  its  sale.  The  English 
ambassador  was  unwilling  to  be  known  as  the  author — 
although  *'  desirous  of  touching  up  the  impudence  of 
the  Spaniard; "—but  the  King  had  no  doubt  of  its 
origin.  Poor  Henry,  still  smarting  under  the  insults  of 
Mendoza  and  "  Mucio,"  was  delighted  with  this  blow  to 
Philip's  presumption,  was  loud  in  his  praises  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  valour,  prudence,  and  mai-vellous  fortune, 
and  declared  that  what  she  had  just  done  could  be  com- 
liared  to  the  greatest  exploits  of  the  most  illustrious 
men  in  history.*  "  So  soon  as  ever  he  saw  the  pam- 
phlet," said  Stafford,  "he  offered  to  lay  a  wager  it 
was  my  doing,  and  laughed  at  it  heartily."^  And  there 
were  malicious  pages  about  the  French  court,  who  also 
found  much  amusement  in  writing  to  the  ambassador, 
begging  his  interest  with  the  Duke  of  Parma  that  they 
might  obtain  from  that  conqueror  some  odd  refuse  town 
or  so  in  England,  such  as  York,  Canterbury,  London,  or 
the  like — till  the  luckless  Don  Bernardino  was  ashamed 
to  show  his  face.* 


Aug. 


'    Stafford    to  Walsingham,    —  Aug. 

15S8.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

2  "  VAte  Rey  ha  loado,  hablandose  con 
algunos  de  sag  favoridus  grandt-mente  del 
valor,  animo,  y  prudencla  de  la  Rej-na 
di  In^laterra,  favorecidade  una  maravil- 
lojia  fortuna,  dl/Jendo  que  lo  que  ella  avia 
liacho  ultlniamente  se  pudia  o)mparar  con 
l.mmayores  hazaflasde  los  hombres  mas 
r.ustres  d'-'l  tiempo  passadu,  pues  avio 
osado  con  solas  sus  fUerzau  aguardar  las 
qu ;  eran  tan  pujantes  como  las  de  Espaiia 
y  corabatlr  las,  cerrando  Juntamente  el 
pdso  a  la  armada  del  ducade  Parma,  que 
era  no  mcnos  poderosa,  y  aver  tardado 


quatro  afios  V.  Mag**,  con  juntar  semejan- 
tes  armadas,  poniendo  al  uuindo  en  admi- 
raclon  de  ser  las  de  lasquales  se  podia 
dezir  aver  trionfudo  la  Ileyna  de  Ingia- 
terra."  Mendoza  to  Philip,  13  OcL  1588. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  [Paris],  MS.) 

Of  course  all  the  exploits  of  the  English 
and  Dutch  admirals  and  their  crews  were, 
in  the  opinion  of  Uenry  III.,  the  work  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  It  was  the  royal  pru- 
dence, valour,  and  good  fortune,  which 
saved  England,  not  the  merits  of  Drak^ 
and  Howard,  Nassau  and  De  Moor. 

8  Stafford  to  Walsingham,  ftlS.  before 
cited. 

4  Slowe,  744-750. 


504 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


A  letter  from  Famese,  however,  of  10th  Align st, 
apprized  Philip  before  the  end  of  August  of  the  Calais 
disaster,  and  caused  him  great  uneasiness,  without 
driving  him  to  despair.  "  At  the  very  moment,"  wrote 
the  King  to  Medina  Sidonia,  "  when  I  was  expecting 
news  of  the  effect  hoped  for  from  my  Armada,  I  have 
learned  the  retreat  from  before  C^alais,  to  which  it  teas  cmn- 
pdkd  by  the  weather ;  [!]  and  I  have  received  a  very  great 
shock,  which  keeps  me  in  anxiety  not  to  be  exaggerated. 
Nevertheless  I  hope  in  our  Lord  that  He  will  have  pro- 
vided a  remedy,  and  that  if  it  was  possible  for  you  to 
return  upon  the  enemy,  to  come  back  to  the  appointed 
post,  and  to  watch  an  opportunity  for  the  great  stroke, 
you  will  have  done  as  the  case  required ;  and  so  I  am 
expecting,  with  solicitude,  to  hear  what  has  happened, 
and  please  God  it  may  be  that  which  is  so  suitable  for 
His  service."  ^ 

And  in  the  same  strain,  melancholy  yet  hopeful,  were 
other  letters  despatched  on  that  day  to  the  Duke  of 
Farma.  **  The  satisfaction  c^ised  by  your  advices  on 
the  8th  August  of  the  arrival  df  the  Armada  near  Calais, 
and  of  your  preparations  to  lembark  your  troops,  was 
changed  into  a  sentiment  which  you  can  imagine,  by 
your  letter  of  the  10th.  The  aWiety  thus  occasioned' it 
would  be  impossible  to  exaggerat^;-al though — the  cause 
being  such  as  it  is — there  is  no  ground  for  distrust, 
l^erhaps  the  Armada,  keeping  together,  has  returned  upon 
the  enemy,  and  given  a  good  account  of  itself,  with  the 
help  of  the  Lord.  So  I  still  promise  myself  that  you  will 
have  performed  your  part  in  the  enterprise  in  such  wise 
as  that  the  service  intended  to  the  Lord  may  have  been 
executed,  and  repairs  made  to  the  reputation  of  all,  which 
has  been  so  much  compromised."  * 


*  "Al  tteinpo  que  se  agiiardavan 
nuevas  del  effeto  que  de  las  fuenas  degsa 
armada  se  esperaba,  se  ba  entendldo  la 
dt-rrota  que  desde  sobre  Gales  la  fori^o  a 
tomar  el  temporal,  y  recibido  muy  gran 
lobresalto  que  me  tiene  con  mas  cuydado 
que  se  puede  encarecer,  aunque  esjiero  en 
nuestro  Se&or  que  avra  proveydo  de  re- 
medio,  y  que  os  fue  posible  rebolver  sobre 
el  enemigo  y  acndir  al  puesto  sefialado.  y 
atender  el  eifecto  principal  lo  pariades 
cumo  pedia  el  caso,  y  eml  aguanlo  con  des- 


seo  aviso  de  lo  sucedldo,  que  plega  a  Dlos 
sea  lo  que  tanto  conviene  a  su  servlcio." 
Philip  II.  to  Medina  SidonIa,  31  Aug. 
1588.     (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 

3  "  Prometo  me  de  voa  que  a\Teys 
executado  lo  que  os  toca  de  manera  que  se 
conslga  al  servlcio  que  se  ha  pretendido 
hazer  a  Dios,  y  el  reparo  de  la  reputacion 
de  todos  que  esta  tan  empetlada."  The 
underlined  words  were  stricken  out  by 
I'hlllp,  from  the  draft  of  the  letter— pre- 
pared as  usual  by  the  secretary— with  the 


1588.  HE  BELIEVES  HIMSELF  VICTORIOUS.  505 

And  the  King's  drooping  spirits  were  revived  by  fre^h 
accounts  which  reached  him  in  September,  by  way  of 
France.     He  now  learned  that  the  Armada  had  taken 
captive  four  Dutch  men-of-war  and  many  English  ships  ; 
that,  after  the  Spaniards  had  been  followed  from  Calais 
roads  by  the  enemy's  fleet,  there  had  been  an  action, 
which  the  English  had  attempted  in  vain  to  avoid,  off 
Newcastle;    that    Medina    Sidonia   had    charged   upon 
them  so  vigorously  as  to  sink  twenty  of  their  bhips,  and 
to  capture  twenty-six  othei-s,  good  and  sound  ;  that  the 
others,  to  escape  perdition,  had  fled,  after  sufiering  great 
damage,  and  had  then  gone  to  pieces,  all  hands  peii.sh- 
ing;  that  the  Armada  had  taken   a  port  in   Scotland, 
where  it  was  very  comfortably  established;    that   the 
flagship  of  Lord- Admiral  Howard,  of  Drake,  and  of  that 
I'  distinguished  mariner  Hawkins,"  had  been  all  sunk 
in  action,  and  that  no  soul  had  been  saved  except  Drake, 
who  had  escaped  in  a  cock-boat.     "  This  is  good  news," 
added  the  writer,  "  and  it  is  most  certain."  ^ 

The  King  pondered  seriously  over  these  conflicting 
accounts,  and  remained  very  much  in  the  dark.     Half 
the  month  of  September  went  by,  and  he  had  heard 
nothing  official  since  the  news  of  the  Calais  catastrophe. 
It  may  be  easily  understood  that  Medina  Sidonia,  while 
flying  round  the  Orkneys,  had  not  much  opportunity  for 
despatching  couriers  to  Spain,  and,  as  Farnese  had  not 
written  since  the  10th  August,  Philip  was  quite   at  a 
loss  whether  to  consider  himself  triumphant  or  defeated. 
From  the  reports  by  way  of  Calais,  Dunkirk,  and  Kouen,' 
he  supposed  that  the  Armada  had  inflicted  much  damage 
on  the  enemy.     He  suggested  accordingly,  on  the  3rd 
September,  to  the  Duke  of  Parma,  that  he  might  now 
make  the  passage  to  England,  while  the  English  fleet, 
if  anything  was  left  of  it,  was  repairing  its  damages! 
**  "I'will  be  easy  enough  to  conquer  the  country,"  said 
Philip,   "so  soon  as   you   set   foot  on  the  soil.     Then 
perhaps  our  Armada  can  come  back  and  station  itself  in 
the  Thames  to  support  you."  * 

note  In  the  King's  hand :"  See  If  It  be  well  Parma,  31  Aug.  1588.  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 

to  omit  the  passage  erased,  because  in  that  i  Avisos  de  lAinqucrque,  30  Aug.  15H8 

which  God  does,  or  by  which  He  Is  ser\'ed.  Carta  de  Roan  de  Juan  de  Gamarra,  31 

there  is  no  gahilng  or  losing  of  reputation,  Aug.  1588.    "  A  sido  buona  nueva  y  esto 

and  It  is  better  not  to  speak  of  It  at  all."  es  certlssimo."   (Arch,  de  Sim.  [Parisl 

("  Pues  en  lo  que  Dlos  haze,  y  es  servido,  MSS.) 

noayqueperdernl  ganar  reputacion,  y  es  »  ITjiKp   II.  to   Parma,  3   Sept.  1588- 

nftjor  no  hablar  ea  ello.")     Philip  U.  to  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 


r 


506 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


1588. 


IS  TRANQUIL  WHEN  UNDECEIVED. 


607 


Nothing  could  be  simpler.  Nevertheless  the  King 
felt  a  pang  of  doubt  lest  affairs,  after  all,  might  not  be 
going  on  ko  swimmingly :  so  he  dipped  his  pen  in  the 
inkstand  again,  and  observed  with  much  pathos,  "  But 
if  this  hope  must  be  given  up,  you  must  take  the  Isle 
of  Walcheren:  something  must  be  done  to  console 
me."^ 

And  on  the  1 5th  September  he  was  still  no  wiser. 
*'  This  business  of  the  Annada  leaves  me  no  repose,"  he 
said ;  "  I  can  think  of  nothing  else.  1  don't  content 
myself  with  what  1  have  written,  but  write  again  and 
again,  although  in  great  want  of  light.  I  heai-  that  the 
Annada  has  sunk  and  captured  many  English  ships, 
and  is  refitting  in  a  Scotch  port.  If  this  is  in  the 
territory  of  Lord  Huntley,  I  hope  he  will  stir  up  the 
Catholics  of  that  countr}-."  * 

And  so,  in  letter  after  letter,  Philip  clung  to  the 
delusion  that  Alexander  could  yet  cross  to  England, 
and  that  the  Armada  might  sail  up  the  Thames.  The 
Duke  was  directed  to  make  immediate  arrangements  to 
that  effect  with  Medina  Sidonia,  at  the  very  moment 
when  that  tempest-tosstd  grandee  was  painfully  creep- 
ing back  towards  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  with  what  remained 
of  his  invincible  fleet. 

Sanguine  and  pertinacious,  the  King  refused  to  believe 
in  the  downfall  of  his  long-cherished  scheme  ;  and  even 
when  the  light  was  at  last  dawning  upon  him,  he  was 
like  a  child  crj'ing  for  a  fresh  toy,  when  the  one  which 
had  long  amused  him  had  been  broken.  If  the  Armada 
were  really  very  much  damaged,  it  was  easy  enough, 
he  thought,  for  the  Duke  of  Parma  to  make  him  a  new 
one,  while  the  old  one  was  repairing.  *'  In  case  the 
Armada  is  too  much  shattered  to  come  out,"  said  Philip, 
*'  and  winter  compels  it  to  stay  in  that  port,  ijou  must 
came  another  Armada  to  he  constructed  at  Einden  and  the 
adjacent  towns,  at  my  expense,  and,  with  the  two 
together,  you  will  certainly  be  able  to  conquer  Eno;- 
land." « 

And  he  wrote  to  Medina  Sidonia  in  similar  terras. 
That  naval  commander  was  instructed  to  enter  the 
Thames  at  once,  if  strong  enough.     If  not,  he  was  to 

1  Philip  II.   to   Parma,  3  Sept.  1588.        »  Philip  11.  to   Parma,  15  Sept.  15H8. 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MSO  /  (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  8  iwd. 


winter  in  the  Scotch  poii  which  he  was  supposed  to 
have  captured.  Meantime  Farnese  would  build  a  new 
fleet  at  Emden,  and  in  the  spring  the  two  dukes  would 
proceed  to  accomplish  the  great  purpose.* 

But  at  last  the  arrival  of  Medina  Sidonia  at  Santander  * 
dispelled  these  visions,  and  now  the  King  appeared  in 
another  attitude.  A  messenger,  coming  post-haste  from 
the  captain-general,  arrived  in  the  early  days  of  October 
at  the  Escorial.  Entering  the  palace  he  found  Idiaquez 
and  Moura  pacing  up  and  down  the  corridor,  before  the 
door  of  Philip's  cabinet,  and  was  immediately  interro- 
gated by  those  counsellors,  most  anxious,  of  course,  to 
receive  authentic  intelligence,  at  last,  as  to  the  fate  of 
the  Armada.^  The  entire  overthrow  of  the  gi-eat  pro- 
ject was  now,  for  the  first  time,  fully  revealed  in  Spain  ; 
the  fabulous  victories  over  the  English,  and  the  anni- 
hilation of  Howard  and  all  his  ships,  were  dispersed  in 
Broken,  ruined,  forlorn,  the  Invincible  Armada  — 


air. 


so  far  as  it  still  existed  — had  reached  a  Spanish  port. 
Great  was  the  consternation  of  Idiaquez  and  Moura,  as 
they  listened  to  the  tale,  and  very  desirous  was  each  of 
the  two  secretaries  that  the  other  should  discharge  the 
unwelcome  duty  of  communicating  the  fatal  intelligence 
to  the  King.* 

At  last  Moura  consented  to  undertake  the  task,  and 
entering  the  cabinet,  he  found  Philip  seated  at  his  desk. 
Of  course  he  was  writing  letters.'*  Being  informed  of 
the  arrival  of  a  messenger  from  the  North,  he  laid  down 
his  pen,  and  inquired  the  news.  The  secretary  replied 
that  the  accounts  concerning  the  Armada  were  b}'  no 
means  so  favourable  as  could  be  wished.  The  courier 
was  then  introduced,  and  made  his  dismal  re])ort.  The 
King  did  not  change  countenance.  *'  Great  thanks,"  he 
observed,  "do  I  render  to  Almighty  God,  by  whose 
generous  hand  I  am  gifted  with  such  power  that  I 
could  easily,  if  I  chose,  place  another  fleet  upon  the 
seas.  Nor  is  it  of  very  gi'eat  importance  that  a  run- 
ning stream  should  be  sometimes  intercepted,  so  long 
as  the  fountain  from  which  it  flows  remains  inex- 
haustible." 


»  Philip  II.  to  Medina  Sidonia,  15  Sept. 
1588.    (Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.) 


2  iniUip   II.  to  Parma,  10  Oct. 
(Arcb.de  Sim.  MS.) 


8  Strada,  II.  Ix.  564. 

«  Ibid. 

1588.       *  "  Regem  llteras  scrlbentem  reperlt." 
(Ibid.) 


li 


I'xB  J 


508 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XIX. 


So  saying  lie  resumed  his  pen,  and  serenely  pro- 
ceeded with  his  letters.*  Christopher  Moura  stared 
with  unafifected  amazement  at  his  sovereign,  thus  tran- 
quil while  a  shattered  world  was  falling  on  his  head, 
and  then  retired  to  confer  with  his  colleague. 

*'  And  how  did  his  Majesty  receive  the  blow?"  asked 
Idiaquez. 

"His  Majesty  thinks  nothing  of  the  blow,"  answered 
Moura,  "  nor  do  I,  consequently,  make  more  of  this 
gi*eat  calamity  than  does  his  Majesty."  * 

So  the  King — as  fortune  flew  away  from  him — 
wrapped  himself  in  his  virtue;  and  his  counsellors, 
imitating  their  sovereign,  arrayed  themselves  in  the 
same  garment.  Thus  draped,  they  were  all  prepared 
to  bide  the  pelting  of  the  storm  which  was  only  beat- 
ing figuratively  on  their  heads,  while  it  had  been 
dashing  the  King's  mighty  galleons  on  the  rocks,  and 
drowning  by  thousands  the  wretched  victims  of  his  am- 
bition. Soon  afterwards,  when  the  particulars  of  the 
great  disaster  were  thoroughly  known,  Philip  ordered  a 
letter  to  be  addressed  in  his  name  to  all  the  bishops  of 
Spain,  ordering  a  solemn  thanksgiving  to  the  Almighty 
for  the  safety  of  that  portion  of  the  Invincible  Armada 
which  it  had  pleased  Him  to  preserve.' 

And  thus,  with  the  sound  of  mourning  throughout 
Spain — for  there  was  scarce  a  household  of  which  some 
beloved  member  had  not  perished  in  the  great  cata- 
strophe— and  with  the  peals  of  meny  bells  over  all  Eng- 
land and  Holland,  and  with  a  solemn  '*  Te  Deum " 
resounding  in  every  church,  the  curtain  fell  upon  the 
great  tragedy  of  the  Armada. 

J  IblA   *•  His  dlctls  calamum  resumit,  nIbiU  faclt,  noc  ego  pluris  quam  ipse." 

et eadt'm qua ctjMTat tranqullliute vultus  (Ibid.) 

ad  scribeiidum  redlt. '  s  strada,  II.  Ix.  565.    Herrera,  III.  ill. 

»  ••  Bex,  Inquit,  totum  hoc  Infortunium  1 13. 


1588.         ALEXANDER  BESIEGES  BERGEN-OP-ZOOJI. 


509 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Alexander  besieges  Bergen-op-Zoora— Pallaviclnrs  Attempt  to  seduce  Parma- 
Alexander's  Fury— He  is  forced  to  raise  the  Siege  of  Bergen— Gertruydenberg 
betrayed  to  Parma-Iudlgnation  of  the  States-Exploits  of  Schenk-His  Attack 
on  Nymegen— He  Is  defeated  and  drowned— English-Dutch  Expedition  to 
Spain— Its  meagre  Results— Death  of  Guise  and  of  the  Queen-Mother— Combi- 
nations after  the  Murder  of  Henry  III.— Tandem  fit  Surculus  Arbor. 

The  fever  of  the  past  two  years  was  followed  by  com- 
parative languor.  The  deadly  crisis  was  past,  the 
freedom  of  Europe  was  saved,  Holland  and  England 
breathed  again;  but  tension  now  gave  place  to  ex- 
haustion. The  events  in  the  remainder  of  the  year 
1588,  with  those  of  1589— although  important  in  them- 
selves—were tlie  immediate  results  of  that  history  which 
has  been  so  minutely  detailed  in  these  volumes,  and  can 
be  indicated  in  a  very  few  pages. 

The  Duke  of  Parma,  melancholy,  disappointed,  angry 
— stung  to  the  soul  by  calumnies  as  stupid  as  they  were 
venomous,  and  already  afflicted  with  a  painful  and 
lingering  disease,  which  his  friends  attributed  to  poison 
administered  by  command  of  the  master  whom  he  had 
so  faithfully  served— determined,  if  possible,  to  afford 
the  consolation  which  that  master  was  so  plaintively 
demanding  at  his  hands. 

So  Alexander  led  the  splendid  army  which  had  been 
packed  in,  and  unpacked  from,  the  flat  boats  of  A'e^NT)ort 
and  Dunkirk,  against  Bergen-op-Zoom,  and  besieged 
that  city  in  form.  Once  of  great  commercial  imjiurtance, 
although  somewhat  fallen  away  from  its  original  pios- 
perity,  Bergen  was  well  situate  on  a  little  stream  which 
connected  it  with  the  tide-waters  of  the  Scheldt,  and  was 
the  only  place  in  Brabant,  except  Willemstad,  still 
remaining  to  the  States.  Opposite  lay  the  Jsle  of  Tholen, 
from  which  it  was  easily  to  be  supplied  and  reinforced. 
The  Vosmeer,  a  branch  of  the  Scheldt,  separated  the 
island  from  the  main,  and  there  was  a  path  along  the 
bed  of  that  estuary,  which,  at  dead  low-water,  was  prac- 


510 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


ticable  for  wading.     Alexander,  accordingly  sent  a  party 
of  eight  Inmdred  pikemen,  under  Montigny,  Marquis  of 
Renty,  and  Ottavio  Mansfeld,  supported  on  the  dyke  by 
three  thousand  musketeers,  across  the  dangerous  ford,  at 
ebb-tide,  in  order  to  seize  this  important  island.     It  was 
an  adventure  similar  to  those  which,  in  the  days  of  the 
grand  commander,   and  under   the  guidance   of  Mon- 
dragon,  had  been  on  two  occasions  so  brilliantly  suc- 
cessful.    But  the  Isle  of  Tholen  was  now  defended  by 
Count  Solnis  and  a  garrison  of  fierce  amphibious  Zee- 
landers— of  those  determined  bands  which  had  just  been 
holding  Farnese  and  his  fleet  in  prison,  and  daring  him 
to  the  issue— and  the  invading  party,  after  fortunately 
accomplishing  their  night-journey  along  the  bottom  of 
the  Vosmeer,   were   unable  to  effect  a  landmg,   were 
driven  with  considerable  loss  into  the  waves  again,  and 
compelled  to  find  their  way  back  as  best  they  could, 
along  their  dangerous  path,  and  with  a  rapidly  rising 
tide.     It  was  a  blind  and  desperate  venture,  and  the 
Vosmeer  soon  swallowed  four  hundred  of  the  Spaniards. 
The  rest,   half-drowned   or  smothered,    succeeded    in 
reaching  the  shore— the  chiefs  of  the  expedition,  Eenty 
and  Mansfeld,  having  been  with  difficulty  rescued  by 
their  followers,  when  nearly  sinking  in  the  tide.' 

The  Duke  continued  the  siege,  but  the  place  was  well 
defended  by  an  English  and  Dutch  garrison,   to   the 
number  of  five  thousand,  and  commanded  by  Colonel 
Morgan,  that  bold  and  much  experienced  Welshman,  so 
well  known  in  the  Netherland  wars.     AVilloughby  and 
Maurice    of    Nassau,   and    Olden-Bameveld    were,    at 
different  times,  within  the  walls;   for  the  Duke   had 
been  unable  to  invest  the  place  so  closely  as  to  prevent 
all  communications  from  without ;  and,  while  Maurice 
was  present,  there  were  almost  daily  sorties  from  the 
town,  with  many  a  spirited  skirmish,  to  give  pleasure  to 
the  martial  voung  Prince.*     The  English  officers,   V  ere 
10  Oct     and  Baskerville,  and  two  Netherland  colonels, 
1W8.'     the  brothers  Bax,  most   distinguished   them- 
selves on  these  occasions.     The  siege  was  not  going  on 
with  the  good  fortune  which  had  usually  attended  the 
Spanish  leaguer  of  Dutch  cities,  while  on  the  29th  Sep- 

>  Bor,  ill.  XXV.  33«-341.     Parma  to    MS.)    Heirera,  III.  ii.  114  «e«j[. 
Philip  U.,  1  Oct  1588.    (Arch,  de  Sim.       «  Bor,  uhi  sup. 


1588.      PALLAVICINI'S  ATTEMPT  TO  SEDUCE  PARMA.        511 

tember,  a  personal  incident  came  to  increase  Alexander's 
dissatisfaction  and  melancholy. 

On  that  day  the  Duke  was  sitting  in  his  tent,  brooding, 
as  he  was  apt  to  do,  over  the  unjust  accusations  which 
had  been  heaped  upon  him  in  regard  to  the  failure  of  the 
Armada,  when  a  stranger  was  announced.  His  name, 
he  said,  was  Giacomo  Moron e,  and  he  was  the  bearer  of 
a  letter  from  Sir  Horace  Pallavicini,  a  Genoese  gentle- 
man long  established  in  London,  and  known  to  be  on 
confidential  terms  with  the  English  government.  Alex- 
ander took  the  letter,  and,  glancing  at  the  bottom  of  the 
last  page,  saw  that  it  was  not  signed. 

*'  How  dare  you  bring  me  a  despatch  without  a  sig- 
nature ?  "  he  exclaimed.  The  messenger,  who  was  him- 
self a  Genoese,  assured  the  Duke  that  the  letter  was 
most  certainly  written  by  Tallavicini— who  had  himself 
placed  it,  sealed,  in  his  hands— and  that  he  had  suppo.sed 
it  signed,  although  he  had,  of  course,  not  seen  the 
inside. 

Alexander  began  to  read  the  note,  which  was  not  a 
very  long  one,  and  his  brow  instantly  darkened.  He 
read  a  line  or  two  more,  when,  with  an  exclamation  of 
fury,  he  drew  his  dagger,  and,  seizing  the  astonished 
Genoese  by  the  throat,  was  about  to  strike  him  dead. 
Suddenly  mastering  his  rage,  however,  by  a  strong 
effort,  and  remembering  that  the  man  might  be  a  useful 
witness,  he  flung  Morone  from  him. 

"  If  I  had  Pallavicini  here,"  he  said,  '*  I  would  treat 
him  as  I  have  just  refrained  from  using  you.  And  if  I 
had  any  suspicion  that  you  were  aware  of  the  contents 
of  this  letter,  I  would  send  you  this  instant  to  be 
hancjed."  ^ 

The  unlucky  despatch-bearer  protested  his  innocence 
of  all  complicity  with  Pallavicini,  and  his  ignorance  of 
the  tenor  of  the  communication  by  which  the  Duke's 
^vrath  had  been  so  much  excited.     He  was  then  searched 


^  "  Y  como  fue  viendo  la  desvergucnza 
y  vollaqueria  me  altero  de  manera  que 
nje  levante  de  donde  estaba  con  resolu- 
clon  de  darle  estocadas,  y  Dios  me  alum- 
bro  con  ponerme  delante  que  convenia 
que  este  hombre  se  guardase  a  buen 
recado,  porque  V.  M.  pueda  entenderdel 
lo  que  para  este  neg°  reporte  me ;  y  le 


d1j(5  que  si  yo  tuviesse  al  Palavlcino  se 
la  darla  cual  el  nierece,  y  a  vos  si  suj'iese 
que  sabeis  este  neg",  os  mandaria  hippo 
colgar.  Acab^  de  leer  la  carta,  y  cuarito 
mas  la  vi  y  considere  la  halld  masvollaoa 
y  enconsonada."  Parma  to  Philip  II., 
29  Sept.  1588.  (Arcl;.  de  Sim.  MS.)  Com- 
pare Strada,  II.  1.  lii.  5T3  seq. 


f 


t 


512  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS,  Chap.  XX. 

and  cross-examined  most  carefully  by  Kichardot  and 
other  counsellors,  and-his  innocence  being  made 
apparent— he  was  ultimately  discharged. 

The  letter  of  Pallavicini  was  simply  an  attempt  to 
sound  FaiTiese  as  to  his  sentiments  in  regard  to  a  secret 
scheme,  which  could  afterwards  be  arranged  m  form  and 
according  to  which  he  was  to  assume  the  sovereignty  ot 
the  Netherlands  himself,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  King,  to 
guarantee  to  England  the  possession  of  the  cautionary 
?own8,  until  her  advances  to  the  States  should  be  re- 
funded, and  to  receive  the  support  and  perpetual  alliance 
of  the  Queen  in  his  new  and  rebellious  position. 

Here  was  additional  evidence,  if  any  were  wanting  ot 
the  universal  belief  in  his  disloyalty  ;  and  Alexander 
faithful,  if  man  ever  were,  to  his  master,  was  cut  to  the 
heart,  and  initated  almost  to  madness,  by  such  "isolent 
propositions.     There  is  neither   proof  nor  probability 
that  the  Queen's  government  wa«  implicated   m   this 
intrigue  of    Pallavicini,   who  appears    to    have    been 
inspired  by  the  ambition  of  achieving  a  bit  of  Machia- 
vellian policy  quite  on  his  own  account.     Nothing  came 
of  the  proposition,  and  the  Duke,  having  transinitted  to 
the  King  a  minute  narrative  of  the  affair,  together  with 
indignant  protestations  of  the  fidelity  which   all   the 
world   seemed   determined   to   dispute,   received  most 
affectionate  replies  from  that  monarch,  breathing  nothing 
but  unbounded  confidence  in  his   nephew  s  innocence 

and  devotion.*  •     +v.^  w^vlrl 

Such  assurances  from  any  other  man  in  the  wo  Id 
might  have  disarmed  suspicion,  but  Alexander  knew  his 
maSter  too  well  to  repose  upon  his  woi^,  and  remem. 
bered  too  bitterly  the  last  hours  of  Don  John  of  Austria 
—whose  dying  pillow  he  had  soothed,  and  whose  death 
had  been  hastened,  as  he  knew,  either  by  actual  poi.on 
or  by  the  hardly  less  fatal  venom  of  slander— to  regain 
tranquillity  as  to  his  owii  position. 

The  King  was  desirous  that  rallavicini  should  be 
invited  ove?  to  Flanders,  in  order  that  Alexander  under 
pretence  of  listening  to  his  propositions,  might  draw 

1  Parma  to  Philip.  MS.  la«t  cited.  ^  Parma  to  ^diaquo^.  1  /Oct  1588^^ 
Ora.io  Pallavicini  to\;iacomo  M<.rone.  Philip  ^«  I'f "-'",, ^^^  ^^^j,  '^"^^ 
31   Aug.  1588.     (Arch,  do  Sim,  MSS.)    to  Parma.  17  Oct.  15S8.  (Arch,  de  &mi. 

SiracUi,  ttW  suf.  ^^'^ 


1588. 


ALEXANDER'S  FURY. 


513 


from  the  Genoese  all  the  particulars  of  his  scheme,  and 
then,  at  eis^re,  inflict  the  punishment  which  he  had 
deserved.  But  insuperable  obstacles  presented  them- 
selves,  nor  was  Alexander  desirous  of  affording  still 
further  pretexts  for  his  slanderers  ^ 

Very  soon  after  this  incident^most  important  as 
showing  the  i^al  situation  of  various  parties^^though 
without  any  immediate  result- Alexander  received  a 
visit  m  his  tent  from  another  stranger,  lliig  time  the 
visitor  was  an  Englishman,  one  Lieutenant  Grimstone, 
and  the  object  of  his  interview  with  the  Duke  was  not 
political,  but  had  a  direct  reference  to  the  siege  of 
?^''^^^'  A^^r^  accompanied  by  a  countryman  of  his 
own  Redhead  by  name,  a  camp-suttler  by  profession. 
The  two  represented  themselves  as  deserters  from  the 
besieged  city,  and  offered,  for  a  handsome  reward  to 
conduct  a  force  of  Spaniards,  by  a  secret  path,  into  one 
of  the  gates.  The  Duke  questioned  them  iarrowly 
and,  being  satisfied  with  their  intelligence  and  coolness 
caused  them  to  take  an  oath  on  the  Evangelists  that 
they  were  not  playing  him  false.  He  then  selected  a 
.1  ...^,?®  liundred  musketeers,  partly  Spaniards 
partly  Walloons-to  be  followed  at  a  distance  ' 

by  a  much  more  considerable  force,  two  thou-     ^o  Oct 
sand  in  number,  under  Sancho  de  Leyva  and      ''''' 
the   Marquis   of  Renti-and  appointed   the   following 
night  for  an   enterprise  against  the   city,   under  the 
guidance  of  Grimstone. 

It  was  a  wild  autumnal  night,  moonless,  pitch-dark 
with  a  storm  of  wind  and  rain.  The  waters  were  out-J 
for  the  dykes  had  been  cut  in  all  directions  by  the 
defenders  of  the  city-and,  with  exception  of  some 
elevated  points  occupied  by  Parma's  forces,  the  whole 
country  wa^  overflowed.  Before  the  party  set  forth  on 
their  danng  expedition,  the  two  Englishmen  were 
tightly  bound  with  cords,  and  led,  each,  by  two  soldiers 
instructed  to  put  them  to  instant  death  if  their  conduct 
ITa^  fjve  cause  for  suspicion.  But  both  Grimstone 
ana  Redhead  preserved  a  cheerful  countenance,  and 
inspired  a  strong  confidence  in  their  honest  intention  to 
betray  their  countrymen.  And  thus  the  band  of  bold 
adventurers  plunged  at  once  into  the  darkness,  and  soon 

*  IdUquez  to  Parma,  MS.  last  dted. 
VOL.   II.  2  L 


514 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


found  themselves  contending  with  the  tempest,  and 
wading  breast  high  in  the  black  waters  of  the  Scheldt. 

After  a  long  and  perilous  struggle  they  at  length 
reached  the  appointed  gate.  The  external  portcullis 
was  raised,  and  the  fifteen  foremost  of  the  band  rushed 
into  the  town.  At  the  next  moment.  Lord  Willoughby, 
who  had  been  privy  to  the  whole  scheme,  cut  with  his 
own  hand  the  cords  which  held  the  portcullis,  and 
entrapped  the  leaders  of  the  expedition,  who  were  all 
at  once  put  to  the  sword,  while  their  followers  were 
thundering  at  the  gate.  The  lieutenant  and  suttler, 
who  had  thus  overreached  that  great  master  of  dissimu- 
lation, Alexander  Farnese,  were  at  the  same  time  un- 
bound by  their  comrades,  and  rescued  from  the  fate 
intended  for  them. 

Notwithstanding  the  probability — when  the  portcullis 
fell — that  the  whole  party  had  been  deceived  by  an 
artifice  of  war,  the  adventurers,  who  had  come  so  far, 
refused  to  abandon  the  enterprise,  and  continued  an 
impatient  battery  upon  the  gate.  At  last  it  was  swung 
wide  open,  and  a  furious  onslaught  was  made  by  the 
garrison  upon  the  Spaniards.  There  was  a  fierce,  brief 
struggle,  and  then  the  assailants  were  utterly  routed. 
Some  were  killed  under  the  walls,  while  the  rest  were 
hunted  into  the  waves.  Nearly  every  one  of  the  expe- 
dition (a  thousand  in  number)  perished.* 

It  had  now  become  obvious  to  the  Duke  that  his 
siege  must  be  raised.  The  days  were  gone  when  the 
walls  of  Dutch  towns  seemed  to  melt  before  the  first 


1  Parma  to  Philip  II.  30  Oct.  1588, 
(Arch,  de  Sim.  MS.)  Meteren,  xv.  275»». 
Bor,  lU.  XXV.  340.  Herrera,  iii.  11.  118, 
seq.  Strada,  ii.  x.  5U2-585.  Camero, 
Guerras  de  Flandes  (Bniseles,  1625),  p. 
231,  232.  Coloma,  Guerras  de  los  Estados 
Biixos,    i.  10,   11.      Sir  W.    Drury    to 

Burghley.  ^    Oct.  1588.    (Q.   P.  Office 

MS.) 

"  Seemeth  to  my  simple  opinion  a 
great  commendation  unto  the  gentleman 
that  cuuld  BO  sweetly  charm  so  wise  and 
learned  a  master  in  his  own  art  as  the 
Duke  of  Parma  is,"  &c. 

The  Jesuit  Strada,  however— who  nar- 
rates all  the  trickeries  of  Philip  and 
of  Farnese  with  so  much  applause— is 


shocked  at  the  duplicity  of  Lieutenant 
Grimstone ;  and  Coloma  is  ineffably  dis- 
gusted at  such  sharp  practice. 

It  has  been  stated  by  Meteren  (xv. 
275'°)  and  others,  that  Sir  William  Stan- 
ley was  in  this  expedition,  and  that  he 
very  narrowly  escaped  being  taken  with 
the  first  fifteen.  This  would  have  been 
probable  enough,  had  he  been  there,  for 
his  valour  was  equal  to  his  treachery. 
But  Parma  does  not  mention  bis  name  in 
the  letters  describing  tlie  adventure,  and 
it  is  therefore  unlikely  that  he  was  pre- 
sent. At  any  rate  he  escaped  capture 
and,  with  it,  a  traitor's  death.  Strada 
says  expressly,  "Stanlaeo  ad  id  operis 
nequaquam  adhibito." 


1588.    HE  IS  FORCED  TO  RAISE  THE  SIEGE  OF  BERGEN.       515 

scornful  glance  of  the  Spanish  invader,  and  when  a 
summons  meant  a  surrender,  and  a  surrender  a  massacre. 
Now,  strong  in  the  feeling  of  independence,  and  sup- 
ported by  the  courage  and  endurance  of  their  English 
allies,  the  Hollanders  had  learned  to  humble  the  pride 
of  Spain  as  it  had  never  been  humbled  before.  The 
hero  of  a  hundred  battle-fields,  the  inventive  and  bril- 
liant conqueror  of  Antwerp,  seemed  in  the  deplorable 
issue  of  the  English  invasion  to  have  lost  all  his  genius, 
all  his  fortune.  A  cloud  had  fallen  upon  his  fame,  and 
he  now  saw  himself,  at  the  head  of  the  best  army  in 
Europe,  compelled  to  retire,  defeated  and  hiimiliated, 
from  the  walls  of  Bergen.  Winter  was  coming  on 
apace;  the  country  was  flooded;  the  storms  in  that 
bleak  region  and  inclement  season  were  incessant ;  and 
he  was  obliged  to  retreat  before  his  army  should  be 
drowned. 

On  the  night  of  12-13  November  he  set  fire  to  his 
camp,  and  took  his  departure.  By  daybreak  he  was 
descried  in  full  retreat,  and  was  hotly  pursued  by  the 
English  and  Dutch  from  the  city,  who  drove  the  great 
Alexander  and  his  legions  before  them  in  ignominious 
flight.  Lord  Willoughby,  in  full  view  of  the  retiring 
enemy,  indulged  the  allied  forces  with  a  chivalrous 
spectacle.  Calling  a  halt,  after  it  had  become  obviously 
useless,  with  their  small  force  of  cavalry,  to  follow  any 
longer,  through  a  flooded  country,  an  enemy  who  had 
abandoned  his  design,  he  solemnly  conferred  the  honour 
of  knighthood,  in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  on  the 
officers  who  had  most  distinguished  themselves  during 
the  siege,  Francis  Vere,  Ba^kerville,  Powell,  Parker, 
Knowl^s,  and  on  the  two  Netherland  brothers,  Paul 
and  Marcellus  Bax.^ 

The  Duke  of  Parma  then  went  into  winter-quarters 
in  Brabant,  and,  before  the  spring,  that  obedient  Pro- 
vince had  been  eaten  as  bare  as  Flanders  had  already 
been  by  the  friendly  Spaniards. 

An  excellent  understanding  between  England  and 
Holland  had  been  the  result  of  their  united  and  splendid 
exertions  against  the  Invincible  Armada.  Late  in  the 
year  1588  Sir  John  Norris  had  been  sent  by  the  Queen 

^  BoT,vbitup,    Meteren.    CompareColoma,  i.  11, 12.    Herrera,  u6i  <ttp.  Strada, 
X.  688. 

2  L  2 


616 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


to  offer  her  congratulations  and  earnest  tlianks  to  the 
States  for  their  valuable  assistance  in  preserving  her 
throne,  and  to  solicit  their  co-operation  in  some  new 
designs  against  the  common  fee.*     Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, this  epoch  of  good  feeling  was  but  of  brief  dura- 
tion.    Bitterness  and  dissension  seemed  the  inevitable 
conditions  of  the  English-Dutch  alliance.     It  will  be 
remembered  that,  on  5ie  departure  of  Leicester,  several 
cities  had  refused   to  acknowledge   the   authority  of 
Count  Maurice  and  the  States;  and  that  civil  war  in 
the  scarcely-born  commonwealth  had  been  the  result. 
Medenblik,  Naarden,  and  the  other  contumacious  cities, 
had  however  been  reduced  to  obedience  after  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Earl's  resignation,  but  the  important  city 
of  Gertruydenbei^  had  remained  in  a  chronic  state  of 
mutiny.      This  rebellion  had  been  partially  appeased 
during  the  year  1588  by  the  efforts  of  Willoughby,  who 
had  strengthened   the    garrison  by  reinforcements   of 
ETigliwh  troops  under  command  of  his  brother-in-law. 
Sir  John  Wingfield.     Early  in  1589,  however, 
*"**     the  whole  garrison  became  rebellious,  disarmed 
and  maltreated  the  burghers,  and  demanded  immediate 
payment  of  the  heavy  arrearages  still  due  to  the  troops. 
Willoughby,  who — much  disgusted  with  his  career  in 
the  Netherlands— was  about  leaving  for  England,  com- 
plaining that  the  States  had  not  only  left  him  without 
remuneration  for  his  services,  but  had  not  repaid  his 
own  advances,  nor  even  given  him  a  complimentary 
dinner,  tried  in  vain  to  pacify  them.     A  rumour  became 
very  current,  moreover,  that  the  garrison  had  opened 
negotiations  with  Alexander  Famese,  and  accordingly 
Maurice  of  Nassau— of  whose  patrimonial  property  the 
city  of  Gertruydenberg  made  a  considerable  proportion, 
to  the  amount  of  eight  thousand  pounds  sterling  a  year* 
— after  summoning  the  garrison,  in  his  own  name  and 
in  that  of  the  States,  to  surrender,  laid  siege  to  the  place 
in  form.     It  would  have  been  cheaper,  no  doubt,  to  pay 
the  demands  of  the  garrison  in  full,  and  allow  them  to 
depart.    But  Maurice  considered  his  honour  at  stake. 

1  Propodtions  of  Sir  John  Norria  to    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 
Coimcll  of  State.    Bor,  Hi.  xsv.  361,  362.       «  Ortell  to  WoUey,  9  April,  1689.    (8. 

«» Oct.     P.QflaceMS.) 


Sir  Ed.  Norrls   to 


8  Not. 


1588. 


1589.        GERTRUYDENBERG  BETRAYED  TO  PARJilA.  517 

His  letters  of  summons,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  re- 
bellious commandant  and  his  garrison  as  self-seeking 
foreigners  and  mercenaries,  were  taken  in  very  ill  part. 
Wingfield  resented  the  statement  in  very  insolent  lan- 
guage, and  offered  to  prove  its  falsehood  with  his  sword 
against  any  man  and  in  any  place  whatever.     Wil- 
loughby wrote   to  his   brother-in-law,  from  Flushing, 
when  about  to  embark,  disapproving  of  his  conduct  and 
of  his  language ;  and  to  Maurice,  deprecating  hostile 
measures  against  a  city  under  the  protection  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.   At  any  rate,  he  claimed  that  Sir  John  Wing- 
field and  his  wife,  the  Countess  of  Kent,  with  their 
newly-born  child,  should  be  allowed  to  depart  from  the 
place.     But   Wingfield   expressed  great  scorn  at  any 
suggestion  of  retreat,  and  vowed  that  he  would  rather 
surrender  the  city  to  the  Spaniards  than  tolerate  the 
presumption  of  Maurice  and  the  States.      The  young 
Prince  accordingly  opened  his  batteries,  but,  before  an 
entrance  could  be  effected  into  the  town,  was  obliged  to 
retire  at  the  approach  of  Count  Mansfeld  with  a  much 
superior  force.     Gertruydenberg  was  now  sur-    lo  April, 
rendered  to  the  Spaniards  (10  April,  1589),  in      ^^^^-  ' 
accordance  with  a  secret  negotiation  which  had  been 
proceeding  all  the  spring,  and  had  been  brought  to  a 
conclusion  at  last.    The  garrison  received  twelve  months' 
pay  in  full  and  a  gratuity  of  five  months  in  addition, 
and  the  city  was  then  reduced  into  obedience  to  Spain 
and  Kome  on  the  terms  which  had  been  usual  during 
the  government  of  Famese.* 

The  loss  of  this  city  was  most  severe  to  the  republic, 
for  the  enemy  had  thus  gained  an  entrance  into  the  very 
heart  of  Holland.  It  was  a  more  important  acquisition 
to  Alexander  than  even  Bergen-op-Zoom  would  have 
been,  and  it  was  a  bitter  reflection  that  to  the  treachery 
of  Netherlanders  and  of  their  English  allies  this  great 
disaster  was  owing.  All  the  wrath  aroused  a  year 
before  by  the  famous  treason  of  York  and  Stanley,  and 
which  had  been  successfully  extinguished,  now  flamed 
forth  afresh.  The  States  published  a  placard  denouncing 
the  men  who  had  thus  betrayed  the  cause  of  freedom, 
and  surrendered  the  city  of  Gertruydenberg  to  the 
Spaniards,  as  perjured  traitors  whom  it  was  made  lawful 

*  Bor,  Ui.  XX vt  403-419.    Strada,  11.  x.  600-609.    Coloma,  i.  20-23. 


♦l 


¥i 


518 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


to  hang  whenever  or  wherever  caught,  without  trial  or 
sentence,  and  offering  fifty  florins  a-head  for  every  private 
soldier  and  one  hundred  florins  for  any  officer  ot  the 
garrisoQ.  A  list  of  these  Englishmen  and  Netherlanders, 
80  far  as  known,  was  appended  to  the  placard,  and  the 
catalogue  was  headed  by  the  name  of  Sir  John  W  mg- 

ITius  the  consequences  of  the  fatal  event  were  even 
more  deplorable  than  the  loss  of  the  city  itself.  The 
fury  of  Olden-Bameveld  at  the  treason  was  excessive, 
and  the  great  Advocate  governed  the  policy  of  the 
republic,  at  this  period,  almost  like  a  dictator.  Ihe 
States,  easily  acknowledging  the  sway  of  the  imperious 
orator,  became  bitter  and  wrathful  with  the  English, 
side  by  side  with  whom  they  had  lately  been  so  cordially 

standing.  .,      t^     t  i         ^ 

Willoughby,  on  his  part,  now  at  the  English  court, 
was  furious  with  the  States,  and  persuaded  the  leading 
counsellors  of  the  Queen,  as  weU  as  her  Majesty  herself, 
to  adopt  his  view  of  the  transaction.  W  ingfield,  it  was 
asserted,  was  quite  innocent  in  the  matter;  he  wad 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  French  language,  and  therefore 
was  unable  to  read  a  word  of  the  letters  addressed  to 
him  by  Maurice  and  the  replies  which  had  been  signed 
by  himself.  Whether  this  strange  excuse  ought  to  be 
accepted  or  not,  it  is  quite  certain  that  he  was  no  traitor 
like  York  and  Stanley,  and  no  friend  to  Spam ;  for  he 
had  stipulated  for  himself  the  right  to  return  to  England, 
and  had  neither  received  nor  desired  any  reward.  He 
hated  Maurice  and  he  hated  the  States,  but  he  asserted 
that  he  had  been  held  in  durance,  that  the  garrison  was 
mutinous,  and  that  he  was  no  more  responsible  for  the 


.1589. 


INDIGNATION  OF  THE  STATES. 


519 


10 


1  Bor,  vbi  tup.    Bodley  to  Burghley, 
-  April.  1589.    (B.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  iv. 

144,  MS.) 

s  "  For  all  here  is  directed  by  Holland, 
Mid  Holland  Is  carried  away  by  Bame- 
veld,  whose  resolutions  are  so  full  of  self- 
will,  and  80  opposite  to  her  Majesty's 
proceedings,  as  there  are  of  the  wisest 
among  themselves  that  fear  by  his  deal- 
ing some  great  alteration.  For  the  hin- 
drance of  which,  I  cannot  propose  any 
better  means  than  if  that  course  which 
is  held  between  him  and  Ortell  might 
be   stopped   in  England.    For   matters 


here  are  so  handled  at  this  present,  as 
In  whatsoever  cause  the  States-General, 
or  they  of  Holland  and  Zeeland.  have  to 
deal  with  her  Majesty,  they  neither  pro- 
pose it  before  to  the  council  of  state,  nor 
impart  it  with  her  Majesty's  lieutenant 
or  counsellors ;  but,  by  Bame veil's  di- 
rection, solicit  all  by  Ortell,  and  so  re- 
ceive their  despatch.  Whereunto  the 
reputation  of  every  action  doth  redound 
unto  him,  and  her  Majesty's  lieutenant 
and  ministers  are  little  regarded."    Bod- 

20  Feb. 


loss  of  the  city  than  Sir  Francis  Vere  had  been,  who  had 
also  been  present,  and  whose  name  had  been  subse- 
quently withdrawn,  in  honourable  fashion,  from  the  list 
of  traitors,  by  authority  of  the  States.  His  position— so 
far  as  he  was  personally  concerned — seemed  defensible, 
and  the  Queen  was  thoroughly  convinced  of  his  inno- 
cence. Willoughby  complained  that  the  republic  was 
utterly  in  the  hands  of  Barneveld,  that  no  man  ventured 
to  lift  his  voice  or  his  eyes  in  presence  of  the  temble 
Advocate  who  ruled  every  Netherlander  with  a  rod  of 
iron,  and  that  his  violent  and  threatening  language  to 
Wingfield  and  himself  at  the  dinner-table  in  Bergen-op- 
Zoom  on  the  subject  of  the  mutiny  (when  one  hundred 
of  the  Gertruydenberg  garrison  were  within  sound  of 
his  voice)  had  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  rebellion.* 
Inspired  by  these  remonstrances,  the  Queen  once  more 
emptied  the  vials  of  her  wrath  upon  the  United  Nether- 
lands. The  criminations  and  recriminations  seemed 
endless,  and  it  was  most  fortunate  that  Spain  had  been 
weakened,  that  Alexander,  a  prey  to  melancholy  and  to 
lingering  disease,  had  gone  to  the  baths  of  Spa  to  recruit 
his  shattered  health,  and  that  his  attention  and  the 
schemes  of  Philip  for  the  year  1589  and  the  following 
period  were  to  be  directed  towards  France.  Otherwise 
the  commonwealth  could  hardly  have  escaped  still  more 
severe  disasters  than  those  already  experienced  in  this 
unfortunate  condition  of  its  affairs,  and  this  almost 
hopeless  misunderstanding  with  its  most  important  and 
vigorous  friend.* 


ley  to  Burghley,    ^^^^^. 
Mus.  Galba,  D.  iv.  55,  MS.) 


1689.    (Br. 


*  Bor,  vbi  sup. 

*  Bor,  ubi  sup.  and  443-457. 
Willoughby   published   a  very  bitter 

pamphlet  In  reply  to  the  severe  attacks 
of  Olden-Bameveld  and  his  partisans. 
"  The  child  of  milord  Willoughby  Is  bom 
at  last,"  said  Joachim  Ortell :  "  the  book 
is  printed,  and  is  as  full  of  lies  as  an  egg 
is  of  meat"  (so  vol  leugens  als  een  ey 
vol  suyvela). 

Walsingham — as  might  l^  supposed — 
much  regretted  these  misunderstandings, 
although  he  was  inclined  to  censure  the 
States.  "  I  like  very  well,"  he  said,  "  that 
the  placard  should  rather  be  answered 
by  Lord  Willoughby  than  by  her  Ma- 
jesty. But  to  have  it  not  answered  at 
all  were  the  best    ....  Their  ingrati- 


tude Is  great,  yet.  seeing  we  cannot  "sever 
ourselves  from  them  without  Infinite 
danger,  their  errors  are  to  be  winked  at 
for  a  time.  It  may  be  that  the  disgrace 
inflicted  on  them  through  the  loss  of 
Gertraydenberg  will  somewhat  humble 
them ;  for  seeing  Barnevelt,  the  principal 
ringleader  amongst  them,  begins  to  stick 
sail,  I  think  the  rest  will  stoop.  But 
when  I  look  into  their  strange  course  in 
publishing  their  placard,  after  the  loss 
of  the  town  to  hazard  the  loss  of  her  Ma- 
jesty's favour,  I  must  conclude  that  with 
the  loss  of  the  town  they  have  lost 
their  wits."    Walsingham  to  Burghley, 

^— .  1589.    (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  iv. 

9  May  ^ 

171,  MS.) 


* 


i\'  ■ 


620 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


1589. 


EXPLOITS  OF  SCHENK. 


621 


While  these  events  had  been  occurring  in  the  heart  of 
the  republic,  Martin  Schenk,  that  restless  freebooter, 
had  been  pursuing  a  bustling  and  most  lucrative  career 
on  its  outskirts.  All  the  episcopate  of  Cologne — that 
debatable  land  of  the  two  rival  paupers,  Bavarian 
Ernest  and  Gebhard  Truchsess — trembled  before  him. 
Mothers  scared  their  children  into  quiet  with  the  terrible 
name  of  Schenk,  and  farmers  and  land-younkers  through- 
out the  electorate  and  the  land  of  Berg,  Cleves,  and 
Juliers,  paid  their  black-mail,  as  if  it  were  a  constitu- 
tional impost,  to  escape  the  levjdng  process  of  the 
redoubtable  partisan. 

But  Martin  was  no  longer  seconded,  as  he  should  have 
been,  by  the  States,  to  whom  he  had  been  ever  faithful 
since  he  forsook  the  banner  of  Spain  for  their  own  ;  and 
he  had  even  gone  to  England  and  complained  to  the 
Queen  of  the  shortcomings  of  those  who  owed  him  so 
much.  His  ingenious  and  daring  exploit — the  capture 
of  Bonn — has  already  been  narrated,  but  the  States  had 
neglected  the  proper  precautions  to  secure  that  im- 
portant city.  It  had  consequently,  after  a  six  months* 
siege,  been  surrendered  to  the  Spaniards  under  Prince 
Chimay,  on  the  19th  of  September ; '  while,  in  December 
following,  the  city  of  Wachtendonk,  between  the  Khine 
and  Meuse,  had  fallen  into  Mansfeld's  hands.*  Rhein- 
berg,  the  only  city  of  the  episcopate  which  remained  to 
the  deposed  Truchsess,  was  soon  afterwards  invested  by 
the  troops  of  Parma,  and  Schenk  in  vain  summoned  the 
States-General  to  take  proper  measures  for  its  defence. 
But  with  the  enemy  now  eating  his  way  towards  the 
heart  of  Holland,  and  with  so  many  dangers  threatening 
them  on  every  side,  it  was  thought  imprudent  to  go  so 
far  away  to  seek  the  enemy.  So  Gebhard  retired  in 
despair  into  Germany,  and  Martin  did  what  he  could  to 
protect  Rheinberg,  and  to  fill  his  own  coffers  at  the 
expense  of  the  whole  country  side. 

He  had  built  a  fort,  which  then  and  long  afterwards 
bore  his  name — Schenken  Schans,  or  Schenk's  Sconce — 
at  that  important  point  where  the  Rhine,  opening  its 


t  Strada,  x.  584-595. 
BoT,  Hi.  XXV,  328. 

2  Strada,  x.  599,  who  states  that  bomb- 
shells—which he  elaborately  describes — 
were  first  used  at  thia  siege  of  Wachten- 
donk.   They  had  been  invented,  he  says. 


Coloma,  L  12-14.  a  few  days  before  its  commencement,  by 
an  artisan  of  Venlo,  for  his  own  misfor- 
tune and  that  of  his  city ;  for  he  set  the 
town  of  Venlo  on  fire,  and  burned  down 
two- thirds  of  it,  by  a  premature  explo- 
sion of  his  new  projectiles. 


two  arms  to  enclose  the  *' good-meadow"  island  of 
Batavia,  becomes  on  the  left  the  Waal,  while  on  the 
right  it  retains  its  ancient  name;  and  here  on  the 
outermost  edge  of  the  republic,  and  looking  straight 
from  his  fastness  into  the  fruitful  fields  of  Munster, 
Westphalia,  and  the  electorate,  the  industrious  Martin 
devoted  himself  with  advantage  to  his  favourite  pursuits. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  on  the  heath  of  Lippe,  he  had 
attacked  a  body  of  Spanish  musketeers,  more  than  a 
thousand  strong,  who  were  protecting  a  convoy  of  provi- 
sions, treasure,  and  furniture,  sent  by  Famese  to  7  Aug. 
Verdugo,  royal  governor  of  Friesland.  Schenk,  i^sg." 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  man,  had  put  the  greater 
part  of  these  Spaniards  and  Walloons  to  the  sword,  and 
routed  the  rest.  The  leader  of  the  expedition,  Colonel 
Aristotle  Patton,  who  had  once  played  him  so  foul  a 
trick  in  the  surrender  of  G elder,  had  soon  taken  to 
flight  when  he  found  his  ancient  enemy  upon  him,  and, 
dashing  into  the  Lippe,  had  succeeded,  by  the  strength 
and  speed  of  his  horse,  in  gaining  the  opposite  bank, 
and  effecting  his  escape.  Had  he  waited  many  minutes 
longer  it  is  probable  that  the  treacherous  Aristotle  would 
have  passed  a  comfortless  half-hour  with  his  former 
comrade.  Treasure  to  the  amount  of  seven  thousand 
crowns  in  gold,  five  hundred  horses,  with  jewels,  plate, 
and  other  articles  of  value,  were  the  fruit  of  this  adven- 
ture, and  Schenk  returned  with  his  followers,  highly 
delighted,  to  Schenkenschans,*  and  sent  the  captured 
Spanish  colours  to  her  Majesty  of  England  as  a  token.* 

A  few  miles  below  his  fortress  was  NjTnegen,  and 
towards  that  ancient  and  wealthy  city  Schenk  had  often 
cast  longing  eyes.  It  still  held  for  the  King,  although 
on  the  very  confines  of  Batavia ;  but  while  acknow- 
ledging the  supremacy  of  Philip,  it  claimed  the  pri- 
vileges of  the  empire.  From  earliest  times  it  had  held 
its  head  very  high  among  imperial  towns,  had  been  one 
of  the  three  chief  residences  of  the  Emperor  Charle- 
magne, and  still  paid  the  annual  tribute  of  a  glove  full 
of  pepper  to  the  German  empire.* 


to 


*  Bodley  to  Burghley,  —  Aug.  1589. 


1  Strada,  x.  630,  631.    Coloma,  ii.  26- 

27.    Bor,  iiL  xxvi.  459.    Bodley  to  Wal- 

rf«„»,a«,      *      A         ,,^«       .^      Tir         (Br.  Mus.  Galba,  D.  iv.  p.  65,  MS.) 
Bingham,    -^,    Aug.   1689.     (Br.   Mus.        .  r.  .    •  _j.  1    • 

isy       "»•     »  ".     Kui.   uiua.       3  Gulcciardmi,  tn  wee. 

.Galba,  D.  v.  p.  60.  MS.) 


i 


■ 


I 


•1 1 


522 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


On  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  August,  1589,  there 
was  a  wedding-feast  in  one  of  the  splendid  mansions  of 
the  stately  city.  The  festivities  were  prolonged  until 
deep  in  the  midsummer's  night,  and  harp  and  viol  were 
still  inspiring  the  feet  of  the  dancers,  when  on  a  sudden, 
in  iihe  midst  of  the  holiday-groups,  appeared  the  grim 
visage  of  Martin  Schenk,  the  man  who  never  smiled. 
Clad  in  no  wedding-garment,  but  in  armour  of  proof, 
with  morion  on  head,  and  sword  in  hand,  the  great  free- 
booter strode  heavily  through  the  ball-room,  followed  by 
a  party  of  those  terrible  musketeers  who  never  gave  or 
asked  for  quarter,  while  the  affrighted  revellers  fluttered 
away  before  them. 

Taking  advantage  of  a  dark  night,  he  had  just  dropped 
down  the  river  from  his  castle,  with  five-and-twenty 
barges,  had  landed  with  his  most  trusted  soldiers  in  the 
foremost  vessels,  had  battered  down  the  gate  of  St. 
Anthony,  and  surprised  and  slain  the  guard.  Without 
waiting  for  the  rest  of  his  boats,  he  had  then  stolen 
with  his  comrades  through  the  silent  streets,  and  torn 
away  the  lattice- work  and  other  slight  defences  on  the 
rear  of  the  house  which  they  had  now  entered,  and 
through  which  they  intended  to  possess  themselves  of 
the  market-place.  Martin  had  long  since  selected  this 
mansion  as  a  proper  position  for  his  enterprise,  but  he 
had  not  been  bidden  to  the  wedding,  and  was  somewhat 
disconcerted  when  he  found  himself  on  the  festive  scene 
which  he  had  so  grimly  interrupted.  Some  of  the 
merry-makers  escaped  from  the  house,  and  proceeded 
to  alarm  the  town;  while  Schenk  hastily  fortified  his 
position,  and  took  possession  of  the  square.  But  the 
burghers  and  garrison  were  soon  on  foot,  and  he  was 
driven  back  into  the  house.  Three  times  he  recovered 
the  square  by  main  strength  of  his  own  arm,  seconded 
by  the  handful  of  men  whom  he  had  brought  with  him, 
and  three  times  he  was  beaten  back  by  overwhelming 
numbers  into  the  wedding-mansion.  The  arriv^  of  the 
greater  part  of  his  followers,  with  whose  assistance  he 
could  easily  have  mastered  the  city  in  the  first  moments 
of  surprise,  was  mysteriously  delayed.  He  could  not 
account  for  their  prolonged  absence,  and  was  meanwhile 
supported  only  by  those  who  had  arrived  with  him  in 
the  foremost  barges. 


1589. 


HIS  ATTACK  ON  NYMEGEN. 


523 


The  truth — of  which  he  was  ignorant— was,  that  the 
remainder  of  the  flotilla,  borne  along  by  the  strong  and 
deep  current  of  the  Waal,  then  in  a  state  of  freshet,  had 
shot  past  the  landing-place,  and  had  ever  since  been 
vainly  struggling  against  wind  and  tide  to  force  their 
way  back  to  the  necessarj^  point.  Meantime  Schenk 
and  his  followers  fought  desperately  in  the  market- 
place, and  desperately  in  the  house  which  he  had  seized. 
But  a  whole  garrison,  and  a  town  full  of  citizens  in 
arms,  proved  too  much  for  him,  and  he  was  now  hotly 
besieged  in  the  mansion,  and  at  last  driven  forth  into 
the  streets. 

By  this  time  day  was  dawning ;  the  whole  population, 
soldiers  and  burghers,  men,  wome^,  and  children,  were 
thronging  about  the  little  band  of  marauders,  and  assail- 
ing them  with  every  weapon  and  every  missile  to  be 
found.  Schenk  fought  with  his  usual  ferocity,  but  at 
last  the  musketeers,  in  spite  of  his  indignant  commands, 
began  rapidly  to  retreat  towards  the  quay.  In  vain 
Martin  stormed  and  cursed,  in  vain  with  his  own  hand 
he  struck  more  than  one  of  his  soldiers  dead.^  He  was 
swept  along  with  the  panic-stricken  band,  and  when, 
shouting  and  gnashing  his  teeth  with  frenzy,  he  reached 
the  quay  at  last,  he  saw  at  a  glance  why  his  great  en- 
terprise had  failed.  The  few  empty  barges  of  his  own 
party  were  moored  at  the  steps ;  the  rest  were  half  a 
mile  off",  contending  hopelessly  against  the  swollen  and 
rapid  Waal.  Schenk,  desperately  wounded,  was  left 
almost  alone  upon  the  wharf,  for  his  routed  followers 
had,  plunged  helter  skelter  into  the  boats,  several  of 
which,  overladen  in  tlie  panic,  sank  at  once,  leaving  the 
soldiers  to  drown  or  struggle  with  the  waves.  The 
game  was  lost.  .Nothing  was  left  the  freebooter  but 
retreat.  Reluctantly  turning  his  back  on  his  enemies, 
now  in  full  cry  close  behind  him,  Schenk  sprang  into 
the  last  remaining  boat  just  pushing  from  the  quay. 
Already  overladen,  it  foundered  with  his  additional 
weight,  and  Martin  Schenk,  encumbered  with  his  heavy 
armour,  sank  at  once  to  the  bottom  of  the  Waal." 

I  "Schenclus  Irft   furens   et  frendens    Coloma,  ii.  27.    Bodley  to  Walsingham, 

suorum  nonnullis  sua  manu     3    . ,.„«      .o   »>  r\m„^  mo  \     -o^^ 

intomnptis/' &c    Strada.  x.  632.  fa  Aug.  1589.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.)    Ben- 

«  Bor,  ill.  xxvL  459,  460.    Wagenaar,    tlvoglio,  11.  v.  335.    Haraei  Turn.  Belg. 
vliL    307,     308.      Strada,     x.     631-633.     iil  425. 


/    V 


\ 


524 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


Some  of  the  fiigitives  succeeded  in  swimming  down 
the  stream,  and  were  picked  up  by  their  comrades  in 
the  barges  below  the  town,  and  so  made  their  escape. 
Many  were  drowned  with  their  captain.  A  few  days 
afterwards  the  inhabitants  of  Nymegen  fished  up  the 
body  of  the  fam6u8  partisan.  He  was  easily  recognized 
by  his  armour,  and  by  his  truculent  face,  still  wearing 
the  scowl  with  which  he  had  last  rebuked  his  followers. 
His  head  was  taken  off  at  once,  and  placed  on  one  of 
the  turrets  of  the  town,  and  his  body,  divided  in  four, 
was  made  to  adorn  other  portions  of  the  battlements ; 
so  that  the  burghers  were  enabled  to  feast  their  eyes  on 
the  remnants  of  the  nmn  at  whose  name  the  whole  coun- 
try had  so  often  trembled. 

This  was  the  end  of  Sir  Martin  Schenk  of  Niddegem, 
knight,  colonel,  and  brigand ;  save  that  ultimately  his 
dissevered  limbs  were  packed  in  a  chest,  and  kept  in  a 
church-tower,  until  Maurice  of  Nassau,  in  course  of 
time  becoming  master  of  Nymegen,  honoured  the  vali- 
ant and  on  the  whole  faithful  freebooter  with  a  Christian 
and  military  burial.* 

A  few  months  later  (October,  1589)  another  man  who 
had  been  playing  an  important  part  in  the  Netherlands* 
drama  lost  his  life.  Count  Moeurs  and  Niewenaar,  stad- 
holder  of  Utrecht,  Gelderland,  and  Overyssel,  while 
inspecting  some  newly-invented  fireworks,  was  suddenly 
killed  by  their  accidental  ignition  and  explosion.*  His 
death  left  vacant  three  great  stadholderates,  which  before 
long  were  to  be  conferred  upon  a  youth  whose  power 
henceforth  was  rapidly  to  grow  greater. 

The  misunderstanding  between  Holland  and  England 
continuing,  Olden-Bameveld,  Aerssens,  and  Buys,  re- 
fusing to  see  that  they  had  done  wrong  in  denouncing 
the  Dutch  and  English  traitors  who  had  sold  Gertruy- 
denberg  to  the  enemy,  and  the  Queen  and  her  counsel- 
lors persisting  in  their  anger  at  so  insolent  a  proceeding, 
it  may  easily  be  supposed  that  there  was  no  great  hearti- 
ness in  the  joint  expedition  against  Spain,  which  had 

1  Bor,  Wagenaar,  Strada,  tibi  sup.  States  as  they  will  publish  an  edict  upon 

**  The  townsmen  since  have  fished  for    It,  that  no  quarter  shall  be  kept  with 

Schenk.  aiKl  found  him   in  his  armour  ^ymegea"    Bodley  to  Walsingham.  ^ 

and  since  have  cut  him  in  quarters  and  •'      •                   '                               10 

set  him  on  their  gates :  which  extraordi-  Aug.  1689.    (S.  P.  Office  MS.) 

nary  inhumanity  doth  so  exasperate  the  •  Bor.  i^i-  *xvi.  480. 


1589.  ENGLISH-DUTCH  EXPEDITION  TO  SPAIN. 


525 


been  projected  in  the  autumn  of  1588,  and  was  accom- 
plished in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1589. 

Nor  was  this  well-known  enterprise  fruitful  of  any 
remarkable  result.  It  had  been  decided  to  carry  the 
war  into  Spain  itself,  and  Don  Antonio,  prior  of  Crato, 
bastard  of  Portugal,  and  pretender  to  its  crown,  had 
persuaded  himself  and  the  English  government  that  his 
name  would  be  potent  to  conjure  with  in  that  kingdom, 
hardly  yet  content  with  the  Spanish  yoke.  Supported 
•by  a  determined  force  of  English  and  Dutch  adventurers, 
he  boasted  that  he  should  excite  a  revolution  by  the 
magic  of  his  presence,  and  cause  Philip's  throne  to 
tremble,  in  return  for  the  audacious  enterprise  of  that 
monarch  against  England. 

If  a  f  )ray  were  to  be  made  into  Spain,  no  general  and 
no  admiral  could  be  found  in  the  world  so  competent  to 
the  adventure  as  Sir  John  Norris  and  Sir  Francis  Drake. 
They  were  accompanied,  too,  by  Sir  Edward  Norris, 
and  another  of  those  *'  chickens  of  Mars,"  Henry  Norris ; 
by  the  indomitable  and  ubiquitous  Welshman,  Roger 
Williams ;  and  by  the  young  Earl  of  Essex,  whom  the 
Queen  in  vain  commanded  to  remain  at  home,  and  who, 
somewhat  to  the  annoyance  of  the  leaders  of  the  expedi- 
tion, concealed  himself  from  her  Majesty's  pursuit,  and 
at  last  embarked  in  a  vessel  which  he  had  equipped,  in 
order  not  to  be  cheated  of  his  share  in  the  hazard  and 
the  booty.  "  If  I  speed  well,"  said  the  spendthrift  but 
valiant  youth,  "  I  will  adventure  to  be  rich;  if  not,  I 
will  never  live  to  see  the  end  of  my  poverty."  * 

But  no  great  riches  were  to  be  gathered  in  the  expe- 
dition. With  some  fourteen  thousand  men,  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty  vessels  —  of  which  six  were  the 
Queen's  ships  of  war,  including  the  famous  Revenge  and 
the  Dreadnought^  and  the  rest  armed  merchantmen,  Eng- 
lish, and  forty  Hollanders — and  with  a  contingent  of 
fifteen  hundred  Dutchmen  under  Nicolas  van 
Meetkerke  and  Van  Laen,  the  adventurers  set  ^^^^^^ 
sail  from  Plymouth  on  the  18th  of  April,  1589. 

They  landed  at  Coruua — at  which  place  they  certainly 
could  not  expect  to  create  a  Portuguese  revolution, 
which  was  the  first  object  of  the  expedition — destroyed 
some  shipping  in  the  harbour,  captured  and  sacked  the 

I  Essex  to  the  Vice-Chamberla'n,  March,  16s9,  in  Barrow's  'Life  of  Drake,'  377. 


\i 


h 


526 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


1589. 


ITS  MEAGRE  RESULTS. 


527 


lower  town,  and  were  repulsed  in  the  upper ;  marched 
with  six  thousand  men  to  Burgos,  crossed  the  bridge  at 
push  of  pike,  and  routed  ten  thousand  Spaniards  under 
Andrada  and  Altamira— Edward  Norris  receiving  a 
desperate  blow  on  the  head  at  the  passage  of  the  bridge, 
and  being  rescued  from  death  by  his  brother  John- 
took  sail  for  the  south  after  this  action,  in  which  they 
had  killed  a  thousand  Spaniards,  and  had  lost  but  two 
men  of  their  own ;  were  joined  off  Cape  Finisterre  by 
Essex ;  landed  a  force  at  Peniche,  the  castle  of  which 
place  surrendered  to  them,  and  acknowledged  the  autho- 
rity of  Don  Antonio;  and  thence  marched  with  the 
main  body  of  the  troops,  under  Sir  John  Norris,  forty- 
eight  miles  to  Lisbon,  while  Drake,  with  the  fleet,  was 

to'sail  up  the  Tagus.  «.    .  j  •    -n 

Nothing  like  a  revolution  had  been  effected  in  i:'or- 
tugal.  No  one  seemed  to  care  for  the  Pretender,  or 
even  to  be  aware  that  he  had  ever  existed,  except  the 
governor  of  Peniche  Castle,  a  few  ragged  and  barefooted 
peasants,  who,  once  upon  the  road,  shouted  "  Viva  Don 
Antonio,"  and  one  old  gentlemau  by  the  wayside,  who 
brought  him  a  plate  of  phims.  His  hopes  of  a  crown 
faded  rapidly ;  and  when  the  army  reached  Lisbon  it  had 
dwindled  to  not  much  more  than  four  thousand  effective 
men— the  rest  being  dead  of  dysentery,  or  on  the  sick- 
list  from  imprudence  in  eating  and  drinking— while 
they  found  that  they  had  made  an  unfortunate  omission 
in  their  machinery  for  assailing  the  capital,  having  not 
a  single  fieldpiece  in  the  whole  army.  Moreover,  as 
Drake  was  prevented  by  bad  weather  and  head-winds 
from  sailing  up  the  Tagus,  it  seemed  a  difficult  matter  to 
carry  the  city.  A  few  cannon,  and  the  co-operation  of 
the  fleet,  were  hardly  to  be  dispensed  with  on  such  an 
occasion.  Nevertheless  it  would  perhaps  have  proved 
an  easier  task  than  it  appeared— for  so  great  was  the 
panic  within  the  place  that  a  large  number  of  the  in- 
habitants had  fled,  the  Cardinal  Viceroy  Archduke 
Albert  had  but  a  verv  insufficient  guard,  and  there  were 
many  gentlemen  of  high  station  who  were  anxious  to 
further  the  entrance  of  the  English,  and  who  were  after- 
wards hanged  or  garotted  for  their  hostile  sentiments  to 
the  Spanish  government.* 

1  Bor,  ili.  xxvi.  439. 


While  the  leaders  were  deliberating  what  course  to 
take,  they  were  informed  that  Count  Fuentes  and  Henri- 
quez  de  Guzman,  with  six  thousand  men,  lay  at  a 
distance  of  two  miles  from  Lisbon,  and  that  they  had 
been  proclaiming  by  sound  of  trumpet  that  the  English 
had  been  signally  defeated  before  Lisbon,  and^'that  they 
were  in  full  retreat. 

Fired  at  this  bravado,  Norris  sent  a  trumpet  to  Fuentes 
and  Guzman,  with  a  letter  signed  and  sealed,  giving 
them  the  lie  in  plainest  terms,  appointing  the  next  day 
for  a  meeting  of  the  two  forces,  and  assuring  them  that, 
when  the  next  encounter  should  take  place,  it  should  bo 
seen  whether  a  Spaniard  or  an  Englishman  would  be 
first  to  fly ;  while  Essex,  on  his  part,  sent  a  note,  de- 
fying either  or  both  those  boastful  geiierals  to  single 
combat.  Next  day  the  English  army  took  the  field, 
but  the  Spaniards  retired  before  them  ;  and  nothing 
came  of  this  exchange  of  cartels,  save  a  threat  on  the 
part  of  Fuentes  to  hang  the  trumpeter  who  had  brought 
the  messages.  From  the  execution  of  this  menace  he 
refrained,  however,  on  being  assured  that  the  deed 
would  be  avenged  by  the  death  of  the  Spanish  prisoner 
of  highest  rank  then  in  English  hands,  and  thus  the 
trumpeter  escaped. 

Soon  afterwards  the  fleet  set  sail  from  the  Tagus, 
landed,  and  burned  Vigo  on  their  way  homeward,  and 
returned  to  Plymouth  by  the  middle  of  July. 

Of  the  thirteen  thousand  came  home  six  thousand, 
the  rest  having  perished  of  dysentery  and  other  disorders. 
They  had  braved  and  insulted  Spain,  humbled  her 
generals,  defied  her  power,  burned  some  defenceless 
villages,  frightened  the  peasantry,  set  fire  to  some  ship- 
ping, destroyed  wine,  oil,  and  other  merchandize,  and 
had  divided  among  the  sui*vivors  of  the  expedition, 
after  landing  in  England,  five  shillings  a  head  prize- 
money  ;  but  they  had  not  effected  a  revolution  in  Portugal. 
Don  Antonio  had  been  offered  nothing  by  his  faithful 
subjects  but  a  dish  of  plums — so  that  he  retired  into 
obscurity  from  that  time  forward— and  all  this  was 
scarcely  a  magnificent  result  for  the  death  of  six  or 
seven  thousand  good  English  and  Dutch  soldiers,  and 
the  outlay  of  considerable  treasure. 

As  a  freebooting  foray — and  it  was  nothing  else — it 


ii" 


I  i 


528 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


could  hardly  be  thought  successful ;  although  it  was  a 
splendid  triumph  compared  with  the  result  of  the  long 
and  loudly  heralded  Invincible  Armada.^ 

In  France,  great  events  during  the  remainder  of  1588 
and  the  following  year,  and  which  are  well  known  even 
to  the  most  superficial  student  of  history,  had  much 
changed  the  aspect  of  European  affairs.     It  was  fortunate 
for  the  two  commonwealths  of  Holland  and  England, 
engaged  in  the  great  struggle  for  civil  and   religious 
liberty  and  national  independence,  that  the   attention 
of  Philip  became  more   and  more   absorbed— as   time 
wore  on— with  the  affairs  of  France.     It  seemed  neces- 
sary for  him  firmly  to  establish  his  dominion  in  that 
country  before  attempting  once  more  the  conquest  of 
England,    or  the  recovery   of  the    Netherlands.      For 
France  had  been  brought  more  nearly  to  anarchy  and 
utter  decomposition  than  ever.     Henry  III.,  after  his 
fatal  forgiveness  of  the  deadly  offence  of  Guise,  felt  day 
by  day  more  keenly  that  he  had  transferred  his  sceptre 
—such  as  it  was— to  that  dangerous  intriguer.     Bitterly 
did  the  King  regret  having  refused  the  prompt  offer  of 


1  For  particulars  of  this  expedition, 
see  Camden,  iv.  429-433.  Stowe,  751- 
756.  Barrow's  •  Life  of  l>rake,'  with  the 
letters  of  Drake,  Norris,  and  others,  335- 
379.  Bor,  Hi.  xxvl.  430-443.  Herrera, 
ill.  V.  170  $eq. 

Sir  Roger  Williams  to  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, Lord  Treasurer,  and  Secretary 
Walsingham,  July,  1689.  (S.  P.  Office 
MS.) 

"  Had  we  gone  to  Lisbon,"  sa3rs  the 
Welsh  knight,  "  and  not  touched  at  the 
Groyne,  we  had  found  the  town  unpro- 
vided with  men  of  war ;  in  such  sort, 
with  the  favour  of  God,  we  had  carried  it 

away  without  blows We  have 

returned  the  most  of  our  ships  int«  Eng- 
land that  thould  have  been  laden  with 
rich  merchandise  and  great  treasure. 
With  that  lading,  our  sovereign  and  your 
honours  might  have  returned  our  ship- 
ping unto  us  with  a  new  supply.  In 
going  Into  the  Groyne  we  lost  a  number 
of  brave  men  in  dislodging.  At  the 
least  2000  took  their  course— some  for 
England,  some  for  France.  There  we 
took  our  sickness,  partly  by  the  hot 
winds,  but  chiefly  by  the  old  clothes  and 


baggage  of  those  which  returned  with 
the  Duke  of  Medina  out  of  England. 
There  we  lost  many  a  day,  in  the  which 
time  the  enemy  arrived,  and  placed  his 
forces  where  he  thought  most  necessari- 
est,  chiefly  in  Lisbon.  Notwithstanding, 
when  we  arrived,  we  gave  the  law  in  the 
field,  that  none  durst  fight  with  us,  to 
twelve  days,  with  5000  footmen,  and,  God 
knows,  poor  people,  save  2000,  and  those 
all  volunteers.  All  the  horsomen  we 
had  amounted  not  to  45 ;  we  had  not  any 
PortuRuese  to  speak  of,  and  such  as  we 

had  did  us  more  hurt  than  good 

Some  will  say.  How  could  you  have  kept 
Lisbon  ?  Believe  it  not  With  six  thou- 
sand we  would  have  kept  it  against  all 
Spain  and  Portugal.  ...  Our  journey 
was  most  honourable  and  profitable  unto 
our  sovereign  and  estate.  First,  and 
principally,  the  world  will  speak  how 
6000  Englishmen  dared  the  Spaniards 
to  battle  at  the  gates  of  Lisbon— not 
stealing,  but  after  giving  leave  to  arm 
two  months ;  for  the  world  must  think 
they  knew  where  we  meant  to  direct 
our  course,  when  Don  Antonio  dislodged 
from  his  house  at  Loudon,"  &c.  kc 


1589.       DEATH  OF  GUISE  AND  THE  QUEEN-MOTHEH.        529 

Alphonse  Corse  on  the  day  of  the  bamcades  ;  for  now, 
so  long  as  the  new  generalissimo  should  live,  the  luck- 
less Henry  felt  himself  a  superfluity  in  his  own  reahu. 
The  halcyon  days  were  for  ever  past,  when,  protected 
by  the  swords  of  Joyense  and  of  Epernon,  the  monarch 
of  France  could  pass  his  life  playing  at  cup  and  ball, 
or  snipping  images  out  of  pasteboard,  or  teaching  his 
parrots  to  talk,  or  his  lapdogs  to  dance.  His  royal 
occupations  were  gone,  and  murder  now  became  a  neces- 
sary preliminary  to  any  future  tranquillity  or  enjoyment. 
Discrowned,  as  he  felt  himself  already,  he  knew  that 
life  or  liberty  was  only  held  by  him  now  at  the  will  of 
Guise.  The  assassination  of  the  l)uke  in  December  was 
the  necessary  result  of  the  barricades  in  May;  and 
accordingly  that  assassination  was  arranged  with  an 
artistic  precision  of  which  the  world  had  hardly  sus- 
pected the  Valois  to  bq  capable,  and  which  Philip  him- 
self might  have  envied. 

The  story  of  the  murders  of  Blois — the  destruction  of 
Guise  and  his  brother  the  Cardinal,  and  the  subsequent 
imprisonment  of  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  the  Cardinal 
Bourbon,  and  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  now,  through  the 
death  of  his  father,  become  the  young  Duke  of  Guise — 
all  these  events  are  too  familiar  in  the  realms  of  history, 
song,  romance,  and  painting,  to  require  more  than  this 
slight  allusion  here. 

Never  had  an  assassination  been  more  technically 
successful ;  yet  its  results  were  not  commensurate  with 
the  monarch's  hopes.  The  deed  which  he  had  thought 
premature  in  May  was  already  too  late  in  December. 
His  mother  denounced  his  cruelty  now,  as  she  had,  six 
months  before,  execrated  his  cowardice.  And  the  old 
Queen,  seeing  that  her  game  was  played  out—  that  the 
cards  had  all  gone  against  her — that  her  son  was  doomed, 
and  her  own  influence  dissolved  in  air,  felt  that  there 
was  nothing  left  for  her  but  to  die.  In  a  week  she  was 
dead,  and  men  spoke  no  more  of  Catherine  de'  Medici, 
and  thought  no  more  of  her  than  if—  in  the  words  of  a 
splenetic  contemporary — **  she  had  been  a  dead  she- 
goat."  *  Paris  howled  with  rage  when  it  learned  the 
murders  of  Blois,  and  the  sixteen  quarters  became  more 
furious  than  ever  against  the  Valois.     Some  wild  talk 


I  '  L'Estoile.* 


VOL.  II. 


2   M 


530 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


there  was  of  democracy  and  republicanism  after  the 
manner  of  Switzerland,  and  of  dividing  France  into 
cantons— and  there  was  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part 
of  every  grandee,  every  general,  every  soldier  of  fortune, 
to  carve  out  a  portion  of  French  territory  with  his 
sword,  and  to  appropriato  it  for  himself  and  his  heirs. 
Disintegration  was  making  rapid  progress,  and  the  epoch 
of  the  last  Valois  seemed  more  dark  and  barbarous  than 
the  times  of  the  degenerate  Carlovingians  had  been. 
The  letter-writer  of  the  Escorial,  who  had  earnestly 
warned  his  faithful  Mucio,  *  week  after  week,^  that 
dangers  were  impending  over  him,  and  that  "some 
trick  would  be  played  upon  him,"  should  he  venture 
into  the  royal  presence,  now  acquiesced  in  his  assassin- 
ation, and  placidly  busied  himself  with  fresh  combina- 
tions and  newer  tools. 

Baffled,  hunted,  scorned  by  all  beside,  the  luckless 
Henry  now  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  Beamese 

the  man  who  could  and  would  have  protected  him 

long  before,  had  the  King  been  capable  of  understanding 
their  relative  positions  and  his  own  true  interests.   Could 
the  Valois  have  conceived  the  thought  of  religious  tole- 
ration, his  throne  even  then  might  have  been  safe.    But 
he  preferred  playing  the  game  of  the  priests  and  bigots, 
who  execrated  his  name  and  were  bent  upon  his  destruc- 
tion.    At  last,  at  Plessis  les  Tours,  the  Beamese,  m  his 
shabby  old  chamois  jacket  and  his  well-dinted  cuirass, 
took  the  silken  Henry  in  his  arms,  and  the  two — the 
hero  and  the  fribble— swearing  eternal  friendship,  pro- 
a  Ann.    ceeded  to  besiege  Paris.     A  few  weeks  later, 
1589.*    the  dagger  of  Jacques  Clement  put  an  end  for 
ever  to  the  line  of  Valois.^     Luckless  Henry  III.  slept 


'  A.  56.  >«.  Arch,  de  SimancM,  [at 
Paris,]  MS.  pamm. 

E.g.,  "Con  Mitclo  a  qulen  sriempre 
aconaejad  que  mire  por  si  y  no  se  dexe 
engaflar  j  Kazer  aJlffuna  burla,  pnes  anda 
a  tanto  peligro."  And.  In  the  King's 
own  hand,  "  Y  se  acuerde  de  su  padre." 
PhlUp  to  Mendoxa,  3  Sept  1688,  MS. 

•  The  spelling  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. In  all  European  languagfs.  was 
capricious  and  unsettled ;  yt-t  the  little 
note  In  which  the  Duchess  Mary  of  Lux- 
emburg announced  the  death  of  Henry 
III.  is  a  curiosi^,  even  for  that  age  :— 


"Qui  la  ette  tue — sa  ette  par  un 
Jacobin  qui  luy  a*  donne  dun  cou  de 
pissetolle  dan  la  tayte.  Ill  i  a  dotre 
nouvclle  beaucoup  avantf^jeuse  pour  les 
bon  Catolique.  jay  donne  charge  a  se  de- 
porteur  de  les  vous dire."  I>uches3  Maria 
de  Luxembourg  au  Commandeur  Moreo, 
9   Aug.   1589.     (Archivo  de  SImancas, 

MS.) 

Philip's  wonderftil  comment  on  the 
words  " ptesetolle  "  and  "  tayte"  in  this 
communication  has  been  already  pub- 
lished, but  will  bear  repetition  :- 

"  Perhaps."  he  wrote  with  his  own 


1589.       COMBINATIONS  AFTER  DEATH  OF  HENRY  HI.       531 

with  his  forefathers,  and  Henry  of  Bourbon  and  Navarre 
proclaimed  himself  King  of  France.  Catherine  and  her 
four  sons  had  all  passed  away  at  last,  and  it  would  be  a 
daring  and  a  dexterous  schemer  who  should  now  tear 
the  crown,  for  which  he  had  so  long  and  so  patiently 
waited,  from  the  iron  grasp  of  the  B^ai  nese.  Philip  had 
a  more  difficult  game  than  ever  to  play  in  France.  It 
would  be  hard  for  him  to  make  valid  the  claims  of  the 
Infanta  and  any  husband  he  might  select  for  her  to  the 
crown  of  her  grandfather  Heniy  11.  It  seemed  simple 
enough  for  him,  while  waiting  the  course  of  events,  to 
set  up  a  royal  effigy  before  the  world  in  the  shape  of  an 
eflfete  old  Cardinal  Bourbon,  to  pour  oil  upon  its  head 
and  to  baptize  it  Charles  X. ;  but  meantime  the  other 
Bourbon  was  no  effigy,  and  he  called  himself  Henrys  IV. 

It  was  easy  enough  for  I*aris,  and  Madam  League, 
and  Philip  the  Prudent,  to  cry  wo  upon  the  heretic ; 
but  the  cheerful  leader  of  the  Huguenots  was  a  philo- 
sopher, who  in  the  days  of  St.  Bartholomew  had  become 
orthodox  to  save  his  life,  and  who  was  already  "  in- 
sti-ucting  himself  *  anew  in  order  to  secure  his  crown. 
Philip  was  used  to  deal  with  fanatics,  and  had  often 
been  opposed  by  a  religious  bigotry  as  fierce  as  his  own; 
but  he  might  perhaps  be  baffled  by  a  good-humoured 
freethinker,  who  was  to  teach  him  a  lesson  in  political 
.theology  of  which  he  had  never  dreamed. 

The  Leaguers  were  not  long  in  doubt  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  "instruction,"  and  they  were  thoroughly  per- 
suaded that — so  soon  as  Henry  IV.  should  reconcile 
himself  with  Rome — their  game  was  likely  to  become 
desperate. 

Nevertheless  prudent  Philip  sat  in  his  elbow-chair, 
writing  his  apostilles,  improving  himself  and  his  secre- 
taries in  orthography,  but  chiefly  confining  his  attention 
to  the  affairs  of  France.  The  departed  Mucio's  brother 
Mayenne  was  installed  as  chief  stipendiary  of  Spain  and 
lieutenant-general  for  the  League  in  France,  until 
Philip  should  determine  within  himself  in  what  form  to 
assimie  the  sovereignty  of  that  kingdom.     It  might  be 

hand.    "  'pissetolle'    is  some  kind  of  •« Quizzes  alguna  manera  de  cuchlllo. 

knife,  and  •  tayte,'  I  don't  know  if  it  can  y  la  tayte  no  se  si  podria  ser    tra  coz» 

be  anything  else  than  head,  which  Is  not  que  cabeza,  qui  no  es  tayte.  sino  tete.  o 

•  uyte,'  but   •  tete '  or  '  teyte.'  as  you  teyte.  corao  sabreys." 
know." 

2  M  2 


532 


THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 


Chap.  XX. 


questionable  however  whether  that  corpulent  Duke,  who 
spent  more  time  in  eating  than  Henry  IV.  did  in  sleep- 
ing, and  was  longer  in  reading  a  letter  than  Henry  in 
winning  a  battle,  were  likely  to  prove  a  very  dangerous 
rival— even  with  all  Spain  at  his  back — to  the  lively 
Beamese.  But  time  would  necessarily  be  consumed 
before  the  end  was  reached,  and  time  and  Philip  were 
two.  Henry  of  IS'avarre  and  France  was  ready  to  open 
his  ears  to  instruction ;  but  even  he  had  declared,  seve- 
ml  years  before,  that  "  a  religion  was  not  to  be  changed 
like  a  shirt."  So  while  the  fresh  garment  was  airing 
for  him  at  Rome,  and  while  he  was  leisurely  stripping 
off  the  old,  he  might  perhaps  be  taken  at  a  disadvantage. 
Fanaticism  on  both  sides,  during  this  piocess  of  instruc- 
tion, might  be  roused.  The  Huguenots  on  their  part 
might  denounce  the  ti  eason  of  their  great  chief,  and  the 
Papists,  on  theirs,  howl  at  the  hypocrisy  of  the  pre- 
tended conversion.  But  Henry  IV.  had  philosophically 
prepared  himself  for  the  denunciations  of  the  Protes- 
tants, while  determined  to  protect  them  against  the  per- 
secutions of  the  Romanism  to  which  he  meant  to  give 
his  adhesion.  While  accepting  the  title  of  renegade, 
together  with  an  undisputed  crown,  he  was  not  the  man 
to  rekindle  those  fires  of  religious  bigotry  which  it  was 
his  task  to  quench,  now  that  they  had  lighted  his  way 
to  the  throne.  The  demands  of  his  Catholic  supporters 
for  the  exclusion  from  the  kingdom  of  all  religions  but 
their  own,  were  steadily  refused.* 

And  thus  the  events  of  1588  and  1589  indicated  that 
the  great  game  of  despotism  against  freedom  would  be 
])layed,  in  the  coming  years,  upon  the  soil  of  France. 
Already  Elizabeth  had  furnished  the  new  King  with 
22,000/.  in  gold — a  larger  sum,  as  he  observed,  than  he 
had  ever  seen  before  in  his  life,*  and  the  States  of  the 
Netherlands  had  provided  him  with  as  much  more." 
Willougliby  too,  and  tough  Roger  Williams,  and  Basker- 
ville,  and  Umpton,  and  Vere,  with  4000  English  pike- 
men  at  their  back,  had  already  made  a  brief  but  spirited 
campaign  in  France;*  and  the  Duke  of  Parma,  after 
recruiting  his  health,  so  far  as  it  was  possible,  at  Spa, 

>  De  Thou,  X.    I.  89,   pp.  270,  680.        »  Bodley  to  Burghley,  20  Aug,  1589. 
rerenxe,  80,  96.     L'Etoile,  253,  291.  <LBr.  Mus.  Galba.  I),  iv.  p.  65,  MS.) 

*  Camden,  iv.  436.  *  Camden,  ubi  tup. 


1590. 


TANDEM  FIT  SURCULUS  ARBOR. 


533 


was  preparmg  himself  to  measure  swords  with  that 
great  captam  of  Huguenots,  who  now  assumed  the 
crown  of  his  ancestors,  upon  the  same  ground.  It 
seemed  probable  that  for  the  coming  years  England 
would  be  safe  from  Spanish  invasion,  and  that  Holland 
would  have  a  better  opportunity  than  it  had  ever  en- 
joyed before  of  securing  its  liberty  and  perfecting  its 
political  organization.  While  Pariia,  Philip,  and  May- 
enne  were  fighting  the  Beamese  for  the  crown  of  France, 
there  might  be  a  fairer  field  for  the  new  commonwealth 
of  the  United  Netherlands. 

And  thus  many  of  the  personages  who  have  figured 
in  these  volumes  have  already  passed  away.  Leicester 
had  died  just  after  the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  and  the 
thrifty  Queen,  while  dropping  a  tear  upon  the  grave  of 
''sweet  Kobin,"  had  sold  his  goods  at  auction  to  defray 
his  debts  to  herself;  and  Moeurs  and  Martin  Schenk, 
and  "  Mucio,"  and  Henry  III.,  and  Catherine  de' Medici, 
were  all  dead.  But  Philip  the  Prudent  remained,  and 
Elizabeth  of  England,  and  Henry  of  France  and  Na- 
varre, and  John  of  Olden-Bameveld ;  and  there  was 
still  another  personage,  a  very  yomig  man  still,  but  a 
deep-thinking,  hard-working  sWent,  fagging  steadily 
at  mathematics  and  deep  in  the  works  of  Stevinus,  who, 
before  long,  might  play  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  world's 
great  drama.  But,  previously  to  1590,  Maurice  of 
Nassau  seemed  comparatively  insignificant,  and  he 
could  be  spoken  of  by  courtiers  as  a  cipher,  and  as  an 
unmannerly  boy  just  let  loose  from  school. 


END  OF  VOL.  II. 


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